Ball Cup Effective Length When working with a ball-and-cup type pushrod from an application like a Ford or Chrysler product with adjustable shaft rockers, it is important to know the “effective” length when ordering custom length pushrods.- In this case, the effective...
Evolution of Ring End Gap Theory It’s easy to see or know when you don’t have enough ring end gap. Common signs include scuffed ring faces, damaged rings and cylinders and/or shiny areas on the butt ends of the rings. The ideal minimum ring end-gap would by found...
Guide to Tipping I keep about 15 different valve guides next to my valve-refacer to use when “tipping” the valve stems. By clamping the guide into the machine instead of the stem of the valve, I can easily insert the valve and use two fingers on the head of the valve...
Smoke ‘Em if Ya Got ‘Em In our shop, we don’t have a dyno or engine test stand. We work on a variety of engines from Chevys to Internationals to Continentals, so no engine start stand would suit everything we do. In an effort to find oil leaks, we have started to...
Making Impact on Head Disassembly Here is a fast way to disassemble cylinder heads. Take a 1/2” impact driver (the type that you twist and hit with a hammer) and place an impact socket that is just a little smaller than your valve retainer onto the impact driver. Next...
Stud Installation Secret We all know head studs and main studs give better clamping force for our fasteners. Did you know that bottoming out the stud is a bad thing and the stud should never hit the bottom of the hole? Studs should never be torqued into place and...