THREAD DEPTH MARKER When tapping tapered pipe thread for oil or coolant passage plugs in blocks and cylinder heads, it is important not to tap too shallow nor too deep. A length of soft copper wire, twisted around the tap, works much better than tape or a Sharpie mark...
FINDING YOUR CENTER One the most challenging jobs is the 302 -351W cylinder head stud removal that fastens down the intake manifold. It rusts and sits at an angle which makes it almost impossible to center a drill bit for removal. The solution is to drive a 1/4-inch...
STOP THE FLOW I line up the oil stream on my rod machine to where I want to stop the stroke. I try to over stroke approximately 1/2 of the rod width to keep the shoes from wearing unevenly. Randy Torvinen Torvinen's Machine Shop Menahga, MN August, 2022
O’RING END STOP When honing some parts on the rod machine, I use an O-ring on the mandrel as a visual end stop for proper overstroke. This really helps on things like motorcycle cases and multi rod assemblies to ensure proper mandrel over stroke coverage. It also...
INSTALLER EXTENSION The harmonic balancers on the 5.0 Fords are deep and need extra space. I used a small PVC pipe coupler to extend the reach of the installer. It is cheap, lightweight, and works great. Pete Ross Petes Car Care Rochester, IL August, 2022
FITTING IN A SIZE SMALLER After file fitting piston rings to get the perfect end gaps, we need to remove all burrs left from the filing process. Despite all our best efforts, sometimes we install a ring on the piston and still notice a little drag when testing for...