PRIME WITHOUT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD ON I prime all of my engines with the intake manifold off, valley open. You can see oil escaping around lifters and cam bearings. You can see if you have the wrong base circle camshaft on SB Ford hydraulic roller cams and if the...
SEAT REPAIRS THAT DON’T LEAK When installing valve seats, you sometimes run across porosity that leads into water at the base of the counterbore. I like to pressure test after the counterbores are If you have a seat that you’re trying to seal up, you can make a...
ANOTHER SILLY HEAT TRICK We all heat our oil plugs, studs and bolts to free them up. I found another heat solution, removing stubborn valve seals. I just warm them up with a propane torch to soften the rubber and they pull right off. This works great! Randy Torvinen...
HEX HEAD VALVE NUT Disassembling an old stuck engine can be challenging. When valves are stuck in the valve guides, try welding a nut to the face of the valve. Now you can rotate it to help free it from the guide. Dave Matton D and D Auto Machine Bloomington, MN...
MEASURE ONCE, CUT TWICE Yes, we’ve all made that mistake, measure once and you better hope you cut it long, so the second cut will be on spec. Otherwise you’ve ruined the work. The proper phrase, measure twice… seems to apply to many things we do around the shop. ...
A DIFFERENT CAM BEARING FIT Most if not all OEM blocks were fitted with semi-finished cam bearings and then the I.D.”s were bored in place. Many suffer from poor factory size issues. This situation can lead to tight or no bearing clearance when finished cam bearings...