SIDE CUTTER UPGRADE One of the most used tools in our shop is a good pair of side cutters. They can be a little messy with the clipped ends flying and sometimes unwieldy if you’re trying to keep multiple wires separate in your holding hand. To make them more...

CHEAP AND EASY RING SQUARING TOOLS I made many different size tools for quick and easy piston ring squaring when end gapping. I used scraps from leftover cylinder sleeves and turned them to size on my lathe. They don't take up much space for storage even with more...

PRESSURE TORQUE PLATE For those who don’t have a pressure tester, torque plates work great. Use along with homemade block off plates for the other holes and I use expandable rubber core plugs to seal up the block. I use them in cylinder heads as well. Just have a...

DIGITAL READ OUTS Here are some inexpensive digital read outs (DRO) I’ve added to various machines in the shop. On the seat and guide machine it’s great to be able to set seat depths for different cutters on the same head without setting the end stop for each one. You...

RATCHET REPAIR When my ratchets get noisy or sluggish I soak the head in 90wt. gear lube overnight and drain them the next day. The ratchets work like new. I find that 90wt gear lube lasts longer than engine oil and gives smoother operation. Will Samples S&S Imports...

INEXPENSIVE T-HANDLE BOLTS For 7/16” holes, take a 7/16” rocker arm stud, weld a metal pin at 90¨ on end and it becomes a T-Handle. Make 2 of them, this way you don’t need a wrench to take a lift chain off of an engine block. For ½” bolt holes you can do the same, but...