BROWSE BY CATEGORY
BROWSE ALL SHOP SOLUTIONS

MAKE NOTES
Feb 20, 2025 | TOOLING
Time is money and it helps to know where your tooling cuts, especially when it’s some that isn’t used every day. I use note cards, the back of my business cards, or tape to write myself notes for the next time I grab that tooling. Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine...

A NEW CAP
Feb 20, 2025 | GASKETS & SEALING
This is so simple, but effective. It’s very easy to end up wasting a large portion of a caulking gun tube or even a small tube of gasket maker by losing the cap. I use electrical wire nuts as caps. They come in a variety of sizes, and they screw on very securely. Tom...

PICK YOUR PLUG
Feb 20, 2025 | LUBRICATION & COOLING
This tip may be helpful for the DIY guy at home to easily remove the plastic barbell plug from an LS engine. Unscrew the oil galley plug at the driver’s rear of engine block. Insert a 90-degree pick tool inside the oil passage and pry rearward on the backside of the...

UNDER PRESSURE
Feb 1, 2025 | BLOCK WORK, UNCATEGORIZED
On blocks and heads that have “suspect areas”, I have a “quick check” before I commit to bolting on the pressure test plates. I simply use my blow gun with a brake line attached, and blow air behind the questionable area, with some soap or bubble spray on the face...

SPIN THEM UP
Feb 1, 2025 | CYLINDER HEADS
I had some FE heads with some pretty decent burrs on the valve tips. Instead of slowly turning the valves by hand to file the burrs off, I grabbed an old valve lapping stick and chucked it up in the drill to spin the valves. It went really quickly, and I was able to...

CLEANER HEATER
Feb 1, 2025 | DISASSEMBLY & CLEANING
My small ultrasonic parts cleaner heating element burned out. Rather than scrapping it, I just dropped an electric charcoal lighter in the solution. It heats up faster than before but, there’s no thermostat, so keep an eye on it. Scott Ouellette Powerplay Engine and...