by Donnie Hurt | Mar 4, 2025 | DISASSEMBLY & CLEANING
I have a never-ending pile of cores being moved around the shop from here to there. I use threaded stud casters to roll them out of the way. These have a 3/8-16 stud, but I also have them in M10 to fit LS blocks and can be used in the bell housing side as well. And...
by Donnie Hurt | Mar 4, 2025 | GASKETS & SEALING
When deciding how much to mill an intake manifold for “fit”, I use cardboard shims. Most gaskets are .060 compressed, and if the intake fits great with, say, a .020 shim, then a .040 removal is needed. At that point, I also check the ends for fit. Machine once, wash...
by Andy Stacy | Mar 4, 2025 | PISTONS & RINGS
1) Always file only one end of the ring: this will allow for a quality inspection of the ring after use to identify witness marks of “ring butting” from insufficient ring end gap 2) Always use a gauge pin to check the ring end gap instead of a feeler...
by Donnie Hurt | 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...
by Donnie Hurt | 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...
