The General Motors Small Block V8 is probably the most popular engine ever made and the reason for this is because of its long availability window and the stock and aftermarket upgrades you can order to increase its performance. When you are thinking about the small block v8 there is a lot of variety from the smaller but torquey 302 -327 on the bottom end all the way up to small block 350’s that …
Engines
How To Tell If You Have A Bad Engine Head Gasket
A major problem on many vehicles is a bad head gasket and sometimes simple replacement of the gasket will cure the problem completely but other times you will need to have your block or head resurfaced by a machine shop. Before you get into a costly situation that can leave you without your car for many days or sometimes weeks depending on how bad it is you want to make sure that the head …
How To Tell If Your Fuel Pump Is Bad And Needs To Be Replaced
On older classic cars the fuel pump was part of the engine and cars that had carburetors had a fuel bowl that would hold enough gas to get your car started and allow the fuel pump to start pumping gas to your engine. Today most cars even carburetored engines have an electric fuel pump that sends fuel to the engine but all fuel injected vehicles have them and its probably likely that your car …
How To Increase Horsepower And Torque On Your Stock Engine
If you are like most people there are times when you wish your vehicle had a little more strength but upgrading your engine can seem pretty complex. In this How To we will look at the basic ways to increase your engine’s power and talk about the cost and how complex it can get for the average weekend mechanic.
The first thing you need to do is understand that there are only so many things …
How To Set Valve Lash On Hydraulic And Solid Lifter Engines
One of the things that many home mechanics run into that can be a little confusing the first time you do it is setting Valve Lash on Solid or Hydraulic Lifter Engines.
There are a variety of reasons that you might want to check or set your Valve Lash and that can be when you are rebuilding or repairing your engine. Maybe you are changing your camshaft or maybe you just want to do a …
How To Use A Ball Hone To Prepare Your Engine’s Cylinder Walls For New Rings
If you are rebuilding an engine and replacing your piston rings it is normally suggested that you hone the cylinder walls to prepare them before assembly. This might not always be the case but most of the time you don’t want to skip this step because honing your cylinder walls is what keeps the oil on them.
For best results you are suppose to create a 45 degree cross hatch pattern on the cylinder wall. …
How To Remove Carbon Buildup On Your Pistons And Cylinder Walls During Head Gasket Replacement
When you are working on your engine and replacing the head gasket and you will need to clean your deck surface before you install the new gasket this is a good time to clean up any carbon buildup that might be on the top portion of your cylinder walls and the top of the pistons.
While doing so you will also be able to inspect the cylinder walls and deck and know if you need …