Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: How Much is Too Much Crankshaft Clearance?
I have a 350ci small block that I thought would be easy to rebuild. My brother ran it out of oil in his 1957 Chevy so we pulled the engine […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: What’s the Best Way to Clean Cylinder Walls Before Engine Assembly?
What kind of cleaning solution works best for getting the cylinder walls clean before final engine assembly? I’ve heard lots of stories of different homemade solutions and I was interested […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Are Gas Ported Piston Rings a Good Choice for a High Performance Street Engine?
I’ve heard that gas ports drilled into pistons for race engines could also be used for hot street engines but that they don’t work very well because eventually the ports […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Fixes for a Poor-Shifting GM 700-R4 Automatic Transmission on a Carbureted 383 SBC
I’ve got a 700-R4 in my Chevy C10 pickup behind a typical 383ci small-block Chevy. The engine runs fine with a set of Edelbrock heads and Performer RPM intake and […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: What’s a Good Way to Clean Engine Internals Without a Complete Teardown?
I have an older small block 350 Chevy pulled out of a 1990 Chevy pickup that ran before we yanked it out. I plan on using it in a 1950 […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Lobe Separation Angle (LSA) Specs—What Does a Plus Sign (+) Mean?
I’ve been looking at cam specs for the Summit Racing Pro LS Truck camshafts and I have a question. I’ve noticed that many of the specs now list the lobe […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Advice on Swapping a 4.8L LR4 LS Engine & 4L60E Trans into a 1969 Firebird
I have a 1969 Firebird that I’m swapping in a 2002 LR4 4.8L LS engine from a GMC Sierra pickup. I have the mechanical swap parts for mounting the engine […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Should I Hone the Cylinder Walls on a 5.3L LS with 200K Miles Before My Rebuild?
I have a used 5.3L LS truck engine that I’d like to swap into an earlier Chevy pickup. The engine was running when it was pulled out of a wrecked […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Why is There Wet Engine Oil on My Spark Plug Threads?
I have a 355ci small block Chevy that was rebuilt about a year ago and we included a set of Edelbrock aluminum heads, a Comp flat tappet cam, and an […]
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Some Good, Mild Performance Upgrades to a Direct-Injection Chevy Gen. V 5.3L LT Engine
I am rebuilding a 2014 L83 5.3L engine for my Silverado pickup and I’m considering making some changes to improve the performance slightly. I have looked into adding larger fuel […]