Camshaft Secret Weapon: Choose Perfect Cam with New Summit Racing Cam Timing Calculator
It isn’t always obvious which camshaft we should choose for our engine build. Even when we fully understand the individual timing events and how each of them interact in a four-stroke engine’s piston and valve motion, the complexity of it all can bring confusion and uncertainty to the cam selection process. We just learned about
Dana 60 vs. GM 12-Bolt vs. Ford 9”: The Pros & Cons of Popular Rear End Assemblies
You’d think selecting a rear end for a project car would be easy. It’s not. Browse Summit Racing’s website or catalog and you’ll discover there are almost too many choices. For example, on the GM side, you’ll find 8.20-inch ring gear 10-bolts, 8.50-inch ring gear 10-bolts and 8.875-inch diameter ring gear 12-bolts. Popular FoMoCo choices
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Does 40% Leakdown Test Results Require New Piston Rings?
I just bought a used 5.3L LS engine out of the junkyard and after we got the engine back to the shop and mounted it on an engine stand, we decided to do a leakdown test. We checked all eight cylinders and the average was close to 40 percent. We removed the oil filler cap
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: Diagnosing Ticking Noises and White Smoke in a Supercharged ’93 Ford Mustang GT
I’ve been looking online for help to figure out what is happening to my car and I thought your expertise may help. I have a supercharged ‘93 Mustang GT with a cam and aluminum heads. I noticed a slight ticking noise the other day when parked near another car. It’s not bad, but speeds up
How to Set-Up and Tune Holley’s Dominator EFI System (Part 1)
It’s no secret that aftermarket electronic fuel injection (EFI) systems are becoming more and more commonplace. It should come as no surprise however, that some of the early systems were a bit complex—you had to know your way around a laptop computer to make the thing function, and even then many of the systems weren’t
Comparing Camshafts (Part 2): Consider Individual Timing Events When Choosing a Cam
Editor’s Note: This is the second half of an article on how to interpret cam specs to select the right cam for your engine and vehicle needs. You can read the first half here: Comparing Camshafts: A History of Camshaft Specs and Choosing the Right Cam. … Most of us know the four strokes of an
Comparing Camshafts: A History of Camshaft Specs and Choosing the Right Cam
Have you ever wondered why one camshaft makes more power than the other? Would you like to compare the behaviors of multiple cams without ever doing a cam swap? Written descriptions of idle quality, power range, compression, gear, and converter requirements only go so far when the same cam fits in a 283 or 406
Camshaft Degreeing Explained: Tools & Techniques for Degreeing a Cam
When a camshaft is “degreed” it means the camshaft position in the engine has been synchronized with the crankshaft position. Degreeing the cam is the only positive means to determine if the rise and fall of the pistons correctly matches the opening and closing of the valves. Several degrees of misalignment can have a profound
Ask Away! with Jeff Smith: E85 Pump-Gas Additives—Not Ethanol—Cause Corrosion
Hi, I was wondering if you could help answer a few questions and doubts I have about moving forward with my E85 build. I know there’s a lot of hype about E85 being corrosive and I know there are measures to take to make that less possible in the fuel lines, pumps, and filters but
Mailbag: How to Fix an Oil-Burning 1989 GMC 1500 4×4 Pickup
Q: The culprit is a 1989 GMC 1500 4×4 with a 350, automatic with overdrive, a 3.42 axle, and over 150,000 miles. It has recently developed a powerful thirst for Texas tea, consuming 1 quart every 100 miles. A new PCV valve didn’t fix it, and a valve job only eliminated the smoke at startup.




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