Thats very very sad David. No parent should ever have a child go before them. You must be devisated. Condolences to you and your family. I reall hope and pray that her memory will live on in the lives of those she was aquanited with and her name will be etched in history in some way or form. I appreciate you giving your knowledge and experience away on this forum. Such interesting insights that no doubt work.
What a golden nugget, right?! I am not an "engine builder" per se but have built a few engines over the years and I read everything I can get my hands on and have for over 30 years...... but I never heard of or saw that little trick before! But now that I see it, it makes perfect sense to do that! I bet David has dozens of those types of tricks. What a legend.
Hello Mr Vizard how are you. Hope you're doing well. I'm praying for you. What are your thoughts about Ohio forged cranks for Pontiac. Butler has high quality components but they are a little higher priced and I was wondering if I can buy direct from Ohio forged
Totally agree with this video. if you have the expensive measuring equipment that's fine but definitely not required. We're currently running a 1500 horsepower LS twin turbo engine, plastic gauge, fastest stick shift street car on West Coast. Professional engine builders don't want this do-it-yourself stuff out in the public. I appreciate your knowledge thank you
Luv the content. The trick about rounding the bottom of the bore is brilliant along with not really having to torque the bolts up to full specs when using plastigauge is great to know.
this is perfect i have a machined ARP studs four bolt 010 40 over sbc 10/20 tin nickel pre roller i wanted to put this size crank in it i have done all kinds of stuff that i learned from David's and smoky books and just got a valuable tip on grinding bottom of bores wow and other 6 hp im so excited right on David cant wait i hope you do the whole build oil pan to carb then dyno
Plastigauge has to be one of those inventions that keeps on giving, easy to use, very affordable that anyone can use, this stuff eliminates every excuse folks can come up with yet very few actually do and after wonder what went wrong..
As pops would say "SEND IT".I built my first car when I was about 16.I did it in such a way that I only had what was completely necessary for it to run as if it was on an engine stand,no A/C or anything just a hot wire to the distributor, fuel line, radiator and heater hoses etc.reason being that I could take the hood off and remove the motor in about 45 minutes so if I screwed something up it wasn't a big deal to take the whole thing out and see what happened.I ran a bunch of combinations of 350/383 strokers in the old 81 Malibu and made some mistakes but mostly successful with my educational car.but anyway a good way to learn basics is to build it basic.
I am so happy to discover divid vizard he has so much knowledge I can't watch his videos fast enough, love the knowledge of this master mechanic love to learn from an excellent teacher
Yes doing rods in the supergas Buick 455 motor and getting .012 clearance after getting Pontiac rods to fit the crank I have now after machine work 1400 in a set of Pontiac rods for my Buick. Just to get the piston higher in the block at .011 on #1.Belt sander is working nice for this but will fine sine with a stone or fine paper on a flat surface.
Nobody seems to use a bearing micrometer. Check the thickness of your bearings. Measure the bore and the crankpins .Do the math. does it add up? Does the bearing snap into place or tend to fall out? Make sure the crankpins are round. They may look great having been freshly ground but the are not always perfect. It is better a bit loose than too tight on clearances. After you torque your rods and mains tap them with a hammer and see if the bolts are now loose. It may look like they are seated but sometimes they aren't. Do not put grease or heavy oil on the backs of bearings. Install dry then lube. Lastly pray the crankshaft demons do not decide to eat your crank for lunch.
I bought most of your books you published in the 80's you helped a lot of people undestand the dynamics and complexities of a modified motor....Thanks for all your knowledge! Your an "International Treasure"👍
Sometimes the caps will move sometimes they won't. Depends on how good the manufacture, machinist machined it. Especially if the Engine Block or Rods have been resized. That is why you should always torque to within 10lbs of the final spec before you take measurements of the Main and Rod journals. Remember You Read it here first.
Brenton, Good point but if the cap fit was not up to scratch we would fix it. If I can squeeze it in I will mention this and credit you in part 2. thanks for the tip.
Thanks, David, for another great video! I'm currently working on replacing rod and the lower main bearing shells on my 2001 BMW M5. The car is on the lift, with the front crossmenber out. The S62 uses Torque-to-Stretch bolts for the inner (either side of crank) main bolts and rod bolts. You can get ARP2000 non-stretch bolts to replace the rod bolts, which I've done. Unfortunately the main bolts are 11mm, so sourcing those means custom parts. Anyway, this video confirms my suspicion. If I torque the bolts to 1/2 their spec, it is good enough for measuring clearances. What this means is that I can use the bolts to bolt the mains in the final time if I only torque them to 1/2 their torque spec doing bearing clearance measuring. FWIW, I've done this on the rods, with a shell in them and measured the hole with a dial bore gage (tricky with the engine and crank in the car!). I've also used plastic gage and get very similar results, luckily within spec! I have one of the cheaper Chinese made 0.0005" dial bore gages (which looks just like the one you showed) and it seems of decent repeatability and quality for once-every few years use. I also have a 0-6" set of 0.0001" micrometers with standards, that look identical identical to the ones you showed. Mine came in a wooden case. I had a tool and die maker check them out and his opinion was that they were plenty accurate and good for my uses doing engine building. I've blueprinted a few engines with these tools and those engines are still running strong with no signs of bearing material in the oil analysis.
Building horsepower for racing most of your life and giving knowledge that is priceless. When I heard you say Harbor Freight was ok for a home build as long as it has been checked. I am a Purchasing Agent for a $50 million per year company and I can tell you, all measuring tools have to get recalculated. I get our Norbar torque wrenches recalibrated yearly. I am so sorry for the loss of your child. No parents should ever bury a child.
Plastigage when used correctly can find off axis bearing bore, bent crank and cam issues, and journal taper. Some of you all pretend that physics of plastigage somehow cease to exist because you said so!?!? 😜😜🤣🤣 Either the plastigage crushes or it doesn't!! People say that's impossible it ran fine etc but I have had to show many that their crank was bent and plastigage does that easily. Plastigage taper is the only way to find it if you don't have a centerless grinder. Also I have seen crank sanding belt polishing cause taper issues.
Thank you Mr. Vizard,your book helped me rebuild my first sbc many moons ago,now I get to learn more from your videos almost 40 yrs later! Thanks again!
Well Mr. Saddle Tramp sir. I have to ask if they have already perfected it or not. I think not but it is good enough to get the job done in reasonable style. DV
@@marvingvx1 plastigage is "good enough" for most clearance measures but the key issue it best indicates is taper ie bent crank, misaligned bores, etc. THOSE are the things most likely to destroy an engine.
Great information. I am plastigageing my crank and rods in the van tomorrow. I almost lost the motor due to bad cams and lifters. Without DLC lifters I would be constantly changing cams as they go flat right away. I have changed 4 times now. Only the last one with DLC lifters stopped the nightmare. Then I had a head gasket problem. Fixed that. Then it was running great and suddenly a rod sounding knock. Luckily, I shut it off right away. It takes hours of sanding to fix the crank. Soon I will be driving again. I use You Tube a lot to find new ways of dealing with problems from real pros like you.
David, i have two of yours SBC books laying out right now. putting together a .020 over 350 SBC. won a few ebay auctions for Mitutoyo micrometers & bore gage. reading through two GM service manuals they both clearly spec the use of plastigage, one manual from '85 another '95. I found that interesting.
Thank you for all your videos and sharing your expertise. I read and used your books in the 1980s for rebuilding a small block Chevy 327 which lead to very successful racing stats. Much appreciated.
I’ve Been using those techniques I learned from your early publications for many many years and they are spot on!.. I even use the same Goodson bore gauge 😎 I’ve had a few funny looks from customers when I grab out the plastigage though haha 😆 Great content David!.. Keep it coming thanks
I've always dogged plastigauge but it does take into account inconsistency in the line bore or crank from bore to bore if they aren't straight that a dial gauge and mics won't see
Priceless information. I’ve been searching for this for a while. Needed to know if I should turn my TTY bolts 90 degrees when measuring crankshaft. That would stretch the bolts. Thanks.
Condolences on your loss David. Like many others who read your books as a teenager and put them to good use I was very happy to see you pop up on U tube. Keep up the great work. Cheers from Australia.
The term internal balance, is best referenced as neutral balanced flywheel and a neutral balanced harmonic balancer where all of the balance takes place on the inside of the Engine. Internal balance is the best, Bar None.
@@PSA78 well prep is never known or rarely by the us that here of failures was old balancer used what balencer was used was it even balanced . tolerances breaking it in or lack their of wile useing oem tight tolerances etc ..pardon grammar keyboard is dieingg china junkk loll..cheappo parts are a plague
@@overbuiltautomotive1299 I believe your keyboard might be from Eagle or Scat as well. 😂 I've seen several measured on several places to see how they are ground, and they tend to be barrel shaped and the radius is off creating rubbing against the bearing. Conrods is even worse, they tend to be out of round once they have been torque cycled. 🙈 If you want to buy the cheaper China stuff, get Molnar or Callies Compstar series. 👍
@@PSA78 yep i fill you man it suckks buyin china stuff it could be made here and not b outrageously priced .i figure greed epa and lack of drive could be culprit inn general not seeing more usa made stuff not too mention the consumer are so silly they buy junk and like it ..i needed a reliable runabout so dug around a got mild wrecked beater 2005 is300 lexus is300 239k went n got new tires Cosmo good and very fire priced and poly bushings and kyb and 6.00 brushes fir alternator as a refreash shocks a dream to drive now 2300 all in.. yes it was a bit of effort but no payments annd no chap china pars are on iit mostly japan stuff were it was made lol
@@overbuiltautomotive1299 Unfortunately many things made in China today is of really high quality if it's ordered that way. Meanwhile you've got all the companies trying play catch up and fails miserably, just look at all the US made cylinder heads that's pure crap out of the box, you couldn't pay a Chinese to copy Edelbrock for instance, they would rather jump off a building. 😂
While I truly admire you cylinder head/airflow and camshaft work I find this video very similar to your previous rod balancing video. As a machine shop owner their are no short cuts or home diy hacks that won't come back to bite you or cause sleepless nights. I totally agree that plastigage belongs in a Craftsman tool box because a professional uses neither of them!!! Reading Plastigage is very similar to reading tea leaves, somewhat open to interpretation. Plastigage is better than nothing and also next to nothing. Without precision equipment that at minimum measure in tenths you are only guessing when trying to determine a measurement using an instrument that measures in thousands or half thousands. Stacked clearances are what cause issues. Your crankshaft may be within spec and your main bore or connecting rod and bearing thickness may all be with in spec but can lead to disaster because every item has a specification range plus or minus. I agree that it is no fun to try to remove rod caps or main caps repeatedly, but more important is that it is detrimental to the fasteners and the cylinder block(steel bolts into cast iron threads) which is why main/head studs are important. All modern parts suck regardless of the name on the box. I often use 2-3 sets of bearing to come up with a proper set to equalize bearing clearances. All clearances need to established long before the engine is assembled or even balanced. I realized that I am lucky to have my own machine shop and more invested in inspection equipment than some people have invested in their house. All of my customers measure absolutely nothing because they trust me and we have open lines of communication but not everyone is in that situation unfortunately. I'm not sure what your affiliation with Goodson is but being affiliated with them does absolutely nothing for your reputation. Goodson is the "Walmart " of machine shop supplies. The vast majority of what they sell can be purchased directly from the supplier at a reduced cost by anyone. Their only advantage is that they are a one stop shop just like Walmart. I have yet to meet a shop owner who had any praise for Goodson. Yes I buy from Goodson on rare occasions when I'm super busy or lazy and want the convenience.
If he has done many engines & gets results, then his work is good, it might take looking back at the last 10 engines & see if they have held up over the years. He is trying to give the poor, DIY guy something to use other than luck.
@@superduty4556 a league of 5000$ 400hp long blocks. You blow up a sloppy engine you pull another one out from behind the shed. You blow up one of David's engines you cry youself to sleep and give up. Lol