The Tools You’ll Need for Building the Chevy LS Engine Family

The Tools You’ll Need for Building the Chevy LS Engine Family

By Jeff Smith   –   Photography by the Author and Courtesy of the Manufacturers

It’s not like you woke up one morning and told yourself “I’m going to become an engine builder.” That’s rarely how it starts. It more often begins when you find yourself buying a torque wrench, a dial caliper, or maybe a universal piston ring compressor. Pretty soon, there’s a growing collection of gear in your tool cabinet, but to do the job correctly, you know you need to get serious, and that demands better tools.

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We thought it would be worth the effort to assemble a collection of the popular LS engine building tools that any self-respecting master of the micrometer should have in his or her possession. This is not a complete set of ideas but rather a collection of the tools that experience shows are necessary for this next-generation small-block Chevy.

The initial part of our list covers the basics that everyone needs to accomplish the barest of engine assembly tasks. A few of the more specialized items can be considered universal items like ring grinders and cam degree components, while the majority will aim specifically at the LS engine family.

If you’re just getting started, don’t get discouraged at the prices of these tools. They may seem impossible to afford on a mac and cheese budget, but if you’re serious about building engines, there are ways to make this happen. It will take years, but it will happen. When we started in the early ’80s, a set of six quality micrometers cost over $500. That’s roughly equivalent to $1,400 in today’s dollars. But the consensus among professional engine builders is that you have to invest in good tools and you can’t be an engine builder without precision tools like micrometers and dial bore gauges.

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Measuring for Compatible Componentry: Ensuring the Specifications on Internal Parts are What They Appear to Be

The other half of this approach is to not squander your money on cheap tools. To use the above micrometer example, we’re not saying you must spend $1,400 but don’t be tempted to cheap out on mics that only measure to 0.001 inch. They are a waste of time and money.

This clearly points to forget about that green wax string called Plastigage. That is not a precision measurement instrument. Did you know they have a rather short shelf life? If you were building an engine on a desert island and that’s all you had, then yes. There is no excuse for not using quality tools. If you can’t afford them, convince a micrometer-owning friend to help or pay a shop to do the task. As you can see from our list, there are plenty of other options to begin collecting tools. An easily affordable idea is a dial indicator with a magnetic base. You will find this tool has several uses. Combine that with a degree wheel and a crank turning tool and you have the essentials to degree a cam.

But we’ve jumped ahead a little. Right from the disassembly, the LS challenges builders because factory harmonic balancers are not drilled with the common three-bolt flange employed by older engines. This will require an LS-specific combined puller and installer. Summit Racing offers a complete kit that will do both jobs, but it’s pricey, at over $200. If you already have a generic balancer puller, you can buy the long center stud separately to press the balancer on, but you will still be faced with purchasing a separate puller to remove the old one. We’ve listed one inexpensive puller that can get the job done.

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Homebuilt, Old-School Small-Block Chevy: Part 1: Bottom-End Assembly

Simple items like an engine stamp kit are critical to ensure rods and caps stay together and main caps remain where they belong. There are also tools you can make yourself that will do the job just as well as store-bought items. Faced with our first LS engine build many years ago, we needed a way to align the front timing cover on a 6.0L iron-block LS. Ken Duttweiler suggested cutting the hub out of an old truck balancer and honing the center. We still use that tool and we think its construction is superior to the store-bought stuff we’ve tried. It cost nothing to build except an hour’s worth of effort.

Another simple homemade tool is a piston ring squaring tool. You can buy a fully adjustable one, but we use an old, flat-top piston with a 5/64-inch ring in the second ring groove. We invert the piston and use the flat piston top to square the ring in the cylinder for endgap. Of course, for different bore sizes you will need a collection of pistons and rings. But that’s cheap and easy.

For years, we also used a hand-cranked ring grinder. The only problem was that it taxed our patience for the time it required to achieve the required results. We finally splurged on a professional ring grinder and now we have a growing group of friends who call when it’s ring endgap time. It’s become a social event.

If you have local friends who are into a similar engine building plan, it might be worthwhile to form a tool collective. You buy the ring endgap machine and a buddy invests in a valvespring tester. With several friends willing to get involved, the tools are available to everyone.

A Good Engine Build Starts at the Bottom: Basics of properly building a small-block engine

Some of these tools can be used for quick jobs that are not always identified with a complete rebuild. Older LS engines suffer from brittle plastic lifter holders that don’t always produce a solid grip on the lifter and dropping one is a real pain to retrieve. The prevention of dropped lifter syndrome is a 26- to 30-inch long 5/16-inch aluminum or wooden dowel that slips inside the oil galley with the lifters in the “up” position. The dowels prevent the lifters from falling into the oil pan, cost next to nothing, and might save a ton of wasted effort.

A small tool that is immensely helpful is some type of crank turning tool when assembling the bottom-end or when degreeing the cam. These tasks involve turning the engine backward, which is hard to do when using a crank bolt. An LS-specific crank turning tool is the only real solution, and that tool will also mount your degree wheel. A professional degree wheel is nice to have and perhaps a bit more accurate, but not essential for the budding engine builder. A smaller and more affordable 8-inch wheel will do fine. Sometimes a dedicated cam degree kit will include all the necessary tools at a slight discount compared to purchasing the items separately.

Ring compressors are another personal preference item. For the entry-level builder, it will be less expensive to buy a universal clamp-style ring compressor that will handle a wide range of bores. Among these tools, we like the type using the long handles with several diameter band clamps. This tool is a little easier to control, but the key is setting the shell perfectly flat on the deck. Of course, the tapered ring compressors are even easier to use but require a new tool with each new bore diameter.

This story has made a significant dent in covering what’s out there to assist in the art of LS engine building. This should give you a great starting place and priority for assembling a worthy collection of instruments to further your passion for making horsepower. Besides, buying tools is always fun.

Tool List Basics

Description                                         Part Number    Source

LS Specific

Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of The Tools You’ll Need for Building the Chevy LS Engine Family.

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