May 13th 2026
Piston rings are small components responsible for sealing the combustion chamber, regulating oil consumption, and transferring heat from the piston to the cylinder wall. Among the various types of pis…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
May 6th 2026
Ever press the gas and feel like your car's holding back? Like there’s more power under the hood, but it’s just not making it to the wheels? You’re not imagining things. Most stock e…
May 6th 2026
A connecting rod works harder than most parts inside an engine. Every time the air-fuel charge fires, pressure drives the piston downward, and the rod carries that load straight to the crankshaft. A m…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
May 6th 2026
AFM System Disable: GM Engine Performance Upgrade Let’s start at the top. What is AFM? Active Fuel Management (AFM)—also called Cylinder Deactivation—is a system GM uses in many of i…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Apr 15th 2026
What is "Cam Break In Oil" and how important is it? So you just finished up with an engine rebuild. Or maybe you have a brand-new assembly that’s all ready to go. Well, there's one more importa…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Apr 1st 2026
When Should You Not Be Soaking Lifters? You should not be soaking lifters that are pre-oiled, pre-assembled, or labeled “no pre-soak required” by the manufacturer. Many modern hydraulic…
Published by Steve Koch
Mar 25th 2026
Pre-1980 V8s have seen decades of heat cycles, vibration, and real road miles. Cast iron blocks and heads expand and contract every time the engine warms up, then cools back down. After years of that…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Mar 4th 2026
Using Plastigage to Check Clearances: A Simple Guide for Beginners Plastigage, despite its unassuming appearance, reveals crucial details about your engine’s inner workings. That small strip, pr…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Feb 16th 2026
It’s tempting to start with the biggest number on the chart. Bigger intake valve. Bigger exhaust valve. The bigger the number, the more horsepower, right? That’s not always how it plays ou…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Feb 12th 2026
If you’re building or refreshing an engine, valve springs directly control valve motion, rpm stability, and overall reliability. That’s where spring testers like these from Proform come in…
Published by Steve Koch
Feb 9th 2026
The 4.0 OHV setup keeps the cam down in the block and sends motion up through lifters, push rods, and rocker arms. That layout works, but it asks a lot from the parts in between. Every rotation puts l…
Published by Steve Koch, Northern Auto Parts
Feb 5th 2026
Why Proper Lubrication Matters Proper lubrication is one of the most critical steps when building or rebuilding an engine. Many early engine failures happen within the first minutes of operation, ofte…
Published by Steve Koch
