[Verdoro 68]

While I wait for my rotating assembly to arrive and machine work to be completed, I've started shopping for the tools I'll need to put this thing together. What are some cost effective, yet quality, options for guys like me who don't build engines every day?

On my shopping list:
- 2-3" and 3"-4" micrometers
- Dial bore indicator (.0001 graduations?)
- Piston ring installation tool (any advantage to non-adjustable?)
- Piston ring compressor (not sure brand matters)
- Ring filer (Summit or Jegs seem ok here?)

I have a Kobalt clicker-type torque wrench that's about 10 years old and seen light use. Not sure if it's worth upgrading or if I should just have it calibrated.

I know pros love Starrett and Mitutoyo for measurement tools but they are pricey. I've been looking at Fowler as a compromise. Are Harbor Freight mics a no-no? What about Summit brand?

[25stevem]

Add to your list a oil pump priming rod from Butler for 25 bucks.

If you will ever need to lash the valves then a long set of feeler gauges is nice .

[OG68]

A set of nut and bolt rethreaders
I've been told by my machinist not to use taps & dies to clean nuts and bolts with. Use the rethreader to clean the gunk, paint, and mild burrs from the threads.


https://www.amazon.com/Lang-Tools-25...e%2C232&sr=1-6

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by 25stevem

Add to your list a oil pump priming rod from Butler for 25 bucks.

If you will ever need to lash the valves then a long set of feeler gauges is nice .

I have an oil pump priming rod I picked up years ago for my first rebuild. I have a short set of feelers. Figured it would be needed for ring gap. I'll be running a hydraulic roller, so no need to lash valves.

[sdbob]

I use an old cast iron(you could use aluminum)gutted distributor, with 110 volt1/2" drill. Crankshaft turner,it slides 'on'off 'easy, old cracked balancer with handles bolted on. I'm frugal. Spend my money on tools I cant make.

[younggto]

Dial bore indicators are merely comparators to your mics; is a Mitutoyo or Sunnen the best, absolutely; will a Fowler compliment Starret or Mitutoyo mics well enough, probably for a garage enthusiast. I am no pro myself but if I was starting from scratch I would buy better mics (you use them a lot more when you have them) and buy a budget dial bore indicator. Ring squaring tools come in ranges for bore so they will fit a variety of bore sizes, and if only doing one or two engines the house brand manual will be fine. For piston/ring install, tapered tools are great and for like $40 for the Summit brand they work great. Soft jaws for your vice or pieces of copper for torquing rod bolts are a must unless you buy a rod vice. And like said before the oil pump priming shaft and an old distributor housing with a corded electric drill.

[Formulas]

reversable drill

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by OG68

A set of nut and bolt rethreaders
I've been told by my machinist not to use taps & dies to clean nuts and bolts with. Use the rethreader to clean the gunk, paint, and mild burrs from the threads.


https://www.amazon.com/Lang-Tools-25...e%2C232&sr=1-6

Good call. My machinist is supposed to clean the threads in the block, but I could see these being handy to have around outside of engine building.

Originally Posted by sdbob

I use an old cast iron(you could use aluminum)gutted distributor, with 110 volt1/2" drill. Crankshaft turner,it slides 'on'off 'easy, old cracked balancer with handles bolted on. I'm frugal. Spend my money on tools I cant make.

I have a 1/2" crank socket I got from Comp a while that's been a super handy tool to have around. I think I bought it when I degreed the cam in my last setup.

Originally Posted by younggto

Dial bore indicators are merely comparators to your mics; is a Mitutoyo or Sunnen the best, absolutely; will a Fowler compliment Starret or Mitutoyo mics well enough, probably for a garage enthusiast. I am no pro myself but if I was starting from scratch I would buy better mics (you use them a lot more when you have them) and buy a budget dial bore indicator. Ring squaring tools come in ranges for bore so they will fit a variety of bore sizes, and if only doing one or two engines the house brand manual will be fine. For piston/ring install, tapered tools are great and for like $40 for the Summit brand they work great. Soft jaws for your vice or pieces of copper for torquing rod bolts are a must unless you buy a rod vice. And like said before the oil pump priming shaft and an old distributor housing with a corded electric drill.

Thanks - super helpful! Maybe the smarter thing to do is to pick up some gently used high quality mics in the specific sizes I need over buying a whole set of new marginal quality mics.

Originally Posted by Formulas

reversable drill

Got one! I actually inherited an old school relatively low RPM but very high torque drill from my father in law that works great for priming engines.

[mgarblik]

I will try to give you some helpful info on tools. Micrometers: For occasional use I would still recommend buying a full set of 0-6" mics. That's because you will need a 0-1 for valve train measurements, then a 2-3 and 3-4 for the crankshaft. Then a 4-5 for pistons and to set your bore gauge. By the time you buy all those, you might as well buy a set in a nice wood box. Sure, I am a tool snob. But at just under a grand for Starret, Brown and Sharp, or Mitsutoyo, that's just too much. A Chinese set with a vernier scale, .0001 will be just fine at about $150.00 a set. Pawn shops, swap meets are great places to get the good stuff at a tremendous discount if you want to go that way. With the Chinese stuff, check them with a standard every time you use them and use the ratchet or friction sleeve to zero and get your measurements. The frames on the 2-3" and larger are usually sheet metal and will deflect if you put much pressure on them. Fowler mics are made in Poland and are decent, but likely only a tick better than most of the Chinese stuff. Moving on, I personally do not use a ring installer. I can roll them on the piston quickly and easily without tools. If you feel you need one , the ones that look allot like snap ring pliers would be my choice. The ones that more like thin vice grips with a couple springs and surround the ring , I hate and do not use. We call those the "ring breaker 5000". They ruin more rings than they install. Ring grinders: For occasional use I just use a sharp mill file and file from the outside in and de-burr with a stone. For production use, I have the $600.00 110V electric motor driven filer. Goodson.com sell that as well as many others. A hand ring filer that uses human power and a disc works OK and is affordable. The battery powered electric ring filers are flimsy garbage as far as I am concerned. They won't grind a parallel ring gap no matter what you do and how much time you spend setting them up. Complete waste of money IMO. Ring installer: Nothing better than a one piece tapered installer. Since you are building a specific engine, not too expensive. I have about 40 different sizes, so it can get expensive at 35.00-50.00 each. I would also add a cheap metal digital dial caliper to your list. At about 50.00, they are great for quick measurements of all kinds of things. Digital lets you do fast conversions to metric. Hope this helps. I will post some pics of stuff I like and hate.

[Schurkey]

1. I don't use an electric drill--even 1/2" capacity--for priming. I use an old distributor, turned by hand about one or one-and-a-half revolutions per second. 60--90 RPM. When you see oil pressure, you're done. There's no need to squirt oil over the fenders from the rocker arms. Priming takes 30 seconds, it's NOT a career that takes hours or involves turning the crankshaft.

2. Long-handle "rifle" brushes, for cleaning out oil galleries, the oil holes in the crankshaft, etc. You'll need them in various diameters and reaches; fortunately they're sold as a "kit" with several sizes. My machinist is a good guy...but his part-time help is questionable, and they're the ones in charge of cleaning. I was pretty disgusted when I ran a brush through the crank holes, and the small oil galleries and got little piles of debris from each one.

3. "Double-strength" plate glass--about one foot square, bigger is OK. Put wet-or-dry sandpaper on it and then you've got a flat surface to sand clearance into or out of your oil pump. I use solvent as a sanding aid.

[mgarblik]

Here are some pics. This is the crap, do not buy list.

[mgarblik]

Here is the pretty decent list

[mgarblik]

Here is the really good stuff. Bring your wallet.

[Brentco]

Some things that haven’t been mentioned:

- A set of rifle brushes to clean block passages and everything else
- A crank rotating attachment and a cam rotating attachment (the precise names escape me). These are two items that seemed unnecessary but actually were very helpful.
- Light checking valve springs
- Adjustable pushrod
- Deck bridge (for measuring piston depth)
- Yes, it’s a good time to invest in quality torque wrenches. They’re not cheap, but they’re essential. I use a big 25” wrench that’s 30-250 ft lbs and a 16” wrench that’s 5- 75 ft lbs. The different scales give you more accuracy, and the long wrench is key when you have to do all the main bolts multiple times and other huge torque numbers.

I used a cheap Jegs ring filer. It wasn’t great, but got the job done with a bit of extra labor. Get an extra grinding disc. The next step up in ring filers was hundreds and hundreds of bucks, and didn’t seem worth the investment for occasional use.

It pains me a bit to say this, but like mgarblik I’ve found the Chinese mics on ebay actually work great.

[Brentco]

Oh, and the non-adjustable ring compressors are much better.

[67drake]

I know it’s been mentioned already, but I got all my micrometers used off of EBay. Start watching for what you want, to get a feel for the going used prices. When a deal comes along you’ll see it. Many times someone is selling off a machinist tools, and will have all the sizes you’ll want all in one purchase, for the price of one new one.

[ANDYA]

Don’t forget a good dial indicator and magnetic stand. Needed for degreeing a cam, checking crankshaft endplay etc.

[Schurkey]

I'm fond of the lifter-bore holder for a dial indicator when degreeing the camshaft. Obviously, a degree wheel is required, also. There are other sorts of dial indicator holders, but this is simple and easy.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-4925

Tapered ring compressors are wonderful...and expensive. This is what I use. Beware--there's imported-junk knockoffs of the genuine Lisle tool, and in a cruel twist of fate, they cost as much as the genuine item. The last time I inspected the knockoff, they'd punched the metal strap from the wrong direction--leaving jagged edges which would destroy the moly face of the rings as you slide the piston into the cylinder. This is more-or-less infinitely adjustable, and with care holds the adjustment from first piston to the last piston of each build. Cheap and effective.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lil-21700

[Verdoro 68]

Wondering if these quality as the "decent" $160 mics mgarblik mentioned?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cbi-50070

I've been perusing used Mitutoyo and Starrett mics on eBay. The seem to be anywhere from $70-$200 for a set, although most used sets don't have a 3-4". Anything to watch out for with used mics? Are digital read outs worth it?

How about a dial bore indicator? Seems like most of the sub $200 ones are .0005 accuracy. Is that sufficient for bearing clearances when the mics go to .0001?

[mgarblik]

I looked at the link you provided. The Chicago branded Mics look OK. Really wish they had a pic or two of the barrel and the scales. Also, it's hard to see the frames with them in the box. But they have carbide tips. They have ratchets rather than friction thimbles, which I personally prefer. Just like the feel of a ratchet. It looks like all 6 in that set have cast frames vs sheet metal. If you look at some of the other mics in the other suggestions below the first set. The Mics with the blue frames are basically sheet metal and not preferred. On the cheap mics, I recommend staying away from the digital readouts. They are mechanical and fail in short order. The mics come with standards. So check them at the minimum and maximum of their range with the standards. When we teach micrometer reading at my school, we use the cheap stuff for teaching. Because they get dropped, get used improperly, get used as a C clamp. Once we can either teach proper use and respect for the tools or flunk them out, then we break out the good stuff for critical measurements.