Tag: XL Tech Stories

Old School Repair: This Dude Welds A Crankshaft Back Together Like A Boss! It Was Broken In Two!

Dec 23, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, ENGINE, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories

Old School Repair: This Dude Welds A Crankshaft Back Together Like A Boss! It Was Broken In Two!

If you watch videos from other countries, where guys are doing repairs that would seem nearly impossible without modern tools, you start to appreciate and understand what our grandparents and great grandparents were doing to make similar repairs. It’s a true testament to how good something can be even without CNC machines or what have you. In this video, the only equipment used to fix this completely snapped crankshaft is a drill press, a stick welder, and a lathe. The lathe isn’t anything new, but it does seem to work well, and the guy using it clearly knows what he’s doing. But the lathe could be 50 years old or 5, it’s all the same.

Watch as this guy cleans and machines each end of the broken pieces, which might actually be from two different crankshafts, slides them together, indexes them, and then gets his arc welding on. He then straightens the crank, machines the crank, and finally drills the oiling holes in it and then sends it on its way to be used in some truck or what have you. It’s impressive and you’ll dig it.

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Dyno Proven 500 Horsepower Combos: Three Stock Bottom End 5.3 LS Combos That Will Make You 500 Horsepower Or More.

Dec 23, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, ENGINE, ENGINES, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories

Dyno Proven 500 Horsepower Combos: Three Stock Bottom End 5.3 LS Combos That Will Make You 500 Horsepower Or More.

I get asked about LS engine combos all the time, and the overwhelming majority of them are from people who think that they need to build an engine with all aftermarket parts. When I ask them how much horsepower they want to make, the vast majority say something like 450 horsepower. This makes me shake my head, because making 400 to 500 horsepower is simple and doable if you have a 5.3 LS that runs. Stock they make 350 horsepower, so anything you do from there will make real power improvements. A camshaft and headers will make over 400, and when you combine an intake, heads, etc, there are real power numbers to be had. And then there’s nitrous! Okay that’s another video, these are completely naturally aspirated combos that are based on a stock bottom end 5.3L.

Check out Richard’s combos, dyno results, and more in the video below.

Video Description:

HOW DO I MAKE 500 HP WITH MY 5.3L? DO I NEED FORGED INTERNALS TO MAKE 500 HP WITH MY 5.3L? CAN MY 5.3L MAKE 500 HP WITHOUT BOOST? WHAT IS THE BEST CAM TO USE ON MY 5.3L? WHAT ARE THE BEST HEADS TO USE ON MY 5.3L? WHAT INTAKE SHOULD I USE ON MY 5.3L? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO ON THREE (3) DIFFERENT 5.3L BUILDS THAT NOT ONLY EXCEEDED 500 FLYWHEEL HP, BUT DID SO WITH THE STOCK BOTTOM END (STOCK BLOCK, CRANK, RODS AND PISTONS). ALL YOU NEED ARE THE RIGHT HEADS, CAM AND INTAKE (WITH HEADERS) AND YOU TOO CAN REACH THE 500-HP MARK.

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Facebook Find: This 1980 Z28 Camaro Is Throwback Greatness I Would Drive Like A Boss

The Crawler Hauler Project Is Getting All Kinds Of Updates! Second Story Deck, Covered Porch, Fire Pit, And More!

We’ve shared a couple updates on this cool crawler hauler build, and really dig the way this thing is coming along. It started out pretty basic, but there is nothing basic about it now. We’re talking about a second story deck, fire pit, solar, a nicely finished out interior, and more! Check out the latest two videos and let us know what you think.

IF YOU MISSED ANY OF THE PREVIOUS BUILD VIDEOS, CLICK HERE

As the resident RV and trailer guy, I appreciate cool campers, rvs, car haulers, and the like. I have often thought about building my own toy hauler of sorts and this one certainly is cool. It’s not huge, or fancy, but it sure looks like a great way to spend the evenings when out on the trail in your favorite off-road rig. Or a nice place to get out of the sun if you are at a race. And while everyone always wants enclosed trailers, the only downside is that they are limited on what you can fit inside them if what you are into is lifted or big stuff. Even a lot of current side by sides have a hard time fitting in your average enclosed trailer if you do anything to the suspension systems on them. But that is NOT an issue on this bad boy and we dig it.

Like I said it isn’t going to be the fanciest accommodations, but it is out of the sun, the rain, and the cold so that makes it good to us.

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Valvetrain Tech: If Light Weight And Low Reciprocating Mass Matter So Much, Do Stiffer Valve Springs Cost Horsepower?

Jun 26, 20211320 Engine Tech, 1320 Tech Story, Apex Engine Tech, Apex Tech Stories, Apex Video, ENGINE, ENGINES, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Engine Tech, XL Tech Stories

Valvetrain Tech: If Light Weight And Low Reciprocating Mass Matter So Much, Do Stiffer Valve Springs Cost Horsepower?

Roller rockers, roller lifters, beehive valve springs, lightweight valves, lightweight locks and retainers, and the list goes on. These are all things designed to aid in controlling valvetrain at high rpm and under extreme power levels, and they do this by reducing the load required to move and control these components. So it would make sense that lighter valve springs would also be good for that. After all, anyone that has built an engine before knows that spinning the engine over by hand is very easy when it is just a short block and gets harder as you add components. If you have an engine with no spark plugs in it, and no rocker arms, then it is still really easy to spin by hand. But when you also have to turn the valvetrain, it becomes much more difficult.

So if you had an engine that didn’t “require” heavier valve springs, because it wasn’t going to be run at high rpm or didn’t have a camshaft that needed the extra valve control that heavy springs provide, would it make more horsepower with lighter weight springs that the others? Logic says yes. Or at least it seems like it does. But what does the dyno say?

Luckily for us, Richard Holdener knows because he’s done this very test and here it is so you can see for yourself.

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Snatch Block Or Snatch Ring? Which One Is More Efficient For Pulling Your Junk Out Of A Tough Spot? Time For Physics Class

Feb 06, 2021XL Spotlight, XL Tech Stories, XL Videos

Snatch Block Or Snatch Ring? Which One Is More Efficient For Pulling Your Junk Out Of A Tough Spot? Time For Physics Class

If you are an off-roader, and have ever used a winch, then you are probably familiar with a snatch block. If you’ve ever had a hard time dragging a car onto your trailer with a winch and have used a snatch block to help, you know to use them, but may not know why.  If you’ve used one, even if you don’t know that you know, you have experience with the Pulley Principle. I won’t bore you with too much physics, but here are the important parts. Generically speaking, using a snatch block does two things. First, it makes the winch work half as hard, or able to pull twice as much, and second it pulls half as fast. Again, it’s simple physics, but the snatch block has been around for hundreds of years. Seriously, the same principles and technology have been used in moving things and lifting things since man first made the wheel. But is there something better? The technology changes in the rest our world surely have impacted the snatch block right? Well, sorta.

Instead of just having snatch blocks, now there are snatch rings, which work on the exact same principle but with a little more flexibility. Again, same physics, but different logistics and ergonomics. But is one actually better than the other? And does it matter just how you are using it? Keep in mind, snatch blocks and snatch rings are not just used to make your winch stronger, but also to be able to change the direction of a pull. Does this change which one is better?

I’ve never used a snatch ring, but now that I’ve seen them I think there is some merit in keeping one in the trailer box to go along with my other wince accessories, like my snatch block.

Before you watch this video, be fare warned that there are some physics class moments in the video, but the payoff is actual testing while pulling rigs with a winch cable. This is real world testing, with all the physics and dynamics explained.

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