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The LS is officially 20 years old now, yet it seems something new comes along almost daily with regard to performance-building these engines. On the traditional small-block Chevy.

Engine connecting rod and main bearing clearances have tightened in recent years for many racing applications, but there are caveats to this trend that engine builders need to acknowledge before bending.

When it comes to building a Saturday night engine, the engine budget always seems like the story lines from the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western "Dollars" trilogy: "A Fistful of Dollars," "A Few Dollars More" and the finale, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

Budget engine builds don’t have to be a the typical saga of the "man with no name" digging through the junkyard for battered good, bad and ugly engine parts to refurbish. You can actually rewrite the movie by providing a quality name and title it; "A Few Dollars Less."

DART Machinery's SHP blocks are often bypassed by the budget engine builder as being too pricey for a shoestring budget build. We wanted to know how much of a difference there was in "real" cost.

DART Machinery’s SHP (Special High Performance) engine blocks are often

Anything using an SFI certified racing harness that runs under 200mph. Valid for 5 years beyond the marked expiry date.

The ring gap allows the expansion of the piston rings in the bore – due to engine heat – without butting the ends up against each other.

Crankshaft balancing is just that, a balancing act. When an engine is running, there are many different forces working against each other that need to work in harmony.

Radial tyre racing has become a staple of competitive drag racing across the country and around the world, and it shows no signs of slowing down. 

Now while it’s awesome to have a cool looking and sounding car, we can’t forget that we want our car to perform just as well as it looks.

We’ve all heard it before: "Bigger is better"; "Go big or go home"; and "He who dies with the most toys, wins." While these sayings are mostly tongue-in-cheek and inspire people to get the most out of what they’re doing, going big isn’t always the best way to go when it comes to automotive performance.