Before the implementation of hydraulic lifters to keep the engine's valves in proper working order, regular adjustment was required to maintain the critically necessary clearance in the valvetrain.

Last month's "How It Works" story gave you the basics of the four-stroke cycle, describing the motion of the intake and exhaust valves in relation to the piston moving up and down in the cylinder.

Although the basic purpose of a valvespring is to close the valve while also ensuring that the valvetrain stays in contact with the cam lobe, it must perform this feat under grueling conditions that ...

In the pre-LS era, a typical small-block-powered street car would rev willingly to around 5,000 rpm. You could assemble a cam package for it—even using heavy components—and you probably wouldn't have ...

Give them the results of a TDC valve-drop static clearance test, and Comp Cam's techs can calculate the piston-to-valve clearance for any of its cams at any degree of rotation. This is especially ...

Most modern variable valve-timing (VVT) systems use a cam phaser that rotates the position of each cam­shaft relative to the timing chain. Think of making a record turntable go faster or slower by ...