At its most basic level, an engine is an air pump. Internal combustion engines breathe fresh air and expel wasted exhaust gases to make power. Something has to tell those intake and exhaust valves ...

Pushrod engines are a product of the past, yet they still deliver major performance in cars like the C8 Corvette. So why aren ...

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.

Valves are among the most complex components in the internal combustion engine. Many cars nowadays incorporate multiple ...

With the short block assembled for our 383 supercharged project motor, it's time to shift our attention once again; this time to the heads and valvetrain. Like the rotating assembly, when it came to ...

An internal combustion engine, at its core, is similar to a giant air pump. To produce power, it sucks in fresh air and fuel, compresses that mixture, and then explodes it, before expelling the burnt ...

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 ...

If there is one performance limitation to hydraulic roller lifters it is the maximum rpm capability they can maintain in race applications. The internal hydraulics of standard roller lifters are ...

This installment of Toyota's Engines 101 series takes a closer look at one of the most critical parts of an engine: its valvetrain. The video establishes what parts comprise a valvetrain, looks at ...