High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting
Master the precision blueprinting tolerances, valvetrain harmonics, and oiling system modifications required to keep high-output GM LS engines alive under severe RPM and boost.
Like Duolingo, but for High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Bottom-End Blueprinting and Dynamic Sealing and Top-End Stability and Critical Fluid Dynamics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting
- Aluminum LS blocks expand roughly 0.001" more across the main journals at operating temperature than cast-iron LS blocks
- Setting cold clearance too loose (e.g., above 0.0025") in an aluminum LS block causes excessive clearance at 200°F+ oil temps, leading to hot oil pressure collapse
- Cold main clearances for aluminum LS race engines are typically targeted tighter (around 0.0018"–0.0022") to land at the desired 0.0028"–0.0030" operating window
- Aftermarket forged LS crankshafts use large rolled fillet radii to increase fatigue strength under high-RPM reciprocating loads
- Standard production-style LS bearings have minimal edge chamfer and will ride directly on the fillet radius rather than the flat journal surface
- Performance LS bearings (such as King XP or Clevite H-series) feature a pronounced edge chamfer or narrowed width specifically engineered to clear these fillets
- Main studs exert different clamping forces and radial distortion on LS main bulkheads compared to factory TTY torque-angle bolts, requiring final fasteners and lubricant during bore measurement
- The deep-skirt LS architecture relies on horizontal cross-bolts that pull the side walls inward, drastically changing vertical and horizontal main bore roundness
- Torquing cylinder head studs/plates distorts the block deck and upper main bearing bulkheads, altering true roundness on high-performance LS blocks
- Centerless grinding or polishing errors can introduce tri-lobe out-of-round conditions that show constant diameter when measured only 90 degrees apart
- Above 7,000 RPM, reciprocating inertia creates massive cyclic deflection; any journal out-of-roundness disrupts the hydrodynamic wedge, leading to bearing metal-to-metal contact
- Checking main journals at 120-degree intervals confirms true circular geometry and adequate eccentric taper towards the parting lines
- The LS #3 main cap houses the thrust bearing flanges, which must have their upper and lower thrust faces perfectly coplanar to share axial loads evenly
- Snugging the cap lightly allows the bearing halves to slip when the crank is bumped fore and aft with a dead-blow hammer or pry bar
- Torquing the cap before bumping traps misalignment between the upper and lower thrust flanges, causing thrust bearing pinching and premature wipeout
- Final axial endplay (typically 0.003"–0.007" on an LS) is verified with a dial indicator only after final torque is applied
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What happens at 200°F+ oil temps if you set your cold main clearances in an aluminum LS block too loose, say above 0.0025"?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
How to learn High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting, step by step
Go in order. 12 short levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Bottom-End Blueprinting and Dynamic Sealing
- Bearing Clearances and Crankshaft Geometry
- Cylinder Sealing Under Extreme Cylinder Pressure
- 2
Top-End Stability and Critical Fluid Dynamics
- Valvetrain Harmonic Control at High Lift
- LS Oiling System Architecture Under High G-Loads
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting
How do I learn High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting?
Go in order: start with Bottom-End Blueprinting and Dynamic Sealing, then Top-End Stability and Critical Fluid Dynamics. On Tomo that's 12 short levels, about 24 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting course free?
Yes. High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting?
12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting?
No. It's pitched at an advanced level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting today.
Download Tomo, search High-Performance LS Engine Blueprinting, and play your first lesson in under a minute.