Cheap Chevy heads need a homemade fix at Jim's Automotive

An old spark plug becomes a cutting tool as the Colorado shop checks whether budget cylinder heads are worth the extra work.

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Jim's Automotive Machine Shop, Inc. Story of November 4, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Cheap aluminum heads for our Chevy 350… worth it or a waste of money? 👀

They weren't bolt-on ready. The cheap aluminum cylinder heads in Jim's Automotive Machine Shop, Inc.'s most-watched new upload needed more than an inspection before going onto a Chevy 350.

Sharp spark-plug threads protruded into the combustion chambers. Dad's solution was wonderfully shop-specific: make a cutting tool from an old spark plug and a modified drill bit. Misaligned exhaust valve seats needed recutting, too, followed by adjustments to spring heights and valve stems. The finished checks showed sealed valves and the intended chamber volume, but the narrator reserves the engine's dyno test for a future video.

The upload reached about 215,000 views, and its comments turn the cheap-parts question into something more practical: what can you afford if you don't have your own machine shop? Some viewers describe paying extra for parts they expect to arrive ready to use; others argue that a familiar brand doesn't remove the need for inspection. One suggests testing parts across several price brackets.

Four uploads filled the week, including a troubled Chevy head-bolt repair and two fresh engine-work installments. The supplier-call Short is drawing the most daily views now, followed by "THIS Engine Just Keeps FIGHTING Us!" The earlier CNC-versus-traditional head-surfacing video also remains busy, with more than a million views overall.

The channel added about a thousand subscribers over the week, while daily viewing is moderately above its usual level. It also had the largest weekly views gain among its nearby motoring peers. NoNonsenseKnowHow stayed close to its normal daily audience, while Car and Driver was notably busier than usual. Here, the week's most useful little invention was still an old spark plug given another job.

Published on Trari

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What viewers say

I don't like cheap, generic parts. I don't have my own machine shop, so depend on parts to be ready to go out of the box.
@mikestephens6194See it on YouTube
They are a heck of a lot better than what we had to work with in the 80s when we were just teenagers and poor ..
@johnnymoran180See it on YouTube
Man I think you have a great idea here. Even some name brand parts are arriving from factory out of spec. If you could test parts from high/med/low price range and rate them, that would be a great series. I would watch!
@idlemindedjSee it on YouTube

4 more comments

Lotta work outta the box..
@docholliday6635See it on YouTube
I’m for good parts and supporting the machine shop guys.
@pauldicou2153See it on YouTube
Your dad did a really nice job on making those as good as he could. He knows so many tricks that it didn’t seem to take him very long.
@justinpedalpusherSee it on YouTube
Personally I'd spend the extra, but id get a machine shop to give them the once over to make them suitable
@timothyengland3See it on YouTube