Atomic Autosports — Wickliffe, Ohio
Engine Work
Rebuilds, Head Gaskets & Swaps
Atomic Autosports takes on engine work at our shop in Wickliffe, Ohio, ten minutes east of Cleveland: head gasket replacement, camshaft and valvetrain installs, full rebuilds, engine replacement and engine swaps. The work is done by people who prepare race cars for a living, which means every engine that leaves here is assembled to be used hard and then trusted. Tell us what the car is, what it is doing and what you want it to do next, and we will tell you what the job actually involves before anything comes apart.
Engine work at a race shop
From a head gasket to a full rebuild
Engine work covers a lot of ground. On one end is a head gasket on a late-model Civic, a job that is mostly about cleanliness, sequence and the right torque procedure. On the other is a Honda race engine going together with new pistons, a cam and a bore that has just come back from the machine shop. Both come through the bays here, and both get the same approach.
That approach starts with a diagnosis you can see. Compression and leak-down numbers tell us which cylinder is down and whether the problem is rings, valves or a gasket, and that decides whether the job is a top end, a rebuild or a replacement. You get those numbers and the reasoning before we recommend anything. Once the job is scoped, the engine goes together in order, with every fastener torqued to the manufacturer’s published procedure and every clearance measured rather than assumed.
Jobs that come through the bays:
- Head gasket replacement, with the head checked for flatness and the cooling system bled properly afterward
- Camshaft, lifter, spring and pushrod installs on LS engines, with Atomic an authorized Brian Tooley Racing dealer
- Full rebuilds: teardown, measurement, machine work coordinated with the machine shop, then assembly and break-in here
- Engine replacement with a new, remanufactured or used engine when the original is beyond saving
- Engine swaps, including LS swaps into cars that did not leave the factory with one
- Timing components, front and rear main seals, oil pumps and harmonic balancers while the front of the engine is open
Most of what we see is a mix: a head gasket job that turns into a cam conversation, or a rebuild where the owner decides to build the block properly while it is apart. We will tell you where the sensible stopping points are.
Engine diagnosis, head gaskets, cams, rebuilds, replacement and swaps — GM LS and LT, Honda K and F, Ford Coyote, Subaru, Hemi, BMW.
Compression and leak-down · Head gasket replacement · Cam and valvetrain · Rebuild assembly · Engine replacement · LS swaps · Break-in and follow-up
Service Detail
Engine Rebuild and Replacement Service
Service
Engine Rebuilds, Head Gaskets and Engine Swaps
Head GasketLeak-Down TestCamshaft InstallValvetrainRebuild AssemblyEngine ReplacementLS SwapBreak-In
An engine job done in the right order: the problem confirmed with compression and leak-down numbers before anything comes apart, the block and head measured before parts are ordered, machine work sent out with a spec sheet rather than a guess, and the assembly done here with every clearance checked and every fastener torqued to the published procedure.
GM LS and LT
- LS1, LS2, LS3, LS6, LS7, LQ4/LQ9 and Gen V LT1, LT4
- Cam and valvetrain packages, lifter and spring upgrades, oil pump and timing set, head gaskets and full rebuilds. The platform the shop knows best.
Honda K and F
- K20, K24, F20C, F22C in Civic Si, Type R, Integra and S2000
- Head gaskets on street cars through to race engines built for sustained high rpm. Head studs and oil control get discussed early on a track engine.
Chrysler Hemi
- 5.7, 6.1, 6.4 in Charger, Challenger and 300
- Engine replacement and drop-in installs, plus the lifter and camshaft work these engines are known to need.
Ford Modular and Coyote
- 4.6, 5.4 and 5.0 Coyote in Mustang and F-150
- Cam phaser and timing work, head gaskets, and rebuilds specified around how the car is used.
Subaru EJ and FA
- EJ20, EJ25 in WRX and STI; FA20 and FA24 in BRZ, GR86 and FR-S
- Head gaskets and rebuilds on the EJ, and the top-end work FA engines see once they go on track regularly.
Machine work and tuning
- Block and head machining goes to the machine shop with our measurements and a written spec. We do not machine in house, and we say so.
- ECU calibration after a cam or rebuild is coordinated with the tuning partners we work with. The engine is built and installed here; the tune is written by the people who write tunes all day.
Diagnose before disassembly
Compression and leak-down testing, a cooling system pressure test and a look at the oil tell us which cylinder is down and why. A misfire, a coolant loss and a knock are three different jobs, and you hear which one you have before the intake comes off.
Measure and decide
With the head or the whole engine apart, bores, decks, journals and valve guides get measured against the factory limits. That is the point where rebuild versus replace becomes a number rather than an opinion, and we walk through it with you.
Build it in order
Machine work goes out with a spec sheet. Assembly happens here: bearing clearances checked with a micrometer and bore gauge, ring gaps filed to the application, every fastener to the published torque and sequence, cam timing verified with a degree wheel where it applies.
Break-in and follow-up
A fresh engine gets a break-in procedure matched to the ring and cam package, an oil change at the end of it, and a recheck of fasteners and fluids. If a tune is part of the job, it is scheduled after the engine has proven itself mechanically.
How the job usually gets specified
Three ways this goes
Which one you need comes down to what the diagnosis finds and what you want the car to do afterward. We tell you which before we order parts.
Repair the top end
- Head gasket replacement with the head checked for flatness
- Valve seals, timing components and seals while it is open
- Cooling system pressure tested and bled
- Suited to a healthy engine with one known fault
Rebuild the engine
- Full teardown and measurement against factory limits
- Machine work sent out with a written spec
- New bearings, rings, gaskets and the cam package you choose
- Assembly, break-in and follow-up here
Replace or swap
- New, remanufactured or used engine installed
- Or an LS swap into a car that did not come with one
- Mounts, harness, cooling and exhaust sorted as one job
- Tune coordinated after the mechanical work is proven
Common Questions
Engine work questions we get asked
What are the signs of a blown head gasket?
The common ones are coolant loss with no visible leak, white exhaust smoke on a warm engine, a milky film in the oil or on the filler cap, bubbles in the coolant reservoir with the engine running, and a misfire on one cylinder that clears as the engine warms. Atomic Autosports in Wickliffe, Ohio confirms a head gasket with a cooling system pressure test and a cylinder leak-down test before recommending the job, because a cracked head or a failed intake gasket can look the same from the driver's seat.
How do you decide between rebuilding an engine and replacing it?
By measuring. Once the engine is apart, Atomic Autosports checks bores, deck surfaces, crank journals and valve guides against the factory service limits. If the block and head are within limits or can be machined back to them, a rebuild makes sense. If the block is cracked, the bores are beyond the last oversize, or the cost of machining approaches the cost of a good replacement engine, we say so. The decision is made with numbers in front of you at the shop in Wickliffe, Ohio, not before the engine is opened.
Do you do engine machine work in house?
No, and we are upfront about that. Atomic Autosports measures and specifies the machine work, sends the block and head out to a machine shop with a written spec, and does the assembly, installation and break-in at the shop in Wickliffe, Ohio. The same is true of ECU tuning after a cam or rebuild, which is coordinated with the tuning partners we work with. What happens in house is the diagnosis, the teardown, the measurement, the build and the install.
Can you install a camshaft I already bought?
Yes. Atomic Autosports installs customer-supplied camshafts and valvetrain as long as the parts match the engine and each other, and we check that before the job starts. Atomic is also an authorized Brian Tooley Racing dealer, so LS cam packages, springs, pushrods and lifters can be sourced through the shop in Wickliffe, Ohio with the matching components in one order. Either way the cam is degreed on install and the valvetrain geometry is checked.
How long does an engine rebuild take?
It depends on the engine, what the measurements find and the machine shop's schedule. Atomic Autosports in Wickliffe, Ohio quotes the job after the teardown and measurement, because a block that needs sleeving or a head that needs guides changes the scope. Rather than publish a flat time, the shop tells you what your engine actually needs, what has to go out for machining, and what a realistic timeline looks like before parts are ordered.
Do you work on engines you did not build?
Yes. Atomic Autosports takes engine work on street cars, weekend track cars and race cars regardless of who built them or where the work was started, across GM LS and LT, Honda K and F, Chrysler Hemi, Ford Modular and Coyote, Subaru EJ and FA, and BMW engines. The shop is at 29251 Anderson Road in Wickliffe, Ohio, serving Cleveland and the surrounding Northeast Ohio area.
Context
Why a performance shop for engine work
Search for engine work around Cleveland and page one is general repair chains, a machine shop and a review aggregator. All of them will do a head gasket. What a race shop adds is context: the engine is going back into a car that will see sustained high rpm, a full-throttle straight at Nelson Ledges or a hot afternoon at Mid-Ohio, and the decisions made on the bench are made with that in mind.
That shows up in small choices. Head studs instead of bolts on an engine that will see boost or track heat. A ring gap set for the application rather than the middle of the range. Oil control and cooling looked at as part of the rebuild rather than as a separate conversation later. None of it is exotic. It is just the difference between building an engine to run and building one to be used.
The pipeline this year says the same thing. A head gasket on a late-model Civic, a Honda race engine being built for more power, a 5.7 Hemi replacement in a Charger and a C6 Corvette that arrived with engine work started elsewhere have all been on the schedule alongside the LS cam and bolt-on work the shop is known for. Winter is when most of it happens, because the race cars are parked and the street cars have time to be apart.
Winter is engine season
Race cars come off the schedule in November, which is when the bays open up for rebuilds, swaps and the head gasket that has been on the list all summer. Booking in the fall gets the engine back before the first spring event.
Parts and knowledge under one roof
As an authorized Brian Tooley Racing dealer, Atomic Autosports specs and sources LS cam packages here and installs them here, so the person choosing the cam is the person degreeing it in.
Performance and Motorsports Shop in Northeast Ohio
A race shop that builds engines to be used
Atomic Autosports is a performance and motorsports shop in Wickliffe, Ohio, ten minutes east of Cleveland. The bays here run track preparation, alignments and corner balancing, brakes, cooling and full race car builds, which means the people doing your engine work spend the rest of the week inside cars that get driven hard.
On a job like this one, the engine has to be right the first time, and the proof is a full season of track days.
Looking for Engine Rebuilds or Head Gasket Replacement Near Cleveland?
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Tell us the car, the engine, what it is doing and how you use it. We will come back with what we want to test first and what the job involves, before anything gets ordered.
Contact Atomic Autosports
Schedule engine diagnosis, head gasket replacement, camshaft installation, rebuilds, engine replacement and engine swaps for street, track and race cars.
Platforms We Know
Vehicles We Service
We work on the cars that matter to drivers who care. If you’re building it for the track, we know the platform.
Chevrolet
Corvette
Chevrolet
Camaro
Honda
Civic / Type R
Honda
S2000
Dodge
Charger / Challenger
Ford
Mustang
Subaru
WRX / STI
Subaru
BRZ
Toyota
GR86 / 86
Scion
FR-S
BMW
M Series
Your Car?
Ask Us
Don’t see your platform? We work on most performance vehicles — contact us to discuss your build.
Ready to Sort Your Engine?
Schedule engine diagnosis, a head gasket, a cam install, a rebuild or a swap, along with alignment, brakes, cooling and full track preparation for your car.