Heres what you need to be able to do some precision measuring relevant to basic engine building......there are many places to get lower priced tools from without going broke, you will have to do some research and figure out what size budget you want to swing as this stuff gets pricey if you buy mid to upper range tools.
1. Get a decent set of 6" and 12" dial calipers, used for all sorts of general measurements and with the 12" set you can measure block deck height.
2. A good set of feeler gauges, these have there place at times.
3. You want a 3/8" 75 foot pound and a 1/2" 150 foot pound torque wrench.
4. A 2" dial indicator with 1" travel that reads to .001" resolution + a good magnetic base
5. A set of micrometers with carbide tips and resolution to .0001". [one ten thousandth of an inch ]. + A ball bearing adapter to measure bearing shell thickness
6. Some green plastigauge and read up on how to use it....the temperature of your garage plays a part here. it will not work well if it is too cold....
7. A dial bore gauge set that reads from 2" to 6" with .0001" resolution.
Now here is the deal with the commonly available dial bore gauge sets, due to the way the stylus or reading probe is made with a somewhat pointy end.....they work well enough to measure cylinder bore size, connecting rod big end size and so on.....but they do not do a real accurate job reading bearing inside diameters due to the pointy end digging into the bearing material and leaving a groove in there....Unless you can find a set that has a button style probe like the one a sunnen bore gauge has on it...or you make some sort of button for it yourself......this where it gets tricky to get an accurate measurement and properly used plastigauge will get you fairly accurate readings if used properly....I know some are going to dispute this but a dial bore gauge that gouges a bearing does not give you good information......so I reccomend both procedures here so you can get a feel for what is true and what is BS on the readings.
8. And you will need a nice camshaft degree wheel, spend the extra money and get the bigger diameter one it is much easier to use.
9. You should also get a set of 6" snap gauges to read things like valve spring installed height.
10. A valve spring pressure tester is nice, I just got mine 2 years ago.
11. The Phase 2 brand of tools seems to be a good value without being overly priced, My stuff has been pieced together over the last 25 years, some is high end starrett stuff and some is no-name.
12. The biggest thing is take your time and learn the soft touch that is needed for precision measuring and double check and record everything.
HTH Best wishes to you.
