[Mr. P-Body]

Bruce,
His experience does not reflect ours. This is not to invalidate the statements made. Just to clarify.

Jim

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

Attention to detail will bite you in the but everytime. I lost acrank years ago and didn't know why. It was clearenced and double checked. I kept everything clean. But, when I tore it down I discovered I had put the center main in upside down. The oil hole was in the cap . I still don't know how it lasted as long as it did. almost 5k before I started to hear it rattle.

This time around I double and triple checked all oil holes in my bearings. Even had my wife look at them. Cause she can ALWAYS tell if I have done something wrong

[Cliff Ruggles]

To date, we have only used one Eagle crankshaft. We received two of the CAT "N" cranks here, but were unable to use them due to balancing issues. We found the CAT cranks to be very "crude" in all areas. They were within specs, but slighlty out of round, stroke off a bit and "rough" on all journals. In addition to adding a LOT of heavy metal, we would have had to remachine them before they would have been used in any engine that was being built here.

The one Eagle crank we used was OK for machining, it did require .001" undersize bearings instead of the std. sizes. I DID NOT polish the thrust area and when placed in service on KRE's dyno it took only 15 minutes for the thrust clearance to go from .006" to .030". I noticed some small flakes of copper under the valve covers during inspection, so we pulled the engine. The crank thrust surface was inspected, and we found "grooves" leading away from the journal exactly as described in Jim Hand's book. Using a sanding roll wrapped with #600 grit auto body sandpaper, the thrust surface polished and the crank returned to service. It went on to power the engine without any further issues that we know of related to the crank.

This was a couple of years ago. Since then we have recieved about a dozen complaints from those that have used/installed Eagle crankshafts. We have two confirmed cases where they broke into 4 peices and completely destroyed the entire engine. Both were being used in relatively high HP applications. We have two more confirmed reports that the cranks are causing rear seal "issues". One of these engines has been sent back to the engine builder 3 times at near $3000 expense to the owner and it still leaks oil out the back about as fast as you can pour it in. The engine builder even packed on old style rope seal in place on the last build, 20 miles later oil pours out the back of the engine. The engine builder, after 3 unsuccessful attempts has decided to replace the Eagle crank with a cut down factory "N" crank.

We don't consider a dozen negative reports enough input to clarify a part as complete JUNK. As with anything else in this hobby, with many thousands in use, there are bound to be a few slip out that are sub-standard. There is enough information to raise an eyebrow and we have decided to avoid these parts here and will continue to use factory "N" crankshafts exclusively until something better is made available.

We hear the same thing about offshore "H" beam rods. Some are perfect in all areas as far as machining/size/weight and other sets are off some. We've used several sets here and checked every single rod in all areas, no troubles. Despite posted information that an Eagle "H" beam is somehow far superior to any other H beam, I can't see enough difference in the construction or material to make me pay several hundred dollars more for an Eagle rod vs a Pro Line, SCAT or CAT rod. I'd use any of them after close inspection as a replacment for the factory cast rods. For SERIOUS high HP applications were a steel rod was used,, we have used Crower rods exclusively, no issues anywhere to date. Every set of Crower rods has been perfect, right out of the box and ready to run.

I agree to a point about some of these parts finding there way into the hands of those who shouldn't even own a wrench......then.....they get negative results and blame the parts. This happens all the time in this hobby, some folks are tight with funds and refuse to get professional help when the should. We like to think we are good enough to find all the troubles BEFORE we finish the engine, but we even got singed a bit by attempting to use an Eagle crankshaft. Does this mean they are all JUNK? No, but you woln't see any more of them used in anything leaving this shop. When I was very young, I only put my hand on the hot stove burner ONCE, and have tried to go through life learning from my past experiences.

That's probably why I've stayed married to the same woman for 25 years, who would want to do this thing two or three times?......Anyhow, we are not trying to start any sort of debate or bad mouth others, as always, posting information as accurate as we know it to be based on REAL life experiences.....Cliff

[gjn]

That's probably why I've stayed married to the same woman for 25 years, who would want to do this thing two or three times?.....Cliff[/QUOTE]

Amen!

[Mr. P-Body]

Well, I certainly agree to the marraige issue. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't as adept at picking a woman as I was a car when I was a young man... I have a good one now, and there won't be another. (woman, that is, 12 years and counting)

We installed a Cola forging for a 422 small block. It made over 700 horsepower. It broke in three spots. At the time, Cola was among the absolute LEADERS in good crankshafts. They operate under a different name now, but their cranks are still very good. WAY past Scat or C.A.T. Sometimes, things go ary and you must deal with it.

Our hobby is littered with myth and superstition. We try to keep things in realistic mode. Take all the previous posts (including my own) with a grain of salt. One man's treasure s another man's trash...

Jim

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

I agree with ya on th good woman thing Mr. P. I waited 44 yrs before I got married. I got a gem. Have lots of same interestes but also enouigh different so we each have our own thng. SHe helps with the car too. Also, when our friends said we should build a pool they almost fainted when she said she wants to build a 3-car garage with a hurricane safe room. A garage !!! I LOVE THIS WOMAN. Hope to break ground one hurricane season is over for this year.