[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by Dragncar

I am aware of all of it. I knew about this from Dan Whittmore who knew Smokey. Smokey gave him all the details on a lot of stuff.

Smokey used a cut down 990 crank fitted into a .030 389 SD block. We’re saying the same thing...In 1961, Smokey won Daytona with a 389 SD powered 1960 Ventura driven by Marvin Paunch. For the 1962 race, PMD mandated that ALL factory teams( Smokey was a PMD factory team) would run the 421. Smokey complied, but his “421” was the same as the rest of the 421s being run in 1962 or 1963. The man was absolutely amazing. 1966 was the year Smokey built his legendary ‘66 Chevelle. All the other Chevy teams were running Impalas but Smokey saw the ‘66 Chevelle was smaller and sleeker. He was years ahead of his time when it came to aerodynamics. We all know the story: NASCAR banned this car after tech threw an absolute fit over its construction. The breaking point for NASCAR was when Smokey drove the car out of tech with no fuel tank....

[cgeise]

Damn with all the smart people here I am surprised you think you need to still weld the thrust face --- Guys the 455 Olds bearing fix's all that -- it is for a 3.00 crank and the thrust is the same size as Pontiac --- all ya need is some shims machined to put between the back of the bearing and the block ---

[65nss4spdGTO]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Name ONE company that is successfully spray welding cast cranks....We welded cast cranks EVERY DAY and never used plasma welding. In our experience it was NOT durable enough for a rotating part. To build up flaws and pits in castings, yes.

Correct.

Nick from Shaftech won’t even weld on certain cranks and will never try to fix or correct another persons welding. This is what the company does, specializing in crankshaft repair and grinding.

Calvin Hill
Hill Performance
708-250-7420

[65nss4spdGTO]

Originally Posted by cgeise

Damn with all the smart people here I am surprised you think you need to still weld the thrust face --- Guys the 455 Olds bearing fix's all that -- it is for a 3.00 crank and the thrust is the same size as Pontiac --- all ya need is some shims machined to put between the back of the bearing and the block ---

I may not be one of “the smart people”, but I have successfully converted cranks from
3.25 down to 3.00 without spacers or issues. If it’s done the correct way, it’s one less thing you need to worry about.


Calvin Hill
Hill Performance
708-250-7420

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by 65nss4spdGTO

Correct.

Nick from Shaftech won’t even weld on certain cranks and will never try to fix or correct another persons welding. This is what the company does, specializing in crankshaft repair and grinding.

Calvin Hill
Hill Performance
708-250-7420

Calvin, we did it solely as a last resort to save a somewhat difficult to obtain crankshaft. We had one old guy who did this. He’d ground in the neighborhood of 100,000 cranks in his career, so he was entrusted with this operation. He turned out absolutely beautiful work but was NOT fond of welding nodular cranks.

[CraigG.]

Hey - started this to consider new aftermarket block.
Thanks, Craig

[tom s]

Marine Crankshaft will not do any welding on cast cranks.Tom

[grnmnstr]

Originally Posted by CraigG.

Hey - started this to consider new aftermarket block.
Thanks, Craig

If you have an aftermarket 3.25" block, use the crank you have. It will be fine spinning it to 7000.

If you have an aftermarket 3.00" block, buy a 3.00" crank.

If you haven't bought a block yet, buy a 3.00" block.

But you still haven't expressed your power level goals.

[CraigG.]

650 to 750 HP max.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Either will support those horsepower numbers easily. If you’re worried about the difference in bearing speeds just build the reciprocating mass as light as possible.

[grnmnstr]

Leave the crank alone. It will do the job with no problem. Spend your money elsewhere.

[CraigG.]

Anyone have an aftermarket 3.25" block?

[GTO Dan]

Hi Craig -

It’s easy to spend others peoples money...haha...so...

Sell the crank and get a new 3” crank and block. Your existing crank may meet your RPM and power requirements today but what is the likelihood it’ll be the same in 5 to 10 years. Couple of hundred dollar ungraded now vs thousands in the future. I wouldn’t build an expensive short block around a crank.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[mgarblik]

Once again, I may be interested in your 3.25" crank. But I need to know the stroke and rod journal diameters. As far as crankshaft repairs and welding and so forth, over the years, I have found it to be a bit of a black art. I have worked with Nick at ShaftTech, Mile High Crankshaft in Denver, Callies in OH., Crankshaft Specialities in TN. and Crower. Each of these highly respected companies has certain things they are willing to do or not do. There doesn't appear to be any set standard. Recent case for us. I called Nick at ShaftTech and Dave at Mile High Crankshaft. We had a nose on our billet crankshaft bent .030". Both those shops said they wouldn't touch it and we needed a new $3600.00 crankshaft. Called Mr. Harris at Crower and he said sent it to them. Easy repair no problem at all. They simply ground all the keyways off to reduce the diameter. welded up the nose, reground and cut new keyways. It's as good as new with less than .001" runnout. So my point would be to get a number of opinions and then make a decision. Lots of talented people out there.