[charlie66]

I just called for a custom crank and got 2 not even close prices. Bryant wants $10,000.00 and Moldex said $3500.00 . Is a Bryant crank any different then a Moldex crank?? lol

[cgeise]

last Bryant I got was about 3500 ????

[John Langer]

Originally Posted by charlie66

I just called for a custom crank and got 2 not even close prices. Bryant wants $10,000.00 and Moldex said $3500.00 . Is a Bryant crank any different then a Moldex crank?? lol

For a standard v8 Pontiac??? Bryant costs right around 3200-3500 bucks.

[charlie66]

A one off 4 cyl crank (half a 389). Both company's were told the same.. Both said I needed to send the old crank for reverse engineering purposes ..

[Tom Vaught]

Rusty 4 cylinder had Moldex do a forged flat crank for him Charlie and I observed most of the build. The cost was no where $10,000 and the crank was a Timkin ball bearing grade steel piece made from billet. They just took forever to make it.

Tom V.

[Hooter]

Originally Posted by John Langer

For a standard v8 Pontiac??? Bryant costs right around 3200-3500 bucks.

I assume that is fully counterweighted?

[John Langer]

Originally Posted by Hooter

I assume that is fully counterweighted?

I've bought them both ways.

[1fastbird]

mine was $3500 fro bryant

[tom s]

Who did Jacks 4 cyc crank?Tom

[Jack Gifford]

I have found nothing wrong with the custom billet crank Moldex did for me. They (guy named Joe) would have preferred a sample, but no such thing existed (flat crank for driver's-side bank of a V8). After my extensive description, and his double-checking of crucial items, he got everything right (and accurate). It's "good" 4340, eight counterweights, and surface-hardened- all 91 pounds of it! Took about six months altogether and cost me $3,600.

[steve25]

Sounds like a price for 3 Cranks!

[charlie66]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Rusty 4 cylinder had Moldex do a forged flat crank for him Charlie and I observed most of the build. The cost was no where $10,000 and the crank was a Timkin ball bearing grade steel piece made from billet. They just took forever to make it.

Tom V.

Thanx Tom.

Makes no sense to me that its 10 grand. He said if I wanted 10 of them the cost would be a lot lower. Moldex is the way to go then. Because of the cost difference i thought maybe it was because it was of a different caliber of crankshaft.. He said he would have to make tooling to get the job done. So would Moldex right ? Never the less, there out of there minds!

[Tom Vaught]

You are right about the tooling deal but Moldex, over the years, has made a lot of experimental 4 cylinder cranks for GM and Ford, and probably Chrysler at one time too.
When Mr Gillian owned the place, they had two buildings, 10-14 people on the payroll, and 90% of them had been making cranks for at least 20 years.

When Joe Flowers (Whitey's son) bought the place from Mr Gillian, he moved to a different building, supports fewer people, does more of the work himself (much like any guy starting a business even though he had been in the business as a worker for many years). So it takes longer vs the old shop system.

Moldex does have the jigs and fixtures for special cranks.
The special 'tooling' was paid for (by GM and others) and in most cases Moldex kept the tooling for other jobs down the road. That is where the special tooling came from to do my short stroke 366 Pontiac Raw Forgings.

Tom S had a two guys in California who did outstanding crankshaft work (one has passed on now). Tom took a crank I supplied to him and neither guy wanted to touch it as they did not have the tooling to properly machine it (without $$$ to make new tooling). So that could be where the Bryant people want $10,000 for their deal.
Time and effort required on the cad machine to get there with your 4 cylinder crank.

Hope this helps Charlie and a Merry Christmas to you, your mom, and your friends.

Tom V.

[tom s]

A custom billet should be less than a custom forged?Tom

[Tom Vaught]

Where did I say that? If you are replying to my post Tom.

I know of no custom Forged 4 cylinder cranks for a Pontiac.

The 366 forgings that I had finished were in the $1700-$1900 range depending on basic Pontiac cross-drilled oil scheme or on the Moldex Straight Shot Modern Oil Scheme.

Jacks $3500 billet 4 cylinder deal seems in line for a one off custom deal from Moldex.
The factories pay more for their stuff as it does not resemble normal cranks. Single Cylinder Engine cranks for production engine research like the Coyote engine comes to mind.

Tom V.

[tom s]

Tom,I was asking about a custom forged 4 cyc crank?If one could be done.Maybe thats where the 10K came from?Why would a billet 4 cyc be anymore than a V8?Tom

[grnmnstr]

I think the $10k price was their way of saying, "No thanks, it's not worth it to us"

If we give a price in my line of work, that we know will be a PITA, we double the actual quote price.

In this case, it sounds like they tripled it.

[charlie66]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

You are right about the tooling deal but Moldex, over the years, has made a lot of experimental 4 cylinder cranks for GM and Ford, and probably Chrysler at one time too.
When Mr Gillian owned the place, they had two buildings, 10-14 people on the payroll, and 90% of them had been making cranks for at least 20 years.

When Joe Flowers (Whitey's son) bought the place from Mr Gillian, he moved to a different building, supports fewer people, does more of the work himself (much like any guy starting a business even though he had been in the business as a worker for many years). So it takes longer vs the old shop system.

Moldex does have the jigs and fixtures for special cranks.
The special 'tooling' was paid for (by GM and others) and in most cases Moldex kept the tooling for other jobs down the road. That is where the special tooling came from to do my short stroke 366 Pontiac Raw Forgings.

Tom S had a two guys in California who did outstanding crankshaft work (one has passed on now). Tom took a crank I supplied to him and neither guy wanted to touch it as they did not have the tooling to properly machine it (without $$$ to make new tooling). So that could be where the Bryant people want $10,000 for their deal.
Time and effort required on the cad machine to get there with your 4 cylinder crank.

Hope this helps Charlie and a Merry Christmas to you, your mom, and your friends.

Tom V.

Yes it did .

Thanks Tom.


You and your family have a Merry Christmas too!

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by tom s

Tom,I was asking about a custom forged 4 cyc crank?If one could be done.Maybe thats where the 10K came from?Why would a billet 4 cyc be anymore than a V8?Tom

You are correct Tom, there should be no real difference in a Pontiac 4 cylinder billet crank vs a Pontiac 8 cylinder billet crank (except for a slight change in the oil drilling set-up) as the 4 rod crank will will have less drillings.

Tom V.

[charlie66]

Originally Posted by grnmnstr

I think the $10k price was their way of saying, "No thanks, it's not worth it to us"

If we give a price in my line of work, that we know will be a PITA, we double the actual quote price.

In this case, it sounds like they tripled it.

That's what I was thinking too.

At one point he was telling me that he had to make tooling just to hold it in the machine . I told him its was the same snout and flywheel pattern as well as the same spacing through out all the mains , that it was basically a 180 degree 389 crank. I mean you can bolt this thing into a V8 block if you wanted to.! lol. Its nothing im not used to though. Since the first company I called to help me with this build gave me a hard time.. Its not easy playing with these motors . I don't even know why I bother anymore...

Thank you everyone for all your reply's so far...