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#1
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Crankshaft options - Made in USA
Lets say a guy can't stand Chinese parts and wants to build a 4.00", 4.21" or 4.25" stroke x 3.00" main motor. Are there any made in USA options for sourcing such a crank?
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#2
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A Crower or some other brand of crank machined from a solid billet is probably the only made in USA option, and even then there’s no guarantee that the billet was USA sourced. Very expensive in the thousands and long lead times.
All the forged cranks come from China nowadays there’s really no way around that, finish machined either over there or in the USA.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
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#3
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As b-man said, Billet is the only true American choice and you would need to verify where the billet came from if that's important to you. Crower current lead time is about 6 months and approaching 4K now with all the price increases. A more budget friendly, sort of USA made and with good quality control may be a Molnar Crankshaft. The machining is done in the USA, and their quality control is excellent from my limited experience so far. Other Chinese cranks say the machining is done in the USA as well but that doesn't guarantee quality. Eagle, Scat and some others make those claims. No matter what, you as the customer will need to check it yourself or have a trusted machine shop verify ALL the dimensions when you get it. Good luck.
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#4
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Thank you b-man and mgarblik for the quick and helpful replies.
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#5
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Build it off of a 421, 428 or 455 block and drop in a factory 4.00”’or 4.21” stroke cast crank.
Plenty durable for most any Pontiac street engine up to 600 hp which should be more than sufficient. 100% USA made. There’s no big advantage having a 3.00” main engine on the street. I do get that at one time 455 and other 3.25” main blocks were hard to source and the more plentiful 3.00” main 400 blocks were one of the driving factors for the introduction of the 3.00” main stroker cranks. Now even the 400 blocks aren’t all that plentiful so I guess it’s a toss up.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
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#6
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b-man: I really like that idea allot, if USA made is the driving factor. 455 blocks are still out there. Friend of mine recently bought a pair of 455's standard bore with crankshafts, kept indoors for 2K for the pair. They look good.
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#7
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Quote:
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Dr. Thomas Sowell |
#8
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Quote:
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#9
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Quote:
https://www.molnartechnologies.com/d...-crank-shafts/
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Johnny US Army Retired 1978 T/A 463 Pontiac, KRE 74cc 292CFM D-ports, Lunati VooDoo, V-max lifters, TKII, ATM 850 E85 carb, TCI TH-350 race tranny, 3600 converter 3.73 12 bolt 11.63@116.68mph 1981 T/A 4-speed 406 Pontiac, Merrick ported 6X heads, Comp 270S cam, Crosswind intake 750 Street Demon, 3.42 30 spline Eaton posi street car. 1980 Formula 350 Pontiac back burner project 1972 LeMans 350 Pontiac |
#10
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If I had to have a US forged crank I would look fo a 990,cut down to 3 in and weld up the thrust.Tom
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The Following User Says Thank You to tom s For This Useful Post: | ||
#11
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Quote:
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Dr. Thomas Sowell |
#12
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Tom, in other words do a Smokey Yunick.
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Dr. Thomas Sowell |
#13
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Doing all that work on a 990 SD crank makes little economic sense just to end up with something that’s more or less equal in strength to a new offshore forging at probably 3 or 4 times the cost when you consider what the price of a workable 990 crank is nowadays.
If cost isn’t really a consideration then a worked 990 or a new billet are really your only USA made options if you’re not into running a cast factory crank. As Tom would say, this is the street section. I can’t imagine that a prepped factory cast crank couldn’t handle 99% of the hot real street Pontiac engine builds. There’s one member here running 9.40s with a turbocharged 2-bolt main 455 block and crank that’s been together for over a decade.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to b-man For This Useful Post: | ||
#14
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Im running 2 cars with factory 421 cast cranks,the one in my Tempest has been in there 22 years now and never out.It had been nitrited,does have Carillo rods and Ross pistons.Many runs over 6000,retired to a 100% street car.Tom
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#15
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Tom, there is no doubt that Pontiac cast ArmaSteel and nodular crankshafts are tough pieces. I think nitriding just makes an already durable crank a little more durable. God knows the nitrided diesel cranks I have ground in the past were tough pieces.
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Dr. Thomas Sowell |
#16
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Gentlemen,
Some of you have seen my post here and on Facebook with the same issue. I was recommended by a gentleman on FB to contact Dave Olsen at Mile High Crankshaft in Denver (303) 781-6764. I spoke with him at length this morning and he can/will weld up the thrust area and turn down our 3.25 main cranks to fit a 3" main block. He's only about 100 miles from me and I will be taking a crank to him this week. Though he's never done this to a Pontiac crank, he's done it to many Chrysler cranks. I'll gladly share the results. Like most machine shops, he's a bit behind but this is an option.
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Johnny US Army Retired 1978 T/A 463 Pontiac, KRE 74cc 292CFM D-ports, Lunati VooDoo, V-max lifters, TKII, ATM 850 E85 carb, TCI TH-350 race tranny, 3600 converter 3.73 12 bolt 11.63@116.68mph 1981 T/A 4-speed 406 Pontiac, Merrick ported 6X heads, Comp 270S cam, Crosswind intake 750 Street Demon, 3.42 30 spline Eaton posi street car. 1980 Formula 350 Pontiac back burner project 1972 LeMans 350 Pontiac |
The Following User Says Thank You to Johnny406 For This Useful Post: | ||
#17
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Mile High is a Top notch crankshaft specialist. Very nice people and very reasonable price too deal with.
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#18
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Timkin Ball Bearing Steel is what Moldex Crankshaft and Bryant Crankshaft use for their custom Billet "Race Crankshafts".
Timkin is a USA company. They have been making very high grade crankshafts from this ball bearing material for many years. The Butler Billet crankshafts were made using Timkin ball bearing material. The 421 SD, RA-V and other forged Pontiac crankshafts were made by Kellogg Crankshaft using Timkin ball bearing USA material. So there are STILL two sources for having a billet Pontiac crank made: Moldex and Bryant. Tom V.
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"Engineers do stuff for reasons" Tom Vaught Despite small distractions, there are those who will go Forward, Learning, Sharing Knowledge, Doing what they can to help others move forward. |
#19
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455 block, 428 crank, done. Properly done you will never, ever hurt them in a street engine.
Or you can pay big bucks to Modex, Bryant or Crower and get exactly zero benefit in a street engine except a lightened bank account. |
#20
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Tom, are you sure the 421 990 crank was a billet?
I had one for a while ( never used it) but I thought it looked to be a non twisted forging. Unfortunately I have no pictures of it to refresh my memory!
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I do stuff for reasons. |
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