Steven, has this crank been turned already? If so, time to find another machine shop. Those journals should look like a mirror for what you're trying to do with this engine. Devon
Is it just the picture or is that crank used and dirty? Is this crank part of a balanced assembly? What is the rest of the combo? Ray
the crank is stock, it was polished, it was pretty shiny until i sprayed wd40 on it to keep it from rustin (which is what is making it colored and striped) the crank was balanced with the rest of the rotating assembly. rest of the combo is too much to type right now, aiming for 750 hp overall, will start with around 650 and work my way up.
so should i call the machine shop and ask them what happened with my crank, i paid for it to be polished so i should be able to have them cut it if it need it for little to no cost. I need a new bearing anyway, if i do that ill order undercut bearings.
In my opinion I would take the crank out, clean it and the oil passages then clean it again. Take a good look at the journals. If you see something you don't like bring it back and question them. If they don't rectify the problem and you think you have one find a different machine shop with a good reputation. Preferably one that knows Buicks. Ray
i was there when he checked it, he looked at it and measured it all out and said it is fine and just needed a polish. I would guess he never saw that mark? I guess ill clean it and take another picture, another reason it looks dirty is because the flash was so bright you couldnt see the mark, so i turned it off and used a drop light, which made it look yellow.
Make sure at least he knows how to do a proper polish. I'd say most builders don't know that there's a right & wrong way to go about it. http://www.aa1car.com/library/cpolish.htm http://www.aa1car.com/library/ar797.htm http://www.motorheadheaven.com/it_crankgrind.asp http://www.motorheadheaven.com/installationtips.asp Devon
My first V-8 rebuild was my Buick 350 back in 1988. I didn't know jack about car engines so I went to the bookstore to get help and the best thing I could find was a David Vizard book on the SBC. He said to lube the bores with motor oil. Then install the rods and rings on the pistons and dip the piston up to the pin in a coffee can half full of motor oil and install into the bore. It made sense to me and it works. This way you can quickly and completely lube the piston wall, rings and ring lands and the pin and pin bore all in one motion. And you sure won't hurt anything using motor oil. You can use motor oil with zinc too. There's a little extra oil left on top of the piston that I wipe off with a rag. I've worried about it but I've never fouled a plug with this method. I've always used motor oil for assembly lube except for the cam and lifters. After all, every time you cold start your engine, you rely on the motor oil thats left on the surfaces. When you start a fresh motor you're priming the pump for instant pressure. I don't understand the need for special assembly lubes. I also don't understand the vaseline in the oil pump. I never had a problem priming the pump on my SBB with a drill just by assembling it with motor oil. If you had to put vaseline in there every time you'ld burn your motor up every time you tried to cold start it. Maybe the BBB is different, I haven't built one yet.
Thanks for the advice, i think i will do that. As for the vaseline, i think its to make a seal in the gears so there is more vacuum to pull up oil, not sure but thats my guess. Just to make sure you know, the crank has already been polished. I still havent taken a picture of it clean yet. How much damage can that little nick cause? i had a bigger nick in the bearing and they (people on here) decided it most likely wouldnt hurt, but i want to replace that bearing so maybe that will offset it? i might just get scared and have him cut it, well see, i really dont want to make that long trip just for this. thanks
Steven, the small nick you're pointing out that's perpendicular to the journal centerline isn't a big deal unless it's a gouge, meaning material has been raised around the enges of the impression. Of more concern are the hundreds of scratches seen radially over the entire journal due to fine debris between the bearing & journal over time. Again, the journals should be much smoother than this, they have to be round, cylindrical and all five main journals should be colinear (same centerline). Does the machinist know how to measure these things as well as surface finish, or does he just do it until it "looks good"? Devon
Everyone has their pet ideas on how to assemble an engine. A couple of things I will pass on from more years experience than I care to tell. One of the most important steps after you check and get bearing clearances correct is the installation of the pistons and rings. I have seen more engines screwed up on this one step than anything else. You must have the rings installed correctly on the pistons in the correct groove. As stated earlier by WE1 I think, the one piece bore size ring compressor is the BEST way to go. This is especially true if this is one of your first engines. The money spent for an installer is well spent. Unlike suggested by some, you never want to DRIVE the pistons with a mallet or hammer. If you can't push them in by hand you have screwed up. You must not use extreme force to install the pistons. Hammering will possibly damage rings and piston ring lands. The deal to remember here is if you screw up a ring or piston you will not know it until the engine is running and you are wondering why it is smoking or missing. TAKE YOUR TIME, make sure all is correct and if something dosen't feel or sound right, take it apart and recheck. You are spending lots of money and time and you can never be too careful when assembling your engine. My 2 cents. Jim N.
same advice Smokey Yunick gives, makes sense to me. A chamfer at the top of the bores also helps the rings slip in.
well, the motor is at a stand still, still seeking a single upper main bearing, standard size (dropped and dented mine...anyone have a spare?) with better news, the transmission will start being rebuilt with tci components, tci master racing rebuild kit, heavy duty input shaft and drum, billet intermediate drum, some others. On looking at the prices from tci i was afraid of the cost, but summit lists every part of theres (except bands) at $100+ less, so now im ok with it. I will probably degree the cam soon, i can replace the single upper bearing with the timing chain on the engine. rings are filed and ready to install the rotating assembly once the cam is degreed also. i need to remind myself to take that picture of the clean journal.
Here are cleaner pictures, there are marks there, theyre not really scratches though (they passed the fingernail test :Brow:, couldnt feel them at all) They have no depth to them, but the camera brings them out. Im thinking it might be some material from the bearings from rotating the engine.
Steven, which main bearing are you looking for? I may have a spare new one to sell. Cheers, Craig Stangohr Aiken, SC
Sweet. I am in the search for an lower bearing (inside the main cap) for the front, which im pretty sure is the same as the middle 3, the rear is larger. Stock journal size. thanks
A few updates, i just finished degreeing the cam, a first for me (yay?) First things first, we set it up and put the crank sprocket on, then hooked the chain on and went to put the cam sprocket on, wondered for a bit why it wouldnt work and then realized that it was upside down. Then i set up the gauge to check TDC, which was easy and fun, got that done in a snap. Then we set a lifter in the hole, set up the gauge (quite a task) and started our degreeing. I then stood amazed at how mismachined my cam was, this thing was opening the intake when the piston wasnt even half way up the exhaust stroke! And then i realized that i accidentily put the gauge on the exhaust valve ou: , which solved the mystery of the weird valve. then we really checked the intake valve, found that i installed the timing chain wrong and was off a good 70 degrees :laugh: got that corrected, now its resting at a 104.5 degree intake centerline, cam has a 110 lobe center, i was supposed to advance it 4 degrees to make a 106. So now i am asking my self if i should leave it at 104.5, or make the 2 degree correction to 106.5 (closest it will get). Ill probably go 106.5 tomorrow. Ok, now another real question, which i think i answered for myself just now but ill check: In my attachment, i have arrows 1 2 and 3. 1 and 2 point to grooves, 3 is trying to point to a round dimple in the wrist pin hole. My questions about them, what is groove 2 for? i thought it was for a wrist-pin lock, but have no way to get it in there so i think it has something to do with oiling. 1 Is where i have one pin-lock (on each side), the pistons came with 32 locks (4 per piston) and like this i will be using 16, should there be 2 per side? and 3 is the dimple, is this significant to anything somehow? maybe somewhere something is supposed to line up? thanks, sorry for the lengthy post.
