I would say not on the 350 crankshaft. Very little to No demand. Also I have never seen a broken 350 stock crankshaft. We do have deep sump pans in stock now for the 350. Still waiting on the new pick up tube for it. I will work with a stock tube but it is off the bottom of the pan as we deepened it 3/4". The pan does Not hang below the frame.
Thanks Mike, I'm in the process of collecting parts for a high CR, Holley sfi , Roller cam, turbo, Intercooled 350 with Your aluminum heads, sp3 etc. So I want to push the block some and a quality crank would be ideal. A stock crank would't hold up to where I want to push it. I tried to look up the oil pans on your site but couldn't find it.
I've heard of a few broken 350 cranks over the years. Seems random. @sean Buick 76 had a 350 crank made so the development costs have been done. If you do go that route, lmk &/or post something on here. I may be interested in one (slightly stroked/small journals) & maybe the price would be less for 2 or more & I'd save a few $ on the grinding of an original.
Thanks I'm working with Sean on a few things and he's been trying to help me figure out a couple things , Unfortunately King Crank isn't in business anymore where he had his crank made And I have no idea how to get ahold of Rick to get the R&D info on that crankshaft. I reached out to Tom Molnar a couple months ago and he said it could be done. Just like the 455 cranks he had made. But there would have to be a minimum of 5 cranks done . And sadly I dont think I could round up 3-4 more guys to go in and get it done. So Ive reached out to Crower with no responds. Bryant said they would be interested in possibly April/May but he said $9k for research/mold and $4k for a unit. I tried reaching out to Scott Brown last week for Crower info but haven't heard back from him as well. Been very frustrating.
Brian and I have been talking and unfortunately King the company that made my crank has closed shop taking away that option. Unfortunately King had retained the CNC data for the R&D I had paid for. If we had that data for a 3D crank so another company could simply CNC cut another one. It’s very expensive and time consuming to create the first crank, and that process now needs to be re-done with a new company. Now finding a company to do that work for a reasonable price is Brian’s challenge. posted at the same time as Brian LOL
Damn, didn't realize that King was no longer. Sounds like Molnar might be the best option but I agree getting that many lined up might be difficult. I'd be interested but cash may/may not allow. I guess post here & FB & see what, if any interest there is. Maybe @TA Perf would take 1-2? Tough to tie up that that kind of $ I realize.
fwiw. this 2023 and the machine world is not 1923. the machines today walk, talk and give change. so making a crank is not rocket science. a machine shop that is 2023 can make cranks for anything. most reasons for not doing it is 'i want to make/sell a million of them'. well, the buick world is not part of it. a machine shop with 'we can do that' are the great ones that can/will do anything.
As you well know, those shops (& more importantly those machinists) are disappearing John. You're running an OE crank correct?
That'll be great! I hope something can come together on the cranks. Idk how much it'll cost to get an OE one offset ground w/small journals but It's probably not cheap & if I could put that $ towards a good crank...
Yes the best thing about the billet cranks is that once they have the computer program they can change the stroke, pin size, etc with the push of a few keys on the computer. It’s a shame we lost that R&D. I can’t remember how much it was but it was expensive getting a crank offset ground for smaller journals. I helped a friend do this with a stock crank and the first shop charged him $1000 and it was all messed up so I had a shop do it for him and it worked out well. That engine still runs great with EFI, lots of torque with the stroker. James in BC also runs the same stroker setup with turbos.
I was going to call a local shop that just does crank grinding (& came highly recommended by another machine shop) and ask. If it's anywhere close to that price (I can't imagine but maybe so) that'd go a long way towards buying a billet crank which tbh, for what I'm looking to do probably isn't necessary but... As I said, I've heard of a few stock ones breaking over the years. Must be an occasional flaw in the casting as many survive just fine (incl. my old car which made good power) and many w/that flaw probably lived in Skylarks w/o ever a problem. Curious the weight difference if you ever get a chance to weigh yours vs. OE.
i run an oem crank honda size rods. same crank i have been running for years and at abby normal rpm's. and we run a blower. so there is no light work being done and it hasn't broke or spun bearings. my last job was at mori seiki. they make machines from 50k to 5 mil. and some of their machines are sold to business that make completed cranks on ONE machine. machines, tools and technology has changed since 1900. if the ones that make all kinds of cranks today can't figure out a buick crank. they need to get out of the last century. irks me when businesses say they can't do it. too much info out there to prove otherwise.
I was pretty sure yours was OE & if anyone has beat on one it's you so the good ones (most) are up to the task. It's figuring out which ones have a potentially catastrophic flaw. I forgot you worked for Mori (I had a Mazak). Probably making them "lights out" too and starting w/a forging & for OEs but could do it w/a billett too. Just more time. The smaller/low volume shops probably don't have that $500k 5-axis machine but maybe they should. Molnar did say they'd do it & MOQ of 5 pc. isn't unreasonable. Depends on the cost. You in for one John?
Dano, the offset grinding of just rod journals local, was only $200. Pickup & delivery was my job! Not terribly bad.
That's about what I figured it'd be. Even $250-300 would be ok w/inflation plus the place I'm hoping can do it is w/in Washington DC limits.
Sean, if you still have the crank from King, and the data is lost. the crank could be 3d scanned to recreate the data. Yes, an annoying waste of time, but if there is no way to contact the defunct company and get your data back, it's a possibility.
I haven’t checked the weight of my crank yet but I will in a few months. Yes this is possible. The crank is assembled in an engine but it’s not in a car yet so I could do that to help others.
If using a factory crank I would grind all the casting flash off, have it magnifluxed, and cryogenic treated. That would go a long way for reliability. When cryo treated it aligns all the molecules. https://www.enginebuildermag.com/20...etal-treatment-benefits-may-not-visible-real/
