Crankshaft cleanup

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Tlitwin
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Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Tlitwin » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:30 pm

How much can you safely remove from the mains? Mine currently mics at .020 undersize. It’s a EE crank. I think(hope) it should clean up at .025 under. Is that good or look for another crank. It’s out of a running engine so there is no rust or pitting on any journals. Just a little scoring on the third main.
Tom

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Mark Gregush
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Mark Gregush » Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:03 pm

You need to talk to the person doing your babbitt and make sure they can do an in between size. While some can, others can't. (Standard, .010, .020, .030 examples)
I know the voices aren't real but damn they have some good ideas! :shock:

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Dan Hatch
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Dan Hatch » Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:45 pm

I will not install a crank that will not clean up at .020 under. There are to small already. Dan


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:49 pm

I think you'll be very hard pressed to find a shop that will take just .005" off a crank journal. Everything would have to be lined up nearly perfect to guarantee that all journals will clean up at only .005". I don't mean "clean up" with regard to grooving either, I mean it with regard to cleaning up a full diameter for each journal. Crank run out & out-of-round would have to be "zero" before you even begin to start. No shop would want to put in the time to do that. Unless maybe you just want to take .005" off the rear main only? That may be doable. If .020 under was okay, so too will .025 under. Consider that if .005" under will just remove the grooves, then really, the crank is already .025 under in the grooved areas! Being .025 under across the whole journal, without grooves, will ultimately be stronger than .020 under, with grooves.


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Adam » Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:30 pm

Most of the ‘26/‘27 EE cranks wear off center on the 3rd main. Usually if they are worn .008” or more on the 3rd main, the wear is all off center and usually won’t re-grind at -.020” or better. Those cranks are high carbon steel and not the chrome vanadium steel of the earlier cranks. The EE cranks are less susceptible to cracks and breakage, but they are more susceptible to wear...


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Joe Bell » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:52 pm

An older friend of mine that has passed away a few years ago Bud Scudder told me some hairs on your body are .020 thick so if you turn a crank .040 under it is only a hair on each side. Now that being said I am not one for a .040 under crank but have seen a bunch of .030 unders with no issues. Not every one can afford a new Skat crank!


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Kerry » Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:47 pm

I don't have any problems with a crank at .040" never had one fail yet over many rebuilds and years. Even re-poured a block for someone that had a .060" grind that was in it for who knows how long, and then still lasted another 12+ years of hard driving before breaking.


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Allan » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:42 pm

Tom, if the crank is out of a running engine, it begs the question as to why you want to regrind the crankshaft. If it is to pour a new bearing to get rid of some marks in the third main, I would not worry too much. That is a big, wide bearing, and unless the babbit is unsound in some way, it will still serve you well.
I agree chasing a .005" regrind is impractical. A used crank is likely to have more than that in bend and wind-up. Unless you can start with an almost perfect shaft, .020" is often the first step in a regrind.
Allan from down under.


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Joe Bell » Tue Dec 08, 2020 8:17 am

With all this being said I have an EE that was welded back up and ground to STD. have no ideal who did it, looks great but being a machinist all my life makes me wonder how the metalurgy has changed in that crank from the heat, that is why it is still on the shelf. Had a customer furnish a built up crank for a block years ago, looked like chrome it was so nice, it lasted 100 miles before it started to rattle, pulled it apart and it measured .020 under then, that one went into the scrap pile. I have always been scared to use a built up crank ever since then, why go through the work twice. There is enough good used cranks out yet.


Topic author
Tlitwin
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Tlitwin » Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:26 am

Thank you everyone for your comments. Here’s some more history on the motor. It came out of 26 touring. We pulled it two summers ago and replaced it with another one we had just rebuilt. This one has lots of miles on it and was last rebuilt in the early 70’s. I could tell it was getting tired and when adjusting the bands I could see that the triple gears were very sloppy and it looked like the magnets were almost touching the magneto coil.
I was getting bored so I want to see what it would take to rebuild this motor. It’s not a EE crank but a AAA crank. All the journals look nice(no scoring) except the third main. Knowing what I paid to have the last motor done right and that I’m in know hurry. I’m going to put this on hold for a while. The block also going to need new valves, pushrods, some seats, rings so it really complete overhaul.


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Tlitwin
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Tlitwin » Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:32 am

Here’s some photos
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image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg


Joe Bell
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Joe Bell » Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:26 pm

Not uncommon to see an earlier crank installed in a later block, I have seen many of them, I like even better yet to see two heavy rods and two light ones in the same block, they did what they had to keep them running.


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Adam » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:14 pm

Joe, I had one come in several years ago, not only with a mix of heavy and light rods, but 3 stock Ford pistons and 1 domed cast iron. Wonder if that had any imbalance?

Tom, Your #3 journal is probably on the “better side” of average for something that was in service a few decades. What I can see of the #3 babbit looks pretty rough though.


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Tlitwin
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Tlitwin » Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:10 pm

Adam
I think the 3rd main was getting a lot of metal shavings. Here’s the coil after the motor was pulled. I don’t think I had many miles left.
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E37AFD32-E914-4CF1-8A10-43532F9BA496.jpeg


Dan McEachern
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Dan McEachern » Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:32 pm

Doubt those shavings are from the crankshaft- something else is producing that quantity of shavings.

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Mark Gregush
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Mark Gregush » Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:38 pm

The black goo and most shavings you see attached to the magnets is from the rings scrapping up and down the cylinders walls as everything seats. It will diminish over time but never go away as the cylinders get polished, esp after a bore or hone job. If you washed the findings or even rubbed them between your fingers, I bet they would be a lot smaller then they look now.
I know the voices aren't real but damn they have some good ideas! :shock:

1925 Cut down pickup
1920 Dodge touring
1948 Ford F2 pickup


Kerry
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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Kerry » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:10 pm

If not out of round and a crack test, that crank would polish up just fine for service again.


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Re: Crankshaft cleanup

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:17 pm

Kerry wrote:
Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:10 pm
If not out of round and a crack test, that crank would polish up just fine for service again.
I agree. Probably looks better than the cranks in my cars right now, (and a bunch of others too).

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