Crank Stroking and Machining

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
The post below has triggered me to comment about crank work. I am sure Mr. Blackburn does good work and am in no way criticizing him. I have never dealt with him before so I can't pass judgement.
However, the discussion seems to happen quite frequently between engine builders and crank shops. I myself am looking for a dependable crank shop to do my work and work for others. I know of 3 reputable engine builders who tell me they are desperately looking for someone to do their cranks. It seems that everyone they deal with takes forever for the crank to be completed. They all tell me that if I can bring a crank they can build an engine quickly but the hold up is always the crank. It leads to disgruntled customers who have been promised engines by certain dates. I know of one crank that was at a shop for over a year after it was promised that it would take 3-4 weeks. This is ridiculous. Could someone on here please inform me of a reputable crank stroking shop that does good quality work and at least can have something completed in a timely manner? I am not looking for the cheapest price. I understand that quality cost and am willing to pay a premium. I will be building another engine soon and don't want this crank hassle again as in the past.


Thanks for any help in this matter
 
Any shop that is any good has a back log of work. I work in an automotive restoration shop that maintains about a 1&1/2 - 2 year wait list to get your car in. If you want us to do the work, you'll wait, if not then some one else will take your spot on the list. I think often the shop owner or manager will give the customer a turn around time or cost est. a little on the low side as not to scare them away. People some times dont understand that there is all ways set backs and should plan for this befor sending there work out expecting a speedy return. It would be nice if shop owners were some times more realistic when they promise a completion date.
 
if you know 3 builders who need crank builders, ill tell ya 3 more who need same thing. went thru 3 shops myself. flooded em during fall thru spring.
not so much now as ive slowed down.
these engines, using welded cranks, takes time for the man to make em. we all know if theres a man out there who has lets say 10 cranks ready to go, out the door, its what u need, you bet the bank, hed be sold out in days during the build season. think about, how long it takes that fella to do 10 to stock up. lol. customers can complain all they want, they can get pissy n sue cause impatience of unplanning properly. been there done that.
you cant help whats not in your hands. outsourcing to get cranks, does work for builders, but its best for the builder to invest himself and have that inventory stocked up so his customers can come on here n worship them.
 
If other crank guys are backed up at the moment, that might mean this place is too, but Hapco in Terre Haute, IN (812) 232-2550 did my 7.25" crank and many others (quite a few 7" M-M). Turn around was great and the price was right. I'm unaware of any ever breaking. They might be booked up like the rest too.
 
That is a good question. When I had my engine built years ago that was always the excuse. No crankshaft. Even after Thousands of dollars were paid. People should be honest and tell when they will get there parts back. We went and bought a Farmstock tractor and over hauled it in the garage so we could go to some pulls. Taking on more work than a person can do just causes problems unless that person is willing to get it done. In the time that they say they will.
 
Well put Dave. If you can"t have it done in 6 weeks don"t tell me you can. If it"s going to take a year that"s fine if the quality is worth the wait. Builders should not make promises they can"t keep, especially if they get paid up front.
Jim Henke
 
Like anything if someone is good at what they do..there is going to be a wait..when someone's got 15 cranks to do and it takes 30/40 hr's to do one..and they r making cams..rods..carbs..and doing complete builds..well u do the math
 
lets think for a min . if you call any of these rebuttal people that do custom work and ask how long it takes . lets say he says 4 weeks . when in the back of his mind there's numerous cranks , rods , cams , etc . thinking it would take over a year .and say 4 weeks is bs.


no doubt he wants your business . so saying 4 weeks and taking half your money up front is guaranteed you wont go some were else .


they all play that game . were else ye gona go
 
That is exactly my point! Why play games. Be honest and give a realistic completion date. Why lie and disgruntle the customer? It makes no sense to me. Maybe I am stupid and old school to still take a man for his word. I want to deal with someone who is honest when they are taking my money. If the man is honest I will deal with him and will accept a longer delivery schedule. If I know this up front I can plan my schedule accordingly to complete an engine.
 
Thanks,
It seems Mopower has experience with these guys and they do good work. If they truly have a 1 month turn-around that would be great.
 
It can be difficult to balance scheduled production work vrs. unscheduled emergency repair work. Summer is the peak of the racing season, the pulling season, construction season, farming season, etc. When expensive machines go down it's often an unscheduled "emergency" to get them back running again. Do you tell a contractor or a farmer to go to wait at the back of the line while you work on someone else's hobby motor? Sometimes you have to give your best repeat customers some priority.
 
Don"t make excuses for people who don"t get the job done when they promise. When Thousands of dollars are paid. I have to work mandatory weekends at work and don"t see any reason why others shouldn"t when they have been paid and haven"t got there parts out to there customers.
 
I am trying to understand this and don't want to offend anyone but it seems you are saying the buyer should anticipate the completion date by calculating expected delays to the original promised delivery date of the vendor. Why can't the vendor calculate this and then give the buyer a more realistic delivery date. I still don't understand what good it does to say 1 month and then it takes 3 months. Give a more realistic estimate in the beginning and then no one will get excited or angry in the end. This is my opinion and maybe I am totally wrong in my thoughts.
 
There are lots of factors beyond the builders control. These include breakdowns, sickness, materials un available or in short supply are just a few of them.

Asking a builder if they think they can have something done by xx-xx-xx and hearing the builder say "I might", "Probably", "Good chance", etc. is not a commitment to a date. A good part of this is wishful thinking on the buyers part, pressuring the builder for a faster delivery than they want to give with the builder trying to be accommodating.

Yes, there are builders that know they"ll never meet delivery dates and are months and even over a year late. Bringing something to this board because you think your builder is a day or even a week late on a one month commitment is pretty petty.
 
There are lots of factors beyond the builders control. These include breakdowns, sickness, materials un available or in short supply are just a few of them.

Asking a builder if they think they can have something done by xx-xx-xx and hearing the builder say "I might", "Probably", "Good chance", etc. is not a commitment to a date. A good part of this is wishful thinking on the buyers part, pressuring the builder for a faster delivery than they want to give with the builder trying to be accommodating.

Yes, there are builders that know they"ll never meet delivery dates and are months and even over a year late. Bringing something to this board because you think your builder is a day or even a week late on a one month commitment is pretty petty.

Anyone waiting on a part to be built for their tractor needs to read this 4 or 5 times and then hopefully understand it. A person can usually tell you exactly how long it will take to make something, what they can't tell you is the unforseen delays that will occur.

Then you need to realize if you find a builder that makes quality parts that you can rely on to be used in your engine any wait is worth it. Getting an unreliable quickly made part can take out a lot of other pieces of the engine when it breaks.
 

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