Bad day on the dyno...

[Che70velle]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Scott, that is good info. I bought a used Callies Magnum XL (came in the motor I bought) that was sent out to Marine Crankshaft in Socal for some repair and a cryo process I believe? (I cant' recall - it was well over a year ago now) because it was the only place in the state here that my 70 yr old engine builder trusted. What do you know about the crank? I'll have to see if I can dig up any info on it.

Bryan, not sure I would rush some of these decisions for one event... there will be plenty others and I think I'd want the thing done right -- by the right people. Just feels like that is influencing you quite a bit here and ask that you take a hard look at that thought process. Ya know?

The Magnum XL series cranks are designed to be used in maximum output race efforts, and are lightweight. They are nitrided for hardness, which is a process that is done in a vacuum, that removes the oxygen content from the steel, and actually diffuses nitrogen, hence the name, into the surface of the crankshaft. This is the basic jest, to the process, which is very involved, and has many other ways of being done also. These crankshafts are nice!
Was this crank for an LS engine? Sorry to hijack, Bryan!

[Payton King]

Not to spend your money again, but it may be easier just to buy a completed shortblock and sell your other stuff...sounds to me like you will end up with about the same amount of money in either with more time in getting yours together. I would price it out both ways, which I am sure you have.

[GregWeld]

Big mistake to build a motor based on some artificial timeframe vs building to a particular plan. I agree with Flashythingy here (never thought I'd say that!). Make sure all your parts and pieces choices are made because they're the right parts and pieces. The minute you stray from that.. and one little "noise" is heard - or something doesn't run quite right... you'll lose sleep over having made a "quick" choice. It haunts a guy. Don't be a haunted guy.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by Payton King

Not to spend your money again, but it may be easier just to buy a completed shortblock and sell your other stuff...sounds to me like you will end up with about the same amount of money in either with more time in getting yours together. I would price it out both ways, which I am sure you have.

If you want to meet your timeline the shortblock makes sense and most likely will come some sort of functional warranty.

Give some merit to the old adage 'haste makes waste' and analyze what you're doing and why right now from 20,000'.

[carbuff]

Thanx guys... I agree with all of you, and even though I may sound like I am doing it, I won't scrimp on any selections just to meet the event timelines. I completely agree that I would regret that down the road. But I should be able to accomplish a simple engine rebuild in a 6-week timeframe, right???

Now, that said, nothing can be simple with this project, so I got 2 more doses of bad news today that are pretty much going to make my decision for me. I hadn't heard back from TSP about the crank, so I decided to call Callies directly myself to see what the story is. It turns out that every crank is serialized, so with the serial number they could tell me what was originally done to it. This crank was nitrided, and per my 2 discussions with Callies today, it should be rehardened after being turned.

Interestingly, it turns out they don't do the machine work and hardening in-house on a fix like this. They have a local place do the work for them. So they gave me their number to call. Shaftech in Ohio. I called them to see what we could do, and they also confirmed the need to reharden. BUT, they don't do it in house (even though their website implies that they do). They would do the machine work and ship it out for hardening, then back to me. They also quoted me 3.5 - 4 weeks to do the work, and a price of $525. Yikes!

At that price, and on that timeframe, I'm not sure if makes sense to repair this crank myself. So I made the second call to Callies to discuss my options. I wanted to understand the difference between their DragonSlayer cranks (which is mine) and their Compstar line (the step down). The Compstar is forged and rough-cut overseas and finish cut here, while the DragonSlayer is forged and cut in the US. But the real difference is the intended application. The Compstar is good for about 900HP while the DragonSlayer is good to about 1500. This engine will never see those levels, so the Compstar should be fine for me.

Ok, decision made, or so I thought... The other little trick here is that the original engine was built with 2.00" rod journals. The LS standard is 2.10" journals. It would seem the 2.00" journals are not popular. Callies lists a part number on their website for the Compstar with a 4.00" stroke and the 2.00" rod journals, but apparently they don't actually make that one anymore. So if I want to use those journals, I'm back to the Dragonslayer.

This means my options are:

- buy a Dragonslayer and use my 2.00" journals connecting rods
- buy a Compstar crank and a new set of 2.10" connecting rods

Given those options, I'm back to considering abandoning ship on salvaging parts from this engine shortblock and looking at TSP building me a completely new one. I've asked them to price me out using my block (which I can still use) and just do a completely new 402 (actually 405 I think) ci rotating assembly, and additionally pricing out a completely new 418ci shortblock. I'm about sure that I'll do one of these, and sell off the leftover pieces that I have. The crank and rods will make a nice setup for someone who is on a timeline that can have it fixed...

So I'm back to making another decision tomorrow. Hopefully my heads arrive at TEA so that they can determine the chamber volume and I can finalize my piston selection. That may not happen until Monday though.

While I'm at this project, I'm going to add an Accusump to the car. I don't want to take any chances on losing oil pressure with this setup after this investment! I'm sure that I probably caused the crank damage with some pressure loss at either an auto-x or a track day. I've had the oil pressure light blip on me before in extended-G turns. So I can't say that I'm completely surprised by the crank damage, I just didn't expect it to cause so many problems in the rebuild...

[carbuff]

And since this thread has turned into my own little bitch-thread, I have one more for today. OK, maybe two...

Since September, I've been chasing some kind of leak from my radiator. It was just enough to occasionally smell as well as get a few drops on the belly pan. I thought it was the lower hose, so I switched that out a few months ago. But that didn't stop it.

I pulled the radiator last weekend as part of the motor pull, and Eric pressurized it for me today. He dropped me a note saying it's got a pretty good leak in an area that he can't get to to repair. Neither of us know a place we trust locally to get in there and work on it, so I'm shipping it back to the manufacturer to try and fix it. Hopefully they will be sympathetic to the fact that it only has about 3800 miles on it, and it SHOULDN'T be leaking already. We'll see how that goes...

Oh, did I mention that I'm spending the weekend helping my girlfriend clean up from massive water damage in her mountain cabin caused by the water line on a refrigerator bursting while no one was here for 10 days? In between my own stuff, we've been meeting with plumbers, HVAC people, insurance adjusters, disaster recovery people, and the leasing company... Fun!

The hits just keep on coming...

[SSLance]

Man Bryan, quite the week for you. And I felt bad that I'm dropping everything and running to FL for 10 days to help my MIL move out of her store...when I'd much rather be at home putting my car back together.

Sounds like to me that you are doing the legwork needed to figure out the best course of action for you. Remember this, it's a hobby... Don't let setbacks take the fun out of it for you. You aren't making a living by getting to that next event. Try to keep it in the fun realm if you can.

[Che70velle]

Bryan, I'm perplexed about the conversation that you had on the phone with Callies. Doesn't affect the situation that your in, but I'm simply posting some info to explain why I've posted what I did, and I don't want to mis-lead anyone.
Copied and pasted, straight from the website...



DragonSlayer crankshafts are Made in Asia . With an expanded line of part numbers, the DragonSlayer is rapidly setting the standard by which other Sportsman crankshafts are measured.

These shafts are machined to the tolerances demanded by today’s high performance engine builder. Roundness and taper are held to less than .0003 on all rod and main journal diameters. Our final polishing procedures produce excellent load carrying surfaces that ensure extended bearing life and trouble free operation.

Each Callies DragonSlayer receives our unique Dura-Tough heat treatment. This process has proven to add extended long-term value to these highly stressed components. Callies heat treat expertise combined with our high purity premium 4340 forging produce strength of unparalleled value. All DragonSlayers are produced with standard Chevy rod journal diameters and widths for SBC, BBC, LS1, and Mopar applications.

[WSSix]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Better yet ===== never have to worry about draining.... while the motor is out and the pan is off add a bung/fitting and have the catch can drain directly back to the motor.

You can put an inline check valve on the return to pan line that opens once oil above the valve becomes too much for the valve to stay closed against. Cummins has this on their engines for the breather for the exact same reasons.

[carbuff]

Scott,

Based on running into a part number on the site that has been discontinued, it's possible that the site has out of date information. I've read other sites that explicitly say the DragonSlayer is USA forged and cut/finished at their US facilities, while the CompStar is forged and rough cut overseas with a US finish. So it seems like there are different marketing materials in different places...

I appreciated you posting the information. I had an option I was looking at in which I would have had the crank turned locally. If not for your post, I wouldn't have pursued the knowledge further. So keep any relevant data coming!