When you don't trust your local engine shops..

[benno318]

a shop thats backed up usually indicates good work, and repeat customers.

id be more worried if the shops empty and can start your job immediately...

[dfarr67]

Hey, I get this all the time, had the truck into two shops for a tune on an older ecu- doing it myself now rather than just hand over money.

[Charliesauto]

Just telling you facts as I know them. The rods were screwed up and sent to another shop which couldn't do much to fix the problem.

The factory Hemi parts may have been heavy but got the job done at that time....we not turning 9000 RPM here just hot street stuff.

Back in 71 we ran it up to 7000 many times with the stock crank rods but TRW 12 to 1 pistons. 11.30's at 126 back then.

Who knows how this all turns out,but if there was a good shop,around here, that knew their way around the 426 Hemi....that's where it would be!

Last place I knew of was John Arruza down in NC,but I think he has closed shop.

I am about 20 miles from John and he did close up and sell all of his equipment.

"Will see how it all turns out next year as progress is slow." And your worried about your stuff laying around a shop for two weeks.

Based on everything you have stated, I would not do machine work for you or your friend.

[SixHemis]

Agree about the guy's eccentricity -having an engine whose original bare block could bring $8k or more can do that to a guy. It's ridiculous. But, DIY won't work out for him.

I did a 500 inch Hemi for a wing car a few years ago. Guy wanted it to appear completely stock. It does. He drives it a lot. It's still a free country.

Not knocking the factory rotating assembly, I have stock rods and heavy Ross pistons in a stroker that I beat the snot out of every week. Still....

If the guy is dead set on a Hemi builder, Ray Barton, Bob George and For Hemis Only come to mind. Also, Todd Marsh at Marsh Performance in NC. He is a KB dealer and builds a lot of engines.

But there are lots of good shops out there who could do what he needs.

You might check Moparts for recommendations.

[Dave Koehler]

Sorry for your friend's bad luck.
Still trying to figure out how rod bolts could be installed crooked.

Well on most of the rods you could see they were crooked and the caps would not go on.

Just because you or he saw that does not mean the bolts were incorrectly installed.
I challenge him and you to go through a barrel of high mileage rods and see how many caps will actually "slip" on and off.

For that matter, wait until you see a new off the shelf set of original ford Lemans rods and then take the cap off.
hint: no way will they line up to go back on again without some finessing.

Your friend needs to chill or take some CBD oil.

PS: I would like to retire out of balancing and can set you boys up to be the next local balancing guru.

[MotionMachine]

The rod bolts were not installed wrong, the rods were manufactured wrong originally. BB Chryslers are very bad for this, as are FE Fords. I did a set of 6 pack rods recently and the same scenario affected them also. The deal is, the angle of the rod bolt holes is not parallel with the sides of the rod, they are perpendicular to the parting surface (sides of rods are NOT perpendicular to the parting surfaces) . So if the rod and cap are cut on a traditional CRG750 or similar, they will now be square to the sides of the rods. So when the caps are re-installed on the rods, the cap will not sit square on the rod, big air gap on one side. With rods that have this problem, you have to cut the caps and rods to the existing parting surface, which you can only do on a cap grinder with a tilting table. It's time consuming but they have to be done this way if you want the caps to mate to the rods correctly. Building your own balancer instead of waiting 2 weeks is nuts.

[Zmechanic]

I'm all for learning and even ingenuity, but diving into something with little first hand experience and unproven self built equipment is the exact opposite of what you want to do with rare/expensive parts.

If I was him, I'd be practicing on plenty of scrap/cheap parts first.

[user-17438]

a shop thats backed up usually indicates good work, and repeat customers.

id be more worried if the shops empty and can start your job immediately...

Lol, I wouldn't say that necessarily.

[rustbucket79]

Hardest thing with balancing original hemi components is finding enough weights to bolt on your bobweights to match the balance card.

Second hardest is weight matching the factory rods, wondering how they could be so far apart in weights from one another.

[strokersix]

Remember that everyone has a different set of priorities when hiring out work. The person doing the work wants to do less and be paid more while you want the opposite.

If both parties are honest and can see beyond the immediate then acceptable compromise can be reached. For example, a shop that does quality work will achieve that reputation and enjoy future business. Likewise, a customer who recognizes and is willing to pay for quality work is more likely to get it.

My point is that when you do it yourself there is no disconnect in priorities. The challenge becomes technical only and you don't have to think about the motivations of others.

[englertracing]

He is being way too fanatical.
If he delved into the theory behind balancing, he would find out 50% is just a compromise number. And if the scale was 1 or 2 or 5 grams off, that would change the balance factor less than a percent, which is some times done on purpose anyways. Maybe send him this link, maybe his balance histeria will fade. http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/crank-bal-c.htm this was written up by a speed talk member.

My friend machined a nice rod weighing fixture, Really went overkill. I sent him that, he told me "thanks ass hole couldn't you have sent me that before I made this thing"

[427dart]

Just telling you facts as I know them. The rods were screwed up and sent to another shop which couldn't do much to fix the problem.

The factory Hemi parts may have been heavy but got the job done at that time....we not turning 9000 RPM here just hot street stuff.

Back in 71 we ran it up to 7000 many times with the stock crank rods but TRW 12 to 1 pistons. 11.30's at 126 back then.

Who knows how this all turns out,but if there was a good shop,around here, that knew their way around the 426 Hemi....that's where it would be!

Last place I knew of was John Arruza down in NC,but I think he has closed shop.

I am about 20 miles from John and he did close up and sell all of his equipment.

"Will see how it all turns out next year as progress is slow." And your worried about your stuff laying around a shop for two weeks.

Based on everything you have stated, I would not do machine work for you or your friend.

Back up a second....I'm not worried about anything it's his stuff and issue.

[Dave Koehler]

If nothing else show him this thread. You guys are just wrong on what the rod bolt problem really is.

[engineguyBill]

I have never seen, nor heard of a home-built crankshaft balancer. I would be skeptical about the performance of such a machine,

[MotionMachine]

This is my Mickey Mouse drawing of the issue I was trying to describe earlier. not sure if it'll even attach. The parting line angle is greatly exaggerated to show how grinding the rods perpendicular to the sides of the rod and cap will cause misalignment.

rod drawing.pdf