Welding Thrust on Cast Crank?

[GTX JOHN]

I have had one Crankshaft place tell me it is fine to
weld the thrust on a 360 Cast Crank. Another place
told me NOT to do it. I have quite a bit of money in
the crank and hate to discard it.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[Rich Biebel]

Welded cranks never lasted in my experience.

A local shop with a very experienced guy did them once in a while and usually they failed.

That was usually a steel crank.

I know we had some thrusts welded but again it was a steel crank....

Welding and cast iron are two words that don't go together to me..

I'm sure there will be those that say otherwise though.....

[SDT1DYI]

I assume the cast crank is " "Cast Steel" and not any type of "Iron " casting.
Welding cranks is a lost technical skills. It requires a skilled welder, following proper weld procedures.
Meaning, bake it first to get out all the oil in the casting. Pre heat and holding it during welding. Use proper filler rod, post weld stress relieving and then straighten it afterwards.
May require regrinding the mains and rods depending on the crank casting level, as it was originally manufactured.
A lot of work to do it " Right ".

Hope this helps......

Steve Teeter Stk/SS 620

[1347]

Originally Posted by GTX JOHN

I have had one Crankshaft place tell me it is fine to
weld the thrust on a 360 Cast Crank. Another place
told me NOT to do it. I have quite a bit of money in
the crank and hate to discard it.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

I would call shafttech in Ohio. They do alot of race crankshaft, and should be able to give you sound advice on if it's repairable.

[SSDiv6]

John,

I use Performance Crankshaft in Michigan for all my crankshaft welding, both cast and forged.
Ask for the owner, Adney Brown. He has been doing crankshafts all his life and an expert on crankshaft machining.

(586) 549-7557

https://performancecrankshaft.com/

[340Cuda]

These are the folks that Bryant Racing recommends for crankshaft repair. I would check with them.

http://www.marinecrankshaftinc.com/

[ss3011]

Any chance you could find a bearing with a wider thrust dimension ?

[GTX JOHN]

Originally Posted by ss3011

Any chance you could find a bearing with a wider thrust dimension ?

Good Idea and I know it works and is available on some GM stuff
but I have not been able to find anything for my Mopar Stuff.

It seems like we have had a lot of problems since we started
leaving two steps. Plus my son is a serial gas whomper near
the finish!