identifying a MERC CRANK?

[ QUOTE ]
Saw that and it looks like you guys have done enough of them to prove the point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jay, I guess I should have made it clear that this little "trick" ONLY APPLIES TO FLATHEAD CRANKS!

[ QUOTE ]
Thought I'd toss the stroke measurement bit in there for other engines as well.
I see a lot of confusion about stroke with some of my SBC running friends.

[/ QUOTE ]

And your method IS a quick way with ANY crank shaft!

[ QUOTE ]
Most interesting one is the guy whose gonna stroke his SBC with longer rods.
I gave up arguing with him about that one....

[/ QUOTE ]

THAT would be interesting!
Let's see..8 cylinders; would allow about 1/4 of a revolution!!
Of course he could use REALLY THICK HEAD GASKETS!!

 

Steve; just in case you miss the other thread..

Steve, glad to see you caught up with the thread.

When you get the plugs out, make sure you clean ALL the "gunk" out. I use "small bore gun cleaning wire brushes", lots of solvent and lots of air to blow the journal holes and the traps clean.

One other suggestion; if the crank is going to a shop for polishing and/or grinding; leave the plugs OUT until the crank is home and you can give the holes a final cleaning.

If you don't know the shop well, ask them not to put the new plugs in, tell them you will do it yourself. (not hard to do)

The grinding and polishing will leave small particals in all the holes, and they need to be cleaned out AGAIN before replacing the trap plugs.

Sounds fiddly, but when I worked in the engine rebuild business; I would see a lot of crank bearing failures because the traps were not ABSOLUTELY clean when the engine was assembled.

Good luck; and welcome to the "Flatheads Forever" club.

 

I can always tell a 4" crank by the size of the hole those things leave in my wallet Man are they getting expensive

 

[ QUOTE ]

I can always tell a 4" crank by the size of the hole those thinks leave in my wallet Man are they getting expensive

[/ QUOTE ]

Ain't it the truth!
Spotted one (4" Merc flathead crank) in the classifieds a couple of weeks ago; and the guy was asking $495.00! (CND)

Went to have a look at it; was already .040 under and so badly rusted that I don't think it would have cleaned up.

He got all upset when I told him that all it was good for was a door stop!

He told me when I first arrived that if I didn't buy it, he figured he could put it on ebay and make $900.00 US!! So I better act fast.

Yeh right!
(CAN $ = .74 US at the moment)

 

HotRodJosh & I have a pile of parts in the shop so I went out & started measuring. I can now say the easiest way to check is to set the crank on the V-notched blocks & mark, rotate 180, and mark. Thanks for the advise, C9!