Quote:
Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked
I agree Pete . . . with one caveat - "price you can afford".
Having a crankshaft shop create a welded stroker will be a lot more money than a $600 Eagle 4.250 stroker. This is a semi-educated guess 
I'm sure the prices vary all over the board, but I think the last price I heard (20 years ago) was over $100 per journal. Just for shits and giggles, I will ask Fowler what they charge these days - they have one of those cool journal welding machines (they use it a lot on big Diesel cranks with spun bearings).
I've never had a 'Cast Steel' Merc crank (that I know of) - what is the best way to positively identify one??? |
The cost for a welded 4.5 stroke crank would vary quite a bit due to who you knew, whether they were interested and bunch of other stuff.
It would end up somewhere between a SCAT/Eagle and a billet.
One thing for SURE. It would last a whole lot longer than a SCAT/Eagle.
4.5" welded cranks lasted for at least 20 runs in the old days of top fuel.
Scat cranks would only last 100 feet on the first run.
The easiest way to identify a steel crank is the spark test. There are very subtle differences in looks also, so unless you have compared the 2 examples side by side, it is difficult. ONE THING FOR SURE IS, ALL OF THE STEEL CRANKS I HAVE HAD, HAD "1CM" cast in one of the big counterweights.
I have seen plenty of cast iron ones with "1CM" also, so that is not a positive identifier.