Bbc with a broken crank and spun bearing, we try to salvage the block.

Big Block Chevy Broke a crank and spun a main bearing, we go through the repair process
Powellmachineinc.com

[@michaeljennings7146]

Machinists are the man behind the curtain. Except in their case the man really is a wizard. Would have never thought a peening hammer would have brought that big cap back out.

[@frfrpr]

Andrew, the filming is great!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty, I will pass that on!

[@Zt3v3]

I'm subbed, I love seeing repairs like this. Any shop can replace parts, I like seeing repairs.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks for the sub!

[@bradleycrenshaw6778]

This is why I wear a Powell Machine Shop shirt on my off days. People will stop me and ask but most will read it and say hey I watch that guy.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Lol, that's good stuff right there!!

[@myfastcars]

When I was 21, I was a E5 USN Submarine Sailor. I was married and had very little extra cash to play with engine mods. My 67 Impala, 327 at 75,000 miles killed a cam and needed to be rebuilt. Damn Quaker State Crap Oil!!! Devastation! So, being mechanically inclined and a DYI guy, I did the engine rebuild my self. Lucky for me, I found a local machine shop in a small town in CT that had a heart and good engine machinating skills. It was Larrys Machine Shop. You remind me of the owner. Knowledgeable, Kind, and SMART! I can not believe all the LS Engine knowledge that you have provide me. THANK YOU! You are the MAN! Bill

[@jeffreydurham5342]

Quaker state is not crap oil, don't put the blame where it doesn't belong.

[@myfastcars]

IMHO, It was not that good way back in the late 70s early 80s. I agree that its come a long way since then as well as other oils. I didn't like Penns Oil either but, Thats my go to oil now and it great stuff. @@jeffreydurham5342

[@sphillips6357]

If I was 30 years younger I'd come work for you for free just so I could learn. Unfortunately I learned to repair office and commercial/industrial equipment. Tolerances there, too, are plus or minus .001 and some adjustments had to be done by feel as there was no way to possibly get any type of gauge in there. That equipment no longer exists and is now all obsolete, just like my skills. I hope your assistants know how blessed they are to learn these skills from a master tech like you. I know from trying to teach some people many years ago that some people just never seemed to grasp the concept of close tolerances. And I've found that true of some machinists too.

[@flexmasterson4297]

Have zero experience or knowledge about machining but sure am enjoying observing the work and processes. Thank you.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Great to hear!

[@whiteoneauto]

Great video. As a master ASE mechanic who only brought $200,000 worth of machines due to getting screw over. I hope your area realizes how blessed they are to have a REAL MACHINE SHOP close by.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty!! I really appreciate you!

[@andreaudio]

Got here by an accident, stayed due to the content! Well done Sir. Cheers from Brazil 🇧🇷.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Welcome!!

[@johndoran3274]

Last time I’ve seen that done is when I had an old fella do an in frame on my V8 Mack. He did everything inframe in my garage. The hone had a cradle that hung from the frame of the truck.

[@robertmoore4637]

Wow. Never seen this done before and it gives me a new perspective of what goes into machining these blocks. I can talk to a machinist and imagine what he is trying to picture in my mind and where to go. Thanks for the show!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@111000100101001]

That’s near and dear for me, thanks for saving some good iron! Years ago I bought a 454 block, steel crank and rods out of a boat a boat that blew an oil cooler line and was driven with no oil pressure until it locked up near the shore. Seller sold it to me for scrap. The center main was spun so bad it bulged the cap out really bad and was completely black. Since the cape as wasted we snagged another from a scrapped 396 and worked on that thing all weekend. Definitely burned the “midnight oil” line honing that thing to accept some over/under bearing shells. My buddy ground the crank under, .020” mains, .010” mains rods while I squared the block up, zero decked and bored .030”. 20 yrs later still running as a daily driver that sees the 1/8th on some weekends and get the kids to school during the week :)

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty for watching!

[@thirteentwentyfeet]

I've line honed a couple hundred blocks over the years. I wish I would have know this peening trick back then. I use to stake the block with a round nose chisel to tighten the registers. Thanks for sharing.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad to help

[@tedgerstenslager2949]

Yup, not only staking but using the staking on one or both sides to fit in a replacement cap from another block, also loosening the caps that are on size or close, to get a tight one to catch up. Align honing is an exercise in patience.

[@johnhuggins3671]

Very nicely done. Amazing! Could you explain the center line movement. Do you need a custom timing chain with shifting the center line. Looks like a .004 or .005 shift. Very skilled on this equipment. Thanks for taking the time to show this process.💯

[@carl112466]

77*1st

[@afrothunder270]

​@@johnhuggins3671no custom timing chain required we are talking about very minimal Corrections in the alignment of the block during casting there is what they call Core shift that is more noticeable with the oil galleys that surround the camshaft bore but basically it gets everything true as possible. This will minimize any stress on the crankshaft itself when the main caps are torqued down and will also minimize excessive wear on any particular bearing for the crankshaft because everything is now perfectly concentric and in line in some cases it can also help minimize drag allowing for faster RPMs not that it's noticeable but if you are chasing tenths in a quarter mile these are definitely things that need to be looked at.

[@bigblockpop]

Love watching your videos, you are a straight up bloke

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty, I try hard

[@Utubegofukurself]

This man adds extra letters in almost every word!

[@user-bh8kx8rm4k]

Such meticulous ability and attention to detail still astounds me. You are better than a true machinists. 👍 My dad taught me some things, but i never took up the art. May God rest soul! I was lead in another direction. We will be talking 👄 in the future.

[@user-bh8kx8rm4k]

His soul

[@lloydratsoy2057]

Experience on display right there. Nice save.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty, I appreciate that

[@ericwiltz6584]

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying, "thank you to you and your son for educating!" Time isn't free, especially when you have a shop like yours and the wait time only gets longer. Tatro Machine in San Diego, a Harley builder, primarily an iron only man is exactly like yourself when he builds. The last time I checked his wait time was over two years. So, job security yes, and people will pay to have it done right!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Yep, I have heard of him, we use to build a lot of big inch harley stuff back in the 2000's

[@yarrdayarrdayarrda]

Keep in mind if the block sees enough heat it will occasionally crack, usually in the oil supply passage area. We'll just weld up the side of the cap and recut, or just replace the cap with a donor cap from a scrap block, but it's very interesting to see you can peen the collapse back out of the cap.

[@teamgrizzly2859]

I will say having the main cap attachment for the 750 cap grinder to index the caps 90° is a huge huge help. Jamison equipment sells them new USA made and a CBN wheel from Martin at performance plus makes cutting the caps soooooo much better! Love the videos man!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

I have a cbn wheel, it's better but it doesn't do as good as I was lead to believe

[@teamgrizzly2859]

@@powellmachineinc3179 hate to hear that, the one I have works amazing, use the white stone to clean it up and continue on

[@Anthony-nw5zv]

That was a big mending process to save the block saddle and main cap. Good thing that customer cut the engine when he did.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Definitely

[@RallyRobert976]

That was a class video it takes a lot of knowledge, experience and skill to do a job like this. Keep them coming😊

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pete540Z]

Best engine machining channel I've found. Thanks, you guys. Really enjoying these.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

We really appreciate you!, ty for watching

[@MrHowlor5]

You forgot to mention the "big ol' jug" of patience!

[@teamgrizzly2859]

Align honing is my favorite thing to do, got a Donovan block to align hone tomorrow

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Yeah, it's definitely not my favorite, but it's just another process

[@jeffbrooks8024]

That peening process is quite amazing….who would have thought

[@Tigman4]

Nothing but the best from Daniel as always.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty sir!! We appreciate you

[@DieselRamcharger]

i really love this guy. he takes time to explain things in an honest way.

[@roncoburn7771]

andrew does a good job with that camera awesome video loved it.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

I think so too!

[@DoRullings]

Beautiful. Well done! Greetings from Norway! 🙂

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty, we appreciate you

[@MC-de6tf]

At Pete's machine(when I was a kid working there), Pete had align boring equipment where he could recut, or align cut all those caps. Now Pete would make sure all the oil galleys was clear, open and clean so oil would flow as needed in the engine. We use to use blue Loctite on the crank cap bolts to make sure they stayed where we torqued them. Also Pete had a crank grinding machine- seems there was always a crank in the machine getting reground by Terry back in those days.

[@scottosborne8735]

Peening. Never thought of it. Used it as a technique in industrial leak repair.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Definitely

[@wilsonrawlin8547]

Wow!! Now that's either some old school or secret squirrel machinist knowledge. I would never have thought that would work as well as it did. I wish I had known about your shop in the 90s. You are a rare diamond machine shop and machinist, brother!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

We appreciate that

[@strokermaverick]

Fairly amazed, the main cap widened up, with penning process, you used. Nice lengthy upload. I enjoyed it, sir! Thank you!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@michaelraddish7898]

😂

[@glen646]

Many thanks for the content. I don't build my own engines, I leave it to the experts, so I really appreciate this look behind the curtain, as my guys don't have time to show all their customers each build. Thanks to your videos, I can get an understanding of how everything is processed, love it 👍

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks for watching!

[@jamesweber4938]

Being a Limey my Canadian wife and her parents had a hard time understanding my accent at first. You got me beat by a mile :)

[@markokingo]

Skills.. all the way around ! Enjoyed the video, gents.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@johnhaskell6251]

During my time in the older way with repairs involved heating and brazing the blocks and caps after we bored the block to create an area for the mass of brass. Hand filing a peening everything until the block was good with blueing. Clip the caps as usual for the boring. At times we would finish hone if we had rough finishing.. Sometimes we'd have to really bore big and make soft steel sleeves and with push rod those in the block and replace the cap. There was always a way to get it right again. Some of it was race stuff and still used when the boys had no choice.

[@frank3RV4]

I really like that you showed us how this repair work is done. The video of straightening the cam was really neat too! I wish you were closer..

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thank you

[@user-bh8kx8rm4k]

I take it that South Carolina is still Gods Country. Catfish from extinct Oakwood mobile would be proud.

[@williamberndt2997]

those Sunnen gauges are a joy to use

[@rjecsn]

Stumbled on you channel. Great video's. Always wanted to know more about machine shop work. Thanks for sharing from Tiffin, Ohio.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@etowahjazz]

love it!! Learning every time!!! thanks

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad to hear it!

[@michaelmartinez1345]

Great video !!! You showed so much skill and good judgement to do this precision work properly... Lots of steps and checking of the measurements... The patience and careful procedures really paid off!!! Good job!

[@bryanpiereson8083]

Great work. Not sure how I got here but enjoy it. Southern accent is the heaviest I've ever heard but the captioning software is usually right.

[@WhiteKnight5775]

Awesome job!!!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks!!

[@jimzivny1554]

Nice repair. I like the way you sneak up on the finish pass, too many guys are too aggressive to try to save time and ruin things. Good video

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Right on

[@wernerpanchenko6542]

Patience never speed

[@wernerpanchenko6542]

I v done vw since 1963 no more machine shops in our area milton fla do vw dub eng work

[@marklowe330]

You need to wear gloves to protect yourself from the cutting fluids, as they do cause kidney cancer. As a lifelong machinist, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in my mid 40's. So consider protecting yourself. It was good to see you checking your bore gauge often. Checking your measuring tools is the most important advice I give to young machinists.

[@scotdeane5024]

Fantastic video

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks for the visit

[@davidlamberson5435]

Good video again.

[@kennethcoogler7904]

Great job man...

[@davidcoudriet8439]

Very interesting. Never heard about that process

[@gregoryb7485]

Andrew does do a great job with the video camara . it always pretty steady and good shots

[@Gearhead.327]

Good save! That is some really good info, thanks for sharing.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad it was helpful!

[@daveaustin69]

Andrew- Hello from Lake Norman NC, where many people are involved with motorsports and engine building. - I appreciate the work you’re doing to showcase Dad’s skills. I just subscribed to your channel so I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work on behalf of your Dad, and learning more about the basics of automotive machining.

[@bobbyabbott3035]

Amazing how you go the extra mile to do good work. Thanks for the video!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

It's not extra, just our standard process, it's either right or it's not!, thank you!!

[@AlxJrz401]

I appreciate the upload and the knowledge your sharing, first time seeing these tools in action. Thank you!!!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks for watching!

[@noanyobiseniss7462]

Gonna have to remember that timing belt trick, I like. :)

[@ChambersRacing9862]

Wow i can't believe that peening works! That's pretty cool.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Whatsleftofben]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! My son has learned a ton from you, so have I! Keep it up

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Great to hear!

[@davidjackson4112]

Thanks for sharing your skills. Thanks Andrew excellent job filming.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jimwilfong4384]

Great work

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thank you so much 😀

[@gregsidel3557]

Very good I like the way you was patient enough to do your measuring. And got it where it knew to be good job thank you

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Absolutely

[@melissatuason2395]

There is a procedure in welding that is called "Friction Welding" that is 2 mating surfaces are turned against each other so they can fuse through heat & pressure. Thats what it reminds me of this situation.

[@johnyhefner]

Wow, amazing! Fascinating.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Many thanks!

[@patrickwendling6759]

Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Our pleasure!

[@barrykilts4506]

Thanks for investing your time and knowledge,had a guy a few yrs back fire half his help and the other half quit including his son and he hadn’t done any shop work for yrs just golfing but I had him align bore my 406 and I should have known better but I didn’t even begin to tighten the rear cap when it snapped and the registers were off too.still have it but haven’t fixed or used it yet but this gives me knowledge to go on,thanks

[@theshed8802]

Very informative video. Not too much work and a block saved, and a lot of money saved as well.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Yes sir!

[@edsmachine93]

Nice save Daniel. Came out pretty good. Glad to see you using an oil pump on the rear cap. You may tell your viewers why, they may not know. That block had a bad line bore. I can tell by the parting line Big block Chevys are usually bad. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Ed.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Great point!

[@wilsonrawlin8547]

Yep! Wonder what shop did that. Seen several Shops with a line boring machine and no where near the knowledge and experience to use it.

[@joelh1950]

Thanks ! Great Job !

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Our pleasure!

[@MorganBrown]

I’m curious how you got into the trade. Amazingly specialized technical knowledge. Very cool

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Just always loved go fast hot rods and Grumpy Jenkins was my hero

[@bobmoore4790]

Great info , being a guy that's done this stuff , great to see info for the public that it's not just my words on how much work this is .

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Absolutely!, thank you

[@KSIXRIDER]

Nice work

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thank you!

[@carmo9693]

Wow, that was quite a procedure, I never knew they had bearing cap grinders. That honing shaft, how heavy is that, that machine is cool. I use to work at a machine shop and did cyl head grinding and seat grinding 40 years ago.

[@williegillie5712]

I don’t see many guys that correct the block issues(unless it’s obvious) Then size up and match the bore in the camshaft. I’m impressed with each video

[@danielsteward5090]

Yeah,That's a win there. I'll take that all day long. We had a run of forged light weight cranks from a well known company I won't name that were cracking near the center main bearing journal and third main journal on a lot of them.(these were 540" Chevy big blocks with 871 s' on them. Merlin blocks and Brodix heads.) 1,500 HP marine application engines. They fixed the problem with the "Brittle" Cranks. I haven't seen one break in quite a long time. And these guys beat on these engines for hours at a time.

[@majorpayne5289]

👍Good stuff brother. A PRO knows, fosho! I’m an ol industrial refrigeration mechanic forced out due to retinal blindness. Have about 12% left. I sure miss the job. Wife’s 07 Chevy grocery gitter 4.2 can use a rebuild. Affording a new one ain’t happening. Wish I had y’all in my KY town. Paid for sure rides and drives better! Thanks for the videos. Stay safe. 👍🇺🇸

[@user-dv7hb2sc9m]

This is, "Greek" to me, seeing things done right w/ added wisdom of the years can't be measured to folks like me who don't know but there's an implied trust we give to people doing tasks that they are trained/knowledgeable in. After watching all of these videos I'm feeling like I'm gonna bring my stuff to you when I have the money to get it done. See, I don't have money to do it 2-3 times b/c something's overlooked & I like watching you. I still don't know the basic terminology to explain stuff that I want done but I am learning thru watching. IT's like you have a "school" here.... I'm not here for engine stuff but for what I saw in your handling of another issue whereas you acted like what I'd want in any Man who's word is good? We lack that in today's society or it's in a short supply. peace

[@TurboDog73TX]

Thanks to Andrew AND You. I can't say I've ever seen anyone peen the cap like that, alrhough ut makes sense. I've seen and have peened the edges of the registers in the block before, but I wqs literally just going through the motions of What My mentor taught Me, always thinking it was a suspect way of "fixing" the problem.. Thanks for all You share man, good stuff.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

You're welcome!

[@bigstuff52]

wonderful..Thanks for uploading..Subbed for sure..

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thanks for the sub!

[@frasercrone3838]

You at least backed your hunch that it could be fixed, many places just don't want to take the risk and use new stuff. Machines make new stuff but it is people who repair stuff and if they didn't none of the older stuff would be left to look at and appreciate where we came from.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Ty! 💯

[@silverstreak232]

THANKS ANREW, CAMERA MAN 😀

[@jamescardwell3254]

Love the videos to get a perspective on what happens in a machine shop. Very curious where you guys are located if i looked at the right sight you may only be like a little over 3hrs from me which i do not care to travel for quality work as my trusty straight shooting machinist has retired.

[@Digimee2]

Excellent footage and a great example of how to fix... now if I start line bore measuring.. will I get arms like that?? Love the work

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Lol, probably not

[@markbedard6238]

Thanks andrew

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Thank you for watching!!

[@Hotbeefsamich]

I used to do the punch marks outside of the register thing, but years ago an old timer showed me how to smack the center of the main cap with a 3 or 4 lb sledge hammer 5 hits at a time on something solid like a huge anvil until the cap spread back out! Never seen it done this way. I wonder if it would work on a powder metal cap? I have had no luck getting a PM cap back with the hammer technique, only break them. Great channel BTW!!!!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Peening works on any material, ty for watching

[@dyn237]

i here by mistake. i total noob with mechanical work, but this so damn interesting. im currently 5 videos deep

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Awesome!!

[@MrInnovativeEnergy]

I have this same issue with an LQ4 block. Wonder if I could simply weld with Nickle 55 or something using the TIG on each journal, then just have it bored back to stock? I seen this done by some old timers working on a tractor block.

[@C5Z06CarGuy]

I wish this is what I did for a living. I think I'd be good at it.

[@roberta4989]

Great episode. You basically machined all surfaces of the main caps except one (the side to side saddle clearance). GM used casting molds that must be very similar for the mass production so wouldn't it be faster to use a used main cap from a donor block? Why isn't it feasible/possible/typical to use a used cap and it be machined to replace the damaged one? Machines are so much more accurate now than previous available machines for this type of accuracy and ability. Maybe an old timer thing that can be modernized?

[@bunning63]

One idea that was floated once was spray welding the edge of the cap to take up the excess clearence. Then reinstalling and align honing it all. Not a professional so making no claim as how legit that would turnout. Interested in your thoughts. Just a back note, was relating to a Rover/Buick V8 and they often get loose on the main caps, sometimes just rough installation. Another idea was using a water jet cutter and making a set of new caps to suit. Never went that route but bit of out of the box thinking.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

That just makes the problem even worse

[@bunning63]

@@powellmachineinc3179 Yeah, I just sourced another block, wasn't that keen on being a Guinea pig for experiments.

[@snooketcher]

Really interesting! I wonder if you could incorporate a modified case spreader to sit in the bolt holes and cut down on the preening time.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Possible

[@wilsonrawlin8547]

Peening.

[@uxbridgelibraryfriends8635]

Thoroughly enjoyed the entire video. How much main bearing clearance do you shoot for in your engine builds? If you add .0005 to the main bearing bore during the honing process, how much will that add to the actual main bearing clearance. Thanks, Bill

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Depending on application and oil viscosity normally. 0025-.003, yes, main bore size correlates to clearance 1 to 1

[@sailingjazzy8272]

Very cool and informational - never seen the peening used for that purpose. How do you fix the block if the registers are damaged?

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Welding is the only real way to fix the block

[@garysgarage.2841]

I would think doing this would create slack in the timing chain and possibly cause interference between the rods and cam. Maybe not so much with the cam unless your stroked. There's also piston to deck height that I would think will be effected also.

[@powellmachineinc3179]

It doesn't

[@GeorgeFarahGNR]

Great video! If the cap damaged the ledge on the block could you tig weld the ledge and machine it back down?

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Yes, absolutely

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

That's slick, haven't seen that before. Thanks for sharing! Say a head gasket fails and a groove is torched out between two cylinders, are these blocks worth trying to repair?

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Maybe, we have a welding rod for that repair

[@chevytruckjerry]

I love this channel!! I've never done any engine block work before yet, what machine do you recommend? Good ol Rottler F2B or something?

[@onenuttybuddy]

What an incredible piece of machinery. I have never seen this done before. Who makes this machine? Very cool!

[@powellmachineinc3179]

Serv-equip

[@davevanatta1965]

very educational thank you ! just wondering an im not questioning you at all by no means but could you have got a new cap by chance ? very nice work im gettn ready to build a 94 gm 4.3 !

[@powellmachineinc3179]

A new cap would create more work, as it would need boring first, plus you can't buy 1 cap, would have to buy a set.