Big Chevy, The machines exist but you really have to search to find a machinist who has one and is willing to come to your garage and do the job. Quite popular back in the day.
Back in the late fifties we had an auto parts shop in north St. Louis that would send out a machinist with the "in-block" crankshaft grinding machine to our garage. Most of the jobs were for babbitt rod problems on 216s and early 235s. I would remove the bad rods from the pistons, leaving the pistons in the block with the head still on. The machinist would then attach the grinding machine to the engine and grind the crank journals as required. We would trade in the bad rods for reconditioned rods )about $2 per rod), shim and scrape the babbitt, put the engine back together, and the customer could be back on the road for about $60. We also did this on some Chrysler six flatheads and some early Chevy 265 and 283 engines. I tried to convince the owner of our garage that it would be better to pull the engine and overhaul it, but he pointed out that most of our customers could not afford that route.
Has anyone seen or heard of the in-car grinding in recent years? I have not seen one since about 1963. You need an installation where the lower end of the engine is all accessible while still in the car or truck to use the machine.
Hoyt
