Most of the well-established machine shops around Nashville are 3rd. or 4th. generation businesses, with a long history of doing real craftsman-quality work. The one where I worked for several years would have no problem at all with the modifications described in the tech article. They were regrinding flathead Ford cams in the 40's and 50's, duplicating the latest offerings from places like Iskenderian and Clay Smith within weeks of their roll-out on the national market. One of the projects I got personally involved in some time ago was a 5/8" stroke increase on a John Deere 2-cylinder tractor engine for antique tractor pulling. That job involved cutting out the crankcase wall between the engine and transmission for connecting rod clearance. They share a common oil sump now.
One modification we did regularly in the 50's was a 1/4" stroke increase on a 4" stroke Mercury crankshaft. It was necessary to offset-grind the crankshaft way below the rod journal diameter for the smaller 85-HP engine, then build the journal back up by welding and do a finish grind to standard 85 HP diameter for the smaller rod. Thousands of dirt track racers and illegal whiskey runners used those crankshafts. There's a long tradition of precision engine building in the southeast, and lots of it was for quasi-legal purposes.
Jerry
