The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Drilling oil holes in a 216 crankshaft

One of the really interesting things about buying my crankshaft grinder was where I got it- - - -King's crankshafts in Denver North Carolina. King's is a 2-generation family business, one that's been whittling billet crankshafts out of chunks of solid steel for close to 50 years. They start with a round chunk of steel over a foot in diameter, program a CNC mill to the right specifications, and end up with a custom crankshaft for a NASCAR engine, a tractor puller, or even an experimental airplane engine! Of course, years ago, all this stuff was done with a lathe and a hand-cranked milling machine, and then a manual crankshaft grinder! I bought one of their "retired" machines.

I brought up the subject of drilling oil holes in a spray-oiler crankshaft, and the owner of the business says it's something he could do, as they drill oil passages in the billet shafts they make. The first one would be a little expensive, as he would have to do all the CNC programming to make the holes come out in the right places, but others would cost considerably less once the machine knows what to do. If a few people wanted to chip in and split the costs, it might be worth considering, assuming there's enough interest to make it worth the gentleman's time to do the programming. He's definitely one of the good guys in the custom crankshaft business.
Jerry

I read about guys doing this years ago (maybe it was McGurk) but I think it was on a one-off basis and I don't remember what motive made it worthwhile. I'd be interested to know the rationale. Racing rules? Vintage racing?

It was done along with machining the connecting rods for insert bearings to provide full pressure lubrication to the rods and eliminating the dippers, troughs, and spray-oiling system. The spray holes in the rod caps are plugged and the dippers are removed. Fitting the Melling M-45 oil pump for the 235 and reworking the oil pickup plumbing a little would also be a good idea to increase oil volume. I'm working on the details of putting an increased-stroke 235 crankshaft in a 216 block, along with several other modifications to create a 266 cubic inch inline six with full pressure oiling that looks exactly like a 216 from the outside.
Jerry

crower cams, crankshaft division already has the program, they did it on my crankshaft, mostly because the programmer didn't have anything to do. however they centered the rear main bearing hole, mostly because I didn't tell them otherwise, but that would be an easy fix. They only charged me like $150

I'm out of practice, but I could still program that in about 1 hour. The setup would take longer than programming it.

hotrod lincoln- how did it all work out? Did you get the full pressure stroked 216 you were looking for? How does it run? Worth the cost? I'm looking to full pressure the original 216 in my '49.

I'm still accumulating parts and the crank grinder isn't in operating shape yet. The Chicken Little virus "panic-demic" ("The sky is falling!") has slowed down my ability to hire some of the grunt labor it's going to take to get the shop set up the way I want it. If things work out as planned, I'm going to have a "216" looking engine with 260+ cubic inches, 9:1 compression or so, with full pressure oiling and a leakproof rear main bearing seal. I'm going to do some very stressful dyno testing on the prototype engine to see if it will stay together under hard use. As with all high performance modifications, there's always the possibility that I'll end up with a very expensive boat anchor!

The 55-62 year 235 crankshaft that I'm using needs some pretty extensive modifications- - - -the thrust bearing area of the shaft needed to be machined wider so it will fit the 216 block, and about 1/2" had to be machined off the counterweights so the slightly shorter NASCAR connecting rods don't cause the piston skirts to hit the crankshaft. As soon as the crank grinder is in operation, I'll be able to do the finish work on the shaft. I'm also reboring the 216 block 60 thousandths and using standard bore 235 aluminum pistons instead of the cast iron 216 pistons. Along with the lighter weight connecting rods, that will make for a big reduction in the reciprocating weight.

Bore: 3 9/16"
Stroke: 4 3/8"
Cubic inch displacement: 262.25

This should be quite a "sleeper 216" if I manage to get all my ducks in a row!
Jerry

What are you expecting in terms of torque as compared to a 261?
Looks like you are making a long stroke 235.

It's bound to be considerable, but until I can log some dyno time, anything I come up with would be a SWAG at best. I can do the same thing with a 235 block, but it would require about 1/8" to be milled off the top of the block to get the piston deck height right. The 216 is shorter, and there's the added advantage of having a "Sneaky Pete" engine that can be made to appear just like a 216 from the outside. The counterweights would still have to be turned down, regardless of which block I start with.
Jerry

Hmmm, whats da plan for the exhaust manifold, intake and carb, if stock looking is the goal?

Just like any other properly set up stovebolt- - - -one carb, one exhaust, and totally original-looking hardware on the outside. I have never been gullible enough to believe that a high torque engine needs all the dual carb- - - -dual exhaust gingerbread that the cylinder head can't take advantage of. It's just eye candy for the mouth breathers at a car show to marvel at, while adding nothing to the real performance. Like P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute!" I might go with a vintage carb for a GMC 270, or something similar, to get the venturi size to match the cubic inch displacement a little better.
Jerry

Seems like a stock 216 intake and exhaust is not to contribute positively to this, "wolf in sheeps clothing. "

Im not stuck on the eye candy either. Funtion is always #1.

I'm not an RPM addict- - - -long stroke crankshafts produce gobs of low end torque in the speed ranges where these engines were designed to run. 7/16" more leverage on the flywheel should make a noticeable difference, combined with the higher compression ratio more cylinder volume with the same combustion chamber will produce. If I can out-torque a 261 from around 1500 RPM to 3000 or so, who needs a screaming high speed engine in the first place?

One of the old adages every dirt track racer knows is "Horsepower is to brag about- - - - -torque wins races!"
Jerry

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