cutting the snout while in the vehicle

[onetallmj]

Has anyone attemped to cut the shaft snout while still in the truck?

When my guy rebuilt my engine/stroker, he forgot to cut down my snout on the and me being the stupid person I am, didn't measure before it went in.

So..... my harmonic balancer sits out too far(maybe.25"?) and I really do not want to pull the engine out.

Any thoughts/ideas?

 

[5-90]

Ouch. Check the measurement - as I recall, the difference between crank snouts is either .100", or 1cm - neither of which is a quarter inch. Call me paranoid, but I want to make sure we're addressing the correct problem.

Now, since I don't know anything about your skill with tools (but I'm sure of mine, and I know what that area looks like...) I'd be REALLY leery of trying to hand-cut that down to length - the best you could probably do would be a hacksaw - or a compact sawzall - and you'd have a hard time getting decent precision for the job. That, and it's going to be seriously tough to maintain a straight cut, and you'll still have to deburr (and a slight chamfer would be a good idea.)

You don't have to pull the entire engine to pull the crankshaft - you can pull the oil pan and timing gears, and unbolt the mains and rods and drop the crank out the bottom. You can reinstall it the same way - take out the spark plugs in case you need to move a piston. Takes a little care, but it's doable without disturbing the cylinder head. Takes about twice as long, tho - and that makes it easier to remove the head if you can.

Whether you are willing to R&I the crank without pulling the head is up to you - and your confidence in your skill. I haven't met you, and I haven't seen you work, so I'm just telling you what I know to be possible (I've done it a couple times.)

Check your work orders from the machine shop - if you paid for the service, I'd ask for a little compensation for the extra labour. If you haven't (but it's listed,) I'd see about getting him to compleat the order gratis - it's a simple operation.

If it's not listed at all, I'd chalk it up to a cheap lesson harshly learned. When you have a major job like this, it's ALWAYS a good idea to review the work order before you sign it, ask questions before you pay, and inspect the work ON SITE before you leave - so he can't try to blame it on transport.

Meanwhile, don't run the truck - you'll eat belts like popcorn. If you can take a picture and go talk to him before you take anything in, you can make sure the two of you are on the same page...

5-90

 

[MrShoeBoy]

Just have the machine shop make a spacer thats 1 cm thick and fits over the end of the crank and key way. I had one made for my stroker and the shop did it for free of charge and it only look less than 15 min for them to make it. I have had no issues with the spacer and I have 5k on my stroker. Its the easy cheap solution to your problem.

AARON

 

[HandBuiltXJ]

i have read a few times about this spacer, i am using the longer snout as well, what is this spacer? any pics, i keep racking my head but cant figure it out.

john

 

[INI SLDR]

I agree with shoeboy, the spacer is the way to go. I had my machin shop " cut " my crank down but he did such a poor job that the cut was not square so I had to use a spacer anyway. That guy was a real butcher!!! Anyway...

The spacer is simply a very thick washer that has an inside diameter equal to or larger than your crankshaft. The outside diameter has to be large enough to give it the strength to pull the damper on. I used some super fine sandpaper to clearance the inside of the damper to make it easier. I think I got my " spacer " from the hardware store in the form of some gigantic washers that I drilled out to fit.

Please take this next bit of advice from experience:

Get a longer bolt to get the damper started with and at least halfway installed before switching to the shorter stock bolt length. I stripped the threads by putting too much of a strain with too little of the bolt engaged. THAT was a hard lesson learned. Add thread locker and good luck!!

 

[Dr. Dyno]

Just have the machine shop make a spacer thats 1 cm thick and fits over the end of the crank and key way. I had one made for my stroker and the shop did it for free of charge and it only look less than 15 min for them to make it. I have had no issues with the spacer and I have 5k on my stroker. Its the easy cheap solution to your problem.

AARON

I did the same, but my 1.0cm (10mm) thick spacer was a piece cut on a lathe from the back of an old crank pulley so it also had the keyway to slip over the crank snout. Definitely a cheap and effective solution to your problem.

 

[Gojeep]

I did the same, but my 1.0cm (10mm) thick spacer was a piece cut on a lathe from the back of an old crank pulley so it also had the keyway to slip over the crank snout. Definitely a cheap and effective solution to your problem.

Nice solution.
Plenty of those being thrown away all the time.