How Much For a Good Stock Turbo Crank?

[ILikeSix]

I've been out of touch with the TurboSix world for a while, it seems the rest of life got in the way... Anyway, I'm having a motor 'gone thru' that was supposedly 'professionally built' about 10 years ago. It came in an 87T type 'parts' car(no title or paperwork, good luck with that in Cali) from Sacramento area that did run but the tune was questionable and I made a few laps around my garage and that was about it before pulling the drivetrain. When I pulled the plugs I saw the dreaded missing porcelain on three of them so I knew the motor would have to be torn down. I am intimately familiar with Chrysler 2.2/2.5 turbo motors but since I don't have room in my brain to learn another platform I sent it off to a reputable builder a few months ago. Among other problems he found it had a cracked crank, in fact he said the next two he acquired and checked were also cracked and that they are getting very hard to find. So before I go pay him more than DOUBLE what I was expecting to a tear down/inspect/freshening, what is the market value on a good factory crank? Are they getting that scarce?


AJ

 

[TURBOTIMMER]

You're better off getting a new forged crank. Turbo cranks are hard to find because most are beat to death. I've seen nice ones in the $200-300 range, but for that kind of cash, I'd get a new forged unit.
If you're dead set on a stock cast one, find an N/A 4.1 motor. They have the same crank and most have lived an easy life.

 

[ILikeSix]

Whoah, I can get a forged crank for $300?? Can you give me a source Timmer? Thanks!

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

forged jumps into the 1k with all of the extra crap you need

 

[pacecarta]

he said nice stock cranks 200-300
and the 4.1 NA crank is usable but isnt that easy to find and needs a rebalance
for that matter if stock power level is what your after the NA 3.8 crank would work (id run them to the 10's) ..dirt cheap and they have had an easy life

buying forged now is an option as they are readily available (wasnt always the case) though not as cheap an option as the oe crank if your doing a stock rebuild



if you go forged...the pricing is better than it was in past but you will still reach deep compared to a stock crank
plenty of forged rotating assembly packages (crank rods pistons ) from some of the buick vendors like full throttle / dave husek / trcustoms /weber and others, but you could just do the crank

ive have seen new eagle forged cranks under 400 (usually under 450) but you're better off dealing through a buick vendor

full throttle pricing
TAperf forged 3.400 crank internal $550
you will need a neutral balancer and flexplate
sfi balancer TA perf 290 or BHJ 506
neutral sfi flex plate ..CAT $80 or JW $270

for $620 you can get an external forged crank and keep your stock balancer and flexplate

balance the forged will run 200-300

you need to be careful on the bearings with a forged due to the large radius they leave on the journals
also need to check the crank clearances and journal straightness and you may need to have it cut -.010 undersize to get it right (more money)
and the flexplate needs some work on back side to clear the radius

 

[TURBOTIMMER]

Whoah, I can get a forged crank for $300?? Can you give me a source Timmer? Thanks!

Sorry, should have explained better.
Pacecarta summed it up nicely.

 

[ILikeSix]

Yeah, I'm a 3.8 N00B so thanks for spelling it out for me PaceCar I'm heading out to the JVG shop in Riverside now to pick up the new motor, I just kinda needed to know how in line the parts portion of the build is compared to real world experience. I don't doubt this guys skills (glowing reccomendations from a friend that's had at least 10 different motors built by him) it's the pricing Im unsure of My black car has been sitting too long dusty and forgotten in the corner. I'll start a build thread soon.
\
AJ

 

[TURBOTIMMER]

How fast do you wanna go?

 

[ILikeSix]

Rolled out to Upland, CA JVG shop yesterday, IMPRESSED! Nice guy, knowledgable, fun to chat with(I guess the Vette guys roll out there Saturday am's just for coffee and BS'ing) Turn's out the 'built' motor I left for him to inspect and freshen was on its last legs. Rod bearings down to copper(one of the mains too), cam was walking(no thrust button), last guy didn't even bother with a cam chain tensioner, it just wasn't in the motor(WTF?), both heads were cracked and required replacement, Con rods were ovaled on the small end from so much detonation. The list of new/replacement parts just goes on and on. So with all those factors in mind, the price that I thought was a little outrageous was actually a pretty good value with all that needed to be done. The new motor is sweet, well assembled and full of tricks. With all that Jim told me about what he did inside the motor I asked him how often he did 3.8's because clearly he knows all their issues. His answer surprised me, he hadn't done one in 10 years

As far as how fast Timmer, I'm not a drag race guy, It's unlikely I'll hit the track with this car. No more than 15-16 PSI so the motor will live a LOOOONG time, maybe 450-500WHP is a reasonable goal.

 

[Boost231]

10 years. Hummm..

Did your guy tell you why it didn't have a cam chain tensioner or does he know why it wouldn't? Theirs a reason for this depending on the parts used

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[TURBOTIMMER]

Rolled out to Upland, CA JVG shop yesterday, IMPRESSED! Nice guy, knowledgable, fun to chat with(I guess the Vette guys roll out there Saturday am's just for coffee and BS'ing) Turn's out the 'built' motor I left for him to inspect and freshen was on its last legs. Rod bearings down to copper(one of the mains too), cam was walking(no thrust button), last guy didn't even bother with a cam chain tensioner, it just wasn't in the motor(WTF?), both heads were cracked and required replacement, Con rods were ovaled on the small end from so much detonation. The list of new/replacement parts just goes on and on. So with all those factors in mind, the price that I thought was a little outrageous was actually a pretty good value with all that needed to be done. The new motor is sweet, well assembled and full of tricks. With all that Jim told me about what he did inside the motor I asked him how often he did 3.8's because clearly he knows all their issues. His answer surprised me, he hadn't done one in 10 years

As far as how fast Timmer, I'm not a drag race guy, It's unlikely I'll hit the track with this car. No more than 15-16 PSI so the motor will live a LOOOONG time, maybe 450-500WHP is a reasonable goal.

Stock cast crank should work fine.

 

[ILikeSix]

10 years. Hummm..

Did your guy tell you why it didn't have a cam chain tensioner or does he know why it wouldn't? Theirs a reason for this depending on the parts used

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

I think the overriding theme is the motor I brought him that I had hoped was full of dollars well spent and HiPo parts(I had no idea, PO died more than 10 years ago and I bought the parts car off his buddy that knew nothing about cars but stored it after his friends death) instead of a quality build, was a POS Guy I bought the car from did say that the guy (who died in a motorcycle accident) had spent $8K on the motor and $5K on the trans. I'm at least hopeful that the trans is worth a sh!t. The rear end is a good posi unit and since the original in my car was noisey I've been using the rear from the donor for the last few years and it's been fine.