Value of fresh magged and turned EE crankshaft

[ModelTWoods]

Wondering what the honest fair market value is on a freshly magged and turned EE crankshaft. Don't want any low ball prices. I have a coupe of spares and can have them magnafluxed and turned at a local engine shop, and know what I'd have invested in them after reconditioning, but need to know if it would be worth my investment in them. I wouldn't do it to break even or loose money.

[Les Schubert]

Will they be.020 or better? That would be my first criteria!

[ModelTWoods]

Will they be.020 or better? That would be my first criteria!

Les, I've going to guess .020 maximun. I might even have one that might polish out std. or at worst .010, but its a keeper. I actually have a total of four EE's and one Suremike. If the Suremike doesn't go over .020, I'll keep it. Two of the others, actually have already been turned and are in engines that are rebuilt, but I haven't miked them. A third EE has been turned but It has grooves worn in the front seal and pulley area. I have a crank repair sleeve for the seal area, but an adjustable aftermarket pulley that can be tightened up on the snout will have to be used with it. I think that I may have one of those adjustable pulleys, too. I haven't miked it but the engine its coming out of probably doesn't have 750 miles on it since it was rebuilt. The fourth EE has already been turned and is drilled for oil pressure, but I haven't measured it. I do know that it will need polishing as it has light surface rust on the bearing surfaces. I''ll choose the three that I want to keep and then sell the rest, but knowing what magging and turning will cost me, i just wanted to see if it would be worth my money to do so, or just sell them without a mag check and fresh turning (kind of a "pig in a poke" deal.)

[Kerry]

Cranks take a bit of time to set up on a crank grinder so the shop that does mine looks after me for price when doing 6 at a time, I send in a dozen or so in but usually only half pass a crack test, EE's will break but not as easy as the earlier ones. The few sure-mikes that have come through my shop have never passed crack testing. Price? well I only charge what it costs in parts for a re-build, it's my hobby to do this and keep another T on the road. But it would be hard for me to value at USA price. In Australia a scat would cost us about $3000+ so 5-6 hundred wouldn't be out of the question for a good serviceable original. So work out if it's a viable deal to invest in the crank re-build if it comes in at about 20% of a scat price at your end of the world.

[OldFord]

I had three cranks (1 was EE) magnafluxed and polished at an engine shop here at a cost of $150 each. All 3 passed with flying colors, all were .010 under for mains, and .020 for rods. I still have 2 that no one seems interested in at a price of $200. There was a post a short time ago where someone snapped a crank and I offered one, but no interest. Don't waste your money betting on the come...

Frank

[critterpainter]

When I snapped my crank several people offered cranks, both untested and ready to go. I turned them all down as I did NOT want to use a 100yo crankshaft and risk having it break and damage a 1913 block.

[ModelTWoods]

O.K., so reading the follow up posts to mine, here is what I've got: Four EE crankshafts that measurements are unknown and unmeasured at this time, and One Suremike crank, that hasn't been magged or measured. I, personally, am not afraid of a Suremike. I have one in my 26 four door sedan, which is the heaviest T body style. The trick is to drive sanely ; not recklessly or carelessly. Any T crank that is 90-100 years old isn't safe to "hotrod". If you want to "hotrod", buy a SCAT. If the Suremike mags O.K. and turns at not more than .020-.020, It will be a KEEPER.
A 1927 vaporizer short block engine is the engine with the crank that has wear on the front seal and pulley area on the snout. This short block has been rebuilt by a prominent and credible engine builder and I'm sure that they wouldn't have installed a crank that didn't mag O.K. or required turning more than .020-.020, so if the crank is good, despite the grooves worn in the snout. This crank I will definitely be replacing with one of the other cranks and I'll be selling this crank.
A second short block (1926) was rebuilt by a different, but prominent and credible engine builder, so again, I'm sure that they wouldn't have installed a crank that didn't mag O.K. or turned more than .020-.020. This crank should require nothing but measuring. If the Suremike doesn't pan out, I'll leave this crank in this short block.
A third EE crank was turned back in the late sixties and installed in an earlier 1922 block. That engine was run, probably as little as 500, or possibly as much as 750 miles in short drives around a small town and one or two drives of no longer than 50 miles round trip. At worst, this crank may need polishing, but no more. If this crank matches the crank in the 27 vaporizer block in bearing size, I'll swap it into that short block.
The fourth EE crank has been magged and turned, but has collected surface rust on all bearing surfaces from laying unprotected in my storage for 5 to 10 years. It is FULLY DRILLED for oil pressure and I expect it to clean up with just a polishing. I have another 26-27 block, which if it mags O.K., will be a good companion for this drilled crank. I even have special period aftermarket main caps that have a flat boss on the bottom of each that is drilled and tapped for oil line fittings. I've never seen another set like them.
The fifth, and last, EE crank hasn't been magged or turned. It may well still be standard or turn at worst at .010-.010. If that is true, it will be a KEEPER.
I will have the Suremike and the low mileage crank magnafluxed and turned if necessary, and I'll have the EE crank from the 1922 block and the pressure drilled crank, polished. After I have picked the cranks I want to keep, I'll list the ones for sale on the Classified forum.

[Kerry]

Don't right off a crank just because it needs to be ground more than 020" they are still good to go up to 040"
I even know of one that lasted more than 15 years in a sedan, driven hard, usually with the whole family in it and lived in hilly country that was ground 060".
If every thing is aligned correctly with the rebuild all would be good, if not, even and have, a scat will break.

[ModelTWoods]

Don't right off a crank just because it needs to be ground more than 020" they are still good to go up to 040"
I even know of one that lasted more than 15 years in a sedan, driven hard, usually with the whole family in it and lived in hilly country that was ground 060".
If every thing is aligned correctly with the rebuild all would be good, if not, even and have, a scat will break.

Trust me, Kerry, if I have a crank that mags O.K. but has to be turned more than .020, I won't get scrapped. Somebody will want it. I would rather have an EE crank turned .030 than an early crank turned .020.

[J and M Machine]

As a suggestion it may be better to sell them crack inspected and not ground.
Leave it up to the customer to get the crank reground.

[Bud Delong]

With all that is at stake ,i think a unground crank would be a hard sell?? Bud.

[ModelTWoods]

John and Ken, I can see both of your points, however, if the crank will turn at more than .020-.020, I think a turned crank would sell better, unless the buyer has the knowledge and machine to do it himself.