Merc crank came back with grit and dirt in oil holes

[Jack 34pu]

How frustrating - my Merc crank came back after machining with powder, dirt, grit etc in the oil holes. He did pull the plugs but never cleaned them out - it was baked and machined but never properly cleaned. I'm glad I checked it out before assembly. This guy did another crank years ago and now I wonder if it was clean. The old addage "fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me"!! Walt - I sure wish you were doing this rebuild for me!!

[T_Bird Guy]

When I rebuilt my flathead I also had stuff in the oil holes of my merc crank. I even had mine tanked. I used about 2 cans of brake clean to clean them out.

[Bruce Lancaster]

You are best off getting the crank back with plugs out and cleaning it yourself! it should be an easy job, and you'll know it's clean. Getting it back with plugs back in would be worrisome unless machinest is your trusted compadre.
Go visit your local merchant of death and buy a gun cleaning kit and brushes in several sizes in both metal and hair bristles amd then pick up a can of brake cleaner.
Clean and spray until you would be willing to let your children drink milk pured through those passages. When clean, put in the plugs and cover the remaining holes til the crank goes into its clean. oiled bearings!

[oldbugger]

It seems if you do not check everything for yourself you are asking for trouble. No one is as concerned as you! Good luck

[uncle max]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lancaster

You are best off getting the crank back with plugs out and cleaning it yourself! it should be an easy job, and you'll know it's clean. Getting it back with plugs back in would be worrisome unless machinest is your trusted compadre.
Go visit your local merchant of death and buy a gun cleaning kit and brushes in several sizes in both metal and hair bristles amd then pick up a can of brake cleaner.
Clean and spray until you would be willing to let your children drink milk pured through those passages. When clean, put in the plugs and cover the remaining holes til the crank goes into its clean. oiled bearings!

Good advice, as usual... But especially nice to see you are recovering from the doldrums and appear to be regaining that old humor!!

[1952henry]

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Originally Posted by uncle max

Good advice, as usual... But especially nice to see you are recovering from the doldrums and appear to be regaining that old humor!!

Hee's back!

[Ross in East Texas]

In my experience, I have never had a crank or block come back from the machine shop clean! Even when vatted they seem to all need further cleaning before I begin assembly. It is good insurance to clean and then clean again! You simply can not get them too clean!

[Bob/Ohio]

I pulled the plugs on my Merc crank, cleaned the crap out and tapped the holes for pipe plugs before I sent it to the shop. I also sent the pipe plugs with it so they would be in it when they did the balance job. I found that oven cleaner is the best thing to get the old varnish and carbon off the internal engine parts.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

You've got to remove those plugs and clean those holes good before sending to machine shop, sometimes that stuff is packed in pretty hard, I have a long skinny screw driver I sharpened like a chisel and dig out most of it, then I have wire brushes that will go in the hole with a pistle drill. Then look in the hole with a pen light. Walt

[mike in las vegas]

I guess I'm fortunate. My Ford crank was reground to 4 inches sometime in the 50's.

[Henry/Kokomo]

Just to prove that there are exceptions to every rule, I had a crank turned, I cleaned the oil passages and sent it, a block and rods to a machinist to assemble a short block. The machinist forund dirt I missed and re-cleaned the crank. Lucky for me. This gentleman - an EFV8 Club Member - did an excellent job assembling a 276 CID short block as well as providing some of the required parts. It renews my faith in humanity to know there are still good guys in our hobby.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Henry/Kokomo

Just to prove that there are exceptions to every rule, I had a crank turned, I cleaned the oil passages and sent it, a block and rods to a machinist to assemble a short block. The machinist forund dirt I missed and re-cleaned the crank. Lucky for me. This gentleman - an EFV8 Club Member - did an excellent job assembling a 276 CID short block as well as providing some of the required parts. It renews my faith in humanity to know there are still good guys in our hobby.

10-4. I think you just need to know who you are dealing with. I've never been in the military, but I'd assume this would be a simular situation. If you'd trust someone enough to pack your parachute for you they'd be someone you could trust without question.

Same should go with machinest. The guy who did my work was a good 'um.

Good to know their are still folks out there that can be trusted doing a quality job.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lancaster

You are best off getting the crank back with plugs out and cleaning it yourself! it should be an easy job, and you'll know it's clean. Getting it back with plugs back in would be worrisome unless machinest is your trusted compadre.
Go visit your local merchant of death and buy a gun cleaning kit and brushes in several sizes in both metal and hair bristles amd then pick up a can of brake cleaner.
Clean and spray until you would be willing to let your children drink milk pured through those passages. When clean, put in the plugs and cover the remaining holes til the crank goes into its clean. oiled bearings!

Bruce:

To be clear- the merchant of death is the gun shop or the machine shop?

Just kiddin'. Talk to you soon.

Tim

[Bruce Lancaster]

Whichever makes you more nervous...I patronize the online Heavily Armed Paranoid Schizophrenic Supply stores. When I need a cleaning kit, I just borrow one from one of the "watermelon patch mount" M14E2's that serve as burglar alarms in my parts bunker.
Actual kit is so: Bought a surplus M16 kit, which had a set of rods and a few extra cleaning accessories like a "toothbrush" scrubber. Found the ^%#$#$ government had changed the threads, so got an adaptor from Cabela's (mmmmm all you can eat ribs at the cafeteria) to take civilian brushes along with a bunch of brushes...got bristle and brass ones in .17 through .50. 50 caliber?? What exactly are those Cabela customers shooting out there in the hills??!? Mammoths? Good stuff to clean any hole in an engine. I think the readily available repro M14 and M1 kits have the right threads for commonest available brushes with no adaptor. The short rod for 1911 and grease gun also has the good threads and is handy for short passages like in crankshaft.
Gun nuts are obsessed with cleaning, so their stores have all sorts of neat little widgets for cleaning awkward places.
Kitchen supply stuff and a set of really tiny brushes made for cleaning paint guns extends the range of kit.

[Henry/Kokomo]

Good info., Bruce - and entertaining as well!

[Merc Cruzer]

I would like to back this up to the point when the plugs were removed…..what is the procedure for removal and installation? The last time I had this done the machine shop did it, but I want to do it myself this time. Where do you get the plugs?

[Tim Ayers]

Some folks say you should use light weight plugs and tap the holes so they thread in. Not sure, but either way you need to do something (originally peened over) so they don't back out.

I've seen guys like Flathead Jack sell the light weight ones. I'm sure others sell these plugs as well, just no one else I know who has them for certain is coming to mind at the moment.

I'd also assume you could use female-style pipe plugs for this as well.
Good luck.

What Walt said is dead on. Slap hammer/puller gets them out real quick.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

I would like to back this up to the point when the plugs were removed…..what is the procedure for removal and installation? The last time I had this done the machine shop did it, but I want to do it myself this time. Where do you get the plugs?

Merc Cruzer, To remove the plugs in the Ford crank (the small ones) I drill a 1/4in. hole with a long drill into the plugs, then run a 5/16 tap into the hole, then with a 5/16 bolt in the end of my slid hammer, screw it into the plug and clunk it out with the slid hammer. Same idea with Merc cranks but drill with a 5/16 drill and tap the hole with a 3/8 course tap. Walt

[Merc Cruzer]

Tim and Walt:

Thank you both

[Vergil]

I clean and tap mine before going to the machine shop and remove the plugs and clean again after I get it back from the shop. Below is a picture of the gunk I got out from only one plug before sending it to the shop.