Well, so many parts are made in China now, that you would be surprised how much Chinese made parts are everywhere, even high priced german cars. THe problem is not China but price.
We all are happy that we get these good priced parts which make our hobby more affordable, but we sooner or later pay the difference.In this case a 500$ crank has broken a 4000$ block.
A 2000$ crank would have been infinitely cheaper .
I do not understand why such a crank can break. It should be sold a paperweight but not as a mechanical part to withstand 500+ HP.
If you type BROKEN EAGLE CRANK in Google you will see pictures of broken cranks, mostly at the front journal, exactly my case.
Most cranks are for chevy, the ones keith uses for the 482 engine. Chevy journals are wider but have a smaller diameter. That means that between the journal and the weight there is less MEAT than on a Ford FE crank, with narrower journals with larger diameter. Maybe the Ford people knew what they were doing in those 427 engines (winning races like Le Mans, which chevy engines didn't).
The broken crank has taken the pond aluminum block with it. I picked up a large chunk of block from the road after the misshap, thinking that some good welding would fix the block. But I have raised the car on the lift now, and things look awfull. A large crack goes up to where the remote
oil filter adapter srews to the block.
I have not take the heads off, but will have to see how the valves look like, because the timing chain is broken too, and that spells problems for the valvetrain..
The block was a KC482, and Keiths had done a beautifull job as I inspected it before putting the engine together and I must say it was 1st class. But he says that he can not guarantee all the parts he puts in.
I will order a new short block , but I will definitely go for a much better crank and maybe settle for a cast iron block instead of aluminum.
I do not know if a cast iron block would have withstood a crank breakage better than the aluminum.
What do you think?