Mark, hopefully Steve Debben or one of the guys with more experience will give you a more comprehensive answer but you will probably want to index the rods before welding to make sure everything is straight and in line before welding. If I remember this is done by putting a tool steel rod through the small ends. Also, make sure your welder does not clamp the earth lead on the far side of the bearing of the pin you are welding as this could "fuse" the big end bearing.
Good luck.
your man for crank welding is , dave branch ..done properly as good as falicon !! had one of daves cranks in compbike for three seasons now and not a hint of trouble
FER wrote:Got my crank done by Cris Appelbee with no problems . These jobs are better left to people who know what they are doing , so easy to fuck things up .
Yeah, he did my 1000-H crank way back when. Spot on job.
KZ1000-M1 CSR
"I have only five words for you: From my cold, dead hands."
I didn't think that crank welding was really necessary until you started pulling really silly amounts of power out of these engine - when you start playing with super chargers or NOS etc?
At what sort of power level would welding up the crank be deemed a requirement? I always had the impression that it was only done by really manic drag racers who were really pushing the envelope
When you are building an engine which has had tuning work done to it it is a good idea to do as much work as you can afford to make the engine stay together . Welding the crank up is one of those jobs that makes you a little bit happier when you are screaming the engine through the gears .
Not OTT at all Piggy. I've heard stories of twisted cranks on stock motors due to missed gear changes (not first hand but from reputable sources). As Fer said, small price to pay for peace of mind.