[wannagofast]

Does anyone see anything wrong with this kit? Eagle 383 Stroker Kit I ask because the local machine shop has been trying to convince me that Eagle has quality control problems. He also goes on to say he has seen more eagle kits need additional machine work than other other brand. Is he just blowing wind up my skirt?

If it matters, I will be using this kit with this heads/intake combo, Vortec Head Combo. My cam selection is still undecided.

 

[Pick]

After much consultation with my local performance machine shop, we used an Eagle cast 3.75 crank, Eagle SIR rods, and Mahle forged pistons. No problems with fitment or unusual machining was required. For just a few $$ more, he also internally balanced the motor to make it easier to use SFI apporved damper and flexplate. I'm happy so far. But, if you have confidence in your machinist, I'd go with what he's comfortable with because you'll probably get a better build. If you don't have have confidence in him, I'd probably find someone I did trust.

 

[DriveWFO]

I'm running the Eagle 4340 Competition rotating assembly in my 383 with Vortecs. Some sweet pieces of steel

 

[wannagofast]

I trust his judgement as far as machine shop skills are concerned. He runs his own shop up in MD, MME Racing. Mark knows his sh!t. But, everyone else I talk to tells me that Eagle is a good brand. I know Eagle has a good reputation for quality parts, his comment just threw me off.

 

[straightaxlenova]

I've used both Eagle, and Scat 4340 pieces and have not had any problems with either manufacturer.

 

[shaggy]

Everytime I look into the parts comparison I find it really comes down to the machinist. From what I understand the cheaper parts like Eagle and Scat tend to need more machining compared to the american made parts. From what I understand your machinist will charge you their prices for balancing or what have you but they prefer the higher american made stuff just for the ease of machining. In other words they have to spend less time getting the parts to spec compared to low priced chinese parts. So in reality you are getting the same end product but the machinist will have to put more hours into the less expensive chinese parts compared to the more expensive american made parts. Not to say either part is better or worse but it seems that the american made parts have better quality control so the machinists tend to prefer this because time is money to them. Like said I dont think there is anything wrong with the Eagle stuff but you may want to find a machinist that wont care either way.

 

[63chevytoo]

I bought a 4340 3.75 crank, 6" H-beam rods and SRP pistons as a kit. It was internally balanced. I did not trust the claims. So I had my engine builder balance everything (just for peace of mind)
It was all internally balanced and done as advertised.
I wasted 150$ but I have peace of mind and I love it so far.
P.S.
I know of an engine builder in this area that builds motors for dirt track racers, and he is using the Scat 9000 series crank. These motors dyno a little over 600hp and they never had a crank failure. They only run them for one season though.
Don

 

[Paul Wright]

This is similar to the thread on the Edelbrock manifold quality control.

Rising cost concerns in a competitive market squeezes manufacturers.

Kev's brand new Scat crank miked out to be a half a thou undersize. That's not a lot to some people and well within "tolerance" but it would affect bearing clearances. Rather than send it back I'd use half a .001" US bearing to bring the clearance into spec.

Never assume any new part is perfect. The final quality check is the engine assembler. Any manufacturer can make mistakes. Check and measure everything before machining and assembling the block.

 

[Real McCoy]

In my experiences Eagle did have some problems when they first came out but I have a Eagle steel crank and H beam rods in one motor and I personally have Eagle H beam rods in my present motor and they were and are fine with all the specs correct. The problem Eagle had origionally was poor tolerances and bad bolts but as I said the last parts I used were right and required no work. I have had bad experiences with Scat and Cat parts in the past. They may have gotten past that now but I can't say because I haven't used them lately.

 

[bowtie0069]

The rods in my good engine are Eagle H-beams that came out of my friends car after he broke the crank snout from a blower sneeze.(he was afraid to use them) Although I did spin a bearing recently, I don't think it had anything to do with the rod.
As far as the cast crank, I've heard any of the aftermarket cast cranks are stronger than a stock 400 crank, and I know how much abuse those will take. I still have my never been turned stocker with thousands of passes(many with nitrous) and one of these days I'll put it back in an engine.
I wouldn't have any problem running the Eagle set-up. Maybe your machine shop guy just had a bad experience with one.

 

[Colin]

I have heard of some quality issues with Eagle cranks in the past but lately everyone I have talked to about it says that the problems have been taken care of. However, it is always wise to check and double check everything and any good machine shop or engine builder will do that anyway. Downside is, if anything is off it will likely require machine work to make it right which will cost more of course.

 

[Nova_Guy]

When I was having the work done on my engine the machinist bad mouthed all the prefinished parts and crate engines. When we were standing in a room full of 250k to 300k worth of shop equipment. If you owed that much money on equipment it would be hard to brag on how good someone elses work is that costs less.
He told me if he made 3-5% on parts he was happy, every part I bought from him was at the Summit catalog price and his shipping costs. The only way he made money was by doing machine work and engine assembly. It's hard to make a living selling a 500.00 part with a 15.00 to 25.00 markup.

 

[novaguy73]

re

Eagle stuff has had some quality control issues in the past but from my understanding its a little better now. I have a 4340 Eagle 3.48 crank and eagle 4340 h beams with SRP pistons and my motors saw 8,000 RPM+ a whole bunch of times before i re-cammed it. Its still together 3 years later and ive beaten the hell out of it and put probably 7,000 street miles on it.

 

[Mitchc]

I purchased the Eagle cast crank and H-beam rods with Speed Pro pistons.. The crank was bent .010 and the rods were out of round by .015... I called Eagle and got the tipical well send it back and well check it, and you probably dropped the crank and bent it.. So I ground the mains .010 and recond the rods.. It would fine now..

Mitch

Does anyone see anything wrong with this kit? Eagle 383 Stroker Kit I ask because the local machine shop has been trying to convince me that Eagle has quality control problems. He also goes on to say he has seen more eagle kits need additional machine work than other other brand. Is he just blowing wind up my skirt?

If it matters, I will be using this kit with this heads/intake combo, Vortec Head Combo. My cam selection is still undecided.

 

[bowtie0069]

I had a chinese cast crank(not sure who's name was on it) my engine builder buddy put it in his fixture and measured it--He was flabbergasted, said it was one of the best he'd ever measured! He normally use Callies and some other BIG $$ billet pieces. He only put it on the fixture to give me a load of crap for buying cheap junk--hehehe.

 

[62Nova]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8076146737&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT
I was thinking of getting this one on e-bay. I was also wondering the same thing about the eagle products. I talked to a few motor builders and they told me that it all depends on how good your block is and how its prepped. They also said that they have never had any problems with there stuff. I'm going for it.

 

[NIGHTSHADE]

Does anyone see anything wrong with this kit? Eagle 383 Stroker Kit I ask because the local machine shop has been trying to convince me that Eagle has quality control problems. He also goes on to say he has seen more eagle kits need additional machine work than other other brand. Is he just blowing wind up my skirt?

If it matters, I will be using this kit with this heads/intake combo, Vortec Head Combo. My cam selection is still undecided.

I have that same kit, my machine shop got it for me with .060 over pistons (can't with the mail order) for much less then Summit or Jegs. But you can get similar kits for better prices if you look for them.

 

[Chilly]

It all comes down to you get what you pay for. The next question is do you need a high end piece? Probably not, as most people don't. The Eagle stuff would suite you just fine. Unless your building lots of power why spend the extra cash, unless you want the piece of mind.

One problem I have seen with the foreign cranks is that the bearing sizes are all over the place on the same crank. So this will mean you either machine the crank or buy mulitple bearing packs and mix and match to get the right clearance. This will also take more time in putting the motor together.

 

[Real McCoy]

I can't speak for all the low end cranks and rods but I can tell you the two Eagle steel cranks and H beam rods I have used have been very good. The rods and cranks were within a couple tenths out of the box with the exception of the bushed end of the rods which I had to size. I actually want the bushed end small so I don't have to worry that they are too big. Maybe I was lucky but like I said, the Eagle stuff I have used in the past few years have been fine. RM

 

[stock z/28]

Hi,

I just wanted to add this.

I see a lot of cranks and rods, not only for the engines I build but for balancing and other machine work.

All most all of the parts I have bought have been exceptionally good, both in specs and durability.

But I have seen several that were not so good. The reason that I mention this is because its usually not the manufactures fault. Most of these companies sell "seconds" to shops and re-builders (this applies to cyl heads as well). The idea is that these shops repair the defects and sell the as such. The problem is (in my opinion) these parts end up on Ebay or at a swap meet sold as first rate parts. Its not the manufactures fault (unless they want to be more careful who buys them (this may be illegal to control) or destroy them.

Sorry, I had to add this. I am not implying that all parts on the net or at swap meets are bad. Its just that about all of the questionable ones I have seen have been acquired from these sources. I have had very good service from Eagle.



Jeff