I am rebuilding a 350 SBC. I am trying to do as much in my garage as possible. I am looking for suggestions on cleaning up my crank without having to go to a machine shop. I realize that taking it to machine shop is the best option (as do I), but I want to see how much I can do on my own. Has anyone ever refurbished their crank at home? If yes, what should I be doing to it? Dave (69 Chevelle in Toronto)

Dave,
About all you can really do at home is measure the crank to see if it is still within the size specifications. That and you can clean it. I suppose if the size is ok, you could try to polish it using the old shoestring method and some reeeaaaal fine emory cloth, but I have seen a couple ruined that way too :(

Personally, if it is still ok size wise, which they rearely are, I would just clean it as good as you can and use it. Otherwise take it to a machine shop and have it properly polished or reground if it needs it.

As Bill said,seen cranks made marginally usable by tapering the throws doing DIY crank prep.
Either use it as is with a little deglazing ,or take it to a shop.

Bill, Mike,

Thanks for the advice. As Bill said, I was told to use reeeaal fine emory cloth with a thin oil or lubricant instead of water. Other then measuring specs, there is really nothing else to do. Thanks.

If it's scored or worn then the only thing you can do is have it reground. Polishing on it with emery cloth won't accomplish anything other than make it look pretty. If you assemble an engine with a bad crank it will likely eat a bearing. Then you'll not only need to get the crank reground anyway and you'll have to tear the engine down to do it.

Tom