Hey guys - Trying to keep my current project as U.S.-made as possible. Any idea which cranks, rods, gears, etc. are foreign, and which are domestic?........Thanks........DC

I'm not sure you can go by brand any more. I think you have to look at individual items.
I've seen GM-packaged engine mounts with stickers on them that said "Made in India".

Reid

Callies and Crower are US made I'm pretty sure. Callies has the dragon Slayer line of cranks which is roughly a couple hundred more compared to Scat or Eagle. Crower has the sportsman line of rods that are about a hundred or more then Eagle/Scat.

It would be nice to compare rotator cost for US made only and see what's out there. Maybe even do a group purchase for a 496 kit. i want to go US for my BBC project.

I think Scat is cast out of the country but is machined here.

I came across what I thought to be a decent set of SB heads until I saw "Hecho En Mexico" cast into them graemlins/clonk.gif .They went in the dumpster.From what I understand,Mexico has/had it's own foundry down there for the old 'Target' engines.In fact,I was told they made EVERYTHING for those engines,,blocks,cranks,rods,pistons,cams,bolts,,ev erything.The cast iron has VERY low nickle in it,,,,,reminds me of pencil-lead.

I was under the impression that the Mexican made parts were high nickle :confused: the question he should have asked is what parts are made in america...shorter list smile.gif

What manufacturer buys american made machine tools?

Originally posted by Rapid Robert:
I was under the impression that the Mexican made parts were high nickle :confused: the question he should have asked is what parts are made in america...shorter list smile.gif I thought the same thing. I did hear complaints about the castings having a rougher appearance, but thought the targetmaster castings were actually quite good.

k20mike points up a little known fact about where so much modern machine tools are coming from.

Here's something else that has been given little attention: the long and continuing slide in U.S. machine tool and steel supremecy began with the politically motivated protectionism laws. Unfortunately for the politicos and union bosses, protectionism merely allowed U.S. machine tool and steel industries to stagnate because they had no competitive fears. While we soldiered on with ancient and inefficient steel mills and pocketed the money from protectionism, our foriegn brothers were building the most modern and efficient steel mills and machine tool facilities. Say whatever you want about the Chinese never having seen a Chevelle or big block - the fact is that we have passed off a lot of our manufacturing prowess to simple unadultrated greed. Why would any *protected* industry ever want to *waste* money on modernization. This is the one huge underlying conundrum of union protection - those who are "protected" grow into the lazy spiral of seeking more benefits/money even when faced with the fact that their unprotected counterparts may be leaving them behind. One of the worst parts about the protected steel mills in America is that by forcing all U.S. manufacturing facilities to use uncompetively priced steel, that the rest of our manufactured goods became that much less competitive in the world arena. So, yes, we "saved" those steel mill jobs - but at what cost?

Thomas

Originally posted by Bomber '67:
k20mike points up a little known fact about where so much modern machine tools are coming from.

Here's something else that has been given little attention: the long and continuing slide in U.S. machine tool and steel supremecy began with the politically motivated protectionism laws. Unfortunately for the politicos and union bosses, protectionism merely allowed U.S. machine tool and steel industries to stagnate because they had no competitive fears. While we soldiered on with ancient and inefficient steel mills and pocketed the money from protectionism, our foriegn brothers were building the most modern and efficient steel mills and machine tool facilities. Say whatever you want about the Chinese never having seen a Chevelle or big block - the fact is that we have passed off a lot of our manufacturing prowess to simple unadultrated greed. Why would any *protected* industry ever want to *waste* money on modernization. This is the one huge underlying conundrum of union protection - those who are "protected" grow into the lazy spiral of seeking more benefits/money even when faced with the fact that their unprotected counterparts may be leaving them behind. One of the worst parts about the protected steel mills in America is that by forcing all U.S. manufacturing facilities to use uncompetively priced steel, that the rest of our manufactured goods became that much less competitive in the world arena. So, yes, we "saved" those steel mill jobs - but at what cost?

Thomas I think most people will agree that a Callies crank is a better engineered piece then a CAT power. Also we will only be able to compete with slave labor when we ourselves become slaves.

Callies - Cat, Apples - Oranges. The Chinese would go after the upper end of the market except for the fact that there is more money in the lower end, given the passage of time the Chinese are likely to enter the upper end of the market as well. It hurts to admit that the U.S. has the most inefficient and costly steel mills in the world - but here we are. If it were just a cost of labor issue why would they have invested so heavily in plant design and technology?

I am not happy with the situation, merely saying what most choose not to talk about. Still doesn't change the fact of what happened when we *protected* our home field advantage in years past - with the main result being the lining of the pockets of those in the industry at the expense of a whole industry. I'll bet all those protected union workers thought life was just dandy - meanwhile not being able to understand that no investment in technology ultimately renders themselves less and less meaningful in the world market.

Just the way it is, but it didn't have to be.

Thomas