LQ4 Build for 3L Whipple
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Teching In
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 18
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LQ4 Build for 3L Whipple Hello, I've been a reader here for awhile and am finally going to do something cool haha.
Long story short my 66 C10 was going to be a stock bottom end LQ4 build (99) with a set of OEM 706 heads, BTR truck norris cam, TBSS intake etc. After my wife heard the sweet sweet sounds of a screw blown car (thanks Cleetus and Leroy Jr and every Hellcat/TRX/Trackhawk owner) she now insists we follow suit. With that I am planning on running a gen 6 3L Whipple and a Wegner WAK075 drive kit. I am likely going to be running a set of TSB "Brawler" LS3 heads and their stage 2 or 3 blower cam. The powerplant is backed by a built 4L80e that will feed a Ford 9" (not purchased, will select ratio at that time).
What I'm looking for is crankshaft recommendations. I fear that the stock crankshaft is not up to the task of taking me driving like a 16 year old kid for long. I'm worried that the crank is going to snap behind the #1 main due to the abuse and the extra load put on it via the blower drive. I've noticed most of the billet options are all CCW which I understand I can machine my 99 LQ4 block to accept so that's no worry. I've been looking at Brodix and Dart cranks as they seem to be very "bang for the buck" oriented with the Brodix around ~$1650 BUT that's why I'm here, I want to make sure I don't regret a crank purchase later.
I had thought about going with a Callies Compstar but my cost (I own a diesel repair/performance shop) on it is not much below a Brodix 4340 billet crank which is where my logic is coming from.
I've collected the below parts. My math says I should be at ~10.2:1 w/68cc chamber and -3.20cc dish @ 0 protrusion:
-Rods: K1 "HD" LS Rod Kit (6.125" length/0.927" pin)
-Pistons: Wiseco K398X3 (4.030" bore, flat top w/reliefs, 0.927" pin)
-Pins: Wiseco S718
-Main Studs: ARP 234-5608
-Fuel: The goal is to run pump gas (possible pulley change to do so) daily/on long drives and run e85 when we want to mess around as we have e85 in my area but not everywhere across country does.
Thank you for your time and responses!
Long story short my 66 C10 was going to be a stock bottom end LQ4 build (99) with a set of OEM 706 heads, BTR truck norris cam, TBSS intake etc. After my wife heard the sweet sweet sounds of a screw blown car (thanks Cleetus and Leroy Jr and every Hellcat/TRX/Trackhawk owner) she now insists we follow suit. With that I am planning on running a gen 6 3L Whipple and a Wegner WAK075 drive kit. I am likely going to be running a set of TSB "Brawler" LS3 heads and their stage 2 or 3 blower cam. The powerplant is backed by a built 4L80e that will feed a Ford 9" (not purchased, will select ratio at that time).
What I'm looking for is crankshaft recommendations. I fear that the stock crankshaft is not up to the task of taking me driving like a 16 year old kid for long. I'm worried that the crank is going to snap behind the #1 main due to the abuse and the extra load put on it via the blower drive. I've noticed most of the billet options are all CCW which I understand I can machine my 99 LQ4 block to accept so that's no worry. I've been looking at Brodix and Dart cranks as they seem to be very "bang for the buck" oriented with the Brodix around ~$1650 BUT that's why I'm here, I want to make sure I don't regret a crank purchase later.
I had thought about going with a Callies Compstar but my cost (I own a diesel repair/performance shop) on it is not much below a Brodix 4340 billet crank which is where my logic is coming from.
I've collected the below parts. My math says I should be at ~10.2:1 w/68cc chamber and -3.20cc dish @ 0 protrusion:
-Rods: K1 "HD" LS Rod Kit (6.125" length/0.927" pin)
-Pistons: Wiseco K398X3 (4.030" bore, flat top w/reliefs, 0.927" pin)
-Pins: Wiseco S718
-Main Studs: ARP 234-5608
-Fuel: The goal is to run pump gas (possible pulley change to do so) daily/on long drives and run e85 when we want to mess around as we have e85 in my area but not everywhere across country does.
Thank you for your time and responses!
Last edited by Bdsankey; Dec 20, 2023 at 10:44 AM. Reason: Added compression ratio & fuels
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 661
Likes: 91
From: S.F. East bay
Thats not a campershell on there, its actually a minivan parked behind it!!! Alot of memories in the bec of that truck, back when it was just fine to ride around in the bed of the truck…….man i miss the good old days!!!
If your tune is good , your stock crank will be just fine, do you have any pics of this truck my father had a ‘66 swb fleet back in the day with the typical ‘80s style paintjob man i loved that truck, id like to find one and build it in his memory it was a drag truck when he had bought it with a built sbc and muncie m-22, it was about 6 months after owning it if i recall when he decided to make it pretty……for the record your wife sounds like a pretty awesome chick, and if you must swap out the crank a callies will work or hell even a summit one will suffice too, just stay away from the speedmaster pro comp junk i heard they were a nightmare to balance…..if it were me and staying stock stroke id just go with the stock crank they have been known to handle 1000hp all day long, but if money is not an object and time is on your side than just about anything from a reputable vendor should fit the bill!!! Either way your gonna have a stout lil 370” when said and done….i bought my Lq4 as a $500 short block that was already disassembled from craigslist years ago….i kept the stock crank and had the block bored .030 over to get me to 370” also ditched the dished pistons for coated LS2 flat tops and added 64cc LS3 heads to get me around 11.0:1 compression…….within a year i ended up adding a LSA supercharger, now 3 years later im finishing up a 408” stroker that is around 9.75:1 compression…..and then we will see where it goes from there……next mod will probably be the 3rd pedal mod😜😜😜
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 18
Likes: 5
Thats not a campershell on there, its actually a minivan parked behind it!!! Alot of memories in the bec of that truck, back when it was just fine to ride around in the bed of the truck…….man i miss the good old days!!!
If your tune is good , your stock crank will be just fine, do you have any pics of this truck my father had a ‘66 swb fleet back in the day with the typical ‘80s style paintjob man i loved that truck, id like to find one and build it in his memory it was a drag truck when he had bought it with a built sbc and muncie m-22, it was about 6 months after owning it if i recall when he decided to make it pretty……for the record your wife sounds like a pretty awesome chick, and if you must swap out the crank a callies will work or hell even a summit one will suffice too, just stay away from the speedmaster pro comp junk i heard they were a nightmare to balance…..if it were me and staying stock stroke id just go with the stock crank they have been known to handle 1000hp all day long, but if money is not an object and time is on your side than just about anything from a reputable vendor should fit the bill!!! Either way your gonna have a stout lil 370” when said and done….i bought my Lq4 as a $500 short block that was already disassembled from craigslist years ago….i kept the stock crank and had the block bored .030 over to get me to 370” also ditched the dished pistons for coated LS2 flat tops and added 64cc LS3 heads to get me around 11.0:1 compression…….within a year i ended up adding a LSA supercharger, now 3 years later im finishing up a 408” stroker that is around 9.75:1 compression…..and then we will see where it goes from there……next mod will probably be the 3rd pedal mod😜😜😜
If your tune is good , your stock crank will be just fine, do you have any pics of this truck my father had a ‘66 swb fleet back in the day with the typical ‘80s style paintjob man i loved that truck, id like to find one and build it in his memory it was a drag truck when he had bought it with a built sbc and muncie m-22, it was about 6 months after owning it if i recall when he decided to make it pretty……for the record your wife sounds like a pretty awesome chick, and if you must swap out the crank a callies will work or hell even a summit one will suffice too, just stay away from the speedmaster pro comp junk i heard they were a nightmare to balance…..if it were me and staying stock stroke id just go with the stock crank they have been known to handle 1000hp all day long, but if money is not an object and time is on your side than just about anything from a reputable vendor should fit the bill!!! Either way your gonna have a stout lil 370” when said and done….i bought my Lq4 as a $500 short block that was already disassembled from craigslist years ago….i kept the stock crank and had the block bored .030 over to get me to 370” also ditched the dished pistons for coated LS2 flat tops and added 64cc LS3 heads to get me around 11.0:1 compression…….within a year i ended up adding a LSA supercharger, now 3 years later im finishing up a 408” stroker that is around 9.75:1 compression…..and then we will see where it goes from there……next mod will probably be the 3rd pedal mod😜😜😜
I figured if I keep it around 10-10.5:1 it'll still make great power on pump gas. the goal is to "bullet proof" as much as possible within reason. If money wasn't an object I'd have ordered a Dart or GM LSX block, Winberg/Callies ultra billet crank, Carrillo Pro-H rods, same pistons etc. I'm willing to spend the money on things that will give me a tangible benefit. With the drive system I'm going to be using it makes it difficult to add a crank support BUT they (Wegner) seem to be open to the idea.
Here's some pictures of the truck when I bought it. I've done nothing with it yet as my oil burning LB7 has been my primary focus. That project is nearing it's completion so this is next on the chopping block.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 18
Likes: 5
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 18
Likes: 5
The thing I have the hardest time figuring out is a safe RPM window haha. Obviously once the graph falls off there is no need to turn the engine higher but I have to figure out what a "safe" limit is. On the diesel side I could easily figure that out based on knowing the weak link in that application is typically the rod bolt.
Brodix told me to call Mueller Racing in TX as they're the seller for this specific crank which I did find a touch odd as Summit/ATech shows the crankshaft (BR C34636226125-8) as available to order. I do agree that I think a CCW will help lifespan especially with a supercharger adding load to the crank snout. Thankfully Wegner uses a 5th gen Camaro belt plane for the blower (10 rib) so the load is at least as close to the front main journal as can be.
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Teching In
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 18
Likes: 5
Does anyone have experience with Brodix billet cranks? The price seems like one of those "too good to be true" type things. From what I've gathered (quickly) it is almost identical to the Dart CCW crank.
Edit: Spoke to Mueller Performance as well as another shop who I've seen post about using Brodix crankshafts. From what they both said I'm well below what the crank will handle. They both have put over 2000hp through it, Mueller uses them in drag-and-drive cars and the other shop uses them mainly in street rod/drag builds as well.
Sounds like this is the ticket and for ~$250 more than a Compstar it's a no brainer IMO!
Last edited by Bdsankey; Dec 20, 2023 at 01:38 PM. Reason: Talked to vendors