I just pulled took the shortblock on my 440 apart for the first time. I was surprised at the notched counterweights, which I assume are a result of speedshop balancing. I am used to seeing drilled holes in the end of the counterweight, or removing material along the outside edge of the counterweight. Seems like this would create a heck of a stress riser.

Any experience you guys have with this would be appreciated.

Thanks - Jim

2nd pic

I have seen a lot of counter weights cut like this.....less so on the throws , but I have seen it too.
Is it a problem ?
I wouldn't do it like that , but it is probably O.K. for a modest effort.
For big power , I'd say no way.

seen that on factory cranks before, not nearly as much as drilled holes tho.

Okay, that is a relief. It just looks pretty shoddy, especially on the throws. I will not be going high horsepower; 9.5:1, modest Comp Cams 270H cam, and I do not plan to rev it to the moon.

Those notches are made so each throw is indexed correctly when crank is made.

those are for machining reference on factory cranks.

Those notches were for locating the crank in the shipping racks at the factory