I think that this not really all that good. Usually, hard chrome works best when plated on very thin, like under .001 inch. When the plating gets fairly thick, there is a concern that the strength of the chrome (called cohesion) is greater than the strength of the bonding to the underlying metal (called adhesion). Then there is a risk that the chrome unbonds from the underlying surface. Another concern is that the plating process is pretty slow, and would take a long time to build up a thick layer of chrome.

 

I haven't heard that company's name for prolly 30 years now... no idea if they're still in business, or if not, as of when.

Yes that used to be a typical "hot trick" for stock steel cranks, was to grind them WAY down, like .200", then weld them back up with some kind of superior metal such as high-chrome steel. Stick or wire welding, not "plating". But with aftermarket cranks so cheeeeep and plentiful, not too common any more. After all, you still got some kind of whatever stock steel under all that $$$$$ of effort, with however many miles on it... whereas if you START OUT WITH a forging of better metal, it might not crack or flex or resonate or whatever all else, near as much as stock. Not to mention, you can make it AHELLUVALOT lighter by using better material, and still keep it just as strong.

 

The one I found wasn't used after treatment and it's cheaper than a stock forged crank. Good deal?

 

I believe that was a Memphis,Tn. company many years ago.

 

Yep, good ole Crankshaft Specialist. They are no longer open for business. They at one time (many years ago) did a good job and I've run a few over the years without any issue. Wonder what Doug Rowe is up to these days?:beers:

 

I used to work at Arizona Hard Chrome, lot of cranks through that place. Lots of Offy cranks. Like was said, it's kinda obsolete now with cheaper steel cranks. A lot of it was for repair of damaged journals.

We also ground a lot of hydraulic rams from heavy copper mine equipment, the real bread and butter. 2' diameter, 15' long, completely covered with weld. Not an hour or two worth of work.

 

The crank I have in my Rat right now is a old welded stroker (1/8), marketed by Lunati back in the 70's. It was left over from one of my race boat motors.It has seen 8000 RPM in a APBA Pro Comp Motor, and 6200 now in my Chevelle.

It started out as a LS-7 Crank bought from Richardson Chevrolet in about 1973.

They used the submerged arc proccess, I believe. They also chromed cranks as well.

All you had to do is send them a good core.

 

Well my main reason for asking is it looks to be cheaper than a stock forged unit and it's unused.

 

A lot of aircraft parts are chromed for wear. If the process didn't work, it wouldn't be used in aircraft. Done properly, it works well.

 

Exactly! VERY common repair process in my business.
Standard requirement is at least .003" for chrome thickness at finish size...can be as thick as .010" on exotic steel alloys.
Also diameters needed additional thickness can be built up with a nickle plating base before chrome.

 

If Crankshaft Specialties had anything to do with the crank you need to RUN!!!

 

The crank I have in my current combo had been chromed at one point. It is a interesting piece to say the least. I bought it from a guy that was getting out of racing a while back. I bought everything he had. It is a "6223" casting, is STD, STD, and is stamped
"3.773" on one of the counter weights(offset ground?). I was told it was a NHRA stocker crank at one time. It was in mint shape, so I had it balanced with the rest of the rotator, and have been punishing it ever since with copious amounts of N20 AND 7000+RPM.