Andrew, those cranks were still CAST steel, not forged though. Forged retains a lot more strength due to hammering the grain structure of the steel more densely.
On September 24, 2004 andrew hay wrote:
that's the way it is -now-, but i don't think it was always true. in particular, i think it was some development in mass production casting that made iron cranks practical in the '60s. remember, molten steel is much more 'runny' than iron. that would make casting an odd shape like a crank much easier.
blocks are easier; you can make a block plenty heavy to cope with less-than-perfect casting. you can't make a crank heavier; the stress would get -worse-.
mopar wouldn't have designed their famous slant six with a steel crank if they didn't have to - and they spent the money to convert it to cast in the '70s, which involved bigger main journals. and the chevy 194 and 230 had a steel crank but the 250 didn't. ________________________________________________________________________ Andrew Hay the genius nature internet rambler is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and think what none thought
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