c20let crank material specs..

[r.wadge]

Hi guys, im looking to get my crank coated with a high wear, low friction coating, but the proccess temperature is around 500C. Ideally the material code will get me all the info required. but after extensive digging i cant find much. Just need to be sure my crank will not be deformed or lose strength after the proccess.

Any ideas/suggestions will be more than appreciated.

Cheers!

[meritlover]

do you mean nitriding?

obvously theres a risk, but it shouldnt deform or have any adverse effect if the heating process is done properly.

do you really need to coat the crank? considering the bearings should be floating on oil there should be no wear. these coatings are often done for longevity but in a race engine where oil pressure and condition is generally better controlled its not always necessary.

i would be interested to hear why you need to do this.

[r.wadge]

I work for the company producing the coatings, and thought i might aswell get everything possible coated. We do alot of work for formula one, aerospace etc. The coatings are done in highly controlled vaccum furnaces, but titanium nitride is the most basic of our coatings used for drills etc. i just need the details about the material, is a bit of a risk but we have no trouble consistantly coating camshafts, valves, pistons, rings, gudgeon pins etc.. but ive never seen a crank. the top coating we produce would easily run a engine with no oil for a period of time. so its got to be worth doing, and cant imagine what levels i can push the head to.

[burgo]

And your only in milton Keynes. Allowed to take many of your 'own' bits in are you? Lol

[meritlover]

its worth a try, but if you are thinking about having oil pressure issues then address these first. Sure your crank will survive, but the white metal bearings will be wiped and hammered to death in seconds regardless of how well the crank is coated.

the hardest part will be getting the weight evenly distributed as it lies down in the furnace, its hard to do as the webs are not even. If its not resting square theres a chance it could 'hog-back' under its own weight. i dont know what grade of steel is though.

[r.wadge]

:) im part of the motorsport/aerospace team which consists of 6 of us (thats including our manager), and we all love our cars. Only problem is the two main rules is im not even allowed to really sell this engine, and i cant do stuff for mates.. So if strange parts start appearing someones going to ask the question.. lol

The crank would be suspended verticaly from either end. On a double rotation around the chamber. And the coating is a max of 4 microns.

[meritlover]

give it a go then.
are you machining the bearings before you start? no point coating an already marked/worn surface.

[r.wadge]

the engine come in pieces after it got everything machined, balanced and then sat in a garage for a few years. so it dont look to fresh atm, but after a good clean and polish should be alright. from what i can tell givin it a little wipe it seems clean and fresh. Just cant really risk the money for a new machined crank, need some solid info on material codes or temperatures.

[meritlover]

....Just cant really risk the money for a new machined crank...

this is why i was curious as to why you wanted to do it. Is it really worth the risk at all?

[r.wadge]

lol i know your right, but that dont stop the want to do it. Less resistance for the engine, no matter how small has got to be a good thing. Aslong as i can find out that it can take 500C with no adverse effects, nothing can go wrong.

[philip]

What spec are you building this engine too? I've ran xes upwards of 260bhp + 8.5k rpm and let's at 550+ on stock cranks, I know its handy being able to do what you do, but imo your worrying over nothing, just make sure crank measures to spec and plastigauge it when building to double check clearances and you will be fine.

[r.wadge]

The bottom line is i want to do it because the option is there. The low friction on the bearing faces would be nice, will be one of the only internal parts not to be done lol. Is the head where the coating will really come to play, want to try and get some really high revs. Is a turbo engine and as funds arrise i can just keep adding to the power as much as possible. I just want to build somthing special, that i can keep and admire for a long time lol