Thread: Metallurgy Question

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Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

A forged piece is a forged peice,heating and bending will weaken it.Cutting and welding it will weaken it also.

A good welder will disagree with this statment.
He would say a good weld is as strong or stronger than the area around the weld.
Ever try and cut through a good weld or try and grind on it??

True about the weld, but then the area around the weld will be the first to give.

Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

True about the weld, but then the area around the weld will be the first to give.

Why??
If they welder does his job the area around the weld will not be compremised.
I had an old 454 1053 steel crank that I spun a rod on about 15 yrs ago.
I had it welded up and ran another two seasons on it.
12.5 to 1 comp. ratio and 7,000 rpm's.
Last I knew 4 years ago it was still in a street car and un-broken.
I think a lot of it depends on the welder's experience.

It is pretty common practice to heat and bend early Ford spindle arms to gain dropped axle clearance. I did mine 20 years ago, and still are ok. Heat cherry red in the spot where you want the bend to be, then slowly bend to final shape. As mentioned, let it cool naturally, and try to keep your bends to a minimum and only one time per spot. I had to bend mine first close to the backing plate, then a second time up to align with the king pin angle. Getting enough heat to soften the steel is the key to prevent cracking.


Don