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I don't know if anyone has though of this before but is cryogenically freezing a good investment to make part last longer especially in a strockers. I know that in my old race car we had the connecting rods frozen to add longevity to the part. Maybe a vw case would benefit from this. Jeremy

Raby's Aicooled Tech. does it. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Massive himself(Jake Raby) pop in on this thread.

What is the purpose of doing that?

When I was going through all the ring and pinion failures,"Beat the Heat's" police drag car mechanic was saying that I could freeze a r/p. The police department does it to high use parts like brake rotors and such. It is supposed to be a hardening process. I haven't done it yet, wanted to figure the problem out first, but will in the near future. Later-Lester

It has something to do with aligning molecules(grain structure) in the metal to make it stronger and less prone to fatigue. Jakes sight has a little info, I am sure there is more out there on the web though. It is a very "cool" process. Hah hahaha, what a horrible pun that was.

OK, My "Cryo Expert" has been notified, and will be here momentarily to explain the process..

We do it with successful results all the time, it really gives us a cool edge of the competetition..

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Jake Raby
Raby's Aircooled Technology
www.aircooledtechnology.com

I forgot about this process. I watched something about this on TV years ago. If I remember correctly, normal molecules move fast but after you deep freeze the part, it moves in a much slower manner (permanently?). This I guess is alot better for some or all mechanical stuff.

Cryogenic treatment of metal has actually been common in the tool industry for a # of years. Especially in drill bits and machine tools. There has been cryogenic treating of camshafts, and other parts from some european and japanese auto manufacturers for a few years also. I have read that it is very affective in modifying the grain structure for parts that are subject to high heat and loads...and in some metals and applications, may be used as a substitute for nitriding. Ray

If you want to see for yourself, here are some links to try: www.onecryo.com or www.americancryogenics.com They both give a pretty good description of the process and how it affects ferrous and nonferrous materials. Sounds like it's a great way to go for strength and reliability, especially for those parts you only want to buy once.

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Locash Mike
www.locashracing.org

Going back to the materails class I took last year, I seem to remember that cryogenics decreses the size of grains in materials, thus increasing the amount of grains boundaries within the material. This increases the strength because in order for deformation to occur, dislocation motion must take place across these boundaries. It takes more energy to dislocate molecules across a grain bounday than within a grain, therefore more grains=more grain boundaries=greater strength. The trade-off is that the material is now more brittle. At least that is what I can remember.

-Chris

Seems that My Cryo guys are busy with some big NASCAR projects...They cannot post right now...Go see www.percryo.com thats their site..

I just got my parts for my Newest project back from them..

As for making things more brittle: we have had quite a few parts rockwell tested, and did some home brewed tests as well, all the parts keep the same integrity, brittleness has not been apparent.

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Jake Raby
Raby's Aircooled Technology
www.aircooledtechnology.com

Seems that My Cryo guys are busy with some big NASCAR projects...They cannot post right now...Go see www.percryo.com thats their site..

I just got my parts for my Newest project back from them..

As for making things more brittle: we have had quite a few parts rockwell tested, and did some home brewed tests as well, all the parts keep the same integrity, brittleness has not been apparent.

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Jake Raby
Raby's Aircooled Technology
www.aircooledtechnology.com

I thought the Rockwell test just measured hardness, not ductility. I would think that in an engine situation though, having a part that is harder and less ductile would be better than having a part that is essentially weaker but will deform to a greater degree without breaking. Just my .02.

-Chris

Rockwell does test hardness, we wanted to take readings from it no matter what....

So what parts are suggested for this.What kind of temperatures are we looking at for this. Do I move the ice cube trays over and stick my crank in the freezer. That would go over well with the wife.

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Rice, it's what's for dinner!!!