I am going with a chrome hardened 3.90inch RB crankshaft in my 440 street strip Superbee. Crankshaft Specialties did the crank. The car has 3.91 rear gears and should run in the high elevens. I will usually run drag radials but I do have slicks for ocassional strip use. The question is if you guys have heard any horror stories about running chrome cranks on the street? I have a friend who said his flaked. Thanks for the help

is it the same cost as a regular crank and is there any advantage.

I have had a crank done in chrome it is harder. The one I ran was a cast crank. Street car never had any trouble. The crank had been ground down and this got it back to standard.

15? Years ago I had Lunati chrome and internally balance a stock cast 360 crank. Not sure exactly why except it cost a bit and I thought it was cool. Seems it was more of an "in" thing years ago before 4340, etc cranks. However it is a rather hard surface and thought someone mentioned slightly less drag, but any dirt, etc in oil needs to imbed into the bearings, because crank surface is rather hard. I suspect flaking is more of the result of the quality of the chroming process, did chrome rings ever flake? I still have the chromed crank Dvorak built motor in a street car.

I almost hate to ask....is this Crankshaft Specialties in Memphis?

i have run 3 different chrome cranks in street/strip engines over the years. i have never had a problem with any of them flaking. i had one spun rod bearing in one engine and all the crank needed was a light polishing. i put several thousand miles and many passes on it after that. i sold the engine about 7 years ago and he still runs it almost every weekend with the same crank.

Good ole Doug Rowe,I bet.

Yes it is in Memphis. Now I almost hate to ask... What do you know about them?

I used them for years and Doug and the guys did a good job for me,I also lived close enough that I personally dropped off and picked up my parts. Something changed some years ago and it seems that some folks were very unhappy with Doug and CSS. They have closed their doors as far as I know. Back to the question,if it's done correctly the crank will not give you problems.

Well, long, long ago they did some pretty good work, I've had a couple of cranks repaired and one hardchromed back to std-std, and I can't say personally I've had bad dealings but I've sure heard some horror stories in the last several years. Google "Crankshaft Specialties in Memphis" and you'll have a nighttime of reading to catch up on. Chances are the crank is fine, but you need to really inspect it closely, especially in the fillet area for any signs of lifting or separation.

Thanks for the info guys! I am going to give it a shot.