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Inside Crane Cams
Revamping an Industry Legend |
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Written by Randy Fish |
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Page 1 of 2  Valve locks (split keys or keepers) are machined as one piece. Then this unique rotary machine moves each piece of material, cuts it in half, and the finished product becomes a whole bunch of individual valve locks.
The state of Florida can lay claim to many famous places, Daytona International Speedway, Disney World and Cape Canaveral to name a few. In terms of aftermarket performance products, however, Crane Cams could best be described as this state's shining star. What began in a small garage in Hallandale, Florida, has grown into a self-sufficient manufacturing marvel. Unlike many of today's best-known cam grinders, Crane produces the lion's share of carburized steel camshaft cores that end up wearing the labels of other well-known aftermarket cam companies. As such, Crane takes raw billet steel and begins the core manufacturing process with cutting, machining, plating, carburizing, and heat treating - all of which is done in-house. The only process farmed out these days is anodizing, which was previously done in the old Hallandale facility, but when the company moved to Daytona Beach, EPA concerns made outsourcing more feasible.
Back in its early days, Crane offered three different small-block Chevy cam cores. Today, over 50 are available just for the small-block Chevy engine, while over 200 different cores are produced, in total. Depending on the department in question, Crane maintains two to three shifts each day. But to keep up with production flow, the heat treating department runs all day, every day.
Perhaps the latest information connected to this Daytona Beach house of speed comes with its new parent company. Crane is now owned by Mikronite Technologies, a New Jersey-based concern that has developed a revolutionary metal surface treatment that increases strength, reduces friction and increases product life. This interesting process is used in the medical field (including artificial heart components), along with aircraft and automotive applications. Day by day Crane engineers are treating an ever-increasing list of parts that display impressive benefits in performance after receiving the Mikronite treatment.  Roller lifters are checked for quality control and assembled in a clean room adjacent to the manufacturing area. Bearing presses are equipped with strain gauges to ensure that each bearing is pressed to exacting tolerances. | | |  That's right. Crane even manufactures its own rocker adjuster nuts. |  A small-block Chevy Ultra Pro Series lifter body in process. |  A Top Fuel roller lifter body, treated to the Mikronite process. The Top Fuel versions are .600-inch wide, feature a giant .920-inch diameter roller wheel and run approximately $1,500 per set. |
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