how do you identify a steel crank?

[NO NAME]

This might sound silly to ask, however many people still haven't been able to tell me, how can I tell if a crank is steel or just the normal one?

[oldgmh]

mate,
they sound different when you belt them with a hammer - one sounds like a bell and the other sounds dead - but I dunno which is which.
Hopefully there is a metallurgist on the forum...

earlee

[NO NAME]

I tried that, hitting the crank with a hammer scarred me so I closed my eyes, it didnt sound dead or like a bell.
I opened my eyes to see if I had damaged the crank but there wasnt a mark on it.
I then realized the cat had crossed the path of the hammer and it hwas the cat I was hitting, I guess that explains the odd noise it was making.
are there any other ways?

[SEB]

Think the steel one will be less grainy and do the bell ring thing. Sadly this means that you have to have them side by side. I'm sure there is some sort of P/N that would define this, I hope some one knows what it is .....

Best regards,

Steve.

[ACE]

Hi FCCOOL,
I'm assuming you're talking about a 179HP motor with the "steel crank".
As far as i know ALL  Holden Red, Blue, Black sixes have carbon steel cranks. ;)
Regards ACE  8)

[TorqueFC]

HEY FCOOL
WHEN YOU FIND AN ANSWER SEND ME A PM, ALSO COULD YOU PLEASE SEND ME A PM OR EMAIL ON ALL OF THE RESEARCH YOU HAVE PUT INTO YOUR MOTOR, TOP END AND BOTTOM END AS WE HAVE A COMPLETELY ORIGINAL 186 WHICH WE WANT TO DO THE SAME THING TO

CHEERS
TORQUE

[greyside]

nodular iron i think there called

[greyone]

if you grind a piece of cast iron watch the sparks and you will notice that they are a dull yellow orange colour .do the same on a piece of steel and you will notice the sparks are vary bright ,there are other ways ,i find this the easyest method

[NO NAME]

My uncle says a steel one should look smoother and not have the cast marks that mine has, I was thinking of either selling it or it may even get used but at the moment I think it will be a black/blue crank or 202 red that I will use. I probably wont get much for it but I spent about $170 having it balanced last rebuild.

[gp]

Holden never made a cast iron crankshaft until some time in 1967 (I'd have to check the date....got it somewhere??). Everything before then was forged steel (Yes... Grey motors included!). The red motor steel cranks have part no. 7420005 on them.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Graham

[SCUMMY]

dont the 179 cranks have HP on em?
mine did and so has the 308 hp block and crank??
cheers

[gp]

Hi Scummy,
I've never seen HP on the crankshaft & I've built a lot of 149/179/186's

[Grah]

Steel crankshaft part number.