all-world1
Member
Thanks for that one Ron....from safety issues to leaf dimensions, this instruction is something you just can't find anywhere.
Ron's A-Spring Tech Article
- Thread starter all-world1
- Start date
One point I'd like to make here is on chroming a stock Model A spring. I would strongly advise against it. This old steel dosen't take to chroming kindly. Almost every car I've seen witha chrome spring has or has had a broken leaf. If you want the flash back there, look to powercoating. They have had good results from that process.
Ron
Ron
One thing bothers me here Youndster.The process of chroming is dipping in to a warm tank with chrome pellets in side and passing a low voltage through the tank of course after the copper.My question is this how does the small amount of voltage change the molecular structure of the spring to cause it to crack?This is a real question not a in your face question.
Rick...All I can do here is to pass on the information a plater gave to me.
It seems Ol' Henry wanted a tougher grade of steel for his springs. The alloy he used had a high chrome content to it. One of the vehicles they used to get the chrome to blend with the iron was hydrogen, sort of like using a flux. In the process of shaping the T and A springs, the stock was heated to make it more plyable, thus releasing the hydrogen. When we have an old Ford spring chromed, Not only dose the new chrome hold the hydrogen from the water bath in the plating tank, but the old chrome in the steel attains hydrogen to replace what was released during the heating and shaping process. Hydrogen in steel causes it to become brittle, which in turn causes it the crack or brake under stress. Platers will "bake" your crome parts if you ask them to as a way of releasing the hydrogen.
In the early '40's, they found out that steels with a higher carbon content would preform to the standards the auto manufacters wanted and the chrome impregnated steel was replaced. This is the material repro springs are being made from now.
I'm not a metalurgist, and as I said, this is what I was told from a plater that did some work for me. I have no other refrences to give to prove or disprove the above.
Ron
It seems Ol' Henry wanted a tougher grade of steel for his springs. The alloy he used had a high chrome content to it. One of the vehicles they used to get the chrome to blend with the iron was hydrogen, sort of like using a flux. In the process of shaping the T and A springs, the stock was heated to make it more plyable, thus releasing the hydrogen. When we have an old Ford spring chromed, Not only dose the new chrome hold the hydrogen from the water bath in the plating tank, but the old chrome in the steel attains hydrogen to replace what was released during the heating and shaping process. Hydrogen in steel causes it to become brittle, which in turn causes it the crack or brake under stress. Platers will "bake" your crome parts if you ask them to as a way of releasing the hydrogen.
In the early '40's, they found out that steels with a higher carbon content would preform to the standards the auto manufacters wanted and the chrome impregnated steel was replaced. This is the material repro springs are being made from now.
I'm not a metalurgist, and as I said, this is what I was told from a plater that did some work for me. I have no other refrences to give to prove or disprove the above.
Ron
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