2011 - Crane Cams

Crane Cams History
Crane Cams History (continued)
design, began selling mass-produced,
custom-ported, all-out racing cylinder
heads, heat treated chromemoly pushrods,
aluminum, steel and titanium
valve spring retainers, machined steel
valve locks, high-rev kits, and stud girdles.
Crane’s rapidly expanding product
line was chocked full of unique and
innovative items, all engineered to
boost horsepower and reliability in race
engines as well as street performance
applications. That plus the huge success
that Crane cammed racers were enjoying
firmly established Crane as the
industry’s No. 1 cam company.
It was also during this time Crane
Cams became a pioneer in the science
of computerized cam lobe design.
Previously, cam profile designs required
lengthy, tedious mathematical exercises
with a slide rule or mechanical calculator.
Computer technology slashed this
time and substantially increased lobe
accuracy. For Crane Cams, the result was
an explosion of knowledge gathered,
expanded and utilized. Computerization
of the science of cam lobe profile
design also enabled Crane’s design staff
to explore new possibilities in cam and
valve train function. Each day brought
new innovations and a tremendous
amount of data that could all be
applied to the design and manufacture
of new, even more powerful camshafts!
As Detroit accelerated and expanded
its motorsports programs, Crane
Cams was tapped as a provider of cam
design knowledge as well as becoming
a trusted supplier to the automotive
industry. Ford, American Motors and
Chrysler all selected Crane Cams as their
choice for a variety of racing and street
performance related products and services.
For many years Crane had purchased
its steel cam cores from
Universal Camshaft Company, of
Muskegon, Michigan. When that company
became available in 1975, Crane
acquired it, thereby providing itself with
a stable, long-term source for steel cam
cores. That operation was moved in
1981 to a newly constructed manufacturing
center in Daytona Beach. In 1985
the entire company left its founding
city, Hallandale, Florida, and relocated
to Daytona Beach.
In February, 1994, Crane Cams
acquired Camshaft Machine Company
and its plants in Michigan and Indiana.
To better reflect its new market mix, the
company’s name was changed to Crane
Technologies Group, Inc.
Seeking to return to its core cam
and valve train business and its roots in
the performance market, Crane sold
Camshaft Machine to Federal-Mogul
Corp. in early 1999.
In 1989 Crane Cams recognized the
potential for performance camshafts,
valve train components, ignitions and
electronics for the rapidly growing
Harley-Davidson motorcycle market.
Today, Crane Cams, Crane valve train
products and Crane FireBall ignitions
are among the industry’s most popular
for cruising, street performance and racing.
Crane is also an annual participant
in many of the world’s largest motorcycle
gatherings.
Crane Cams entered the world of
electronic ignitions by acquiring Allison
Electronics in 1990. The original product
line was completely reengineered,
updated and expanded and is now marketed
as Crane FireBall Ignitions.
FireBall ignitions have since become the
industry’s most technologically
advanced for racing and street applications.
Other products include FireBall
engine controls and FireWire, a premium
quality, double silicone jacketed,
reactive-core line of race-proven spark
plug wires.
Also, Crane’s optical trigger/fiber
optics distributor is approved for competition
by NASCAR and used by many
leading teams. Likewise, Crane ignitions
are employed by top runners in ARCA,
ASA, USAR and other sanctioned series.
Crane’s billet distributors, ignitions, coils
and FireWire® spark plug wire are available
for many drag racing applications.
In 2009, Crane Cams was purchased by
George and Ken Smith. George is well
known in NHRA circles for the design
and introduction of the S&S-powered
Buells that have become a dominant
force in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class
and won the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle
Points Championship for Hector Arana.
Given the resources of the company’s
new ownership, Crane Cams now has
an expanded amount of state-of-the art
manufacturing firepower and R&D at its
beck and call. This includes a substantial
number of the latest CNC machining
centers (including automated pallet
changing), the ability to produce fully
digitized camshafts using Landis CNC
equipment, as well as grinding cams via
traditional methods using production
masters, dyno cells, Spintrons and a
fully government-certified emissions
lab. Quality control is aided by state-ofthe-art
testing equipment such Zeiss
optical and Adcole computerized devices,
along with a dedicated staff that has
helped to maintain the industry’s highest
standards since “day one.”
New facilities have been set up in
Daytona Beach, with a large number of
veteran Crane Cams employees continuing
in their technical and manufacturing
capacities. The engineering staff
utilizes the latest in design and analytical
software to continue the company
tradition of developing the best possible
components for each application.
Customers can be secure in the
knowledge that given George Smith’s
racing background (which includes
studying camshaft and valve train technology
under the tutelage of Harvey
Crane) and penchant for perfection, the
company will strive to lead the industry
in quality and performance while
improving product availability to levels
that racers require.
With the industry’s largest camshaft
database, which exceeds 80,000
profiles, an impressive manufacturing
capability, and an experienced tech staff
ready to provide racers with race-winning
valve train and ignition components.
866-388-5120 • 386-236-9983 FAX 7