burlington crank

[Chris in CT]

Hi Guys,

First and foremost, a Merry Christmas to all of you and my very best wishes for a safe and healthy New Year. I'd like to speak to a few of your concerns, and answer some of the questions that have been raised in the above discussion. Let me also say that I appreciate the loyalty and respect that so many of you have expressed toward the Burlington Crankshaft, a little project that has gone back a good ten years or so now since its conception.

First of all, your good response to the introduction of the Burlington Crankshaft was not always so. There was a great deal of initial prejudice against the product because it was made in China. This prejudice evidenced itself immediately by persons who had never even seen one of the new crankshafts, despite the fact that Chevy, Mercedes, Toyota, and Cummins were all having their cranks made in the same factory that produced the Burlington. Here is the true reason that I went to China: after contacting every forge in the United States, and finding out that not one would agree to even make the crank - not for love, and not for money - I reluctantly went overseas.

Start-up was very slow; initially we had only a very few sales in the first 3-4 years that the Burlington was offered. We also had to "place" a few of these cranks at our expense with a few key figures in the Model A hobby just to get someone to "try" the thing and start a word-of-mouth response. Meanwhile, I am "catching" some of the manufacturing issues ("bugs") that exist with any new, first issue, product. For instance, we had to face-grind the flywheel flange of each and every crank we sold to meet the less-than 0.001 runnout (Z-axis "wobble") requirement on the face of the flange.

Did you know that the main bearing runnout tolerance on a small block Chevy is 0.006? Did you know that main bearing runnout tolerance on a Model A is 0.002? Do you have any idea how difficult that is to do on a thin crankshaft section?

Anyhow, we had a very good production value: less than 5% of our production was returned for defect or failure, and all customer complaints were immediately addressed.

One reason dealers and other key contacts in the trade were not informed as I approached the end of my inventory is that I did not really know whether I was going to place a re-order until I was down to the last 50 or so crankshafts. I am 71 years old now, and looking to wind down some of my business involvements. Frankly, with the investment of time and money in this project, and the return on investment over the initial ten years, I made the decision to withdraw from the market.

Mr. Allison of Texas, who will be offering the Burlington Crankshaft, has all of the original specifications and the original molds. He also has the benefit of the background experience that I acquired with the crankshaft, and we expect that any original issues with the crank have been resolved and will no longer exist in the new unit. Furthermore, since he is entering the market with a reputable product, I believe that he will find it more remunerative than I was able to do. I have every confidence in him.

So, I hope that is enough disclosure for all of you. Oh, one thing: Yes, the SCAT product is a very good one, and I believe that the rough forging is actually made in India.

May the new year shine on the re-introduction of the Burlington Crankshaft, and its successful installation into many fine old Model A Fords. I send you all blessings, and especially James Allison, who has so gallantly picked up the torch!

Happy Motoring! Chris Robinson