Trade.Information

Company Name: Crane Cams, Inc

Company Type: manufacturer

Company Profile

The first cam Harvey purchased performed well, but when he ordered another, he found it was not at all like the first, mostly due to manufacturing and machining inaccuracies. Harvey's machinist's training and hot-rodder's ingenuity had already taught him that camshaft design and accuracy exacts a critical effect on engine power. He also knew he was easily capable of designing and manufacturing camshafts. What's more, he knew he could design more powerful, far more accurate and repeatable camshafts. Although money was scarce, Harvey traded his way into a well-used cylindrical grinder. In rebuilding this old, used machine he quickly developed cam manufacturing and design knowledge. Harvey's initial "home made" cams were accurately made and surprisingly more powerful than anything he'd previously purchased. Other local hot rodders soon found out, and began buying his camshafts. The reputation of the backroom Crane cam company spread quickly across Florida and further into the Southeast. In response, Harvey founded Crane Engineering Company, an impressive name for a tiny yet highly ambitious firm. By the mid-1950's the flathead Ford and early overhead-valve Oldsmobile and Cadillac V-8's were replaced by the powerful, compact Chevrolet 265-283 V-8 engine family. It seemed that with the early small-block Chevys came a surge of growth for all forms of auto racing. Drag strips and oval tracks suddenly appeared, not only across Florida, but the nation, and the tiny backroom cam company grew as well. In 1960, a Georgia Tech University engineering student and weekend drag racer, Pete Robinson, bought one of Harvey's cams for his supercharged Buick powered 1940 Ford. After success on the street and at the drags, Robinson sold the '40 and bought a dragster chassis from the Dragmaster Chassis company, in California. Pete carefully assembled a stroker crankshaft, supercharged, small-block Chevy, and installed a Crane roller cam. Robinson's new car ran well on Atlanta area tracks and at a few NHRA Division 2 events. On a whim, he entered the "Southwind" dragster into the field at the 1961 NHRA Nationals, an event that had previously been dominated by California based cars and drivers. A virtual unknown, Robinson's little single-engine dragster shocked the race field and the nation, winning Top Eliminator and smashing records in a major upset. Several other Crane-cammed racers were also successful, but it was "Sneaky Pete" Robinson and Crane Cams that suddenly captured the racing world's imagination! Soon, word of the amazing power produced by Crane Cams reached circle track racers. This reputation attracted a number of racers and engine builders including: A.J. Foyt, Red Farmer, The Wood Brothers, Bud Moore, Bill Elliott, Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson, all using Crane Cams and winning heat and feature circle track races across the South. Crane Cams prospered greatly during the "car culture" years of the 1960's, and soon outgrew the building where Harvey?s father had once operated his own machine shop. In 1965 Crane Engineering purchased property and began construction on a brand new building. The firm moved into its brand new facilities in January of 1966, allowing an expansion of its product line and services. Soon Crane introduced its hallmark, gold-anodized, full-roller aluminum rockers, was granted a U.S. Patent on a brand new roller lifter 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 Crane 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. Additional building expansions have led to the current 160,000 square foot facilities now utilized by the entire company. 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. 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. The Wolverine/Blue Racer Division of Camshaft Machine was retained by Crane, strengthening the professional racing, street performance, private label and replacement aftermarket operations, the true core business of Crane Technologies Group and its divisions. 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 and valve train products and Crane ignitions are among the industry?s most popular. Crane is also an annual participant at bike events in Sturgis, SD and Bikeweek, in Daytona Beach. 1989 also was the year that Harvey J. Crane, Jr., founder of Crane Cams, left the company to pursue other interests. 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. Current Crane clients include: General Motors Corp.; Ford Motor Company; DamlerChrysler Corporation; Harley-Davidson Motor Company; Mercury Marine; Mack Trucks; Pioneer-Barnes Group, Ram Sports Aircraft Engines, and Lycoming Aircraft. Crane Cams is also the largest performance and racing industry supplier of private label 8620 billet steel cam cores, and nearly all performance and racing cam grinders currently purchase steel cam cores from Crane! In addition to camshafts and cam cores for private label sales, Crane also serves as a major private label supplier of valve train component products to the entire performance and racing industry. Private-label products include aluminum rocker arms, hydraulic and mechanical roller lifters, pushrods, stud girdles, valve locks and valve spring retainers. Especially noteworthy is that in 1979, Crane Cams became an employee-owned company, forming and implementing an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The ESOP makes each one of the more than 200 Crane employees true employee-owners with a personal stake in their company's future and the personal empowerment necessary to directly influence its outcome. Sharply focused on its future, Crane Cams and Crane Technologies Group reflects upon a richly storied history as it moves rapidly forward in the 21st century.

About Company

Crane Cams and its parent company Crane Technologies Group was originally known as known as "Crane Engineering Company, Inc.", and was founded in 1953. In 1970 the original name, "Crane Engineering", was shortened to "Crane Cams, Incorporated", better defining the company's products and market of that era. From that very humble beginning, Crane Cams has evolved into a nearly $50 million dollar per year manufacturing and marketing company. Amazingly, it all began in an unused corner of company founder Harvey J. Crane, Jr.'s father's Hallandale, Florida machine shop. An apprentice machinist, young Harvey became interested in "souping-up" his flathead Ford V-8 hot rod. Like most others, he was strongly influenced by the various "hot rodding" magazines, ordering his first cam from a California cam company's ad.