Cool down begins with nitrogen gas then moves on to liquid nitrogen for a long "soak". The process is reversed to bring the part back to room temperature. Looked to me like it was about $400 to $500 for a set of heads? Man, surely it doesn't cost THAT MUCH?
It appears that the benefit is two fold:
Greater strength in the "shear" area. When the rod "breaks" it breaks "clean". I ASSUME this leads one to conclude that the metal is "stronger" and the stress required to "break" a connecting rod would be increased? How MUCH stronger seems to be "speculation" as their are have been no hard numbers generated by "lab tests" to date. I would suspect the extra strength is not substantial enough to warrant the additional expense except under the most extreme conditions. Like balls to the wall racing with a BIG budget!
The second "gain" is in the area of "wear". A treated rifle barrel will take longer to wear out than an untreated rifle barrel. Which caused me to wonder: How many bullets does it take to wear out a rifle barrel? Depending on the number of bullets fired it could take YEARS! Sounds like your Grand kids will thank you long after your gone for cryogenically treating rifle they inherit.
Now, how would greater "strength" and "wear" properties translate to say, an engine head? If you generate enough force in the first place to crack a head I'm skeptical a little extra "strength" will make that much difference!
Wear: As in, where does a head "wear"? Valve seats, guides or valves themselves? I would consider (but probably would not) have just THOSE individual parts treated rather than the whole head. Then again, I think I'd just buy the best dam valves and best dam seats money could buy in the first place. I might use the money I saved on the best "porting" job I could find!
There is ONE area where I could see potential cost/benefit:
Extreme high rpm motorcycle crankshaft/connecting rod combinations!
Ernie the analyst,,,,(or just anal, take your pick).
