341 hemi in 1970 dart
Can we be clear on what we are defining here ?
Are they hardened or heat treated beyond normal production practices ?
They are not........except for some industrial and Chrysler 300 pieces that from what Adams says " might " have been nitrided.
The " soft " term is in reference to surface hardness of the journal area.
You say they were fine , I say they were not on some of the early small displacement Hemi's.
Who's right ?
I guess if service records were archived publicly and I could point to a spike in crank shaft related warranty work , that would support what I have heard and seen.
Pointing to Big , or any other guy who had the seeds to run fuel back when it was truly a black art tells you part of the story , but I seem to recall that they all ate parts like they were free. Steep learning curve for sure.
And they tried and used every bell and whistle to try and get more than a week end out of a motor.......including nitriding , chroming , enhancing oil passages. To imply that they were right out of Grandpa's DeSoto is a bit of a stretch.
Again , if you want to run one , I wish you nothing but the best.
But I am not making this up just to keep a lively debate going