Very interesting discussions concerning a subject I am interested in.
I read everyone's posts more than once, and especially the Engineering article Mark posted. The control arms and rods on most non original GT40s are made from mild steel. Perhaps that was true of the originals too. I think the CAV cars may be an exception because they may have employed stainless steel, or not.
I think I made the turn from extreme concern to nearly no concern with the idea chrome plating of the subject parts. I recently disassembled some, removed the end fittings and examined them. They were thinner than I expected, but since I'm not an Engineer, I suspect that's just a lame observation.
(1) Some percentage of them will fail without chrome plating for a variety of reasons, including extreme usage and original defect, and those events could be fatal too.
(2) The Fastener Engineering & Research Association's report states that the plating process will only cause hydrogen embrittlement of 2 — 3% of the components so treated.
(3) The other key statement they made is that hydrogen embrittlement is only expected to be a risk for higher tensile [plated] fasteners with [Vickers] hardness above 320HV.
(4) Common hardness rating for mild steel is approximately 140, whereas for hardened steel it is approximately 900.
Hardness
(5) What is harder, more durable, and have lasted for over a 100-years plus than the good ole heavy chrome bumpers on the early model cars? What could be more durable under stress than a good ole set of chromed Snap-on tools?
My conclusion is that with the possible exception of the special "R" race version cars, the other cars could be driven hard on the streets and occasionally tracked, and only experience a very slight increase in failures with chrome plating above the stock non-plated ones.
Any additional thoughts, comments, ideas? Robert