when you say work or play. which is more power. alot of us play harder then we work and visa versa

 

it was probably made from hardened rod... shouldn't have grooved... since it did it may have came from a bad batch of rod, which he made it from...

Also making it harder could cause it to break, given the pin is able to groove the fuel pin it could probably snap or bend one if not hardened.

 

I did heat treat a few back in the day but the vendor and I ran around in circles trying to keep them from warping. I stepped up to even harder stainless to compensate. No matter how hard the stainless though if its not as hard as the idler pin that rides on it theres going to be some wear.
So far I havent had any trouble with grooving..........just polish it up and keep rocking.

 

I have old smokies pin and have not heard of grooving issues with it.

 

One thing i though of today... i'd rather have my fuel pin groove a little than damaging the idler pin, seems easier to replace. Adding to what others have said, take it out and check it once in awhile, if you notice wear smooth it out some. If your doing performance upgrades you should inspect things to make sure noting gets beyond the point of simple maintenance.