Thanks for these photos, I have one of these in my files. I don't know if any of you noticed but the car with the star on the radiator is a Duesenberg eight valve with a double drop frame. It is one of the team cars that ended up on the East coast. I do not know who owned it in this paticular race but most of it's history is known by a good friend. The car to the left appears to be a Ford based car but looks to have a frame setup for half ecliptics instead of a cross spring.
These photos from a Federal Mogul bearing manual give you a better idea of how this type of modern bearing fits in the bore. The formula that I use makes this type of what is called a precision bearing.
On the rolled thread discussion....I disagree with the statement that one has to, or should roll the threads AFTER heat treating. I worked in the auto industry for over 37 years with a big three company. We had several boltmakers and thread rollers which we made about 10 million bolts or studs a year. Studs for tie rod ends and ball joint studs and other varius parts of the car. The tie rod and ball joint studs fall under NTSB requirements as a 'safety' item and must me carefullt controlled. We did numerous tests out of every batch and different coil of steel to monitor this. We did a lot of field testing and pull testing and constantly looked for ways to make them better and cheaper. Rolling them cold , then heatreating them and chasing them (with a roller chaser) after heat treat was the best process we found. The chasing process was due to make sure after heat treating that the size of the bolt or stud did not shrink or expand and was basically there to maintain size or diametern not to re-form the thread. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it... HG
1934-36 photo of Freddie Winnai at Legion Ascot Raceway in Los Angeles. It originated from Vicente Alvarez-Bruce Craig Racing Photos. Does anyone know more about the car and powerplant?
T-Head is quite modest, and stays out of the limelight, but I was able to take this photo of him at work earlier today, and thought the thread followers would enjoy seeing him hard at work.
holy wow!!! those are good. Couple of photographic observations: that track was super smooth, as there is almost no distortion in the pictures (looks like they were taken from the back of the pace car). That must have been one nice camera as the exposure is perfect.
In our last installment of as the crankshaft will turn again, we were ready to tin the inside surface of the inserts. The tinning compound is a powdered tin solder alloy mixed with a very strong acid and zinc chloride (photo 1). This gets painted on the inside and then they get heated with a torch until the compound melts. It then gets scrubbed with a wire brush and the excess acid wiped off with a coarse rag. Mean while the babbitting mould is getting heated up along with the babbitt. I machined the mould set up (photo 2) out of heavy steel and there is a series of different sized mandrels and the vertical pieces move back and forth for the different sizes. A thermometer in the mandrel shows the temp. It sits on a hot plate as the mandrel needs to be heated to 250 degrees. The mandrel gets smoked with and excess acetylene flame (the black covering) to keep the babbitt from sticking to it. The insert then gets clamped in and is ready to pour. Most babbitt is heated in an open pot over a flame but I use an electric pot that I modified to pour out of the bottom. This way I get clean metal without have to dip the ladle through the dross and oxidized scum that forms on top even if you skim it. The pouring temp at the bearing needs to be 925 degrees but has to be heated higher as it cools off by the time the ladle fills and you pour. The insert gets heated to a little over 400 to melt the tinning and then the babbitt is poured into the void for a perfect bond to the insert. It needs a minute or so to cool and it is then removed from the mould and the next one is poured. (Photo 3) shows the inserts as they come out of the mould. The rough surface does not matter as an extra 1/8" in left on the inside to machine out to good clean non porous metal as you will see later. And just like they say on TV, don't try this at home, there is a lot more to it then what you see. There is a long learning curve to get good castings that bond well and are not porous. Also if there is any moisture anywhere when you pour it will blow up in your face. And if you get any big leaks or have a problem you can get badly burned. For a little more information on babbitt try this link and then click on Babbitt (metal): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(metal) A very short video to give you an idea of what pouring is like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDLqQI8BMEY
After pouring the inserts we have to trim off the extra babbitt on the ends (photo 1). They then go into a special semi finishing machine (photo 2) to bore out the extra babbitt necessary in the process. It also serves as a good check that it is a good casting before it gets set up for align boring. Next the inserts get set up in pairs on the mill to open up the area where the oil enters the mains from the oil troughs (photo 3). They all get pockets machined on either side (photo 4) that are oil reserves that feed the oil grooves that feed the bearing (photo 5).
Now that the inserts are all semi finished and oil grooved they get installed back in the crankcase and the alignment of the crankcase to the machine gets double checked. The actual boring to size takes about five hours as we machine out the last .100" and finish up with an oil clearance of only .0015". (photo 1) Babbitt after running in and actual use will settle in by about another .0005" which will bring us to our desired oil clearance of only .002". As I had mentioned earlier the average human hair is .003 so this gives you some idea of how tight the tolerances are. If you are off anywhere the crankshaft binds and the job will never be right. You also have to hold these tolerances in this case over a distance of 32" and the bores have to be in perfect alignment. (Photo 2) Shows the three main caps and inserts after boring but before the oil grooves and pockets have been de-burred. This machine does a beautiful job as you can see. The coated cutter that I use puts such a nice smooth finish on the babbitt. The slight lines and marks that you see are caused by the minute little cuttings that travel around with the cutter and are nothing more than rub marks. Babbitt is so soft that with this high of a finish you can even scratch it like this with a paper towel. (Photo 3) Shows the crankshaft and bearings assembled in the crankcase and being run in by the align boring machine yesterday. It beds everything in and any of the minute particles that always wear off on newly machined surfaces can be washed out of the engine before it gets but back together. (Photo 4) I included this one because I am having trouble with my camera lens and cannot get it to take a good clear photo. This is another one I did a couple of years ago and also is a Raceabout engine, only difference is this one has a new counter balanced crankshaft. Same basic crankshaft other than it is a little bit beefier and has counter weights. I will post some photos of this engine bottom end later when it is assembled and show you how the oiling system works. That tubular shaped piece with the brass hex fitting on the end you see on the left is the oil pump. I will also show you how it works later. I hope you liked this little feature, PM me if you enjoyed it and want to see more of this kind of thing or have any questions.
that is a wonderful job of engineering & your work is impecable in approch & exicution. Would you consider doing a piece on your shop as it appears so extensive in scope & range of machinery. The Mercer autos were probably at one point the peak of Auto engineering in Ameriaca. Thank you for posting this.
That looks like a forged crank??? What is the RPM for those engines? I ask because I wonder why they don't make replacement billet steel main caps? Nice machine work T-Head. HG
T-Head, I love your work and thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to post this. In my next life I want to come back as a machinist! One question. I think you said that the original center main cap was aluminum and you made the replacement out of bronze alloy to make it stronger...Why didn't you make it out of iron or steel? Thanks. JG
Mr T-Head, Thank you for posting all this stuff. I have a question - suppose you were re-creating an engine from a 1905-1909 era American racing car, nothing exists but one partial engine drawing and photos. Would you hide a modern oil pump inside and use modern off-the-shelf bearings or do it the way you have shown here ? I don't think the value of the re-creation would be affected either way (assume the entire car is a reproduction) but a 1000rpm engine doesn't really need the modern lubrication system either, does it ?
T-Head, Are you going to put all this knowledge together into one thread and submit for Tech week ?? Gets my vote if you do. Great stuff thanks for taking the time and trouble to post . . Keith
New article on the Vanderbilt Cup site on Driver Herb Lytle. Some fantastic quality photos well worth checking out. http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/i...from_the_son_of_a_prominent_vanderbilt_cup_ra
Many thanks for the technical information T-Head. Wonderful stuff. I have a question too in regards to bronze parts. I have seen an article of a Wisconsin engine from the teens with a bottom end cast entirely from bronze. Was this the case with all of the Wisconsin engines?
Thanks Buildy. Last week Mr.Kroplick posted a the 30sec.film from the 1905 Ormond-Daytona Beach Races that's also worth watching.
IIRC crowd estimates ranged from 250,000-400,000 for the Vanderbillt Cup races on Long Island from 1904 through 1910. Crowds that liked to surge out into the road and then move back at the last second when hearing the cry Car Coming! Many of them tried to touch the cars at speed for luck. Chain up your dogs and lock up your fowl! In later open course racing Savannah etc you see photos of barbed wire fences and Soldiers to control the crowds.
That is a new one on me but very possible. I am aware of two engines that have bronze crankcases, Locomobile and Van Blerck. I have seen two Van Blerck engines with bronze crankcases. One was a stationary power-plant for a mill here in New England and huge. The other one I have seen is in a car that was built recently that uses one. It has gotten quite a bit of exposure lately so it could be that one? Link to a good Van Blerck site; http://gasengine.farmcollector.com/Gas-Engines/THE-CAREER-OF-JOSEPH-VAN-BLERCK.aspx Locomobile used Manganese bronze for their road cars and their Type I race cars. It is incredibly strong and they state that it was as strong as cast steel. I will post more info about Loco's use of bronze later. Photo 1, George Robinson won the Fairmount Park race in his Type I Loco. Photo 2, A 1912-13 Loco 48 engine w/bronze crankcase. Photo 3, A 1925 Loco 48 engine I rebuilt 10 years ago. Photo 4, 5, 6 The engine in my Loco about 15 yrs. ago. 10 yrs. ago. As it is today.
The Jalopy Journal
