Anyone have a suggestion for a machine shop in Phoenix, AZ, that is qualified to line bore or hone some king pin bushings for some round-back 1940 Ford spindles? I used one machine shop close by who claimed they could do it. They obviously honed each one separately because the king pins didn't line up even close. They claimed that the spindles were no good, because they were crooked. At least they didn't charge me for their mistake, just cost me some new bushings. That is why I need some recommendations. Thanks in advance!
You can do it your self, there is a hand tool reamer for it. see http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247360
Steve at Industrial Ch***is has the proper reamer to do it with, but not a pin hone. That might change pretty quickly though as he has located a pin hone.
"They claimed that the spindles were no good, because they were crooked." I guess that could be true. Did they tell you the king pins didn't fit, or did you find out when you started ***embling things? It would have been more helpful to some kind of test measurement with bar stock that fit in the raw bushings. Do they do head work, and would they quote replacing valve guides in a BB Chevy ? http://www.hastingsmfg.com/ServiceTips/chevrolet_396_and_427_valve_guid.htm blindly resizing anything by following the "old holes" individually or even a "new" bushing hole is really looking for trouble. Yes, it "cleans up" with the least amount of material removal, but the new bushings may have been made with reasonable but imperfect concentricity, and then might have been installed coincidently with the worst possible orientation, with the end result just like happened to you. Cylinder Boring bars that reference off the deck surface can perpetuate or even create errors whether installed at the factory, or created during a rEbUiLd. At least rough machine the bores using a line reamer then finish hone individually for fit. Honing pressed rod pin ends for full float, or resizing rods with new bushings by honing can similarly end up with sadly "bent and twisted" rods. Some don't know, some don't care, some just can't Check straightness before and after Align boring/reaming/honing stuff. It's a big deal.
I've done it a few times with our small Sunnen hone. It takes all of 5 minutes to set them up plus 5 minutes to hone them to a perfect fit, so don't let a shop tell you some horror story and charge you thru the nose.
Many thanks to all of you who responded. I took my spindles to Morrison Machine in Glendale, they did an excellent job, at just $20 per side. I dealt with Jim, and he was very knowledgeable and even did them for less than he quoted after he found out I had already pressed in the bushings. He also resurfaced a flywheel for me. And he had them done next day. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone!
I've always done it with a rolled up piece of sandpaper with NO backing just the sandpaper. It doesn't take much at all. Clean & grease. VEry, very simple.
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