Roland Dudley scribed:
>
> The A-arms are another marvel. They are also dry with poured babbitt
> bearings... Surely I'm not the only Brit car owner with this problem?
Certainly not. My P-type has poured engine bearings, as do many pre-war cars.
As with most things, there are 2 schools of thought, those who will rebuild
with modern shell bearings, and those who will remain original, and pour
babbit. To do shells requires finding bearings with the same, or similar
dimensions, and a bit of machine work to fit them. On the P, I might
consider poured mains, but would prefer shells on the rods, for ease of
maintaince, seeing as how they don't tend to last as long as mains.
The babbit would be poured in the hole, (possibly around a plug to save
material) and then bored out to the proper dimension. Probably pretty easy
with the A-arms, as the alignment isn't quite as critical as in an engine.
Out your way, I'm sure you can find serveral restoration shops knowledgeable
in babbit, check with the antique car crowd. (I vaguely remember some
listings in Hemmings out that way). How are these bearings oiled/greased?
Seeing as how you're installing fittings anyway, would oilite be another
possibility? pretty easy to install, bore out the hole, and machine some
bushings to fit. These would be lubed by oil, not grease. Babbit is
probably more sacrificial tho.
________
/___ _ \ Roger Garnett (Roger_Garnett@cornell.edu)
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