MTFCA Forum

Hi guys,
I struggling with a crank that has a terrilby rusted area where the felt goes. It's rusted out .060 on one side. It would need to be built up and machined to use a speedy sleeve. ( don't trust JB weld that much and don't like to weld on cranks) Has anyone tried machining this part of the crank and using packing like a Model A uses? Or any other ideas? Thanks.
Craig.

A bearing house sells thin SS sleeves to repair seal & bearing areas on shafts. They usually bond on with a liquid like locktite. On this particular crank, JB weld as the sleeve adhesive would be preferred. My thinking is welding fill will warp the shaft.

The best fix is to turn from in front of the Ford groove to the front of the crank. After clean up make a sleeve and press in place. Then turn that down to size, drill the pulley pin hole
The Model A seal won’t fix your problem.

But once it is repaired, the Model A rope seal will work fine. When installing the rope seal, after you seat it, it will need the ends trimmed back a little, but not flush. The ends still need to stick out some for compressing.

You just might get lucky with a modern oil seal placed on the outside of the timer case! You should be installing one of those in any case to prevent the wicking thru the rope seal. Check out the many posts crankshaft oil seal.. Maybe time for a different crank?

Whatever you decide to do, be sure the new surface is symetrical It must be in perfect alignment for any type of seal to work.
Norm

Thanks guys lots of food for thought. Generaly speeking I would pitch a crank like this but this one is round, straight & a EE. I was going to build another engine if I had enough parts. Just discovered the babbitt in the third main is loose in the block so this will go back on the rear burner. I'll keep an eye out for some D.O.M. to make a sleeve out of. Thanks
Craig.

I would build it up with epoxy. Then true it in the lathe and install a Speedi Sleeve

Remove the gear, protect the gear surface, the ft main. Masking tape will do, a lot of raps. Wire weld it oversize, 180 degrees apart. DO NOT get it too hot. Redrill the crank pin hole and if you take your time and do a good job your back in business. Call if I can help, 9038241949.

Why not find another crankshaft?

There is a repair that I have done to various shafts including brass throttle and choke shafts, heavy machinery shafts, and one Fordson tractor crankshaft, that seem to work for me. It involves turning away the damaged section on a lathe and wrapping a wire, suitable to the application, in a "spring" fashion across the newly turned diameter. I then fix the wire in place with either silver solder, soft solder, or (God forbid) J.B.Weld, depending on shaft material, size, and use. I start the wire winding by drilling a shallow hole, the wire diameter plus a few thousandths at the lead end of the damaged area and bending a short hook in the wire, then using the hole as a starter and carefully winding the wire tight to the shaft. Prior to winding the wire I dress the turned area with appropriate flux and clean the wire carefully. After the winding is done I hang a weight (vise grips) onto the loose end and proceed to carefully heat the area and apply solder to the wire being careful not to burn off the loose end.
Wire material can be mild steel, stainless steel, brass, copper or whatever. Wire gauge is determined by the depth of the damage and the finish diameter of the finished repair. If you do the turning based on the finish diameter minus a diameter of the wire used in the repair when the shaft is finally turned and polished, the wire is turned to the point of tangency and very little of the solder is visible. The solder or adhesive only serves to hold the repair together and the surface is almost entirely metal while the load on the repair is transferred directly to the shaft and not through the adhesive. On carburetor shafts one of the benefits of the repair is that the bearing surface can be made to be larger that the original shaft so that the hole can be reamed for a nice fit without the use of bushings. Something to ponder if nothing else.

I forgot to add you’ll need to put the crank in a lathe using the centering holes in the end and clean up the welds. It’s really an easy process if you limit your heat while welding. Be sure to keep even heat on opposite side of the shaft so the shaft doesn’t warp.

I have been repairing the worn seal area of the crankshafts by having them spray welded. It is permanent, it maintains the original size, it is steel. you can use any type of oil seal you prefer. It cost about $40 per journal. well worth it. I have done many, many cranks this way with no complaints.

Spray welding is the best repair.

Looks to me that the crankshaft has been sand blasted(?). If that is the case, would also guess that you will need the main and rod journals ground(?). Personally, I would find a better crankshaft to start with. If the mains and rod journals have not been cleaned up in recent history, more than likely they are out of round or even tapered too. Has it been checked for cracks?

That looks like extreme wear to me, aggravated by perhaps sitting for years with an oil pan full of water or mud. I'd want to check everything about that crank before investing much in it.

Hi guys,
Good cranks are as hard to find as a good machine shop that grinds cranks I've had two bent by a grinder. Rebabbitting a block is not cheap either.
Lots of neat ideas. I was under the impression that spray welding had to be ground that it was hard enough that it did'nt cut well? The wire idea am I correct that the wire size would have to be twice the diameter of the releif so a minimum of solder is exposed. As it is softer? The crank was bead blasted ( real agressively in that part ) The crank polished up nicely, gournals are well with in Spec. for round and taper. The rods are .010 under.
I may try welding it up and cutting it back to STD.
Thanks for all the ideas
Craig

Craig, If you have a 1.500 diameter crank journal and wire is .100, you turn the shaft down to 1.400. When you wrap the journal you end up at 1.600 prior to turning. You’re adding material to both sides of the journal,
Keith