KRW Con Rod Alignment Tool

[Ken Buhler]

I bought a Sea Lion that looks unused and I want to buy the frame. Or if anyone would send me some detailed photos of it, I would have one made. That may be better than the cost of shipping. Thank you all.
Ken

[TrentB]

[RajoRacer]

A KRW fixture sold last week on the online auction that was posted here but the sea lion was in another lot !

[Allan]

This is my Australian made device. Instead of multiple round mandrels to suit a variety of different rods, this one has just 3 square mandrels. T rods use the smallest one. Most cars fit the second. The largest one is for big truck and tractor diesels. Your sea lion could be used on this device.
Next to it is the matching heavy duty vice used to fix bent rods. It took me years to find it
Allan from down under.

[RajoRacer]

I use a Stevens fixture with a multi sized rod and a flywheel holding fixture.

[Plankhill]

I have a K R Wilson A335. It has a stepped mandrel with 1.465, 1.486, 1.491, and 1.498 diameters. I Assume this is for a model A. What is the adjustable stop for?

[RajoRacer]

Stevens called it a "centering gauge" to control the bottom of the rod location.

[Allan]

Steve, is there a need for the rod to be centred? I am not sure what that means in terms of rod alignment. The square mandrels in my fixture are precision machined for accuracy and each size is bolted in place with a flat surface on top. Any size rod can be rested on the chamfered corners of the mandrel. T and A rods would be checked on the same small mandrel, and it doesn't matter if they are various under sized bearings. It makes the device just that easy to use.
I guess the same could be done on the KRW device if a little used round mandrel was machined into square like the ones I use.

Allan from down under.

[RajoRacer]

Couldn't tell you !

[dobro1956]

Ken, if still interested in a KRW rod jig send me an e-mail to dobro@artelco.com. I have a complete jig in nice condition that is missing the sea lion. Everything else is there. Ill drag it out and take pictures if you are interested.

Having one made would be very expensive to have it made accurately. The good thing about the KR Wilson and Stevens jigs are they are designed to straighten the rod while on the jig mandrel. They are very heavily made.

[speedytinc]

Steve, is there a need for the rod to be centred? I am not sure what that means in terms of rod alignment. The square mandrels in my fixture are precision machined for accuracy and each size is bolted in place with a flat surface on top. Any size rod can be rested on the chamfered corners of the mandrel. T and A rods would be checked on the same small mandrel, and it doesn't matter if they are various under sized bearings. It makes the device just that easy to use.
I guess the same could be done on the KRW device if a little used round mandrel was machined into square like the ones I use.

Allan from down under.

Dobro quote "Having one made would be very expensive to have it made accurately. The good thing about the KR Wilson and Stevens jigs are they are designed to straighten the rod while on the jig mandrel. They are very heavily made."
I think this is the purpose for the different mandrels. The rod gets bolted tight, checked & straightened & final checked. This is how I do my rods.

An aside. At Tulare there was a stevens unit @ $50 missing the seal.

[TrentB]

KR Wilson sold a connecting rod alignment jig of a different design in 1926:

Respectfully Submitted,

Trent Boggess

[Allan]

John, are the rods bent/twisted to align them while they are fixed to the KRW tool? That would require close fitting mandrels for each size of big end bearing, not to mention an extremely sturdy tool.
Allan from down under.

[dobro1956]

Allan, yes the rods are straightened while on the tool. The mandrel and cast body of the jig is very substantial. Since these tools were designed when "standard" was the only size, the mandrels were machined to fit a standard rod. You fit the big end to the mandrel with no shims so it fits tight. Then check the rod for twist or bend. If rod is twisted or bent just adjust as needed till straight while still mounted to the mandrel. Very quick to do, and very accurate.

I machined my mandrel to have a standard, .005, 010, and .015 journal to fit the four sizes I used.

[Allan]

Now it makes sense Donnie. Because my tool is used on a multitude of rods, it is designed to facilitate this. The very substantial vice is used to straighten bent rods, including hefty truck and tractor diesel items. On T rods, I pass another rod through the wrist pin to correct twist.The rod is returned to the square mandrel for checking with the sea lion. It tales a couple of goes with T rods, more so with anything heavier, but I never have occasion to do this.

Allan from down under.

[Kerry]

Donnie and Allan, well sort of makes sense but for the mandrel size, leaving the shims out to lock up todays rods makes sense but back in the day, Ford didn't shim the rods so the mandrel must be larger than oil clearance to lock it up.

[Allan]

Kerry, that's where the square mandrels come into their own.

Allan from down under.

[dobro1956]

Kerry, Just going from memory, I may have machined them oversize, but that was about 30 years ago. I do remember basing my sizes off the stock KR Wilson size for the T part of the mandrel.

There were many different mandrels made for the KR Wilson jig. Mandrels were available for all Ford products from T era till the 1950s as well as other makes of cars (even Chevrolet).