MTFCA Forum

Today I made my first attempts to solder Babbitt on an old bearing shell. Has anyone done this and can give me some tips?
I would like to fix the axial play of the crankshaft on my engine.

greetings from Switzerland

Turn up a dummy bearing, a piece of exhaust pipe works OK, clamp it to the cap and that way you are only working with the thrust surface and not having the bearing babbitt run away on you.

Yes, that's what I said and I'm already in the process of turning a blind bearing.

What's the best way to add new Babbitt? Should I melt it into a wire first and then add it while soldering? Or is it better to place pieces on the printing surface and then simply melt them?

I use a large electric soldering iron to melt babbit I have previously poured into a thin stick. The iron provides controllable heat to melt the stick into the thrust face on the cap. I have yet to use a dummy crank piece.

When reworking the cap I use wet n dry paper on a glass plate to work down the added material. I start with the cap at a slight angle until the cap just enters the space on the crank throw. Then the cap is brought up to square and worked down until it can be inserted all the way.

Ted Aschman included this tip in one of his Tinkerin Tips books.

Allan from down under.

I used a D/S inner bearing race to simulate the crank, raised 1/8" high. Outside I used an aluminum can shell & clamped together with a hose clamp. Using a small, cool oxy/acetylene frame heated the face warm & dripped new babbitt from an old rod. once piled in place, I used the torch to melt it even into the mold area. Be careful not to overheat. Just enough to flow the new top layer.

I cannot locate a copy of the article, but ;Check Vintage Ford Volume #42 Number 2 March/April 2007 for a comprehensive technical article on diagnosis of this problem and a detailed solution written by Ken Foster.
If anyone has a an electronic copy I would like a copy for may library.
Ron Patterson

I use a piece of solid stock turned to the crankshaft diameter clamping in thecap. Using solid material it acts as a heat sink to protect the babbit surface of the beaing cap. I work with a small acetylene flame.

This was my father's approach. This ran for nearly 50 years and was not removed because it wore out.
A bronze wear surface, soldered to the existing babbitt, then screwed in place and everything machined to size.

You may find that it's not just the thrust surface on the main cap that gets worn. The thrust faces on the crankshaft also wear, especially on the flange face. The crankshaft developes a groove in its thrust face. Many times, the main cap must be sized short enough to pass over the unworn surfaces of the thrust face, adjacent to the wear groove. Once the cap passes by those unworn surfaces, it's now aligned with the wear groove in the crank and the resulting axial play is just about as bad as it was before.

Thank you for all the answers

Today I soldered and processed my bearing shell. I used a small propane flame to do this.
It went pretty well, but I didn't make it pore-free.

What do you think, can I use it like that?

I also machined the pressure surface on the crankshaft to remove the wear.

greetings from Switzerland

Looks fine to me!

Came across Vol 42, Number 2 .... MARCH/APRIL 2007.

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:34 am

This was my father's approach. This ran for nearly 50 years and was not removed because it wore out.
A bronze wear surface, soldered to the existing babbitt, then screwed in place and everything machined to size.

Jerry,

That's a very neatly done improvement. That you've got evidence of it's longevity, presumably in reasonably regular use (?), adds to its attraction - in your experience had it had any adverse affect on the crank thrust face?

Vonau wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 5:55 pm

What do you think, can I use it like that?

I also machined the pressure surface on the crankshaft to remove the wear.

Beat,

Nice job on the crank surfacing. IMV minor pitting on the cap thrust face is not a bad thing and I'd be happy to use it IF I was certain the babbit was well adhered to the cap and the pitting/porosity wasn't the result of poor material or significant foreign material in the mix.

Moxie26 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 10:19 pm

Came across Vol 42, Number 2 .... MARCH/APRIL 2007.

Robert,

Good on you for finding the article, hope you don't mind but I've taken your images and sorted them out a bit here...

Ron Patterson wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:07 pm

If anyone has a an electronic copy I would like a copy for may library.
Ron Patterson

Ron, I've got this in a PDF now if you'd like it? Will send you an email.

Luke.

Luke wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 11:52 pm

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:34 am

This was my father's approach. This ran for nearly 50 years and was not removed because it wore out.
A bronze wear surface, soldered to the existing babbitt, then screwed in place and everything machined to size.

Jerry,

That's a very neatly done improvement. That you've got evidence of it's longevity, presumably in reasonably regular use (?), adds to its attraction - in your experience had it had any adverse affect on the crank thrust face?

You can see some slight grooving in the face of the bronze. The crank has the same slight grooves to match but otherwise no deep wear groove. The car is used every year on various tours. (In fact, except for the WWII years when dad was "away", it has been driven every year of its existance.)

Luke... Thanks very much. It was late at night when I posted

This is a pdf version of the Ken Foster article.