Here are some photos of the Ruckstell that I took out of the car this past weekend.
You will notice that one of the triple gear pins had broken and that there is a scar on the side of the axle near the keyway. Using a telescoping gauge and a micrometer, I came up with these measurements, which are far from acceptable to use.
P145 Steel Thrust Plate
*big holes are OK
*small holes measure: .375, .378, .377; if *turned upside down, it falls off of P160
P-87 Triple Gears
*holes measure .506, .503, .508
P-89 Triple Gear Pins
*one broken; other two measure .492 each
P160 Differential housing - large
*Axle bearing - 1.8145
*Gear pin holes - .532, .521, .511
*Dowel pins - .469, .469, .470
P141 Differential housing - small
*Axle bearing - 1.8185
P159 Bell Housing - $105
*Axle bearing - 1.822
P139 Bronze Thrust Plate
*Scoring on inside of plate
I haven't pulled the Notch Plate, Sliding Gear, or bearing from the axle yet, nor have I checked out the shift lock mechanism.
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I've certainly seen worse. If it were mine, I think I'd try to save what I could. I've never tried boring the gears on a Ruckstell. The Perfecto are pretty hard but you can bore them with a carbide bit. The rest you can surface and bush using shims if necessary to maintain proper depths.
I know the parts suppliers sell pin bushings but they look like 660 bearing bronze and that's too soft in my opinion. You can buy phosphor bronze rods and make your own. I've done it on Perfecto pin bushings and triple gears. Phosphor bronze is tougher than 660 and a good choice in such a high stress area.
I've never tried welding up the holes in the larger pieces, but others have done it with success.
Here are some more stats & pics (corrected diameters for the dowel pins)
P139 No sign of any cracks or warpage. Where the P145 rides is some scoring, as indicated by the pic I sent yesterday.
P145 Some light wear rings - nothing like on page 23 of the Chaffin manual
P160 Dowel measurements (taken top-bottom and side-side)
.367/.372; .372/.368; .3685/.373
P87 Gears measurements (taken top-bottom and side-side)
.506/.507; .509/.508; .5085/.5085
P159 Outside of where the thrust washers sit measure 2.175/2.175
Grooves are apparent on both sides of the outside of the bell housing. What would be the cause of that? My unedumacated guess is that due to the worn bearing surface where the axle rode that it caused the bell housing to touch the inside of the axle housing. Does that sound legit?
I plan on checking out the sliding clutch gear, the notch plate, and the shift lock mechanism tomorrow and will post what I find.