I want to thank all those who encouraged me to save my original axle housings on my 1914 T! They were covered in globs of brazing from a botched repair job and one backing plate was missing 1/4" of metal at the bottom. I took them completely apart, hot tanked them, welded the backing plate, blasted and primed them and temp. bolted them together in lieu of sealing/riveting. I'm really, really happy with how they turned out and will keep you posted on the riveting/painting process. By the way, do the numbers stamped on the center housings mean anything like date of manufacture? Just curious!
Excellent Job Bill!
Herm.
Bill : Did you also check or the housings are straight,?? Most of the old housings are bent.
Toon
Toon, what do you do if the bend is in the cast center? Wouldn't it be wise to first check and see if the two bearing holes are lined up? If they are, any bending of the tube will add to the problem rather than solve it.
One way to check is to place the big end in a fixture held in the chuck that inserts snugly into the first bearing hole without bolting the cast section to a face plate. If the two holes line up correctly then the bend must be in the center casting. Maybe you already do that.
In the above photo you see the fixture I use. To check alignment of the two bearing holes, I either remove the faceplate or leave a distance between the faceplate and the bolt surface of the housing.
Great work Bill.
I'll second Toon's comment about checking for straightness, especially if you have used any heat in cleaning up the bronze/welding. When I did my 12, I had to weld the two centre castings and that did make them warp. I had to true them up in the lathe before assembly and check them afterwards.
Hope this helps,
Allan from down under.
Richard,the welding I had done to repair cracks between the rivet holes on my castings warped them. I made a tool something like Toon's,which was a neat fit in the bearing sleeve hole. It extended through the casting so I could chuck it in the lathe. That let me turn the centre mating surfaces true. Then the tool was reversed in the casting so the face to which the housings are riveted was also trued. Thankfully,once that was done, all was OK.
All this did mean I had to make custom thrust washers, but I usually do this anyway.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.
Bill...your axles are looking great! Naturally I have to tout the "world famous Valspar Paint plus Primer in One" with a pic of one of my axle housings that I painted with it when I re-worked my axle on the '12 this fall. I even polished them with wizards after they cured good and wow they sparkle! Keep in mind, this paint does take a good week to cure fully. I waited the proverbial month before the polish. I used one full can per axle housing.
Tim, your housing looks great too! What is "Wizards"? Also, do you know what the stamp numbers on the center cast refer to in the photo I posted?
Bill, looks even better closeup! Wizards is a good polish/sealant, you can buy it online. www.WizardsProducts.com Good stuff. I also use McGuires a lot too. Unfortunately, I don't know what the numbers mean, I have 'em on mine too naturally. We'll both just have to wait and see if someone more experienced here chimes in.
Tim, is it the wheel and tire polish???
Bill, no, sorry I shoulda looked it up earlier but it was waaay out in the coooold barn! It's called Shine Master.
Tim, Cold Barn? I ran my ac two days ago and have not lite the pilot for the heater. Will wait till turkey day or so. Scott
You lucky duck Scott! Enjoy your nicer climate! Mid 30's for highs coming up here come Wed. Yuck
Allen, I see. The way you remedy bent castings (the pumpkin) is to true the bolt and thrust washer surfaces. Like you say, you need to adjust thrust washer thickness, etc. because the internal distances are somewhat different. Sounds to me like a very good remedy. I've seen folks place heat on the pumpkin directly but I like your approach better. I'll remember that one.
The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.
I don't mean to rain on your parade Bill but, before you bolt them together with those shiny hardware store thingys, consider #8 bolts about 1" long with shaped heads (using power drill and bench grinder) to appear like rivets. Apply RTV sealer to the carrier case (pumpkin) before tightening the snot out of the 12 bolts. Then, when you have a good finish like Tim above, your housings won't leak after years of touring. . . Jus' my 2 cents worth
George, no problem and I don't mind a little rain. However, I used the wrong word "in lieu". What I should have said was "until". The nuts/bolts are only temporary and I will indeed be using an RTV sealant between the flange and housing, then hot-riveting the housing back together. I'm only using the nuts/bolts to keep everything nice and straight until I get all my parts/supplies for riveting.