How is the gear attached to the generator shaft? Got a new woodruff key and pinion pin from Mac's, but the pin is very loose. Should the ends of the pin be peened over? It's been years since I took mine apart; can't remember what it looked like.

Stan

Stan
A proper replacement generator drive gear pin should be just long enough for you to use a center punch to mushroom both ends so it doesn't fall out.
Ron the Coilman

Stan
Interestingly enough Allen Electric Company made a very handy tool to deal the Model T generator armature drive gear. The number is Allen Electric A-11. Here is a photo:

As you can see the tool has two ends. One end is designed to allow easy driving out the old generator drive gear pin. The other end is for installing a new drive gear pin and peening both ends with appropriate support.
I have one of these tools in my shop and it gets a lot of use.
Ron the Coilman

Stan
I should have pointed out that Ford depicted the use of this tool in the 1926 version of the "Ford Service" book.
Ron the Coilman

Boy,you sure do have a lot of nice things!

Ron, Is there a good way expand the drive gear end of the generator. I have several good armatures but they are worn in the drive gear end.

Paul, I have seen shafts of generators and starters of various types that were turned and sleeved then turned to the diameter needed for the bearing. The shaft could be wire welded and turned also, but damage to the windings could occur.

Jack
Just the tools I use every day.
To quote William Pioch, Henry Ford's key machine tool designer: "If you need a tool and don't buy it, soon you find out you paid for it and don't have it.
Paul
If the gear end of the armature shaft is too badly worn to adequately support a drive gear I throw them out before sending to the armature rewinder. The same is true of the commutator end of the armature.
Nothing is worse that to get a $100 fully rebuilt armature back and find the gear surfaces unusable.
Ron the Coilman

Thanks, all. Neat gadget. I'll have to make do with my pile of scrap steel "mini-anvils"

The pinion gear seems loose on the shaft. Will the pin take up any slack when peened, or do I have a problem? There's no obvious wear on the shaft, and I think it's the same gear that came off.

I was informed of a method that I am going to try on a junk armature. You drill a hole slightly under size of a ball bearing in the end of the armature then press in the ball bearing. It expands the armature to get a tight fit on the gear.

Loctite 660 Press Fit Repair says it will fill up to a .020 gap. Perhaps not the "Right" way to fix things, but then again, probbaly good enough. It's not like you put 15,000 miles a year on it.

I ended up putting Threadlocker Red on it under the same theory. It ran a few minutes without any new noise. I'll check on it after some run time and report if there are any problems.

Stan

You can have the shaft ends chromed and ground back to finish size. Probably price prohibitive however. Could also use electroless nickel which can be built up in increments that are fairly accurate and predictable without the need for regrinding. You would need to mask the key slot however, (unless it needs build-up too). I think it can only be used up to about .002 thick however. Probably also has the same price prohibition.

Ron, do you use new shafts when you find this problem?

Jerry
To avoid trouble later in the rebuilding process I check each used generator shaft bearing and gear surfaces to ensure they will be usable before sending them to the armature rebuilder. This usually results in throwing away 2-5% of them because they are just too far gone. It is not economical to install a new shaft in a generator armature, usable parts for rebuilding are just too easy to find.
Ron the Coilman