Is there anyone that sells babbit?

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum (old): Is there anyone that sells babbit?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Stuart Wheeler (Stuw72) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 10:41 pm:

Was wondering if there is anyone around southern Minnesota or the Twin Cities that sells babbit for pouring new bearings in a Model T engine? Have not been able to find any lately.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Jarvi (Tguy) on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 12:15 am:

Try Sputts repair in Owatonna Mn.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James A. Golden (J1mgolden) on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 08:48 am:

You can try custserv@babbitt-inc.com for more information. They are in Syracuse, New York. Babbitt is kind of a genaric term anymore and comes with many different ratios of metals. Navy Babbitt seems to be quite popular and was so named for the Government specs for ship bearings.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Russell Day (Rwday) on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 04:11 am:

Look in your phone book under "METALS" and see if you have a supplier for Non-Ferous metal or call around to the different outfits. In Seattle we have an outfit that calls itself "Non-Ferous Metals" so it was easy enough for me to find. Seems as though the market is strong enough to support having a business by that name. Very knowledgable staff too. Babbit is comprised mostly of Tin and if you have bought plumbers solder lately you will know that it comes at a premium. Unfortunately most places will wand to sell you a full ingot (about 10lbs.) but you may convince them to break it in half which should do a complete engine and ball cap. I used 4X Nickel Babbit in my engine as I have several bars on hand. Nickel babbit is a harder alloy than say Copper babbit and should take more punishment than the copper type. I do know the diesel engine babbit is in use in many of the cars in our Puget Sound Model T club and is has proven itself viable as I have heard of no failures. Diesel grade seems appropriate as our "T"'s operate at roughly the same rpm range. The Ford babbit was good stuff but no longer is available, don't be fooled that it was superior to what is now available. Henry used the best available at the time. Best being that it met the demands of the product but also remember that he strived to sell his cars for less and less. A harder grade of Babbit should give a greater amount of service to you as opposed to a softer grade. The metal on your crankshaft is infinately harder than the babbit can ever be and in theory there should never be any metal to metal contact between bearing and journal as there should always be a film of oil between the two. I used a product called Time Saver on my engine. It is a powder you mix with light oil and apply as a paste to the bearing halves and actually lap the bearing in to the journal. Maybe you have heard of people blueing and hand scraping bearings? If they get 75-80% bearing they think its great! With this stuff you can get 100% bearing and not have to worry about "taking up" the bearings after the engine has been in service for a short time. The Time Saver compound comes in four different grades and a little goes a long way. It is a self-deminishing product in that it breaks down in use, it essentially obliterates itself as you use it so you don't go beyond your intended clearance. I had an extreme case bad align boring job that had about 40% bearing contact when I started and ended up with 100% contact and all clearances ending up at .0015! The engine turned freely with the main bearings oiled and down tight, so freely that you could spin the crank with the flick of your wrist and get 5-8 revelutions before it stopped. This is infinantly better than setting them slightly tight and "Running" them in as many of our publications suggest. When done with the time saver product, the break in period is done (as far as the bearings are concerned) before the car hits the road.
The bottom line is whether or not you want to pull shims from the Main and Rod journals while you have it on the engine stand (easy) or do it on your back on a creeper or piece of cardboard under a car with oil dripping into your arm pits and wherever else it goes.
Guys with non starter cars should benefit greatly with this product as it eliminates bearing "Drag" when hand cranking. This product is not widely known in the MTFCA community for some unknown reason, it has been around since 1919 and I know that the U.S. Navy is the reason that it exists today as it is specified tin thier spec sheets that Time Saver Compound is to be used in all thier diesel engines before final installations.
I bought all four grades of the compuond for my engine and what they sell you is way more than I know I will ever use. If you get everything poured and machined, plastiguage it and send me the results and I'll sent a sample to you and tell me what you think of it. I think this stuff is fantastic! I also used it on my cam bearings that were supposedly fitted to my cam when I purchased a reground cam.
By the way' it also works on bronze bearings (transmission, Diff.thrust brgs.,etc,
Anyone feel free to contact me on this stuff. One can of each Grade should last an entire club several engines worth. e-mail me at rwday@earthlink.com
Russ Day


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark - Illinois (Mark) on Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 11:02 am:

Would a fine lapping compound, like the fine compound used for lapping valves, work for getting a better fit on your rod and cap babbits? Or would that be too harsh and end up destroying the babbit?

What's everyone’s opinion or experience with this idea?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glenn in Goodlettsville (Glenn) on Monday, January 06, 2003 - 09:15 pm:

Stuart,
Contact "Ney Metals" located in New York. They have a web site but you will probably have to call. I talked to them this fall and the guy knew exactly what I wanted ,"Ford Babbit" I forget the exact formula but I think it was 86,7,7. Anyway they have a minimum order of $25 for which I recieved about 9 pounds of material, enough to pour 3 engines.
hope this helps
Glenn


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By bill guiney (Billguiney) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:17 am:

langs has babbitt. the product that russell day talk about i used in the 50S on large engines when i tell people about today they think i am telling old wives tales . maybe some suppliers could it in their catalog.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Russell Day (Rwday) on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 03:20 am:

Look for the new listing: "Time Saver Compound", I am going to put the manufacturers name and address there and try to put the dirrections from inside the can as an attachement for you all to down load.
Russ Day


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Stan Howe (Litening) on Saturday, January 11, 2003 - 12:37 am:

About a month ago in the classifieds on this site there was an advertisement from Tommy Turner in Magnolia, Kentucky what had a bunch of NOS ingots of babbitt for sale. It is high pressure and was priced at $12 for about two and a half pounds. I got some from him and it is very nice and worth the money. Check back in the ads, I know he still has quite a bit of it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James A. Golden (J1mgolden) on Saturday, January 11, 2003 - 09:35 am:

Tommy G. Turner, 1174 Upton Road, Magnolia KY 42757. Phone 270-324-2881 is probably the person you are looking for that has Babbitt.


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