MTFCA Forum

Since last week I am a member of the two pieces crankshaft club.
A while ago I bought a 1917 engine for a few $$. Last week I started to work on it.
Now I know why it was that cheap but here they say that you can't control the teets of a given horse.

Photos in attachment.

Andre
Belgium

Looks like it was in pretty good condition before the crank broke! You are probably better off that it broke now rather than later. Since it appears to have had serious water in there, it really needed to be taken apart and cleaned up properly.

Andre, I'm not trying to be critical but I feel compelled to help explain some American slang.....you said "you can't control the teets of a given horse" - I think you meant "You can't look a gift horse in the mouth." Since the teeth indicate the age of the horse, it just means you can't be too choosy when given a gift or a good price for an item.... it's still a deal.

Many American's don't understand what some of our sayings mean...For example, how many people have ever bought a horse these days?

Good luck with the engine!

Tim,
That's what I mean.

I am living in Belgium and I didn't know how to tell it so I translated.

Andre
Belgium

Well, Andre, if an American can't figure out what you said, they shouldn't even be near a Model T.

Do you have a replacement crankshaft?

AndreFordT wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:18 am

Tim,
That's what I mean.

I am living in Belgium and I didn't know how to tell it so I translated.

Andre
Belgium

Being Belgian myself, it made perfect sense to me as you wrote it

I thought it made sense in any language. You cannot expect great teats on any gifted animal...
Did you ever run that engine, or buy it "as is" and tear it down to find the issues? -Chris, in Boulder

That's also common with some of the Chevy Crankshafts that a few guys used in T's if they weren't done properly. Ralph Ricks had the same thing happen.
Yes you are lucky because it is common to have other breakage at the rear main in the aftermath.

I have seen a few crankshafts break that way. Often, it is in part the result of an improper grinding of the rear main. The radius between the flange and the bearing surface is very important! It also in part is often the result of a pan alignment problem! Either one alone can result in a break there. If an engine has both too sharp a cut on the journal, and a slightly misaligned pan, that is how they usually break.
Without a miss-cut on the crankshaft, a misaligned pan has a tendency to run though the rear main, and break between cylinders three and four. It depends a bit on the specific angle of the misalignment.

A fancy word in American English, is "colloquialism". It indicates fancy or cute sayings common in some areas or regions of the country. Colloquialisms often cause confusion when people used tom them use them in conversations with people not used to them. Colloquialisms are neither right or wrong. They just are.
We have had lengthy debates about such phrases as "splash aprons" or "splash shields" on this forum over the years. Many people become adamant about one way or the other. They can find numerous references to support their opinion. Meanwhile, other people can find references to support their opposing opinions. The reality is that some regions of the country favored one way while other regions favored the other way. One may in fact be somewhat more correct than the other, but neither way is really wrong.
(By the way, I used the splash shields/aprons simply as the first example that came to my mind! Please do not think I want to stir up that debate again!)

Andre,
I knew exactly what your phrase meant. Of course, for me, growing up with a California farmer mother and a high desert cattle ranch father, along with a Tennessee mountain folk grandfather? People hear me speak and swear I am from Texas (only drove through the state once in my life!). I grew up in a big city with my heart in the country, enunciating words like a hillbilly cowboy. I am likely to pronounce "Washington any of three different ways, often leave the 'e' silent in 'coyote', and call that little stream below our place a 'crick'. All differing regional dialects.

I never tried to make it running.
I paid $40.- for it in the state as it was, (photos in attachement)

Somebody asked me if it was a boat anchor. As I took off the head I found a lot of "desert" sand in the cilinders and the water jacket and no oil .
The head has 18mm spark plugs.

Andre
Belgium

Looks better than a few I have rebuilt. If the crankshaft breaking didn't do too much other damage? It may be a great buy? Otherwise, it looks like some nice almost early parts at least!

Je moet een gegeven paard niet in de bek kijken?

Dat was het!!!
Andre
Belgium

I think I found the reason of the broken crankshaft.

As I took the flywheel of the broken crankshaft part, I found a gasket between the crankshaft and the transmission shaft.
The four bolts were secured with a wire but were not realy tied. Flywheel and transmission were not tied to th crankshaft and lived there own
way.

I will take photos later and post them.

Andre
Belgium

Andre.
Sounds like a Volkswagon mechanic was the last one to assemble your engine. The VW engine is the only one I can think of that used a paper gasket on the crank to flywheel.