Project Frog Princess
The steel bushing upgrade is complete.
I used a reamer to create a snug slip fit for the bushings on the countershaft.
This was after annealing the hardened steel bushings by heating them red got with a torch, then letting them cool slowly in a coal bed in my outdoor fireplace. They were trimmed to length on a lathe.
The shaft holes in the tranny were milled on a bridgeport using a boring tool to .004 under the bushing diameter.
To ensure they were perfectly aligned, rather than depend on the case resting on the mill platform, I made a dummy shaft on a lathe cut so one end fit into the mill quill. This showed that for one of the holes I needed about a 020" shim under the case to line it up. This was extra work but glad I did it because the shaft is very snug and lines up perfectly.
To install the bushings I heated the case in an oven that I have in my shop to 350. Without cooling the bushings they tapped in easily. I did add permanent locktite as insurance. I did not mill a step on the bushings as I've seen done. The shaft does not spin as it's held by a woodruff key, so there's little chance the bushing will move.
After tapping them in, I had to do a little work with a pipe and some emery paper as the process shrunk them slightly.
I cut the woodruff key slot with a Dremel. In hindsight I could have got a neater job had I done this with the Bridgeport but its quite functional just not as good a fit as I'd like. I wound up dropping and losing my woodruff key but this was easy to fab using a steel washer.
This was a first for me using a Bridgeport. Awesome machine. I'll be using it again to open up the hole on my bellhousing.
The steel bushing upgrade is complete.
I used a reamer to create a snug slip fit for the bushings on the countershaft.
This was after annealing the hardened steel bushings by heating them red got with a torch, then letting them cool slowly in a coal bed in my outdoor fireplace. They were trimmed to length on a lathe.
The shaft holes in the tranny were milled on a bridgeport using a boring tool to .004 under the bushing diameter.
To ensure they were perfectly aligned, rather than depend on the case resting on the mill platform, I made a dummy shaft on a lathe cut so one end fit into the mill quill. This showed that for one of the holes I needed about a 020" shim under the case to line it up. This was extra work but glad I did it because the shaft is very snug and lines up perfectly.
To install the bushings I heated the case in an oven that I have in my shop to 350. Without cooling the bushings they tapped in easily. I did add permanent locktite as insurance. I did not mill a step on the bushings as I've seen done. The shaft does not spin as it's held by a woodruff key, so there's little chance the bushing will move.
After tapping them in, I had to do a little work with a pipe and some emery paper as the process shrunk them slightly.
I cut the woodruff key slot with a Dremel. In hindsight I could have got a neater job had I done this with the Bridgeport but its quite functional just not as good a fit as I'd like. I wound up dropping and losing my woodruff key but this was easy to fab using a steel washer.
This was a first for me using a Bridgeport. Awesome machine. I'll be using it again to open up the hole on my bellhousing.
