Lister Junior main bearings

Coventry Victor old chap ;-)

Puts his thumbs behind lapels, Captain Mainwarning style, clears throat importantly and blusters,

"I wondered if you'd spot that, Nick"

In an effort to keep this thread on track, don't forget about the main bearings everyone :-).

Regards, Arthur G

painted pieces for years. The main

was hoping that someone would know of a

matter of bearing making and hope that

the years. I've just thought, I'll try

We have a factory drawing of the bearing and we have a pair of bearings as samples, which we'd have to hold on to in case we went into a production run.

Problem is that it is originally a die-cast part and not easily copied by normal machining processes, even a CNC multi-axis.

We looked into making a batch of these a while back, but the costs were not good unless we got 100+ orders.

There must be the die around somewhere, but you'd need to persuade someone to run a small batch and I can't see any of the current auto people being interested.

Peter

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

snip snip..

A cruel twist of fate. Got hold of David Harris this morning and he'd just sold the first pair of these bearings he'd come across for years.

Damnation!

Arthur G

I too have looked at these and the nasty external shape would make them a real B****** without a die. The only way round it would be to cast in situ although that would mean losing most/all the paint. Then you'd have to get the bearings line bored.

ttfn Roland

just sold the first pair of these bearings he'd

Would it be possible to build up the bearing surface with fresh white metal - much in the way one can lead load car bodywork repairs - and then line bore? I have seen line boring carried out (ISTR in SEM) with a simple hand turned bar mounted on a couple of brackets bolted to the crankcase.

You would need to see the drawing to appreciate the problem, Nick. Without that you can't imagine the complexity of the beast. There is an external keyway on the body and a couple of cut-through holes in the flange (going by memory as I haven't got the drawings etc with me)

We did work out a way of doing it by putting the keyway on afterwards, but it was awfully expensive to make up, the die must have cost a few quid.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

My answer would be no as it would be almost impossible to get a good bond between oil-soaked-old and new. Phil Dando's views would be useful but I expect he's rather busy at the moment. regards Roland

Not just a simple shell then!

One of the guys here used to work for glacier making ruddy great shells for marine diesels. Apparently if a blowhole or other defect appeared during the machining of one of these, an old boy would appear armed with blowlamp and stick of white metal to 'puddle' new material into the surface.

I could see that happening with steel-backed stuff, but these are either solid white metal or a brass shell with white metal cast in, depending on where they came from.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

Yes, these would have been steel backed - like modern automotive bearings but a metre plus in diameter!

Nice new metal and bearings large enough to dissipate the heat before the whole issue melts :-) IMHO Old whitemetal is as near impossible as old glass and for similar reasons. ttfn Roland

Gentlemen,

My to-penath would be that I find it strange that a good CNC machine with the appropriate CAD software could easily machine from solid especially if they are anything like "A" Type bearings.

Martin P

You write the programme, I'll get them machined......

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:

I thought a man of your cali bray would be capable of doing it.

Scan your drawings and send me a copy to browse. :-))

I am intersted to see it.

Martin P

A most interesting thread, thank you to everyone who contributed, but please don't take this as a concluding post. I learnt a little more about white metal, and I'm always pleased to learn more.

It does amaze me that these aren't available when you think of the thousands of restored Lister A and B engines out there.

I feel sure that someone, somewhere will have produced some fairly recently. We are only a small subset of the engine hobby, so hopefully I'll find some.

I'll have a go with a Wanted ad in SEM. There are a few other bits I could do with which can go in the same ad. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks and Regards, Arthur G

don't take this as a concluding post. I

That goes for most of us, Arthur, not just you! :-)0

restored Lister A and B engines out

Lister as a company stopped manufacture of spares years ago, it is only the odds and ends that remained at dealers that surface occasionally.

We are only a small subset of the engine

I don't think you will find that any of these were made 'officially' as the die's whereabouts is unknown. Lister apparently do not have it, and the last manufacturer to use it went bust 15 years ago according to information that was given to me.

with which can go in the same ad. I'll

There was a dealer in South Africa who contacted me with a list of spares for these engines, but the prices were pretty exorbitant and it went no further. I believe the same people advertised in SEM in the

1990's, and I think I saw the advert recently while browsing the magazine in the small room. I'll go back and have a look to see if it was the same people. I will also have their email in the backups.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

It does occur to me that this is a place where an organisation such as The Anson or Internal Fire might offer a service, perhaps as a clearing house for old spares that people may have about or perhaps in getting a die made.

I'm not suggesting that they should fund it, but perhaps they could accept donations in order to facilitate such manufacture.

Any ideas what it would cost anyone?

Regards,

Kim Siddorn,

We were quoted £3000+ for a one-off die, that was three years ago.

The problem is that it has to be compatible with the maker's machinery, you can't just have any old die as they are all pressure-cast these days and have specific mould formats and sizes.

Casting is another option and would be cheaper, but the tolerances on the bearing are pretty fine and would be a problem with sand cast parts.

There are ways of doing at, but you'd need a run to get the costs covered, never mind making any small profit at it.

I'll have to dig the drawing out of the piles of papers and refresh my memory on its details.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info: