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Lister Junior main bearings

All,
I'm currently putting together that 1926 Lister Bruston B, which I've stored in
painted pieces for years. The main
bearings are a tad sloppy and in order to get on
wi' t'job rather than launch into a long-winded bearing production project, I
was hoping that someone would know of a
source for said bearings. I've studied John Ambler's (excellent) pages on the
matter of bearing making and hope that
someone has gone through a similar process to John for Lister Junior bearings.
Any suggestions? There must have been loads of Lister Juniors remained over the
years. I've just thought, I'll try
David Harris, but don't hold out much hope.
I'm hoping also that Nick will be distracted from that Coventry Climax by this
post :-).
Regards,
Arthur G
Reply to
Arthur G
Loading thread data ...
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
Reply to
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
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Reply to
Prepair Ltd
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
Reply to
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
Reply to
Roland and Celia Craven
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.
Reply to
Nick H
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
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Reply to
Prepair Ltd
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
Reply to
Roland and Celia Craven
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.
Reply to
Nick H
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
formatting link
Reply to
Prepair Ltd
Yes, these would have been steel backed - like modern automotive bearings but a metre plus in diameter!
Reply to
Nick H
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
Reply to
Roland and Celia Craven
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
Reply to
Campingstoveman
You write the programme, I'll get them machined......
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:
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Reply to
Peter A Forbes
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
Reply to
Campingstoveman
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
Reply to
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
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Reply to
Prepair Ltd
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,
Reply to
J K 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:
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Reply to
Peter A Forbes

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