Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

What you want is to heat the gear without heating the crank. If the crank gets hot and expands it defeats the purpose of using heat. Getting the tension on it before applying heat is best for removal. When putting it on you have to work with a hot gear that will
cool fast once it touches the crank. If the crank snout is threaded the threads can be used to press the gear on or mount a press that has it's own threads so you don't destroy the crank threads.

 

I had three cranks, bare and out of the block. Destroyed one gear getting it off, cut one most of the way through and used a chisel to split it, third one left on the crank and took to the machine shop. He put it in the press and said it made a pretty loud bang when it came off.

They have an interference fit. I did not have an oxy /acetylene setup at the time. You need alot of heat quickly on the gear to get it off, and get the crank /block cooled before it gets to the babbitt.

Heed the advice on the used toaster oven for the new one. I put mine in the regular house oven but the wife gets ticked off.

 

guitarguy, just tell her you are seasoning a new cast iron pan!

 

For what your planning in the future---No. I wouldn't, as long as you haven't buggered the gear thats on there in any way trying to remove it already. (nicks or deformation on the teeth)

 

Sounds like a good suggestion to me - Project creep leads to long term storage on jack stands...

 

Followup to my last post: In Model T land, guys switch Cam gears all the time and never touch the crank gear. No harm no foul. If you were building a brand new engine, absolutly switch it. For now to keep moving, no, considering the pain in the A it is to get that gear off.

 

That one is probably the one Henry put on it but it is good steel because Henry was a better metallurgist than Billy Durant. Chevy made gears and fenders to of the same stuff. It's only touched fiber gears and other than a bit of grinding compound effect from dirty oil there is nothing that would hurt it. So if the new cam gear is cut to run on a stock crank gear I think you'd be fine. I too have changed cam gears and left the old crank gear in place even with a steel crank gear and an aluminum cam gear. But I see we still have work to do no the V8 idea so if putting more effort into the banger might tip the scale..........

 

Watcha cookin'...uhhh burgers and gears want some...

Sheesh the used toaster oven with No Food Ever!! painted on it sounds like a really sensible plan...

Imagine what's on a 80 year old gear...

I once worked in an aircraft factory and they used to thaw frozen sealant in a microwave...didn't buddy set the timer wrong and smoked out the whole friggin bay...everyone was evacuated for a half hour or so...remember you are what you eat Hoodlums...

 

I would run it Joey, it looks to be in pretty good shape. Having it fail to come off with a puller
could potentially open up a can of worms, besides it's not going any faster with a new crank
gear. Ha!

 

I have mostly only removed crank gears with the crank out of the engine. Changed timing gears and cams often without ever replacing the crank gear.
My reasoning for my post was
A no heat because of the bearing
B No beating because of the thrusts
C Clean up the crank and key, because it looks like it has been attacked with a punch or chisel, and if so the gear might already be damaged. It will require careful inspection.

Most of all I understand Joey's desire to replace the gears as a set , I think a pair of short steep wedges will probably work, will need two people and careful hammer work. Second person to hold something against the opposite side of the crank when tapping the wedges in. A heavy soft face hammer or similar ,or large block of lead maybe? I know Joey you have limited tools, a large block of lead is something acquired and made over many years, I saved wheel weights and scrap lead for ages before I was able to make my lead dollys and hammer heads.
Just make sure the wedges do not hit the crank and mark it , they are only to get the gear moving initially after that the puller or a pair of pry bars should work as long as the crank is clean and polished in the area you can see now, the gear will be easier and easier to move as more of it finds the polished/oiled part.

 

... @97 have you shared your 29 here...I'm hoping it's a nod to 1947...

I'm sure Joey would approve...

 

... @97 have you shared your 29 here...I'm hoping it's a nod to 1947...

I'm sure Joey would approve...


No, and at the moment it is unlikely. It was probably closer to 1936-39 lakes era. It is in storage at the moment, along with all my stuff....been there too long , when I sold up and had moved I was midway through a major update rebuild . Since then have had a couple of years of "issues" including a quad bypass, and family issues after my Dad passed . Now bloody pandemic has messed things around further. Hopefully it will see the light this year , once I have my new place set up with some shed space. Then I will make a "build" thread.All my photo albums are in the storage too, however there are a couple of pics somewhere on one of my computers , I will find them for you asap.

 

Joey.... as soon as I saw the photo of the crank gear, I wondered why it needed changed. After all, it only ran against a fiber cam gear and it appeared to be in good condition. I think I'd file any damage you did with pliars and drive on to the rest of the job.
BTW....am I seeing things or does the crank gear appear to be spot welded to the key? Maybe it's just the angle of the photo.

 

36 -39 is the only thing better than 47...

Thoughts to You on tough times...May you bounce back all Hotrod sooner and better than ever...

 

Not much to see
The day I moved the body from it's own frame to the stock frame of the other roadster, in preparation for the rebuild , it was already stripped out and primered for bodywork and new paint .


Next iteration of my roadster will change things somewhat , the banger will remain, BUT there will possibly be some post war mechanicals and technology , from the outside it still will be able to be described as early. OR I MIGHT PUT THE BLOWN FLATHEAD IN! .....unlikely.

 

Here's one from about 1969/70 . Its out of focus and doesn't really show much . but those are all I have atm. This soon after I got my second Model A (this one) I was 14, a year after I got the RPU.That's my Dad and myself leaning on the car feeling clever because the previous owner couldn't get it running

 

Initially I thought the same but Joey bought a pair of matched gears from Dan McEachern. His gears are said to be the best in the Model A world, with correct backlash and they run almost silently. While the timing gear can be run on a used crank gear it doesn't really make sense to me, to risk damaging it or making noise. IMO once it has run against the used gear, it may never be the same .
We have a saying in New Zealand
Do it once do it right, ( for a better New Zealand).

 

If it was mine I put a new aluminum or fiber gear on the cam and get back on the road. Save Dan's gears for a major rebuild or if you go V8 pass it on. That fiber gear will last a long time on a stock motor.

 

Ole Joey's head must be doing circles digesting all the data...

 

I work for Cummins...our cam and crank gears are pressed on hydraulically and have a force monitoring system. We use Enerpaks to swap them.

At least on ours, the key's only there for timing purposes, not for keeping the gear in place radially.

 

Can you say tight...are the gears heated before pressing?

 

Nope...tight is indeed the word!

 

@J.Ukrop just a reminder that some of these garage adventures pose major potential for serious injury...at a minimum when using intense pressure pressing in or pulling things can become bullets instantly so safety glasses and perhaps some leather gloves aren't a bad Idea...I was installing a frozen bushing (cold shrinks) with a hand held and pumped portable press and the bushing tipped all of a sudden on install and the sound woke the department and following events scrapped the parts and the bushing went flying and Stogy wanted to go and stick his head in a hole...no injury to anyone but again as force increases danger is elevated...tool breakage is another potential anomaly...

 

Well they picked the right car if they wanted to convey no burn outs or exhibition of speed!

haha jist bustin on ya. Very cool poster

 

"We have a saying in New Zealand
Do it once do it right, ( for a better New Zealand)."
We have that saying too we just don't let it get in the way.
Nice '29!
Are you confused yet Joey? Don't loose the summer fussing over this. A new fiber gear would get you by till you have the time to really tear into it. With the pan off you could drill and tap two holes in the old gear and get a proper puller on it. It's just about how far you want to take it for now. I'll never tell anyone if you just stick a stock gear on the cam and driver the piss out of it.

 

Yeah, if you paid for top quality, and the freight to get it here, then added 60% for the exchange rate plus import tax at 15% on the total you wouldn't be so cavalier about not letting it get in the way!

but yes a good (even used) aluminum gear will probably last another 40 years . All good with the rest of the stock parts. I did wonder how far it was all going when Joey was advised to buy top shelf for a more or less stock engine.