N.O.S. Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Just watching Guy Martin re-metal a GWR loco connecting rod bearing on TV C4. He's cast a whitemetal bearing and pressed it into the con rod, and now machined it out. Compare with Burt Lancaster's effort in the film The Train. Having run out the remains of the whitemetal bearing, he assembles the two halves of the split bearing housing, puts a dowel in the middle of similar size to the crank pin and casts the bearing. Once cooled, a quick fettle with a file and he's whacking the rod back on - to the great relief of the German guard. Not much difference then. He could have delayed the art train by at least another 4 hours by machining the bearing :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thinking about it - is it a case that the bearing pressed into the con rod has to be machined after assembly because it will shrink when pressed in, whereas the split bearing can be adjusted to give correct clearance by the tapered cotter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Then again - if they had cast the whitemetal direct into the con rod using a core dowel the same dia. as crank pin it would be exactly the same as Burt Lancaster's French set-up (minus the adjustability for wear using cotter). :??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rog8811 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Then again - if they had cast the whitemetal direct into the con rod using a core dowel Exactly how I was shown to do it as a sprog, use the oxy-acetylene torch without the oxy to soot black the core dowel for easy removal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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