I’m surprised that the bearing isn’t totally trashed. That wallowed out portion will be an “interesting” fix. Weld up and re-bore?

That’s what I’m thinking Eric.

I’ll check with the machinist guys at the RR first. Then I’ll check local machine shops. The housing is cast steel, so I’m assuming it’ll get welded and rebored, like you said.

Mark

Be careful welding around the areas where the screw threads are close or exposed. I'd be tempted to bore out on center and install a lathed steel piece with OD for the bearing, then re-tap and chase the threads.

Agreed Bob, I'd bore it out and sleeve it using a press fit and maybe some Loctite, then drill and tap the holes.

Thanks for the input guys.

I’ll see what the machine shop says also. Here’s a view from the other side. We’ll have to be careful how much material gets removed to add the sleeve. There’s right around 1” of material now.

Well, you could also case harden the sleeve and with the outer race of the bearing against it, also like Kelsey's nuts, probably never need to do it again.

PS - I'd key the sleeve, possibly at a few points around the periphery, to prevent any potential "replays" of spinning.

It also occurs to me that you could turn the recess in the existing piece off-center to minimize the amount of material to be removed, then put in the new material as a plate and line-bore it on center.

Have some minor setbacks.

1. Visited two reputable machine shops today. Neither shop wanted to repair this housing.

2. My heavy equipment guy is too busy to set the engine in place. I’ll need to find someone else local to do the job.


Oh well, I’ll dig in and find a way to be more self sufficient!

Might be a fun project for Keith Rucker.

http://vintagemachinery.org/

Long story short.

I have a friend of a friend who was a Navy machinist for a couple decades. He’s going to take on the job. I’ll order the sleeve and the new bearing then we’ll go from there. There isn’t a nice way to get a grease fitting and passage into the new bearing…probably why Plymouth didn’t do it at the factory.

I’ll use a sealed bearing and it should have a long service life.

Mark.

Sort of related to my problem.

We were running #9 today doing some caboose air brake tests. Everything went 100%.

While this was happening I was paying close attention to the transmission input shaft on Mighty Mo. Watching for wear and movement. It seems Plymouth may or may not have improved the design between Little Mo…1939 and Mighty Mo…1943. For whatever reason, Mighty Mo’s transmission input shaft does not have the same problem of Little Mo.

Good news

I wonder if it is related to the way people engaged the clutch over the years.

If they routinely banged it in against significant resistance, I can bee either shocking or seizing the bearing, resulting in the spin, followed by more ond more oblique wear.

Do NOT try this. If the holes are partially obstructed, either with weld or bushing, a drill will push away and eat up the other side of the hole. The best way to open it up is an end mill of minor diameter plunged gently, then tap.

Millwright wisdom, and sound wisdom.

I would use an end mill, with no sharpened lateral flutes at all, and jig the piece carefully so the plunge is precisely vertical and centered for each hole, Be careful with the speed, because only a small percentage of the circumference will need to be cut, but it may involve substantial material intrusion that will tend to deflect the tool more than the amount of cut metal would indicate.

Chase the threads with a taper tap, then plug tap, again to get fine increment of the intruded metal.

It appears that the original did not conform to basic engineering practice. The bearing outer race should have been an interference fit in the end plate and the inside a slip or minimal interference on the pinion shaft.
I would not try to bore off center for an insert. The hole is now egg shaped and will put you within a few thou of other holes. Thread a piece of copper for the hole that is already worn into and put it in. Weld it up enough to bore on center. First though measure and draw it with all features of the original. Shrink in the insert and remachine the features as original except put an interference fit on the bearing. The bearing manufacturer can tell how much. The gears are not looking very good. See if Boston Gear or other gear suppliers have these on the shelf, much cheaper than having them made. Make the retainer for the bearing, again preserve original features, an easy piece.
I wish I could do this job. I loved repair work.
I would go with a sealed bearing.