In block crank grinder

[SchmidtMotorWorks]

I thought these were urban legends
Apparently they really made them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RL:US:1123

[Keith Morganstein]

I thought these were urban legends
Apparently they really made them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RL:US:1123

Seen them in use. Sunnen and others made similar units. A motor with adapters turned the crank from the starter location or the front of the crank.

[dfree383]

Inplace grinding is common on ship, compressor or generator engines.

[dwilliams]

One of my old engine rebuilding books has a whole section on how to run one. I've seen the grinding wheels for sale on eBay.

Nowadays we bore cylinders with a single-point tool and then hone. There used to be companies that made orbital cylinder grinders. They went away mostly because the two-step process was faster. There were orbital valve grinders, too.

Valve seat reamers used to be more common than grinders. Nowadays you're only likely to see them for lawnmowers and some OEM motorcycle engine tools.

Nowadays we take electricity for granted. My Storm Vulcan crank grinder manual (1950s) says SV would provide you with motors for 36-cycle AC or 70 volt DC. I think some railroads used DC in their train sheds for a long time, but I have no idea where 36-cycle AC would have been used.

There were balancing machines that used no electricity at all. I found a picture of a "Gisholt" brand crank balancer once, and I've stared at the picture occasionally, trying to figure out how the heck the thing worked.


Nowadays the market has settled out and things are pretty standardized. But in the old days, particularly before WWII, there were many ways to skin any given cat.

[BirdMan]

I saw one in use at the shop where I worked back in 1960 or so. It looked like an upside down malt mixer with the base being a V shape to hang down from the crank as it rotated. Worked pretty good and there weren't any problems with dust causing a later bearing problem. I am sure engine internals were cleaned up good but don't remember as I had other things to do.

[Keith Morganstein]

Those in block grinders are far from great, but they get an engine back into service. A trucking company I worked for in the early 80's had a crank ground after single rod bearing failure. An elderly machinist did the job and plugged the oil hole before grinding. The grinder had a very small wheel and it made a lot of debris. It was slow and he spent most of a day with the set up and grinding. I took the pressure washer to it after he was done and cleaned the block that way. The engine ran that summer. Not sure how much longer as I left that job.

[robert1]

In 1980 a friend of mine had this done in a Case tractor. Aside from the cleanliness and quality issues I asked where they were going to get a bearing. After it was finished they had a machine shop make one out of brass. I told him that was not going to last long. It did not prove me wrong!

[pdq67]

Back in the early to mid '60's, i helped a Mechanic use onna these by holding the motor that had the flexshaft gearhead on it that turned the flywheel instead of the starter.

pdq67

[defrag010]

I'm still in my 20's, and it fascinates me how things were done a long time ago. I love hearing stories from old timers about how they used to do things. I had an old timer tell me about how he used to shim bearings in his flathead ford with pop can tin. He also used to knurl his pistons with a file. I could spend a whole day listening to old timers tell stories from years past.. especially the ones who have forgotten more than I know.

[pdq67]

I hand cut oiling grooves in my old junk301's piston skirts with a file way back then.

The neatest old story is that I knew the old Mechanic that cut the two front cylinders off a 235" Chevy 6-banger and created a 2-banger to run his old WW-II DC generator so he could weld.

He offered my Buddy Jerry his '29 Model A roadster out on the west side of the barn for $75 dollars to sell it to him so Jerry would at least have a car and Jerry said no. Back about '61 or so...

pdq67

[BCjohnny]

motor that had the flexshaft gearhead on it that turned the flywheel instead of the starter

Far to complicated for the grease monkeys in the UK back in the 50's.

An old manual shows a piece on the "In-The-Block" using a little, double roller unit, with fractional hp motor drive that you place under a rear wheel, switch on, and by engaging a suitable gear, hey presto..........

Tells you to shoot for 12rpm at the crank.

What you did if it was an auto is not explained . Fortunately there weren't too many back then.