[Tom Endy]

My observation of reproduction ring & pinion gear sets is that they appear to be of good quality, except for one thing. The sleeve of the pinion gear is not machined correctly as are the originals,

Ten or fifteen years ago I wrote the attached article for a newsletter. Walt Bratton called me when he saw the article and asked where I was getting the reproduction R&P's. I told him they came from either of two local suppliers here in Southern California. Walt told me that both he and Snyder's were aware of the machining requirement on the pinion gear sleeve and that their supplier machines them correctly. From then on I insisted that any reproduction R&P a customer wanted installed had to come from either of these two suppliers. And they were correct and I have installed any number of them. However, nothing lasts forever and their supplier went out of business and their new supplier does not machine the pinion gear sleeve correctly; one size fits all.

It is not difficult to correct the sleeve, it just adds more time to the project. I have recently installed several of the ones coming from Italy and I notice that they come gift wrapped in a nice box, however, the pinion gear sleeve is not machined correctly.

A friend who lives nearby has a lathe and I take the pinion gear and the tool I made over to his house and it is a five minute job to machine the sleeve. I can also machine it myself in a drill press, it just takes longer.

If the sleeve is not machined correctly the front bearing will not slide easily and you will have fits trying to set the pinion gear bearing pre-load.

Tom Endy