The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Jim Huseby · 01-03-2014, 07:18 PM

Not to get too far off topic, but in the 60's the Summers Brothers' streamliner with four Chrysler hemi's ran the aluminum rods (32 of them) directly on the crank with no inserts (with plenty of oil pressure). I have considered the advantage of them for the splash lubricated Model A because they would carry heat away from the bearing surface so much better than a steel rod with cast bearings or inserts. Even though they wouldn't be easily rebuildable, I wonder how they would hold up under heavy use compared to babbitt. The splash-lubricated aluminum rods running directly on the crank that Brent refers to are in engines that are governed to run about 3600 RPM. My 20 HP Briggs had NO wear on the splash-lubricated aluminum rods at over 7500 hours running at 3600 RPM when I pulled it down for inspection. There are several factors that I didn't mention concerning stresses and filtration.

01-03-2014, 07:18 PM	#27
Jim Huseby Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 361	Re: Babbitt bearing inserts Not to get too far off topic, but in the 60's the Summers Brothers' streamliner with four Chrysler hemi's ran the aluminum rods (32 of them) directly on the crank with no inserts (with plenty of oil pressure). I have considered the advantage of them for the splash lubricated Model A because they would carry heat away from the bearing surface so much better than a steel rod with cast bearings or inserts. Even though they wouldn't be easily rebuildable, I wonder how they would hold up under heavy use compared to babbitt. The splash-lubricated aluminum rods running directly on the crank that Brent refers to are in engines that are governed to run about 3600 RPM. My 20 HP Briggs had NO wear on the splash-lubricated aluminum rods at over 7500 hours running at 3600 RPM when I pulled it down for inspection. There are several factors that I didn't mention concerning stresses and filtration.