Request Recommendation on 2 Piece Crank pulley

[Houdini]

I've read through the threads where comments were made that some 2 piece crank pulleys have shown wear in a short time. I'd like to get recommendations from those that have more "recently" purchased a two piece crank pulley that seem to be holding up. So that would imply you have used it for at least a while, yet purchased somewhat recently.

What supplier do you recommend buying from. I usually buy from Snyders or Brattons. I noticed that Brattons is about $4 more, so wonder if there is a difference, since they tend to price the same for many items and is Brattons better made.

By way of background, I removed my old pulley and found it was a two piece with wear. I am not sure how old it is. the previous owner had a rebuilt engine installed about 18 to 20 years ago and I'm thinking that is when the pulley was installed. The rebuild has only about 2,000 miles on it. I had to jack up the engine to get a socket on it to remove the crank nut. Radiator etc is off at this point. Engine still mounted in car.

I then purchased a one piece pulley from Brattons, based on the comments made on the barn about wear on two piece pulleys. but I was not able to jack the engine high enough to get the one piece pulley on. There doesn't seem to be enough clearance to slip the one piece pulley over the shaft. The diameter of the pulley portion does not clear the shackles that hold the front spring on. I jacked it up so the crankshaft is well above the housing that the hand crank goes in, but again, there isn't enough clearance to slip on the one piece pulley. I am afraid to jack it up even further, it seems that its pretty high now. I would have to jack it up so the bottom edge of the pulley would be just higher than that crank guide and the engine at that point, will be pushing against the fire wall. My only guess is that the engine might be mounted a bit more forward than normal, but I can't see how that could be by too much.

So at this point, I'm thinking to just replace my current pulley with a new two piece, but I would like to purchase one that won't prematurely wear out. The two piece screw together pulley that has been mentioned in other threads, I'm afraid might be too long prior to screwing it together that again I can't get the clearance to put it on around the spring shackles or have to raise the engine too high.

[CarlG]

You should be able to get a one piece pulley on with the engine jacked up and removing the crank guide.

[denniskliesen]

First are you working on a 30-31? I have a early 29 and this is what I had to do to get mine off without removing the engine from the frame. I removed all bolts going into the rear bellhousing from motor mounts. I also removed the crank bearing/u-bolts from the crossmember. If working on a 28-29 the top half of the u-joint cover on rear of trans will need to be removed as the tab that is resting on the crossmember will keep the engine from going up in the front. I also removed the accelerator bracket from the rear of the engine before lifting on the front.

I kept my one piece but thought it would be easier the next time with a 2 piece. I didn't know they sold the parts for a 2 piece individually as some have mentioned they could end up mismatched. Mine fits perfect. I bought it from either Snyder or Bratton's at the end of November 2016. I'd have to look at all the receipts, but guessing it would have been from Bratton's. Not enough miles on mine to indicate wear. Mine is not screw together but still retained by the original nut/bolt on front of crankshaft.

Carl, you beat me to it and yes you can change out a one piece with another one piece. I just let my engine teter on the rear mounts.

[Houdini]

Thanks for the tip of removing the crank guide. I didn't know that could be removed. I'll have to take a closer look to see if then I can get the one piece on. My car is a 31 and I loosened the FAM bolts on the rear and also the bolts on the FAM yoke on the trans. it seemed like I had it jacked up pretty high but maybe the crank guide removed would do the trick. Les Andrews book said nothing about that and only indicated that all you needed to do is jack it up a little, so it seemed like something was not right. I had it jacked up maybe 2 inches from where it sat on the mount, a bi tmore than needed to get a socket on the nut, when I took the old two piece off.

[Houdini]

I just went out to see how the crank guide was attached and see that its held in place under the two u-bolts that hold the front spring to the cross member. The Les Andrews book said nothing about removing those u-bolts to change the pulley, but it would seem that it is necessary to get clearance with the engine in the car. I'm new at this, and don't want to remove the u-bolts if there is any danger of the spring flying out at me. Please advise and maybe anyone else that has changed out a one piece pulley with the engine in the car, is removing the u-bolts part of the procedure? If so, then I'll give that a try and still install my new one piece pulley.

[Joe K]

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I'm new at this, and don't want to remove the u-bolts if there is any danger of the spring flying out at me.

You may remove the two U-bolts and withdraw them and then remove the crank guide without hazard.

If you use a hoist to lift the engine - with the spring u-bolts removed take care that you don't lift the car frame from the spring and lose alignment between the spring center bolt and the hole in the crossmember. It's not hard to get it back together but a LOT easier if you don't create a problem for yourself.

is removing the u-bolts part of the procedure?

It can be. It all depends on your easiest path to getting clearance for the pulley. You can pull the crank guide out of the way or lift the front of the engine higher to clear it. (You may be hung up at the other end of the engine where the wishbone connects to the transmission.)

Fear not for that front spring. The Model A Front spring is EXTREMELY well behaved, even in full removal mode. They sell a spring removal tool similar to the rear spring tool but smaller - but it isn't really necessary and spring removal CAN be done with a jack and a couple of wooden blocks under the shackles.

Unbolting the center bolt on the loose but bolted together front spring CAN result in a surprise - several wraps of duct tape or clothesline will keep all controlled. I usually do the front spring in a vise on the work-bench. So review your control technique when you go there.

But you're not going this far. In fact you'll still have majority car weight on the spring.

Joe K

[ahirt]

I am presently replacing a 2 piece pulley on a 28 Tudor. Going to use a 1 piece pulley. The service bulletins tell you in detail how to change from the 28 solid front engine mount to the later spring yoke mount that came out in 29. The first few steps involve how to remove the pulley. Follow the service bulletins and you will have no problem in changing your pulley.

By the way, the crank guide mounted on the front cross member that is held in place by the shackles is sided. It can be mounted either way, but if you put it on backwards, the crank guide will be about 1/8 in off center. Ask me how I know. The pins on the bottom of the guide are not symmetrical thus the guide has a "front" and a "back " side. Make sure the guide is exactly in the center of the crossmember. I measured mine, exactly 10 " from the radiator mounting holes on either side.

[Houdini]

I want to thank all of you for the tips and advice. I removed the u-bolts holding the front spring and that did the trick. I jacked it back up to where I had it before and without the u-bolts and crank guide in the way, I was able to slip the new one piece pulley on. So even though the title of this thread was advice for a two piece pulley, I was able to do what I originally intended, which was to replace my worn 2 piece pulley with a new one piece pulley. So the trick for me and perhaps others, is to remove those u-bolts. In fact, once those are removed, without even jacking it, up I am able to slip on a large 1 3/8 socket. Not sure why that is important, but if someone had a two piece pulley and removed the radiator and u-bolts, they wouldn't have to jack up the front of the engine by very much at all.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[aermotor]

Before buttoning everything up rotate the engine 1 full turn and make sure all the spokes clear the front yolk if you have a spoke pulley. I had one that 2 spokes gouged into the yolk, the machining was fine but the casting was bad. I just happened to install it with the spoke that had clearance and found the problem after everything was together.

John

[Houdini]

Aeromotor,
I remember reading your comment and did rotate the engine one full turn to make sure it cleared. Thanks for the warning and alerting all of us. Also did a preliminary check of my new 2 blade aluminum fan to see if it will clear the radiator hose (another post where someone had a problem) and it seems fine. But I need to put the radiator back to make sure on that one.

[JohnLaVoy]

Use a one piece