Spindle bushing

[ford35lh]

Are spindle bushings (35-41) porous ???

[deuce lover]

IMO,No.

[Bored&Stroked]

From what I've seen, No . . .

[Kube]

Originally Posted by ford35lh

Are spindle bushings (35-41) porous ???

Original bushings were often made of Oillite® and as such, were in fact porous.

[bbrocksr]

Originally Posted by Kube

Original bushings were often made of Oillite® and as such, were in fact porous.

Original bushing were not porous.
Bill

[Kube]

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Originally Posted by bbrocksr

Original bushing were not porous.
Bill

Um, okay Bill...

[ford35lh]

OK, so if they are non-porous they could be honed to fit ,correct ???

[Fordors]

Originally Posted by ford35lh

OK, so if they are non-porous they could be honed to fit ,correct ???

Oilite is porous and that allows it to be self lubricating. The part is pressed from metal powder and sintered (fired) in a high temperature furnace for a set time producing near net size. In the case of Oilite it would not be reamed or honed to final size, they would press either a mandrel or steel ball through it for precision sizing. Once sized the parts are subjected to a hot oil bath in a vacuum tank to impregnate them.
If Ford did use Oilite k/p bushings how did they get the grease passages in the ID and also, were they steel backed like the k/p bushings I’ve always used? I see no advantage to using Oilite since the king pins required greasing at regular intervals.

[bbrocksr]

Originally Posted by ford35lh

OK, so if they are non-porous they could be honed to fit ,correct ???

Correct, honed or reamed.
Bill

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Fordors

Oilite is porous and that allows it to be self lubricating. The part is pressed from metal powder and sintered (fired) in a high temperature furnace for a set time producing near net size. In the case of Oilite it would not be reamed or honed to final size, they would press either a mandrel or steel ball through it for precision sizing. Once sized the parts are subjected to a hot oil bath in a vacuum tank to impregnate them.
If Ford did use Oilite k/p bushings how did they get the grease passages in the ID and also, were they steel backed like the k/p bushings I’ve always used? I see no advantage to using Oilite since the king pins required greasing at regular intervals.

I'd installed more of these than I can recall. I did note though the years that some were steel clad on the back and some were not. Note I am speaking of script bushings only. Some were Oilite. Rest assured I know what Oilite is and what can be done with it.

I am not disagreeing with your presumption that there would be no advantage to using this for these bushings. However, as (hopefully) you know, Ford used materials well beyond in quality as to what was necessary in many applications.
So, just because you do not see an advantage does not mean Ford didn't.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by Fordors

Oilite is porous and that allows it to be self lubricating. The part is pressed from metal powder and sintered (fired) in a high temperature furnace for a set time producing near net size. In the case of Oilite it would not be reamed or honed to final size, they would press either a mandrel or steel ball through it for precision sizing. Once sized the parts are subjected to a hot oil bath in a vacuum tank to impregnate them.
If Ford did use Oilite k/p bushings how did they get the grease passages in the ID and also, were they steel backed like the k/p bushings I’ve always used? I see no advantage to using Oilite since the king pins required greasing at regular intervals.

Fordors, this is a very good synopsis on Oilite bushings, and several very good reasons why they would not, or should not be used as kingpin bushings.
The kingpin bushings that I've seen and used in the 60 + years I've been playing with these early Fords, have not been porous/Oilite bushings that would have been ruined by reaming or honing them to their final inner diameter.

[cas3]

Every one that I have ever dealt with all my life, with many different brand vehicles, has been steel backed, bronze coated. Though, I can't say I ever had any NOS ford bushings, usually NORS stuff from swap meets

[Kurt in NJ]

The wartime era Ford kits had what looks like powdered steel bushings, looking much like oilite brass except for color and can be picked up with a magnet.
I don't know how porous they are though.

[Fordors]

Electro-Motive, GM’s locomotive division began producing powder metal components in-house in 1974 and did so for twenty years. My involvement spanned that time until it was was farmed out in a cost cutting measure. From what I know about Oilite (which we did not produce) it may have performed well as a k/p bushing but I wonder about the feasibility of compacting a component that tall, and having a thin wall thickness. No doubt they did it, but I’m wondering just how it was done. Oilite’s ability to be self lubricating had no benefit in that application so I wonder why it would have been chosen in the first place.

[AnthonyG]

Yes, u can hone, or use lapping compound on the spindle bushings. However I’ll go Captain obvious on you , definitely flush clean & wipe meticulously to remove any residue as you would on internal bearing surfaces!

[woodiewagon46]

I'm not getting involved in the fact that Ford used Oilite bushings or not, however I have been playing with old Ford's since 1962 and have never seen Oilite bushing in any of the front ends that I have rebuilt. That being said, I don't think that the composition of Oilite can take the pounding that is subjected to a Ford or other make spindle. I have used Oilite bushings in motors and shafts, but never used them in automotive spindles. They work great for rotational force but in a spindle, I don't know. We need a mechanical engineer to chime in.

[woodiewagon46]

This question really got me interested, so I started doing some investigating. What I did learn about Oilite bushings is that they should never be honed or machined (reamed), as this process will "smear" (close) the pores in the bushing, blocking the lubrication.

[ursus]

Ford did use Oilite bushings in the 1932 distributors and perhaps for a number of years afterward. I have to wonder about using Oilite bushings in an application that relied upon grease as the lubricant. Oil will flow through Oilite but grease, which is compounded with some solids, seems like it would clog up the porous Oilite matrix. Oil flows but grease is designed to stick around.