Brand x crown and pinion gear sets.

[Bruce Newbery]

I have been checking all of the Model A Ford vendors for a3:78 crown and pinion gear set and no one is selling made in USA gear sets . The sets they sell all seem to be made in Italy. Have any of you used these gear sets and were they good or was there problems?You input would be appreciated.

[updraught]

Thought I had heard of the Italy bit before
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ighlight=italy

[midgetracer]

i have used them and have been very happy.

[Tim Ayers]

Think of it this way, the Italians make some of the world’s most advanced engines. This should be pretty simple for them to do.

[Tom Endy]

I have installed a number of them and they appeared to be of good quality and they all performed just fine. My only observation is they are the same as the reproductions before, the pinion sleeve is not machined properly. There should be two dimensions on the sleeve to accommodate the two bearings. The first bearing should press on with an interference press fit, the second bearing should be able to slide for ease of pre-load adjustment. This was not a problem for me, I just machined the sleeve. See the attached document, it was an article in a club newsletter.

http://www.santaanitaas.org/wp-conte...inion-gear.pdf

Tom Endy

[john in illinois]

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I have a set in my A v8. As Tom says pinion is one size. I had a machine shop
Use a crankshaft polisher on the front bearing position.


John

[Synchro909]

The manufacturers probably made theirs to a sample and missed the different diameters, not the original drawings.

[51504bat]

Not a Model A but when I had the gears changed in the 8" in my '54 Ranch Wagon the highly respected guy who set it up used Italian gears. Said they were top of the line. He had multiple vendors to source the gears from but he went with the Italian set. There is no way he would have risked damaging his reputation on poor quality gears. JMO

[Lawrie]

If you are using them on a V8 ,you must set the pinion depth as its not correct, but other than that they are fine.
Lawrie

[rotorwrench]

I purchased an Italian made R&P set for the late V8 banjo rear axles that was one of the problem sets. The gears are beautiful but the outer diameter of the pinion quill is too large to fit through the center section. All I will need to do is have it ground to spec with a tool post grinder. This set is actually a 3.56:1 set. The gear teeth are much heavier duty than the Ford sets ever were. Grinding the diameter won't weaken the quill in any way.

The company making the late sets has it down now. I've not heard of any new complaints on these gears.

[john in illinois]

Originally Posted by Lawrie

If you are using them on a V8 ,you must set the pinion depth as its not correct, but other than that they are fine.
Lawrie

I had to shim the pinion in to get a good pattern on the v8.
Not needed on Model A. They are very nice gears.

John

[Synchro909]

I don't understand this "If it's made in the USA, it's good - if it's not, it's junk" line. People in every country have the same attitude about things made in their own country vs foreign made, including US made. After all, to them the US is just another foreign country.
There is plenty of fine engineering that comes out of other places and often enough, when that happens, US manufacturers (and others) copy it.
I have installed several of these gear sets and had no trouble. They are very good and I'd buy another with confidence.

[Flathead]

I try to keep an open mind on where stuff comes from.

[updraught]

See how your local brands stack up
https://vividmaps.com/most-loved-and-hated-car-brands/

[rotorwrench]

Most of the 3rd world companies will make something exactly the way the customer (import-export distributor) wants it made. Specify good quality and they will do it but for a higher price I'm sure. Some are proud enough that they would refuse to manufacture a crappy part. We don't hear any of these stories because it's none of our business.

I'm not a big fan of the CCP but they can make some good stuff too. The problem with them and other similar countries is that uncertainty of whether the supply will be there as long as the demand is. They can shut things down overnight if they want so it leaves a business risk wide open. Henry Ford always had more than one supplier of parts not made by FMC. A strike of one company could have shut him down so he avoided that risk like the plague.

[Synchro909]

More than one supplier of critical components was always my practice when I was in business and you are dead right about CCP being able to produce good stuff. That's where most of the good stuff comes from but too many of our businesses accept rubbish and they do that because we, their customers keep buying it. I think we do that because too many people these days don't know the first thing about quality.

[Keith True]

Read the story of Henry Ford dealing with the Keim mills.They stamped out axle housings and transmission housings for the T. I'm not sure,but I think they were located in N.Y.state.When the workers there went on strike Henry was quick to respond.He bought the company,and within three days was stamping out the parts in Detroit.That must have been quite a feat,moving the machinery needed in that amount of time.Of course,having the rail line run through your building cuts the rigging and loading time tremendously.

[Fullraceflathead]

America certainly could use a few Henry Fords in today's world!!!

[rotorwrench]

Ford bought out Keim Mills in Buffalo NY to get their steel rolling mill and stamping technology. The other thing that came along with it was Bill Knudsen who helped Ford set it all up and get it running at the new Rouge facility in Dearborn. He only stayed with Ford for 10-years but he learned enough from the FMC team to earn him a place at GM running the Chevrolet division. During the war, when he became the man in charge for military production, he worked with all the major manufacturers including FMC to get the ball rolling for the Arsenal of Democracy.

Ford had the advantage of moving things by ship from Buffalo to the Rouge River inlet but I'm sure it took longer than 3-days to get all that equipment moved plus buildings had to be built to house it all. The dies could be moved quickly enough so presses at the Rouge and Highland park could start to use them. We are talking model T days in 1911 and 1912 so the stampings weren't as complicated as the model A stuff. Word War I was what really got the Rouge going. They even built the Eagle boats there for the US Navy.