[c5farmer]

I may have a ring from an insulator that was melted in a fire, if you are interested in it.
The rubber is gone, but the ring should be on the bearing.
Jerry

[Doug]

Originally Posted by c5farmer

I may have a ring from an insulator that was melted in a fire, if you are interested in it.
The rubber is gone, but the ring should be on the bearing.
Jerry

Jerry, It may be that I don't need an old ring if you can look at yours and answer these:

Does the outside of the ring have any projections/tabs that stick out into the rubber?

Does the outside surface of the ring appear to have any knurling or other feature that appears to assist the bonding of the rubber?

I am sure that the NOS insulator that Chiefkey has offered will allow the fellow to get the basic dimensions (thickness, width, outside diameter, bevel) of the ring from it and the inside diameter of the ring will be that recommended to allow the press-in bearing to fit properly.

Thanks!

[c5farmer]

Here are some pictures of the insulator ring that the ropeshaft bearing presses into. It is bonded to the rubber with glue and a small interference fit. There is no staples or knurling on the ring to keep it from spinning in the rubber.

The ring is rusty from getting hot in the car's engine fire. Hope the picturs answer your question concerning the insulator's construction. Jerry

[Doug]

Originally Posted by c5farmer

Here are some pictures of the insulator ring that the ropeshaft bearing presses into. It is bonded to the rubber with glue and a small interference fit. There is no staples or knurling on the ring to keep it from spinning in the rubber.

The ring is rusty from getting hot in the car's engine fire. Hope the picturs answer your question concerning the insulator's construction. Jerry

Jerry, Thanks for the pics.

Frankly I was surprised to see that the ring is apparently flared to the outside on one side and flared to the inside on the other side. (I assume the inside flare is to provide a seat for the bearing when it is pressed in.)

It looks as if the ring was made by a stamping process and the metal itself is fairly thin (I had imagined it was about 1/16th or more thick.)

I doubt that the fellow can duplicate the "stamping" process but I don't see why the ring can't be machined out of a piece of stock in a lathe, especially for a somewhat low volume of pieces.

At this point I am going to contact Chiefkey and get him to send the NOS piece to the fellow and see what he thinks of it.

However, if you can, would you measure the thickness of the ring metal and let me know what it is so that info can be passed on?

Thanks,

[c5farmer]

Doug,
The ring measures approximately .037". In between 1/16" and 1/32". Seems to be made from a strong, hard metal. At that thin measurement, it is still very strong and hard to bend. Good luck.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by c5farmer

Doug,
The ring measures approximately .037". In between 1/16" and 1/32". Seems to be made from a strong, hard metal. At that thin measurement, it is still very strong and hard to bend. Good luck.

Thanks for the info.

I did some research and it looks like these rings can be machined out of a piece of 2" Schedule 80 pipe stock. A cleanup cut of about 1/32" or soon the outside would leave a ring thickness of a 1/16" or so. A machine cut on the inside diameter of about 1/8" or so would fit the outside diameter of the bearing and leaving the full inside diameter for a short distance past the internal cut would provide a ledge for the bearing to set on. A slight bevel could be put on the other side for ease in pressing the bearing in.

Yesterday, I sent Chiefkey a private message asking him to go ahead and send his NOS insulator to the fellow. I mentioned the idea of making the rings out of 2" Schedule 80 pipe and I asked him to discuss that with the fellow too.

Thanks for the input. Hopefully this will work out.

[Sanduners]

Not sure if this will help you but here it is, a view of the torque tubes.