Early 8 cam bearings needed

Uncle Josh
Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Anybody happen to have the front and rear cam bearings for the old style thick-bearing eight? Need a couple for my 40 to get it to Marleboro.



Also, how about a couple of the copper keepers for said bearings.



Thanks

Comments

  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Josh, when I was going through my '36 engine I was surprised to find that any decent machine shop can make those bearings, out of aluminum or babbitt, or whatever. The material isn't very critical, as they don't have much stress on them. If they have your block and camshaft, they can do 'em up very accurately.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Thanks Park. I was hoping but guess that's the way I'll have to go. Fortunately I have an old IBM toolmaker buddy with a shop 1/8 of a mile away.
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    Try Northwestern Auto Supply. That's who I bought my last cam bearings from (for a Hudson 8 and a '36 Dodge).



    http://www.northwesternautosupply.com/index-main.htm
  • mars55
    mars55 Senior Contributor
    Here is Northwestern Auto Supply website.



    http://www.northwesternautosupply.com/
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Mercy! Good lead guys. I called the guy up and he said he has a set and they should be here in 2 days. $75 the set is reasonable I thought. Thanks. I'll let ya know.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    I'm repeatedly amazed at what's still out there for these ol' critters. TH

    hanks, James and Mars. I'm about to tear into my '47 Comm 8 engine, and may need some for it!
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    Uncle Josh wrote:
    Mercy! Good lead guys. I called the guy up and he said he has a set and they should be here in 2 days. $75 the set is reasonable I thought. Thanks. I'll let ya know.



    I'm never shy about refering folks to Northwestern Auto Parts. Sam Ashendorf has spent countless hours over many, many years buying up old stock from other Auto parts stores. He's covered a lot of ground doing it. I should add that he's a delightful guy who just loves the old car hobby and the people he meets in it. I've bought from him for years. His realistic prices have never blown me away and it's always been so easy to just call his retail store, give a credit card number and have the part in a couple of days.

    Now don't get me wrong, the guys in the Hudson parts business we all know (K-Gap, Dale, etc.) are exceptional and are deserving of our support whenever possible. That point is unequivocal. It's just that I've owned non-Hudson cars, as well (pre-war Mopars, mostly) and I can tell you from experience that the prices on parts from suppliers in that segment are almost enough to drive a person out of the hobby. It's always amazed me, given the fact that there should be so very much more Mopar stuff around.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Dale carries the bearings for the 41 on for the same price. They went to a thinner cross section, so it's bush em or find the old ones.



    I emailed Geoff and he points out that these things wear only at the bottom, so he pulls them out, rotates them 180 deg, and puts em back in with a tapered shim in the top to squeeze it into shape .



    My end ones had tried to get out of the bores at some point and were split and too deformed to re-use.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Josh, I might have some used main bearing for a 51 that are still usable after I tear down my engine and the parts car engine. I don't know what year they changed them. I think Park said something about tearing down a 47. I plan to pull the parts car engine out this weekend.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Mains should be the same, it's the cam bearings that changed from 40-41.



    BTW, the bearings from Northwestern turned out to be the later ones. They didn't know there was a difference, but are working with me to get updated.



    Called Jim and he went to his Hudson Bearing box and found some semi-finished #1 and #5, which is what I need. They will have to have the holes drilled which I can do in place I guess, using the keeper hole as a drill bushing.



    Does anyone have the OD of all the old bearings?
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    OK, I now have measured all the bearings for the 8cyl engine



    Brg....Shaft....Pre 41....41-52

    No.... Diam..... OD........ OD

    1...... 2.029....2.275.....2.162

    2.......1.998....2.248.....2.131

    3.......1.966....2.213.....2.101

    4.......1.9355..2.185.....2.066

    5.......1.498....1.747.....1.632



    I got a couple of bearings from Northwestern that they had in their Hudson bearing box. I was able to use the #1 but the #5 was 1.504 ID and my shaft was worn to 1.496. Although it had a heavy press fit, it didn't really close up due to being made of hard aluminum. I didn't want .008 clearance so had my buddy make one with the annular oil groove and I cut an angled axial groove by hand with the dremel tool.



    I then drilled the oil and keeper holes using the hole in the side of the block as a drill bushing, and deburred the ID



    Although I only had a .002 to .003 press fit, the bearing squeezed a little and I had to hone it with my brake cyl hone to get back to my .002 clearance. This also removed any remaining burrs from the dremel and drill operations.



    The copper keepers go back in tomorrow to keep them from rotating.



    Probably more than you wanted to know, but I feel I have a good bearing. I guess I'd recommend that for these early engines, you just take the block to a machinist and have him make the bearings, since apparently there aren't any out there, and after this long, your shaft is worn a few thousandths anyway and a standard size bearing isn't going to do ya. There, I have pontificated thoroughly.
  • barrysweet52
    barrysweet52 Expert Adviser
    Hello Uncle Josh. Thanks for sharing. Interesting you say a machineshop can turn up a brg out of Alu or babit. I assume the type of Alu is the same as used in modern overhead camshaft brgs. Did you have the cam brgs line bored like the main bearings are done? Regards, Barry
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    I didn't have them line bored. The bores they go into were line bored when the block was made and if the bearings are concentric, which it's hard not to make em that way, we're good to go, especially with a .002 clearance.



    By the way. I don't line bore the mains either. I didn't do it on the truck and it's on it's 2nd year of running strong. I'm putting some used main bearings in it. If they are measured (miked) and shimmed so the tops line up and if the caps are shimmed to the .oo1 clearance they will work OK. I'm not racing these things, I'm just driving them around.
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