06-02-2019, 07:24 PM
On page 122 of the Austin Seven Companion, G W Meakin wrote in 1964 about a change he made to the crankshaft bearings that he thought might reduce the possibility of a crankshaft breakage, while you all hurry to your copy of the A7C to read his comments, I will summarise:
Basically, G W Meakin was saying that he located the crankshaft at the rear using a heavy-duty ball race and then "pinched" this into place using a suitably thick shim between this and the flywheel. He then removed the front bearing fixings, so that the front pair of bearings were allowed to "float".
G W Meakin said that the modification gives quieter, smoother running, but more power all up the rev range, especially at the top end.
In terms of reducing the prospect of a broken crankshaft, G W Meakin thought that clutch pressure was all concentrated at the rear end of the crankshaft only, now being fully supported, leaving the rest of the crankshaft less stressed, particularly, during whipping.
I thought that it was interesting post and wondered if anyone has ever taken this approach with their engines, and if so, were G W Meakin's results validated?
Responses please!
Basically, G W Meakin was saying that he located the crankshaft at the rear using a heavy-duty ball race and then "pinched" this into place using a suitably thick shim between this and the flywheel. He then removed the front bearing fixings, so that the front pair of bearings were allowed to "float".
G W Meakin said that the modification gives quieter, smoother running, but more power all up the rev range, especially at the top end.
In terms of reducing the prospect of a broken crankshaft, G W Meakin thought that clutch pressure was all concentrated at the rear end of the crankshaft only, now being fully supported, leaving the rest of the crankshaft less stressed, particularly, during whipping.
I thought that it was interesting post and wondered if anyone has ever taken this approach with their engines, and if so, were G W Meakin's results validated?
Responses please!