TR2/3/3A Removing the fan extension from the Crank hub

[GTP1960]

Finally started my winter project of upgrading everything behind the apron.
had a good day:
removed bumper, apron ( after removing the wrong set of bolts under the wings), radiator, wide water pump pulley, generator, 4 blade paddle fan , wide crank pulley, fan extension & hub.

my problem is that the fan extension is affixed to the crank hub. It looks like a heavy epoxy, silicone or a weld, it's pretty tough though & wasn't influenced by a pry bar. I ran out of steam before I could work on separating it with greater enthusiasm. but I am wondering is this common?
also, note the angle of the extension in relation to the hub. It is not true. I'm surprised the old girl didn't shake herself to death.

any thoughts/advice appreciated.

best regards,

Guy

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Guy,
was there a long bolt you out of the hub first?

Marv

 

[GTP1960]

Marv,
Yes, there was a long dog bolt with wings on the nut end, to support the hand crank.

 

[TR3driver]

Seems very odd to me that someone would want to reinforce that joint. Normally, it is held together by the 6 smaller bolts that hold the pulley to the hub, as well as the one big bolt through the center.

Your avatar photo looks familiar. Was that China Ranch in Death Valley?

 

[GTP1960]

Seems very odd to me that someone would want to reinforce that joint. Normally, it is held together by the 6 smaller bolts that hold the pulley to the hub, as well as the one big bolt through the center.

Your avatar photo looks familiar. Was that China Ranch in Death Valley?

Hey Randall,
The six bolts were in place & pretty easy to remove. The wide pulley is pressed steel & in two halves.
the big bolt through the center , really was the only connection to the crankshaft.
(Which I hope I'll b able to reuse with the shorter extension i got from BV to use with an 8 blade poly fan.)

BTW: do you think I should cut away that silicone gasket at the end of the hub, or try & Reuse it, or is there another alternative. I don't think I had a leak there, surprisingly enough.

Re: the old truck: Not China ranch, I don't believe, but an old abandoned (now in the tourist business) gold mine town south of Las Vegas. Can't remember the name.

 

[CJD]

Eeeew. It's obvious the front seal leaked, and some PO forced silicone under and over the hub trying to seal it. They glued the extension to the hub with the silicone, and made it out of true to boot. Get rid of all the silicone!

Most silicone gets soft in heavy duty solvents, like carb cleaner or gasoline. I'd try soaking it in carb cleaner for a day and try again. Option 2 would be to reinstall the hub, remove the large center bolt and then you can get a grip on the extension and yank till the silicone breaks.

Needless to say...silicone has no business anywhere near that assembly!

 

[dgaldrich]

If the "strong solvents" don't work, try the hot wrench. Most epoxy compounds will at least soften with heat even from a propane torch. The rubber/RTV stuff will probably burn off.

 

[GTP1960]

Thx For your thoughts John.
I soaked it in evapo rust all night.
And while the seal at the back of the hub is definitely silicone (got any alternative ideas on replacing this?) the joint in question, extension/hub, seems to be a metal weld. A wire brush doesn't make much of an impression on it.
I'm thinking now I'll either put the 4 paddle fan back on (more for original balance than cooling), with a pusher fan on front of rad.
Or I'll start shopping for another crank hub.(maybe both in due course)

 

[GTP1960]

Thx Dgaldrich,

If it turns out to be epoxy I'll be in luck!

 

[TR3driver]

Epoxy is much softer than weld, should be easy to tell the difference just by gouging it with a dental pick or pocket knife. Or just heat it up as dgaldrich suggested.

I would definitely lose the silicone at the back. Replace the seal in the timing cover, and make sure the sealing surface on the hub is in good shape (or install a Speedi-Sleeve to repair it).

But if that is weld holding the extension to the hub, I would start looking for another hub. They are available new (tho a bit pricey), or it shouldn't be too hard to find a used one in decent condition. Ted Schumacher might have one laying around, from doing a narrow belt conversion.

I'll be surprised if you can reuse the same bolt with the shorter extension. If you do, make sure the bolt is not bottoming in the threads in the crank. It has to clamp tightly against the hub or the joint will eventually fail. As I learned the hard way, the joint may appear to be tight, but if part of the force is directly to the crank, the hub will eventually work loose.

I forget offhand whether it is 5/8 or 3/4 diameter, but the thread is a standard NF pitch. You should be able to find a shorter one at any hardware suppy (eg McMaster-Carr or Fastenal). I got mine at the local "Aero Surplus" store.

On the truck, one of the ghost towns would make sense. We've run around and visited most of them at one time or another, but I have no idea which one was which any more. There was even an archeological dig out there somewhere; where they claim to be finding human-made tools from 200,000 years ago. (As I recall, there was considerable dispute over that date, though.)

 

[CJD]

I agree with Randall. If it is a weld, they ruined the hub by not getting it straight. If you think it's epoxy, JB Weld etc, then heat is the ticket. Above 250 degrees all epoxies loose strength. If you don't have a torch, just throw it in an oven at 350 for a while and it should pull apart easily.

 

[GTP1960]

Thx all!

I ordered the new hub & seals, the old one looked pretty rough and had some dings on the shaft.

I'm going to try the oven heat technique on the Old one, just for sport.
I noticed the thermostat housing was deeply pitted and hose connectors were jagged (though it would probably out last me.) so that's on my list too.
i'm realizing now it's hard to draw the line on these old crates!



"On the truck, one of the ghost towns would make sense. We've run around and visited most of them at one time or another, but I have no idea which one was which any more. There was even an archeological dig out there somewhere; where they claim to be finding human-made tools from 200,000 years ago. (As I recall, there was considerable dispute over that date, though.)"

Randall that truck was in Eldorado canyon, Searchlight, NV., it is a place where a lot of old cars & trucks braked for the last time.

I' m a bit of a rockhound , myself. & I know the real guys (archeologists etc.). Have a conniption fit if any peer questions the 12000 yr old land bridge theory. If there was someone on this side of the pond 200k years ago......they need an eye witness account.

 

[TR3driver]

I' m a bit of a rockhound , myself. & I know the real guys (archeologists etc.). Have a conniption fit if any peer questions the 12000 yr old land bridge theory. If there was someone on this side of the pond 200k years ago......they need an eye witness account.

I'm no archeologist, I only know what I read in the funny papers. But, I don't see any reason that there couldn't have been multiple waves, perhaps even from multiple sources. Or that those early groups would have necessarily survived to be around when the later groups arrived. So there doesn't seem to be any particular conflict between the 12k and 200k theories.

And "conniption fits" are rarely conducive to good science.

Here's a link to the site I was talking about, the "Calico Early Man" site
https://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-Calico-Early-Man-Site/

And some more information about other pre-Clovis sites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk_Creek_Complex

(Sorry for hijacking your thread, Guy. Hopefully you got the answers you wanted and don't mind too much.)

 

[GTP1960]

Randall,
Thanks for the links!
now we are talking about 2 subjects I find very interesting.
(I have volunteered on a dig on the savannah River where 25k-30k year , radiocarbon dated artifacts are found, but not Officially acknowledged.). ...go figure? I just assume we are at one of the crossroads where science meets "political science".
as for me, I have no real opinion on the subject of how long we've been here. My interest is more what they were up to when they were here.

Thanks again for for the links!