The Ford Barn

Pete · 01-05-2024, 11:51 PM

This is a short story about rod alignment tools and broken rods caused by them back in the late 40's and early 50's..The story was inspired by a 12 pack and a long session about old dayz bench racing.
The tool under discussion was basically a small 2 ton hand pumped hydraulic jack mounted in a "C" frame. It had various fixtures that could be changed on the base and ram for bending in all directions. It was very popular in the day and most of the big shops had one. I forgot the brand but I remember a few guys on this forum saying they had one.
If the rod was twisted the base fixture supported the rod on the edges of the I beam at 4 places. These 4 supports were mounted so that they could move independently when down force was applied and thus the rod was twisted.
It worked great except for one thing, the supports always left a small dent in the edge of the rod.
So a buddy of mine and I stopped by a friends shop one day.
A quick word about this buddy, he had just graduated from getting a masters in mechanical engineering with a specialty in analyzing metal failures in aircraft.
Anyway the guy that owned the shop had a sprint car with a model B engine in it with an OHV head on it. He was using Pontiac rods which was the standard of the day and he had one of the alignment tools under discussion.
As we walked in he was just about to start assembling the engine. He had blown 3 engines in the last 3 weeks. Never finished a program. Broken rods every time. He attributed it to a bad batch so had gotten new ones each time from different parts of the country. My buddy asked if he could see one of the broken rods. It took about 3 seconds for both of us to see the problem. 4 distinct dents where the alignment fixture pressed on the rod and the break was right through the center of 2 dents. We showed him how to polish out the dents with a spiracone and the marks in the longitudinal direction. That set of rods lasted him all season.

01-05-2024, 11:51 PM	#1
Pete BANNED Join Date: May 2010 Location: Wa. Posts: 5,423	Rod alignment This is a short story about rod alignment tools and broken rods caused by them back in the late 40's and early 50's..The story was inspired by a 12 pack and a long session about old dayz bench racing. The tool under discussion was basically a small 2 ton hand pumped hydraulic jack mounted in a "C" frame. It had various fixtures that could be changed on the base and ram for bending in all directions. It was very popular in the day and most of the big shops had one. I forgot the brand but I remember a few guys on this forum saying they had one. If the rod was twisted the base fixture supported the rod on the edges of the I beam at 4 places. These 4 supports were mounted so that they could move independently when down force was applied and thus the rod was twisted. It worked great except for one thing, the supports always left a small dent in the edge of the rod. So a buddy of mine and I stopped by a friends shop one day. A quick word about this buddy, he had just graduated from getting a masters in mechanical engineering with a specialty in analyzing metal failures in aircraft. Anyway the guy that owned the shop had a sprint car with a model B engine in it with an OHV head on it. He was using Pontiac rods which was the standard of the day and he had one of the alignment tools under discussion. As we walked in he was just about to start assembling the engine. He had blown 3 engines in the last 3 weeks. Never finished a program. Broken rods every time. He attributed it to a bad batch so had gotten new ones each time from different parts of the country. My buddy asked if he could see one of the broken rods. It took about 3 seconds for both of us to see the problem. 4 distinct dents where the alignment fixture pressed on the rod and the break was right through the center of 2 dents. We showed him how to polish out the dents with a spiracone and the marks in the longitudinal direction. That set of rods lasted him all season.