BBQ Forged Ring Gear

[chap52]

My son came by this weekend to help me put a new clutch set ,which I got from Mac VanPelt in my truck. We were also replacing an ailing ring gear. The problem was that we didn't have access to a torch to "sweat" the new ring gear onto the flywheel.
After pondering our dilemma I had a Little House On The Prairie flashback. Built a nice bed of coals in the Bar B Q placed the new ting gear directly on top of them, closed the lid and applied a gentle breeze with my leaf blower through the bottom air vent. Got plenty hot and after about 15 minutes (med-rare) we dropped the ring right into place on the flywheel, which we had kept in the freezer for the same amount of time.
All went well, truck back on the road and there was still enough coals to grill the hamburgers
Yep, Country folks, Country ways!

[RobR'35]

Cool idea! In ur oven range at home set on 250° works too. Some wives don't care for it though.

[rotorwrench]

Much more than 250 to 300 degrees F can take the temper out. I prefer the oven.

[Jack E/NJ]

>>>Much more than 250 to 300 degrees F can take the temper out. I prefer the oven.>>>

Nah. He probably BBQed it to tempering perfection using this blacksmith color chart 8^) Jack E/NJ
.

[Bored&Stroked]

We tend to mix the terms hardening and tempering - such that folks think they're the same. I used to heat treat tool and die steels --> first to harden them, then to draw them back to temper them. Tempering is the softening of the hardened steel . . .

[Charlie Stephens]

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You might also try putting the flywheel in the freezer when your wife is out for the day.

Charlie Stephens

[rotorwrench]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

We tend to mix the terms hardening and tempering - such that folks think they're the same. I used to heat treat tool and die steels --> first to harden them, then to draw them back to temper them. Tempering is the softening of the hardened steel . . .

Good point. The metallurgy behind the tempering process is as much or more complicated than the blacksmith temperature chart shown above. Tempering to soften is only partly true in reality. To truly soften a metal you have to anneal it as a whole. The best way I can describe it is the difference between hardness and ductility. Hardness is a factor of all metals than can be changed either to increase or decrease it but ductility is also affected at the same time. A combination of specific hardness and ductility is what is important for the starter ring and it can be greatly affected by any major change in temperature subject to the part after it's initial tempering process. Most starter rings have the surface color in them when you get it.

Many tempering processes only affect part of the materials structure such as the surface used for abrasion or cutting. Springs also have a balancing of ductility and hardness that can only be affected by a specific tempering process. Carbon levels of the steel can also be a factor for both hardness and ductility. High carbon steels are hard but they aren't as ductile. The harder it gets the more brittle it is. You don't want brittle starter ring gear teeth for sure.

[chap52]

It never changed color.

[Mike51Merc]

It can be done with a simple propane torch. No need to get it red hot.

[Newc]

Hi all ; just get the gear bevel right. I 've been told that the little Powermaster starters require the bevel to be reversed? They engage from the front! Newc

[Jack E/NJ]

>>>You might also try putting the flywheel in the freezer when your wife is out for the day. Charlie Stephens>>>

And even if she is home, eat the rest of the frozen papajohn's leftovers. A flathead flywheel and greasy pizza box --- perfect together. 8^) Jack E/NJ

[RobR'35]

It's a large diameter ring.
U'd be surprised how many thousands it'll grow with minimal heat applied. Freezer idea is great too.
Unless u live in the north in winter. Set it outside for a while. Then the wife won't have to be bothered.
If she's cool. She'll want to see how it all works.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by chap52

It never changed color.

Hey chap,
Good idea/work !
To 'modernize' the act a bit, I used my propane BBQ with 3 burners and a temp guage. Ahh, the beauty of modern gizmozs, eh ! Worked like a charm.

[chap52]

Yeah, I don't know when this stuff got so technical. When I was a kid we fixed these flatheads with an adjustable wrench and wire. Then a friend got a set of combination wrenches, wow!
Never thought about how you might be messing something up. All was good just add a quart of oil with each fill-up. Gas was 26 cents a gallon and re-claimed motor oil was 25 cents a quart.
Oh for the simpler times.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by chap52

Yeah, I don't know when this stuff got so technical. When I was a kid we fixed these flatheads with an adjustable wrench and wire. Then a friend got a set of combination wrenches, wow!
Never thought about how you might be messing something up. All was good just add a quart of oil with each fill-up. Gas was 26 cents a gallon and re-claimed motor oil was 25 cents a quart.
Oh for the simpler times.

Amen to that !
I think that IT all came down to 'not knowing tooo much for own good' !
In other words, when we went to the junkyards to get parts/engine/whatever, I don't ever remember worrying about details/what we didn't know or have control over. Just pull that flatty out and check for compression(stick finder in hole and turn it over)/oil/gas/spark.
Hmm, maybe ignorance is/was bliss, but we often used them , as is, ran them till they would run no more. Yup we ate the corn we grew, didn't put corn squizzens into tank.

[JSeery]

I often think the same way! A few differences are, original parts are a lot harder to come by and cost a lot more. It's a little harder to learn by figuring out what doesn't get destroyed!!!

[chap52]

The real blessing comes when I explain how "we use to do it" to my 33 year old son and watch his eyes get big and the smile it brings.
Remember heating and rotating a ring gear on the flywheel to get the worn out part in a different position? I was told by an old mechanic with grease stained hands that the engine stops in one of there positions, 120 degrees apart so the ring gear just needed to me reset. Couldn't afford a $12 part.

[Bored&Stroked]

I didn't get to do my 'junk yard' foraging until the early 70's, but there were still quite a few parts in certain junk yards in South Dakota. There were very few early ford cars left (surely no coupes, roadsters or anything cool), but quite a few wrecks, trucks and other cast off junk to work with. Anything really good had already been hauled out of there - but there were still 'treasures' for a young teen-age boy to dig through.

I always enjoyed scrounging up some part for usually a fairly inexpensive price. Then there was always the haggling with the owner - trying to get a $10 part for $7 . . . just because you knew he expected you to bargain on the price . . . or buy two of something when you only needed one.

I still have a surface rusted 34 dash and grille hanging on my shop walls - from one of those visits long ago.