Anybody use this reamer for kingpins?

[rotorwrench]

Folks like to use hones and I won't tell them not to. The honing grit gets embedded in the soft bushing material and it won't come out. It might be microscopic but it still causes premature wear on the parts. I only use the hones on hard steel, cast iron, or hard chrome surfaces. The particles won't embed so easy on that stuff. A quality reamer will do an excellent job. I have special ones for specific jobs and they put a really nice finish on the phosphor bronze bushings. Some soft bushings can be sized by drawing mandrels through them. A lot of piston pin bushings are sized this way but it is special equipment and it ain't cheap.

[woodiewagon46]

Ralph and Rich are correct. There is no way to ream two bushings in line such as the spindles by reaming one side and then the other. It will always be off and out of alignment. You must use self aligning reamers to keep both bushings in line. This subject has been beaten to death too many times.

[alanwoodieman]

I have been using adjustable reamers for years in the repair of large paper machines. A little bit of patience and finish up with a hone for a good tight fit. A master machinist once told me you should be able to push the pin in with your fingers. I do king pins the same way, but I also use a guide bushing on the non adjustable part of the reamer to get a good straight fit

[corvette8n]

Thanks for the info, found a NAPA machine shop that will fit them, forgot to ask how much it would cost, better than me screwing it up.

[1948F-1Pickup]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

Folks like to use hones and I won't tell them not to. The honing grit gets embedded in the soft bushing material and it won't come out. It might be microscopic but it still causes premature wear on the parts. I only use the hones on hard steel, cast iron, or hard chrome surfaces. The particles won't embed so easy on that stuff. A quality reamer will do an excellent job. I have special ones for specific jobs and they put a really nice finish on the phosphor bronze bushings. Some soft bushings can be sized by drawing mandrels through them. A lot of piston pin bushings are sized this way but it is special equipment and it ain't cheap.

Anything is possible if you get a poor enough machinist I guess. We honed automotive suspension aluminum bushings on a Sunnen to fit Delrin inserts at a past employer. Some of these bushings are still in operation from the 80's.
I have some in that situation. If premature wear were a problem, I'm sure I would know or have heard about it as I still interact with that company.

[grumppyoldman]

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Just had mine honed by a automotive machine shop, cost 60 bucks. They did a super job and did not have to buy a reamer for 200 bucks for a one time job. Al

[RalphM]

I bought my reamer off epay, under $40. But being a mechanic, I love tools!
I also have a reamer and installer for the ford steering gearbox bushings! Not something you do very often, but makes the job so easy.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by RalphM

I bought my reamer off epay, under $40. But being a mechanic, I love tools!
I also have a reamer and installer for the ford steering gearbox bushings! Not something you do very often, but makes the job so easy.

Interesting about the steering box reamer. Do you recall what size those bushings are?

[RalphM]

I think 1-1/4” if I remember correctly.

[my2nd40]

I use a reamer to fit my bushings. I've accumulated the various sizes through the years for all the bushings in the old fords. Some of my reamers are old Ford tools but still do a great job. Some I've acquired at swap meets for just a few dollars. I could take the parts to a machine shop and have them fit on a Sunnen hone, but I like doing it myself, and I like the old tools.

[Frank Miller]

Originally Posted by 1948F-1Pickup

Anything is possible if you get a poor enough machinist I guess. We honed automotive suspension aluminum bushings on a Sunnen to fit Delrin inserts at a past employer. Some of these bushings are still in operation from the 80's.
I have some in that situation. If premature wear were a problem, I'm sure I would know or have heard about it as I still interact with that company.

I could understand the grit argument on a generator bushing that has a shaft constantly spinning. You would probably have to drive thousands of miles to put the same amount of travel on king pin bushings that that generator bushing will see in a few blocks.

[rotorwrench]

48 F1 Pickup
King pins have a lot more pressure on them than what a lot of bushings have to take. A classic example is the premature break down of the needle bearing king pin bearings that are available.

The stone material used in most honing operations is abrasive and it wears as it is being used. Those microscopic pieces of stone abrasive are still very hard and and they aren't perfectly round either. You can poo-poo what I'm saying but I didn't make this stuff up. I'm just resubmitting the info so don't stone the messenger.

[Mart]

I was able to buy a specific reamer for early Ford kingpins from an old (86 yo) gentleman. (Funny enough the gentlemen was described as "just a boy" by my 90 yo uncle!).

Anyway I am quite happy with the size and finish of the reamed bushings. they might be tighter if reamed, but I can see the benefit of grease being able to lubricate the bushing effectively. I'd have to put a lot of the miles on the truck to find out if honing is better, but, what the hell, the kits are not expensive, are still available and I have the reamer if and when I need to do it.

Before that I did manage to use a standard straight reamer, but it takes more skill and is not as guaranteed to get the right result.

Mart.

[Mart]

Quote: Interesting about the steering box reamer. Do you recall what size those bushings are?

Quote: I think 1-1/4” if I remember correctly.

I'm remembering it as 1-1/8". I reamed mine after doing the hudson, f1 and 37 conversions for 32 and 33 frames.

I'm a bit shaky on this, but I think F100 are bigger, they might be 1-1/4".

Mart.

[TagMan]

As a machinist for 40-years and old car guy for the last 60+ years, I can tell you that rotorwrench is absolutely correct. I would never use a hone for a king pin, just for the reasons rotorwrench pointed out. I have done hundreds of king pin fitments in my lifetime using an adjustable reamer, obtained a nice push fit on all of them and never had a complaint.

[RalphM]

I'm a bit shaky on this, but I think F100 are bigger, they might be 1-1/4".

Yes it was F100, I just checked reamer it is 1-1/4”

[outlaw]

This is the type of adjustable bushing reamer that is used for king pin bushings. You adjust it larger in small increments & sneak up on the size for the king pin to fit with a light push of your fingers.

[RalphM]

Yes, that’s what I have, only not the full set.

[Flathead Fever]

I bought a dry lakes car from a neighbor that went 201 mph at Bonneville. After I got it home I jacked up the frontend and there was so much play in the king pins it was scary. The front wheels have got to be dancing all over the place. I can't believe somebody would drive a stock car with that much slop in the king pins, not to mention in a 200 mph roadster. That's not all, when I went to pack the wheel bearings there was a large piece of a wooden hammer handle inside the hub???? They must have tried to drive a race in and shattered a wooden handle. First off, you can't drive a race in with a piece of wood and second how could you leave a piece of wood in there as big as a finger? That is probably the highest rpm a hammer handle has ever gone. They should have issued a timing tag for the handle. The poor car is just collecting dust in my garage when it should be out getting covered in dry lakes dust.


I have the correct Ford reamer from my dad's Model A restoring days which I've used once. It did leave the king pins with just a little bit of play. The next time I did some king pin bushings I took the spindles to the flathead engine builder here in town and had him hone them. That was the first time anybody had asked him to hone a pair of spindles. Afterwards, the king pins fit through the spindles like a piston pin through a rod. Its the hot setup.

[Tinker]

Having a decent machine shop near you ain't a bad thing.