Posted by Tim Holloway [173.245.52.131] on Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 17:10:10 :
I havent had much time to work on the 57 W-100 since Memorial Day. My family was all away this weekend so finally some shop time!!
Naturally my buddy Neil calls me up middle of last week, asking if I was available to help him out yesterday building countertops for an Airstream he is working on. He and I trade work back and forth, he is an amazing welder and a lousy woodworker, and I am a lousy welder so we swap back and forth but dont keep track of who has done what. It works great for both of us. Anyway, there went Saturday, but I got him taken care of.
Back to the 57. I had a bit of time after Neil left so started cleaning up the rear axle tube. It has been stripped empty since Memorial Day. First thing I find is all sorts of brazing on the rear cover (that is factory welded) and a bunch more welding on the inside, around the rear cover. Looks like someone went to a lot of work to fix something, but I cant tell what. Leaking maybe? No signs of carnage and mayhem inside so who knows.
I have an empty rear tube from a 58 W-100 so I figured I would swap them out. I bring it in from the shed, and start cleaning it up. Imagine my surprise when I find more brazing and welding on the rear cover again! Lots less than the other one so I will still swap them but what is going on with these things?
Today I was cleaning up other parts and decided to remove the rear axle bearings. The rear axle only has one bearing ber side and it is pressed onto the axle shaft. I clamped the axle in the vise, vertically with the nut on and sitting on the workbench. I proceed to drive the bearing off with a drift and where the bearing was on the axle, the axle was knurled. Interesting!
The axle shaft for the other side threads were iffy, so back out to the shed for a couple of spare rear axle shafts. I knocked the bearing off the first one, and hey, no knurling! Someone must have had the knurling done to tighten up the bearing fit. I cleaned up the end of the other shaft and notice that this on has 2 keyways milled into it for the hub/drum. Weird. Both slots look fine, I cant see why they felt the need to replace the original slot. The other shaft was normal, good threads, no knurling and only one slot!
Crazyness!
Tim
Follow Ups: