TOPIC:

If you have worked on the willy / wheeler / opel / quattro, then this will look familiar



Got some bronze bushes - 5 x 8 x 16mm



Drill out axle tube starting small - 5.5 / 6 / 6.5 / 7 / 7.5mm



Finish with 5/16" bit 10mm deep



take a tiny bit off the bush to fit the tube and bearing



Modded and original



Gently hammer bush to correct depth



Zip it with wet/dry and steel wool



And Robert's your father's sister

Terragni

I've had a total of 5 Willys (+ a spare gearbox) & I've never had a case of the zinkpest - but I've seen photos. Yours I think is the first actual fix (rather than just talking about it) so congrats I guess

Questions though - why bronze / oilite? From memory the driveshaft doesn't touch that surface during normal operation (the bearing/hub/wheel gives the alignment), aluminium would be a better match to the pot metal, brass would be sturdier ... just a case of getting a form close to what you need in order to minimise machining? If so I can totally get that

5/16" = 7.94mm (less than 8mm), presumably the bronze is the same dimension, so how well does the 608 skateboard bearing fit on the sticky out bit? Wobbly or acceptable? Would leaving on end at 8mm have been better?

"Hammer gently" had me a bit worried in a part that you're having to remachine because it broke already ... would a light sliding fit (& epoxy) been a better option? Threaded holes & grub screws I did think briefly about, but perforating a previously broken yada yada ...

Basically I'm asking because the difference between this being a lashup or genuine fix is really just your reasoning on materials/dimensions & you didn't mention that. Assuming the latter, and with a bit more actual text this is exactly the sort of thing that should go on TB's frontpage




Ps Emco Compact 5?

Problem with most of the broken axles I have seen is that the whole bit is disintegrating/falling apart.

Jonny, thanks for the thoughts and questions

Bad luck on my part, I have had a couple of these failures, not completely disentigrating as Waterbok says, but the bearing is no longer attached to the tube

My reasoning for the approach goes a bit like this

Was a first attempt so bronze oilite was what was readily available and in the right size
Tamiya's use of bronze for bushes helped in the decision
I liked the way you can work it, the accuracy, the fit and the way it worked with the pot metal, so I would use it again

The bronze is a real tight fit with the 680 bearing and drilling on the lathe always gives me a slightly bigger hole than the drill, so the imperial drill and slight machining of the bush allows a perfect fit to both the tube and bearing without force

If I had a cutting tool that went 10mm into a 8mm hole I would have gone that way, drills are less accurate. This way though maybe it could be attempted by someone with a drill press and vice ?

The fit of the axle is a bit tight, maybe a bit of play is needed - drill the bush with a 5mm drill perhaps to ream it out, or wet/dry on a chopstick. Dont want the axle to bind causing the bush to rotate in the tube

I thought about a looser fit with epoxy / threadlock, the 'oil filled' part of the bush had me worried that this would not work. Drilling and tapping that pot metal, noooo way

That pot metal wont handle stress so you need to get the fit right, more than a thumb push - hence the light tapping with the 'Melbourne (insert own choice of city) Micrometer'

Time will tell if fix will work, I will be driving willy but not into the ground

Emco compact 5, that be the one

Terragni