Bear with me/ i've researched a lot! i have a 1920 continental 6y engine in my 1920 columbia. we did a lot of work and i managed to get 8000 miles on my newly babitted connecting rods. however, one day i was doing about 50 mph and blew /melted one out! after a tear down/ only takes about an hour on that car/ i noticed some cracking in other bearings also and sloppiness in my wrist pins on my new aluminum pistons. so, i added an external 12v oil pump and filter! works great! we sleeved the wrist pins to tighten them up, and went thru a lot!!!! of effort to machine insert bearings from modern volvo aluminum something or another! it has all failed! It couldn't handle the pounding and every few hundred miles i was adding shims behind the inserts to tighten things up.so, i went into my shed and retrieved my old pistons, rings, wrists pins / all look great! i had only switched to alu
uminum pistons because i thought newer is better! WRONG! here.s the kicker(s)!!! i think with the electric oil pump i solved the problem of doing 45mph. but i'm debating weather going back to babbitted or trying nickel bronze as inserts! i researched and can not find what the first inserts were made from in the early 20's when they were first used. did they already have the technology to have layered/ coated inserts? also, with my aluminum inserts, since they were machined as a complete unit and cut in half, they weren't true halves. and then the problem of spin. we drilled and pinned them but they still wanted to rotate and the pin simply gouged the aluminum until it allowed some movement. has anyone had success with home made inserts in an engine that rpm wise i guess falls in between the slow pre 1920's and the faster rpm of later engines. i'm guessing i hit 2000 rpm but don't know. just judging by sound. i often run at 35/35 mph. it.s a strait 6 200 cu inch or so. if i do go with babbitt should i try and straighten the rods/ 2 have very slight bend / or can i make up for that with the line boring of the babitt with the wrist pin angles?also, how many 2000th brass shims should i use under the caps for future tightening? also, has anyone tried to
strenghten a connecting rod by welding stock on either side the full length after straightening them. if i use inserts then there's no correction possible.the rods have a slight twist also but i don't see how that would matter as the piston would just be slightly turned. i know this is a lot of questions, but i like driving my car a lot without a tear down every few hundred miles. i,m about ready to try the old method of cutting strips from my leather belt. many claim to get 1000 miles this way and thats a lot better than what i.m getting, and only 10 bucks to boot. thanks, steve noll
