I don't know what year this ad was written, but I can't understand why the 'G-man' would be expected to replace the connecting rods when they simply need to be cleaned and new babbit poured, honed and refitted. This was standard practice back in the 'babbit pounder' days. In fact some engines were built to allow the con rods to be removed from the bottom with the piston and cylinder head in place. Back in the days when labor was much cheaper than parts, so you could pay some poor sap to lie under your car with oil dripping in his face and re-shim or repour the bearings. Another bit of "regular maintenance" we get to avoid with the advent of better oils and better materials (and higher priced labor).
Reminds me of "The Grapes of Wrath" (book not movie), where the Hudson Super 7-powered homemade truck eats a big end on the near edge of the Mojave Desert. The fellas fix it in situ with a wrap of copper wire in lieu of babbitt. --(the highly literate) rats
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I don't know what year this ad was written, but I can't understand why the 'G-man' would be expected to replace the connecting rods when they simply need to be cleaned and new babbit poured, honed and refitted. This was standard practice back in the 'babbit pounder' days. In fact some engines were built to allow the con rods to be removed from the bottom with the piston and cylinder head in place. Back in the days when labor was much cheaper than parts, so you could pay some poor sap to lie under your car with oil dripping in his face and re-shim or repour the bearings. Another bit of "regular maintenance" we get to avoid with the advent of better oils and better materials (and higher priced labor).
Reminds me of "The Grapes of Wrath" (book not movie), where the Hudson Super 7-powered homemade truck eats a big end on the near edge of the Mojave Desert. The fellas fix it in situ with a wrap of copper wire in lieu of babbitt.
--(the highly literate) rats
You could even regrind the rod journals in situ. I have an old Winona In-The-Block journal grinder that did just that. Awesome curio.
Sorry I left that out, the ad was from 1936. Babbitt was still being used.
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