Pulling Gib Keys (What a great tool!)

[Reno Speedster]

I just pulled the Gib Keys on my Ashwamegh with a Gib Key Puller George loaned me and it worked like a champ!  Very easy to use and they came out clean as a whistle (well once I scraped off some of the paint and bondo the Indians slap over everything).  The flywheels came off and the crank came out in a minute.  Now I can take the case to be hot tanked and start the reassembly.    I wish the indians would have spent a bit more time finishing some of the critical parts rather than applying Bondo on everything but hey its will all come out right.  But I digress....  George's tool is a good one and when he has a few more made I will have to add one to the tool box. 

Morgan

[quinnf]

Morgan,

After hot-tanking you  can easily clean up any surfaces that aren't up to par.  A 4.5" angle grinder with a flap-disk type sanding disk makes short work of surface imperfections.  Once I had stripped the paint with chemical stripper I applied the sander to it and smoothed it out.  It turned out beautiful and only took three disks at a few bucks each.  I recommend 60 or 80 grit, no finer! 

Quinn

[hotater]

I used a needle scaler on all castings...it was amazing what was actually debris and sand and not cast iron.  That applies to inside as well as outside.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/222739280YaOuAd

A needle scaler breaks out bubbles and pits and loosens the sand AND seals the surface by peening.

Bondo works wonders on the outside.   

[Joe]

Quinn,
Is that the same gib key removal tool as in "Quinn of gib key removal fame".
I will need to make one of those...thanks for the drawing.

Joe

[quinnf]

I dunno. Sounds like George has a puller.  My idea was just a set of wedges.  I sent George a drawing, explaining what I did, and I heard from someone else that it's on the CD.  Of course he's welcome to use it any way he wants.  It's a simple, low-tech solution to a low-tech problem we all face with these engines.

Quinn

[Reno Speedster]

No this is not the wedge system.  Let me see if I can describe it.    It is two 1/2 thick plates (about 4x2) which are bolted together on edge to form a square about 4 inches across that is split down the middle.  A hole the diamiter of the crankshaft has been bored in the square so that there is a half circle cut out of each side.  One side has a notch cut in it so that it goes over the thin portion of the Gib Key.  This means that one side goes over the thin portion of the gib key and arround half the crank shaft, the other side is then bolted on clamping arround the other side of the crank and insureing that the puller is secure.  On the gib key side there are two threaded holes for two allen bolts that go through the plate and press against the flywheel.  A single allen bolt goes through the non key side.  By turning these three bolts tighter the plate is pushed back against the shoulder of the Gib key and very neatly pushes it out.  Sorry, I can't figure out how to post pictures here as it is quite simple and self explanitory once you see the tool.  Hope that helps.  As I said, when George makes some more, I'll buy one from him.

[quinnf]

Morgan,

I understand.  That's a nice simple method.  I had thought of doing something similar, boring a 2" hole with a rectangular cutout in a piece of 1/2" steel to allow the thing to pass over the gib key head, then turn it 90 degrees or so and tighten three allen or hex head machine screws which would push on the hub of the flywheel.  The wedges were simpler, so that's what I did.  I've had the flywheels off and on three times now, so mebbe it's time to get one if George is selling them.

Quinn

[Copybell]

Quinnf,
   I have taken pictures of a gib key puller that I fabricated.  I tried unsuccesfully to post them using coppermine photo gallery.  If you are interested I am happy to send them to you by way of E-mail.

COPYBELL

[quinnf]

COPYBELL,

Why don't you email me the pic which you can access by clicking on the envelope to the left of this post and I'll upload it to coppermine and describe in a followup post exactly how I did it. 

I can't recall all the steps right now, but once I do them, I'll be able to tell you how to.  It's not hard once you've figured it out, but getting there the first time is sort of like finding the bathroom in a strange house in the dark.   

Quinn

[Copybell]

There is no envelope to the left of your message.

[quinnf]

By jove you're right!  Wonder why that is.  Guess I'm going to have to check my profile and fix that.

Go ahead and send it to me at eqfarnes "at"  yahoo dot com, to foil the crawlers, one hopes.

Does that work?

Quinn

There.  It's fixed.

q.

[quinnf]

COPYBELL,

Here's the scoop.  I exceeded my disk quota so the uploads weren't successful.  You can upload them this way:

Place the pics to be uploaded on your desktop.  Maximum appears to be 1024 kB, so you might want to edit the pics to cut their density.
Register with Coppermine by clicking on the URL in the upper right corner and follow the instructions.
Once you have done that, then login to Coppermine.
Click UPLOAD FILE
Click BROWSE button and locate the first file on your desktop.
Highlight that file in the list that appears.
Click OPEN  The file location appears on line 1
Then on line two, click BROWSE and locate the second file
Highlight it, then click OPEN
Repeat with the third file.
WHen all files are identified that way, click CONTINUE
The screen will change after a few moments/minutes to say "SUCCESSFUL UPLOADS"
Click CONTINUE
The first pic will appear.  You can then add a title and captions.

Hope this helps.  Gotta get to my Christmas party.  I'm glad to help you further if this doesn't work

Cheers!

Quinn