I have a lycoming o-145 that was previously used as an airboat engine, everything specs out okay except extremely excessive play on the thrust bearing. I have looked far and wide for parts and so far no luck. I have come up with a couple ideas for possible solutions?
#1 cast two very oversized blocks of Babbitt, true them to each other and bolt them together rigidly at one end, chuck that end into a lathe and turn a new bearing (my current front runner on what to do)
#2 make a jig to hold existing bearing, “solder” it up with Babbitt over size and face it back
#3 use bar stock bronze and machine same as #1 but slightly over tolerance, “tin” it with Babbitt, then machine it to final tolerance (very expensive compared to the other options)
#4. Take it to a specialist in making Babbitt bearings an hour away who is very expensive and backlogged.
I’m not obsessed with Babbitt, it’s just that it is available and makes good bearings. I am more than open to suggestions. (Or if somebody knows somebody that has a source for parts for o-145’s that would be great)
#1 cast two very oversized blocks of Babbitt, true them to each other and bolt them together rigidly at one end, chuck that end into a lathe and turn a new bearing (my current front runner on what to do)
#2 make a jig to hold existing bearing, “solder” it up with Babbitt over size and face it back
#3 use bar stock bronze and machine same as #1 but slightly over tolerance, “tin” it with Babbitt, then machine it to final tolerance (very expensive compared to the other options)
#4. Take it to a specialist in making Babbitt bearings an hour away who is very expensive and backlogged.
I’m not obsessed with Babbitt, it’s just that it is available and makes good bearings. I am more than open to suggestions. (Or if somebody knows somebody that has a source for parts for o-145’s that would be great)
