I have a very old Nelson Q500 SS (from Henry's original run) that I would like to let my kid break into 428 with, however, I cannot get the crank installed with any end play. I have taken it apart numerous times and reinstalled the bearings(new) and crank with the exact same results. Even tried Daroll's bearing tool with the same results. They look good and feel good until the collet and drive washer are installed then the end play disappears and it just does not feel good. Something must be basically wrong. Hate to dump the case and crank as the top end is still very good. Any ideas would be appreciated.


dan

put a prop on it and tight it. then tap the crank with a hammer (not hard please), this will help set the bearings on place.

have you tried a different prop drive washer?


BV

As Bill is leading to... perhaps the collet and thrust washer are not mated correctly. There are a couple of different collets out there.

You can try a couple of different collets and see if your end play comes back. If not try spacing the collet forward, I know someone had washers for this at some point. Of course this is if you are sure your bearings are fully seated.

DK

I will try a few more cycles of disassembly and reinstalling the bearings to rule out a poorly seated bearing - I have never had this much trouble on any engine ever to get it set right! I tried all the trust washers and collets I have and none make any difference. I may try to polish any old corrosion/discoloring off the crank as it is much more difficult/tighter fit - to install than my others.


Dan

Hi Dan,
Where did you get the bearings from? Reason I ask is Pete Reed solved a similar issue for me a few years back. I had bought Boca high performance class bearings for my Nelson and had the same issue as you. Pete suspected the bearing had too much " preload" and gave me a set of bearings from Henry and it went away. Pete was a bearing engineer by trade, a wealth of information and a great guy-sure miss him

Lewis

Hey Lewis,

I get all my bearings from Dave Shadel so the BOCA source should not be the problem. I could try another set.

Dan

Does the crank, with prop mounted and the backplate removed, spin freely without the top end installed? if not i would suspect a bent crank or a tweeked case and/or would try a different crank.

Is your piston and sleeve hard to install? If yes, your case or the sleeve is tweeked.


BV

Well... shazamm. I changed out the crank - problem gone. It is all loossey goossey now with perfect end play! Only problem now is I used an Edmonds crank from an old 422 motor so it is not really legal. But who is checking anyway as there is no competitive advantage and there are no Nelson SS replacement parts. Perfect fo the kid. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.


Dan.