Case 680E

[Eugen]

Pulled the trigger on that manual adjustable reamer. What's another $100 in the big bucket of thousands already invested in this machine.

I had a feeling that the old bushing most likely needs to be replaced by the amount of wiggling happening even with the new piston pin. But it doesn't hurt to confirm it with a measurement. My dial bore gauge can only do 2-6" so I had to go cave man on it using telescoping gauges and the micrometer.

To put things in perspective, it's a big rod.

The old pin being measured.

The nominal piston pin size is 1.625 inches; the old pin measures 1.2617, the new pin measures 1.2643. Using the telescoping gauge the bushing ID measures about 1.2674.

So the old pin clearance is about
1.2674-1.2617 = 0.0057

Using the new pin with the old bushing would give about
1.2674-1.1643 = 0.0031
clearance. The service manual says acceptable clearance is 0.0008 to 0.0014. New bushing needed, clearly.

Onward we go, hopefully.

[JSinMO]

I feel your pain @Eugen. I know all of us have experienced cost overruns on projects we have had. I know I have! At least you know you’ll have a fine machine when you’re done. I’m hoping you can gain some back or at least feel better about the cost when you can put it to work, or get you money back if you sell it later. If nothing else you should feel proud of the work you’ve put into it to make it right.

[Eugen]

Meet my new future mini press. That's a 12 ton bottle. Should be enough to press the bushings out/in.

[Toolslinger]

There's no way to beat having a press when you need it.
Mine is a pretty crappy 20 ton import. It flexes WAY too much under load to make me comfortable. But it beats the crap outa all the previous options I had. I always keep an eye open for a used/vintage 50 ton reputable brand... That would make pressing matters far more pleasant.

Glad to see you're picking away at it, but man, I feel your pain on the snowballing cost. Going to be a heck of a machine when you're done though.

[Eugen]

There's no way to beat having a press when you need it.
Mine is a pretty crappy 20 ton import. It flexes WAY too much under load to make me comfortable. But it beats the crap outa all the previous options I had. I always keep an eye open for a used/vintage 50 ton reputable brand... That would make pressing matters far more pleasant.

A press has been on my wish list for quite some time, but somehow it didn't make it to the top of the priorities list. I suppose you can never have enough pressing force, but really it does make me wonder what kind of tasks would need a 50 ton press. It's a sincere question, because when I decided to look for a press somehow I thought I'd be more than ok with a 20 ton press. My experience with fabrication is somewhere between none and very limited.

[Eugen]

Anyway, the makeshift press worked well on this first rod. I used two large sockets, one with OD about the same size as the bushing OD, and the other with ID larger, to be able to push the bushing into it. I first pushed the old bushing about 1/8" using the socket, then I put the new bushing in and allowed it to push the old bushing out. Hopefully it won't mess up on the next ones.

[Toolslinger]

I haven't run across anything I couldn't handle, or destroy with the 20 at my house. At work, I've maxed out the 40, and the parts just sat there laughing at us. I found that quite rude. That said, it was a 3.5" diameter shaft, with a 16" diameter 4" thick gear that had been shrink fit in place. A couple weeks later, the engineer that designed it, decided he wanted the gear moved a 1/4" for clearance in the machine... Not something most normal people will ever have to deal with. Sent it out to a shop with some really massive machines, and they didn't blink an eye.

I picked 50 as my target simply due to the few I've run across. Build quality has been good, and they're big, so there's more room on the beams to setup . Again, I haven't made a study of them, but I haven't run across smaller presses with a movable ram, which also makes me think it would be easier to set some odd/larger pieces set up. What really concerns me with my 20 is when you really load it up, and the beams start bending, you're storing a whole lot of energy. When the two parts finally move, the movement is more violent as the beams spring back. I guess I could probably live happily with a 20 ton, but with a better quality frame.

[Eugen]

When I was looking at presses on the local marketplace I was quite surprised by the frame build and thought "wow, that does 30 tonnes?!" It's good to see that my concerns reflect in your experience. If you had the time, I'm sure you have the tooling and skills to beef up your frame. But then, you guys in the US have access to so much more vintage, quality tooling, it's probably not really worth diy.

The other three rods are re-bushed too. Now waiting for the reamer.

[Eugen]

Continuing the one man show here. For your entertainment, behold the press pressing with pressure

https://vimeo.com/849472798

[Spike188]

@Eugen I love your little press fabrication. It is fitting that you used Case parts in the build. The GT lift plate is one item that is recognizable.

Ingenious!