Topic: Tecumseh Compressor

[bryancobb]

Man!
Was it ever a circle-jerk trying to find the larger bearing for my Tecumseh HG850 A/C Compressor.
The rear (small) one was easy, but the 28mmX52mmX9mm one on the front of the compressor
crankshaft was VERY challenging to find. 

If anyone is rebuilding their A/C compressor and needs this info, just P.M. me.

[bryancobb]

Got my bearing UPS today.  It WAS the correct one.  It's not made by NACHI any more and the current manufacturer in Mexico, PFI Perfect Fit Industries, Part NO PC28520009CS only sells in lots of 20 through distributors.
The original NACHI Japanese number is BRLE-8-S   It is a metric bearing    28mm I.D.  52mm O.D.  and   9mm wide.
I found 8 NOS pcs in stock by Baker Bearing  1-800-875-6211.  These are  BRLE-8-SN NACHI's  which are the same except with an outside groove for a snap-ring which is fine.
It was $12 through Motion Industries, Inc.

[CharlesTurner]

Thanks for sharing this info.  The compressors aren't all that difficult to rebuild, so long as it's a good core.  Doesn't classic auto air sell a rebuild kit?

[bryancobb]

Doesn't classic auto air sell a rebuild kit?

Yes Charles, but the front seal is $45, front bearing $35, rear bearing $35, gasket set $55

I paid $11 for the front seal,  $12 for front bearing through Motion,  $4 for rear bearing direct from Nachi, and $18 for gasket set NOS on Ebay.

[bryancobb]

When looking at original pic's in Bob Mannel's book, I saw that he Tecumseh Compressors (and I suspect York too) were stamped with approx 1/2" high white letters "R-12."
Well in my quest for details, I scanned the photo, exactly traced and sized the letters in AutoCAD, and imported the drawing into my sign cutting program that I use to cut vinyl decals.

After cutting the letters in a mirror image, five times, and sticking all five in a stack, I then stuck the stack onto a piece of UHMW plastic.  This made the perfect limited-use stamp which I daubbed to a wet surface where I had sprayed a layer of white paint.

What do you think?  I'm very pleased.

[J_Speegle]

Interesting (the stamp) never saw one of those on an original AC pump. Not sure why it was  used since R-12 was the only choice in the 60's. Hmm. A couple of other white ink shapes were typically seen based on allot of 65-66 pumps I saw -   OIL and an "R"

Just my experiences 

[Murf]

The compressors in most of the cars here in the midwest (Dearborn built) had both the" R- 12" and the "OIL" stamp on the head of the cylinder compressor in white.  To answer the question that Jeff asked " why mark them with R 12 since it was the only available substance?" , I feel the stamp indicates that in fact they were filled with Freon and tested, or vacuum tested and then filled with Freon which ever way it happened.  The OIL stamp    indicates that oil had been added in the proper amount.

[bryancobb]

Do you have a picture of the OIL stamping?

[Pete Bush]

Bryan,

I like your solution to creating the stamp. Could you provide a more detailed explanation - including your process of re-sizing from Bob's photo?

Pete

[J_Speegle]

Do you have a picture of the OIL stamping?

Yes but can't post it - for some reason Photobucket (my photo hosting site) is acting up. Possibly due to the new Foxfire version I installed yesterday

As for the difference on Deaborn cars - I have a few of those and there is only an R on my example (from 68-69) but not the full R-12

On the subject of reproducing the stamps remember that you need to down size these from what you see in the pictures since the rubber expands on application. You can see that your stamp (once applied) is slightly wider (fatter) than the one shown in the book. Not a big difference but one that is noticeable (IMHO) when compared side by side

[bryancobb]

Jeff,
The sign vinyl that I cut the letters out of doesn't Squish oit like rubber.  The reason the stroke of my letters is thicker is because the paint is squeezed out from between the face of the letter and the surface you are stamping.

In my humble opinion, some of the 10, 20, or 30,000 compressors stamped at Ford,or Tecumseh, or Eaton, would have had the same issue mine had, and would have looked like mine!   LOL  Thanks for all your expertise Jeff.

Bryan

[J_Speegle]

Just as part of the discussion   but maybe the reasons the example are as wide as they are is because the ink/paint on the original squeezed out also making the size larger than that stamp also. Just making the point that each time it is copied, stamped then copied again the stamp grows and grows LOL.

Remember the first set of these (the OIL and R's) I made in the 80's were from cardboard and tooth-picks. Single use only :0

Have seen some of the restorers stamps grow (from original) by 1/4"-3/8" over time.

 

[bryancobb]

Could you provide a more detailed explanation - including your process of re-sizing from Bob's photo?

RESIZING THE PHOTO ACCURATELY
1) Measure between 2 reference points on the head of the ACTUAL compressor which you can easily recognize in the photo in the Mannel book.

2) Scan the photo out of the Mannel book and save it to your harddrive

3) Open AutoCAD or any other CAD or vector graphics program

4) Import the scanned photo at any scale

5) Pull a dimension between the 2 recognizable reference points on your photo (say for example, it measures 23.253")

6) Divide the dimension from step 1 , by the dimension from step 5

7) Scale the photo by the percentage from step 6

Trace the letters in the photo using lines and curves as appropriate

9) Save just the lines ( not the photo ) on a disk as an AutoCAD  *.DXF file and take it to a local sign shop and tell them to cut the letters for you 5 or 10 times at the size you drew them (THEY MUST BE CUT IN REVERSE)

10) Get a piece of something small with a flat face to use as the stamp itself

11) Stick the decals on the flat face of the stamp stacking them directly on top of each other until 5 layers high or more

The stamp is ready.  Practice before staming the actual part.

[rodster]

Very clever!    Thanks for the info. I might have been able to help save you some steps by sending you a photo of the R-12 with a scale included.

The R-12 stamp on my 65 Dearborn compressor is nice and sharp but a different guy must have done the 'OIL'.  Jeff probably has a nicer example, if not it should be easier to reproduce a sloppy factory stamp.

[Pete Bush]

Thanks, Bryan!

I understand the mart about building up the vinyl letters five times to get the proper relief from the stamp. Is all vinyl sheet stock the same thickness, or do you specify a certain thickness?