I use to Machine these Oilite Bearings in REAL Oilite. Pictered Above.
No less than 19 Machining Operations in a Tolerance of 0.0005" +- On the O.D. and on the I.D. .0015" per side .0030" Total Max., and allow for Heat Expansion of 2 Differing Metals. "For a Perfect Fit Everytime!"
It took Me more than 3 Hours to Machine 1 Bearing. "You can't Rush Precision" "Machined to Absolute Zero Error Concentricity and Axial Alignment".
...who was it who wrote, on this Forum, "These are Nothing more than a High School Shop Project" Come forward and Identify Yourself, Coward! Another, Insisted on Referring to them as 'Bushings', I refused to Sell to Him, take your act down the road!
When I first started producing them for every 351C Pantera and Exotic that Had a ZF Transaxle. Up to and Including a Real GT 40 with a 427 Engine worth 1-1/2 Million Dollars. And Hot Rods, Kit Cars, Experimentals and other exotics with a 351 Cleveland, custom ordered and fitted to their Transmission. Also Windsor Engines, and a Steel Bearing Carrier and Oilite Bronze Bearing for a Mangusta.
From the first day they cost $25.00 Shipping FREE.
As the Price of Bronze Tripled the price rose to $135.00 Shipping FREE. Because they are the best they can possibly Be. CNC cannot cut these because a CNC Lathe Can Not put the Love into them.
I NO Longer offer them. I Stopped Machining them, as there are people here that have the wrong Idea of what these are, and have smeared My Skill and Reputation. Sure, they Know 'What' they're doing!...?? But, they really do Not Know what they are Talking About. You 'Killed' the Machinist who Created the Golden Bearing!
The Bearing (Never a Bushing) Shown in Buchanans' Photo Is NOT My Bearing! It IS a Cheap Bearing CAST Mostly in IRON with Barely 20% Copper, In China, and can still be purchased from Vendors for $16.95 It is Not a Machined Bearing from Oilite Bronze Billet, and the Fit is Questionable. The cheap bearing 'WILL' wear-out the Input shaft snout of a ZF Transaxle...Because it Has a Very High IRON Content of near 75%, it IS Magnetic! You get what you pay for.
The Oilite that I used was SAE 863 Sintered Bronze with UP-T0 1.0% IRON and is NON-Magnetic. It is a Powderd Bronze that is Compressed under 200,000 Lbs. of pressure, with a Light Oil SAE 30 within the Pores of 20% by Volume. As Oilite wears-in, or is heated as in Machining Operations, the Fine Oil Oozes out. You Don't wish to put it in the Pocket of your best Slacks. Check Wikipedia and search for yourself.
Real Oilite Can NOT wear out shafts, shafts are 'Gear Hardened'! Check it with a file, at the End Only, it will glance-off without a scratch.
'Machined Thicker Beefier to Last Longer'. Look at the Mark of Position, of the Thinner Bearing on the Input Shaft. The Thicker Bearing added another 0.200".
I at certain times have tested Oilite for durability, How? I put the Bearing in My Lathe, spin it up to 3000 RPM, bring the Tail Stock up to it, holding a 'Dead Center' also gear hardened! And I cram it in, lock the Tailstock in Place and Crank the center feed up to say 500-600 Pounds of pressure. 'Tested to Destruction'. What happens is the Sintered Bronze squeezes out, crumbling. The Center...Not so much as a Scratch on it!! It Melds from high points to low, and will self-Align to any mis-alignment of Shaft, Bellhousing to the 351 Crankshaft, while in use.
NO Longer Available. Those that have one, Congrats. I created about 35, and more of these, sent all around the World. It was My Greatest Pleasure to Serve You!