Interestesting defects

As an illustrative comment as to old lack of engineering known in the early 1930's;

Tinindian
In my experience the only part that is hard to find is a crown and pinion. I am on my 4th differential. Every one of the pinions dropped a tooth opposite the last digit of the stamped part number. Interesting flaw???.

Very interesting indeed !!!. I wonder it you had of polished the area around the digit if it would have relieved the internal stressed area???.
Have you examined the area and seen that the crack started at the bottom of the number? This should have been the area that had the most stress from heat treatment and a sharp stamp!

Do you have the parts still or have you discarded them?

Some of the other comments he made are at;

http://forums.aaca.o...d/Number/438282

Any comments will be very much appreciated!!!

M.L. Anderson

There are some G-clamps sold here (and probably all over the world) with a similar problem...

The have the word 'UNBREAKABLE' forged into them, and one of the letters creates a stress point that causes them all to break at that point when overloaded. I think it's the 'U' that does the damage... so if it had 'BREAKABLE' on there presumably it would be harder to break!

What is a 'Tinindian'?

Just a guess, but a Tin Indian might well be a Pontiac.

Originally posted by m9a3r5i7o2n
As an illustrative comment as to old lack of engineering known in the early 1930's;

Tinindian
In my experience the only part that is hard to find is a crown and pinion. I am on my 4th differential. Every one of the pinions dropped a tooth opposite the last digit of the stamped part number. Interesting flaw???.

Maybe after the second or third identical failure I might get out a file and dress that up before installing it. Just a thought.

Guy goes to the doctor and says "it hurts when I do this." Doctor says, "well, stop doing that."

Would love to see a photo of that ring and pinion, it does sound sort of interesting.

Originally posted by McGuire
Guy goes to the doctor and says "it hurts when I do this." Doctor says, "well, stop doing that."

I was doing a Barber weekend at Road America once and was talking to the instructor about how I was having problems with bumps when I took a certain line. You could tell who all the racer-doctors were because they started chuckling.

Me, to my instructor: "I'm having trouble dealing with traffic after getting passed."
Instructor: "Go faster. You'll be passed less."

Filing won't help alone. It needs to be re treated and even then it may fail. Don't stamp anything, tag em or paint them.

Originally posted by McGuire


Maybe after the second or third identical failure I might get out a file and dress that up before installing it. Just a thought.

Guy goes to the doctor and says "it hurts when I do this." Doctor says, "well, stop doing that."

Would love to see a photo of that ring and pinion, it does sound sort of interesting.

Originally posted by phantom II
Filing won't help alone. It needs to be re treated and even then it may fail. Don't stamp anything, tag em or paint them.

Perhaps. But then you don't know the loving I can lay on a piece of metal. It's a kind of magic, really.

Your advice on how they should have marked the parts originally is totally sound, but around 70 years late. NOW you tell them LOL.

yeah, I got the ass end of the story. I saw a Cuban scrapping bearings on a mid 80s Chevy 350 the other day and he had punched each bearing cap for ID. 1 hole for rod cap one, 2 for 2 and so on. Mains as well.

Originally posted by McGuire


Perhaps. But then you don't know the loving I can lay on a piece of metal. It's a kind of magic, really.

Your advice on how they should have marked the parts originally is totally sound, but around 70 years late. NOW you tell them LOL.

Originally posted by phantom II
yeah, I got the ass end of the story. I saw a Cuban scrapping bearings on a mid 80s Chevy 350 the other day and he had punched each bearing cap for ID. 1 hole for rod cap one, 2 for 2 and so on. Mains as well.

Mechanics have been doing it that way for a long time. As long as you use a prick punch and don't go nuts with the hammer you will be okay.... probably. There are many things that should not be done but are often gotten away with.

When I work on Italian engines, instead of numbers I use a letter punch set and mark things I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX... mildy amusing for the next person who takes it apart. Oh the fun we have.

I wont let you near my Lusso, you murderer you.

Originally posted by McGuire



Mechanics have been doing it that way for a long time. As long as you use a prick punch and don't go nuts with the hammer you will be okay.... probably. There are many things that should not be done but are often gotten away with.

When I work on Italian engines, instead of numbers I use a letter punch set and mark things I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX... mildy amusing for the next person who takes it apart. Oh the fun we have.

Originally posted by phantom II
I wont let you near my Lusso, you murderer you.

Got that LS2 in there yet?

You joke. I'm tempted as it smokes like hell from rings and valves so it is embarrassing to drive and it smells like oil inside. It was last restored in 86(not engine) and I have had it since 94. It didn't smoke when I first got it but I liked the sound of the V12 at full song too much. Its got 42 thousand miles which is high for an old Ferrari. The garage roof fell on it in the hurricane over two years ago. I'm on a waiting list to get it restored by a guy in Naples Fl. My son had a 550 with nearly 80 thousand miles. The original owner used it daily. Absolutely no problems. He put an exhaust system on it that made it sound like the Lusso. He has a 430 now and it is always being repaired. Two new clutches(paddle shift) and plenty brake problems and he rarely gets on it. What's a son of mine doing driving Fiats anyway? It took two years to get the warehouse roof fixed.

Originally posted by McGuire


Got that LS2 in there yet?

To McGuire; You might try to reach him at; mailto: rhpti@telus.net

M.L. Anderson

Originally posted by phantom II
You joke. I'm tempted as it smokes like hell from rings and valves so it is embarrassing to drive and it smells like oil inside. It was last restored in 86(not engine) and I have had it since 94. It didn't smoke when I first got it but I liked the sound of the V12 at full song too much. Its got 42 thousand miles which is high for an old Ferrari. The garage roof fell on it in the hurricane over two years ago. I'm on a waiting list to get it restored by a guy in Naples Fl.

That is a fine old engine, one of my favorites. You didn't hurt it a bit revving it as long as it didn't overspeed... probably good for it. IMO the secret to making them live without smoking prematurely is to drive them every day. Not just starting them but running them up to temps and wanging on them a bit. Otherwise the valve guides and piston rings will dry out and get all varnished up.

I remember reading about a deathly accident happened to an US WWII fighter prototype (can't recall which).
One of the propeller blades failed because of a wrongly placed serial number stamp.