Compression Plate

[kartjockey]

This is the beginning of reproducing the compression plate (#182A in the parts catalog)for my engine.  I used a cog gear to make the fixture out of.  Only because I had saved it with other random pieces of material just to make things out of. Worked perfectly for this job. So you will see some unused holes in it that were used for what it was originally used for. The next step is to mill the middle out to fit the cup portion of this project. Waiting on the exact measurements for that piece.  The fixture lets me make a side cover in about 20 minutes. 

[Mike Sal]

Nice work.  I still don't have the 220 line ran to my mill after I moved it to another building (the building only had 110, so I have to re-wire.....). 
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

Pretty snazzy Tom!  How are you forming the cup?  I know Wayne machines new compression plates/cover combo's out of a billet of aluminum.  They are pretty heavy, but look good.

[kartjockey]

Through the years I used to put on a lot of speedi-sleeves. They come with an installation tool(looks like a cup). I have my parts store ordering some of these sleeves so we can measure the cups they come with. he thinks he has found the size I need.Plus I emailed the company(SKF bearing) for help but have not heard back from them yet. So the cup will be already formed for me.  Just have to join the two together and put the dimple in it for the piston.   Going to the parts store today to check.

[kartjockey]

Luck fell my way at the parts store! I found the perfect size cup for my compression plate. The hole in the crankcase is 3.650" and the cup I got is 3.637".  It doesn't get any better than that!  But I also knew that upon forming the dimple I didn't have much room for cup distortion so I made up the press adaptor to ensure everything went well.  The ring kept it from going egg shaped and the flange still fit it perfectly after I pressed the dimple in it.    Prior to pressing I had put the cup in my lathe to cut it down to 7/8" deep.  Final step is to silver solder flange and cup together. The cup cost about $35 and the material for the fixtures I had laying around.

[Ricks]

That is an awesome job!  Very impressive.  I bet there is a market for those.

[kartjockey]

I have decided that 'nothing runs like a '48 with a compression plate'! I had a discussion with Wayne about compression plates. I told him mine ran without it and he said yeah but they run a whole lot better with them to which I concurred. He said an 'M' won't hardly run at all without one. We decided that it is probably the difference in the volumes of the crankcases as the earlier 8 bolt ones are quite a bit smaller than the 12 bolt ones. So Ed Steele.....do you have an 8 bolt side cover? I read on here you are missing your compression plate.  Contact me about this.