For those of you who remember (or care!) I solved my crank end play problem
like this:
Since no other cranks were available here and airfreighting a new one was
out, I decided to use my crank that showed 12 thou end play (the limit)
after it had been cleaned up by the machine shop. I cut the back thrust
faces off the new center bearing shells using a Dremel tool with a thin
cutting disk. Made 8 thou shims and TIG tacked them behind the thrust faces
(and filed the tacks smooth.) Put the bearings in the block/cap and clamped
the thrust faces in place. Again tiny TIG tacks along where I had cut to
hold the thrust faces in place.
I've checked the bearings in several places with Plastigauge and they don't
seem to be affected (warped) by the small welds. Everything seems to fit
well and my end play is back to 4 thou.
As they say, neccessity is the mother of invention (just like failure is the
mother of experience!)
cheers, derek
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