Crankshaft – the story so far

by Vicki Humphrey on 20 April, 2014

On the 7-8th April, Ainslie Greiner and Ian Stewart travelled to Melbourne to visit Crankshaft Rebuilders. They took the original block from the Royal Daimler with them. The idea was to get the block line-bored and the new crankshaft test fitted to the block – this allows for finalised fitting to the bearings. This also provided Ian with the necessary information to manufacture a new rear main oil seal carrier on his return to the Museum.

Ainslie and Ian were very impressed with the work to date on the crankshaft. It has been made from one piece of metal (billeted) and is a precision piece of engineering.

The original crankshaft was broken and there is speculation from those in the know that the driving technique could well have contributed to this. In addition there are some engineering defects and the idea of having a new crankshaft made was to address these. The original did not have sufficient radius on the journals of the crankshaft.

This was a point of weakness given the weight of the vehicle and the balancing dynamics of the crankshaft. On the new crankshaft the radius has been increased to a 3mm radius and the balancing of the new crankshaft and counterweights is far superior to the original.