John Deere R pony motor rebuild

[trross2001]

New member and happy to be on board. Currently I’m rebuilding a John Deere R pony motor. Albert at Renaissance is handling the crank turn or replacement.
My question is with the main bushings and specifically with the removable main bearing bushing plate at the front of the motor. The main shell has a 360 degree cut through the center, which would lead me to believe that the oil galley hole in the bushing may not need to be oriented with a particular hole in the main casting due to oil pressure “finding” the hole. it should be noted that this main casting has three machined oil galley holes in the shell of the race. The service manual does not mention anything about this particular bushing and the pictures orient it straight up towards the cam bearing. Anyone drifted these bushings in and had a thought process? The rear bushing on the flywheel side looks to have one hole at the top of the journal and I will align that one accordingly. Thanks.

 

[560Dennis]

Good post ! I’m interested in the project . Thanks !

 

[Janicholson]

Welcome to YT forums and Parts ASAP.
I believe putting it reasonably aligned with the hole reduces the labyrinth the oil mist negotiate. It probably is not critical but I like to give lube as direct a shot as possible. Jim

 

[wore out]

New member and happy to be on board. Currently I’m rebuilding a John Deere R pony motor. Albert at Renaissance is handling the crank turn or replacement.
My question is with the main bushings and specifically with the removable main bearing bushing plate at the front of the motor. The main shell has a 360 degree cut through the center, which would lead me to believe that the oil galley hole in the bushing may not need to be oriented with a particular hole in the main casting due to oil pressure “finding” the hole. it should be noted that this main casting has three machined oil galley holes in the shell of the race. The service manual does not mention anything about this particular bushing and the pictures orient it straight up towards the cam bearing. Anyone drifted these bushings in and had a thought process? The rear bushing on the flywheel side looks to have one hole at the top of the journal and I will align that one accordingly. Thanks.

Why not ask the DEERE cranking erngine "GURU" who is grinding your crank or supplying a replacement what his idea is on the orientation of the main bearing?

 

[trross2001]

I tend to agree that the orientation probably isn’t critical. Ford and Chevy and possibly others have used “oil behind the bearing” before if memory serves and I do recall them saying that alignment didn’t matter much. I’ve been meaning to sign up because there’s a lot of good minds out there too pick.

I asked Albert, but I have not heard back.

 

[NoDakInMN]

A thought, the Cat pony motor is close to the one on the R. Sasquatch253 has channel on You Tube and he did a series on the Cat pony and I seem to recall that there was an episode where this was thoroughly discussed. It was under the Swamp Angel build. Worth checking out.