Bronze Pilot Bushing

[Horseracejudge]

Hello All,

I’m trying to find a bronze no iron content pilot bushing for a stock hypo 302. They are hard to find these days. Any ideas or info appreciated. Nick

[Tommy]

Summit Racing lists several "solid bronze" pilot bushings. I don't know if any fit your car.

[Horseracejudge]

Hi Tommy,

Appreciate your reply. I inquired at McCleod. Most everything available contains some iron. They said over the last decade the older pure bronze oil impregnated bushings became more expensive & almost extinct. The bronze used was also becoming scarce. If you check the ones available at the various parts distributors they have a good % of iron & are magnetic. There are many that say solid bronze. They are not. Best advice I got so far was to get bronze bar stock & have it machined. I’m not going that far. There is a machinist in California that was doing that for the a Pantera group. Not sure if he is in business. He went by the name Marlin Jack machinist. He was a Pantera owner & top rated machinist. Thank for you input. Have a nice Christmas. Nick

[PDUB]

you prefer the bushing over the bearing? If so, why? (I am about to purchase so I am interested in input.)


Thanks

[Horseracejudge]

Hi Paul,

There’s a lot of mixed opinions on each. Sealed bearings get higher grades than needle. Amount of run out in bell housing alignment is more critical with bearings. Installation without damaging them is also a risk factor. If they do fail they inflict more damage to the input shaft.
The real bronze oil impregnated were used many years without many failures. They are less sensitive to help housing alignment problems. If they fail the input shaft is not as seriously damaged. They are less prone to installation damage. I prefer less moving parts in this area. I’m old school. This is the first time I’ve needed a bushing. Never thought finding a good one woul be difficult. There’s a lot of pro & con info out there. Thanks. Nick

[Grubby]

Any machine shop or person with a lathe in their basement could make you one. Purchase oilite or similar from Grainger and machine it down.

John

[Horseracejudge]

Hi John,

Looks like getting something close from Grainger or McMaster Car & getting it machined is the way to go. I’ll have to find a shop or person to do it. Thanks for your help. Nick

[FFR428]

I went with a NOS Ford bushing. Part # is D1TZ-7600-A. Has the older FoMoCo script logo cast in it. Was only $25 shipped off ebay. Going behind the 427 with BI/BO toploader. Have always used them when needed. Not 100% positive on metal content.
Sorry about the HUGE picture. I removed it.

[SwiftDB4]

Are bronze bushings with some iron really a problem? When I tore down my Roush 427SR for a rebuild I replaced the crank bushing. After 25,000 miles there was some wear, but not excessive. I did replace the bushing. There was no input shaft wear.
If having a non ferrous bushing is such a compulsion then have it machined as others say.

[Tommy]

Horseracejudge,
I went through the same thought process you described above, and checked several bushings with a magnet. All the cheaper ones had iron. I eventually found a true bronze one for the Chevy engine in my Cheetah, but I can't find any record of who made it. Sorry I can't be of better help, but unless you plan to put 100K miles on your Cobra, it may not matter much which bushing you choose.

[Horseracejudge]

Hello all,

You’re right. I’m just stuck in the past. I get anal about things & probably over thinking it. Thank you everyone. Nick

[Grubby]

I used the Oilite on my last car.

My good buddy is anal and noted the hole in the crank was .001" out so he really wanted me to put an offset bushing in to get to 0 runout on the input shaft.

He machined an Oilite bushing to fit and put the offset in it.

I put about 15,000 miles on the car and then sold it.

John

[DanEC]

A National HD bushing is typically non-magnetic. But has to be their HD series. The standard National bushing is usually magnetic. Take a magnet with you if you go shopping for one to verify it.

[Horseracejudge]

Hi Dan,

I’ll give it try. Thank you. Nick

[PDUB]

please let us know what you find, as I am sure there are several of us on here who would like to know.

[spdbrake]

These folks either have or can make what you're looking for.

https://selflube.com/products/bushings

[PeteF]

I got an oil impregnated bronze pilot bushing from Falcon Clutch on Long Island, www.falconauto.com. I met the owner at Hershey years ago. Great service, knows clutches.

[incoming]

Check with a good commercial and industrial motor shop. They still use oil-impregnated bronze bushings.

[eschaider]

A needle, ball, or roller bearing, when it fails, will damage the input shaft because the bearing material is as hard or harder than the input shaft. An oilite bronze bushing will not because it is both softer than the input shaft and oil impregnated.

Either bearing failure will require a replacement bearing. An oilite bronze bearing/bushing will preserve your input shaft. A steel, roller or ball bearing not so much.

[DanEC]

Very true. A transmission rebuilder on Corvette Forums used to post photos of chewed up input shafts he had replaced that roller bearings had failed on.