Spindle Pulley gear replacement

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice in my former threads about trying to get an up and running J head from the two that I have. I've decide (currently) that because of the issues(stiff quill lever/worn step pulleys) with the head I was going to replace with that I'm probably better taking the spindle pulley gears (and maybe the entire spindle)from the replacement head and installing them on the current head in the hopes that that will solve all my rattling and angry noises the mill makes when running.
I could use some advice on removing these parts though. Have scoured the manuals that JR linked but cant find the info I need. Help please.
Ive added an image of the J head top housing diagram(tho I'm sure all you experts are familiar with it) just to clarify the parts I'm changing. Parts 20 and 57 are the problem gears.

Thanks again.
Matt

I couldn't enlarge your print but suspect you are mentioning the upper clutch?

If you are getting a noise,did you check for the noise with it in neutral? That will tell you if the upper bearings are noisy. If you get the noise in direct drive only then the clutches, both upper and lower are probably worn out. If the head is old and noisy in general you probably need a real overhaul.

Save yourself hassle and buy the manual I mentioned in one of your other threads, eBay seller stevewb it is cheap and covers step by step every nut and bolt, I use mine all the time

GTR the clutch is in pretty bad shape, the teeth are so rounded they looks like they were designed to be that way! I can swap for the ones in the other head that are good but not sure how to remove them. Probably gonna swap the spindle too. Pulled the spindle, is the lock washer on there supposed to have one tooth bent up into one of the four grooves to act as a keeper?

Sam do you have a link or title for that manual? Looked through my other threads but couldnt find it.
Thanks

Here are 2 rebuild guides that aren't too bad.

J head rebuild

J head rebuild PDF

Here's the one on ebone
Rebuild Manual for 1hp Bridgeport "J Head" Mill | eBay
JR

The clutches both need to be replaced then. IF the upper tapered teeth are worn the lowers are too. The upper is held in by the small ring on the top of the bearing housing. you will see it spin if you move the pulley.

The lower is pressed into the large Bull or back gear and held by retaining washer and lock nut. The lower bearings held in by a large snap ring.

The spindle has the bear hug nut and washer and one tab is bent up into the nut to lock it.

I've managed to pull the upper clutch gear on the first machine, it took quite a fight tho. How do I attack the bull gear? Ive removed the timing belt pulley and cover but dont see a way to pull it. Do I have to remove the top with the three nuts underneath and go at it from there.
Thanks for clarifying on the spindle washer.

When I was rebuilding heads I would break the bear hug nut on the lower clutch loose before splitting the head in 1/2. Once split I did the upper clutch and bearings, new brake block and 4 new springs. The lower half I broke the timing nut loose before splitting it too, got 2 small pry bars under the pulley and popped it up. Removed the 6 cover screw, and key from the back gear pinion, remove the cover and tap the clutch out. Now you might be able to do that without removing the cover but I always washed them out and replaced the 2 small pinion sealed bearings.

Think I must be misunderstanding you here. When you say "break the bear hug nut" that's the nut below the bull gear bearings? So I have to remove the entire gear housing first to access that? Is this a simple undo the three nuts below or is anything gonna jump out at me?

Jumping ahead...when I reassemble this lot do I need any grease on these gears? Im assuming its all lubed by oil going in through the oil cup. Should the bull gear be swimming in oil? What about the upper clutch bearings?

H&W Machine Repair has some very useful videos on rebuilding J heads - and their service is beyond excellent. Highly recommended. (No affiliation other than highly satisfied customer!)

Yes the locking nut on the lower half of the belt housing. We had a tool that fit the nut to remove it without hammering the snot out of it. The lock ring was replaced during a rebuild.

I made the assumption the upper half was off and on the bench. If the spindle is still in the lower half, remove the 3 nuts from the studs of the upper half. Bring down the spindle and apply hand pressure on the lower half while bringing the spindle back up, it will lift the lower belt cover from the bottom casting, bring the spindle back down while supporting it and the lower half studs will rest on the lower casting and the spindle will slide out of the clutch splines and you can remove the lower belt cover housing.

I am sure You tube will have clear picture of this as well.

J head gears were dry, we would put a little grease on the but not a lot, the 2J heads had grease packed back gears.

The upper bearings were sealed, the lowers are open and oiled through the side of the head.

So the replacement parts for the upper half would be the upper bearing set, brake block, belt, timing belt, lower bearing set, back gear pinion bearings, and possibly the back gears. They were usually pretty good but sometimes the teeth were clashed and needed to be replaced.

Parts were expensive 40 years ago, I have not priced them out in years. The last head I rebuild the parts were close to $2k but were all original Bridgeport parts, no knock offs. I have spent the past 30 years rebuilding corvette differentials and steering boxes and haven't been back on a head rebuild in a long time. Back then we didn't have books or videos, we went to Bridgeport school and learned on the job - like you are doing now. The guys I learned from are now all gone or very close to it.

awake said:

H&W Machine Repair has some very useful videos on rebuilding J heads - and their service is beyond excellent. Highly recommended. (No affiliation other than highly satisfied customer!)

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Dont worry @awake, we arent gonna compensate you in any way :P Thanks for the shoutout though

Im not one of our head rebuilders, but if you get stuck or need someone to talk you through it over the phone, we offer free phone support and have 3 head rebuilders here almost at all times. 800-285-5271 and ask for one of the head rebuilders.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

HWElecRepair said:

Dont worry @awake, we arent gonna compensate you in any way :P Thanks for the shoutout though

Im not one of our head rebuilders, but if you get stuck or need someone to talk you through it over the phone, we offer free phone support and have 3 head rebuilders here almost at all times. 800-285-5271 and ask for one of the head rebuilders.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

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I hadn't thought about compensation, but now that you mention it ...

awake said:

I hadn't thought about compensation, but now that you mention it ...

Click to expand...

Send him a bumper sticker that says; "My other car is a Yugo"
I'm all out of turboencabulator tee shirts.
JR

Thanks for all the info GTR, everything is apart(mostly) and I'm onto picking and choosing the best bits to make the ultimate crap old mill. Really appreciate the advice, id probably be breaking it apart with a sledge hammer about now if it weren't for you.

Jon, thanks for the heads up about H and W. Notice ur in indiana, I'm in Bloomington, does your company do house calls? At the moment I have the time to mess with this myself but in the future if we have issues I probably wouldn't be afforded the time.

On to 'which is the best spindle?' competition. One will go into the good machine, one in the bad machine. The older spindle(on the left) has quite alot of scoring on the splines, what is this indicative of? The newer one(right)has some score marks near the nose and a scorched looking patch on the bearing spacer, any theories on what would cause that?

Thanks again,
Matt

Reassembling the bull gear bearing set. Does the lucknut underneath need to be ramped up pretty tight? When its tight the timing belt pulley is really stiff so I'm assuming it should be more loose, however when i removed it it was really tight?

You can mic the splines and see which spindle has the best ones. The marking may be from extended work loading, appears like the lower clutch ID may have hit it but I can't say for sure. The spacers should be tight between the bearings, the original bearings were Fafnirs- long gone now.

The lock nut should be tight and secured by the washer. I never used a torqued wrench with them just tightened with the correct spanner wrench. Without the timing belt the clutch/bull gear should spin smooth and free, the small pinion bearing on the shaft the same. Maybe those are bad? Timing belt doesn't have adjustment, drives off the upper clutch hub. Make sure the timing pulley spins free.

awake said:

I hadn't thought about compensation, but now that you mention it ...

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Dont worry... I didnt even ask anyone here, im just gonna make the command decision and accept your request for compensation. Inst being said, your compensation is getting the honor of speaking your mind

Jon

JRIowa said:

Send him a bumper sticker that says; "My other car is a Yugo"
I'm all out of turboencabulator tee shirts.
JR

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@jr ahahahahaha maybe next time he places an order, I will make sure he gets a pen... theyre awesome pens, they have flashlights on the other end of them.

Jon

Mattyboy said:

Thanks for all the info GTR, everything is apart(mostly) and I'm onto picking and choosing the best bits to make the ultimate crap old mill. Really appreciate the advice, id probably be breaking it apart with a sledge hammer about now if it weren't for you.

Jon, thanks for the heads up about H and W. Notice ur in indiana, I'm in Bloomington, does your company do house calls? At the moment I have the time to mess with this myself but in the future if we have issues I probably wouldn't be afforded the time.

On to 'which is the best spindle?' competition. One will go into the good machine, one in the bad machine. The older spindle(on the left) has quite alot of scoring on the splines, what is this indicative of? The newer one(right)has some score marks near the nose and a scorched looking patch on the bearing spacer, any theories on what would cause that?

Thanks again,
Matt

Click to expand...

Yup we sure do housecalls. And dont worry, bloomington is well within our service call range. Furthest I have gone is South Africa for a service call and we go all over the US for work.

We have about 5 techs thatll do service calls for pretty much anything you need... electronics, head work, base/mechanical stuff (and on more than just Bridgeports). If you ever have any questions, give the shop a call. 800-285-5271

And thanks for letting me shamelessly plug my company

Jon
H&W Machine Repair