VV2-55 Spring Question

[Lah Ca]

Bleated thanks to all.

It will be some time before I get around to doing anything here.

There is much chaos in my life at the moment.

[MarkELynch]

Life gets in the way sometimes but it is always comforting to have something to look forward to.

Here is the 2-55 parts listing. Notice that the complete spring barrel assembly was available as well as the spring and rivets separately.

This may not be a comprehensive list. When the RCA published this it included only the parts they still had available at that time. Other Victor model parts listings when this appeared (early 1930’s) had severely truncated listings.

Mark

[phonojim]

I would consider using 6-32 screws which are only slightly larger in diameter as well as being a very common and easy to find size today. However, make sure there is enough room around the existing hole to accommodate the larger hole.

[Lah Ca]

Thank you for all the replies.

I have not had much time to look at this issue at all. But today, I did.

I tried a different technique for cleaning the motor before removing the spring drum/barrel, well ... at least a technique I have not seen discussed here.

I took the motor to my mechanic whom I had to visit anyway and asked if he could put it in his parts cleaner.

He did not think that this was a good idea, but he did propose something else, spraying the motor with brake fluid from a small pump equipped plastic bottle and blowing the fluid and dissolved 1920s grease and dirt off with an air hose.

He had one of his junior mechanics do it. It took very little brake fluid and very little time, about 5 minutes.

The motor is not entirely clean only because I said it was good enough for my purposes at the point we stopped--this was being done for free and was interrupting his work on someone's car. The young mechanic would have continued if I had asked.

[Jim_Cannon]

Did he spray it with Brake Fluid? Or Brake Cleaner?

Brake Fluid is very corrosive.

Brake Cleaner is a solvent. It evaporates without leaving an oil film.

To clean my motor, I used some mineral spirits and a couple of different brushes (as small as a toothbrush).

The mess inside the spring barrel will need a lot of your favorite solvent.

[Lah Ca]

Did he spray it with Brake Fluid? Or Brake Cleaner?

Brake Fluid is very corrosive.

Brake fluid, I think.

However, I am not concerned in the least about this particular motor. It would require an enormous amount of work to restore it to good working condition--bushings for the spindle (and perhaps elsewhere) and probably plating and re-machining of the spindle shaft (and perhaps others). The motor has a lot of slop with wild platter wobble, and it makes horrible screeching noises.

I do not have time at present for slow careful work with this motor. Dismantling the motor and removing and servicing the drum is only a practice run for repairing the spring in my good VV2-55, something I do not want to mess up.

To clean my motor, I used some mineral spirits and a couple of different brushes (as small as a toothbrush).

Thanks.

The mess inside the spring barrel will need a lot of your favorite solvent.

Oh yes. ..... I have watched videos.

[Lah Ca]

Well .... I removed the spring barrel/drum a few minutes ago.

The rivet holes are about 3/32". That at any rate is the drill bit size that comes closest to filling the hole.

The rivets themselves appear to be a very soft brass and are not all that securely installed. I started to drill one out from below, from the non-head end of the rivet, where the end is dimpled, providing a center point for a drill bit. The bit started to catch the metal, the rivet started to spin, and the drill pushed it out a short ways. I was able then to get purchase on the head with a pair of nipper pliars and just gently pull the rivet free. The rest of the rivets look like they will be just as easy. The non-head end of the rivets do not protrude past the surface of the metal they go through.

I will post some pictures later as I have some questions. More later.

[Jim_Cannon]

I recommend you mark the two halves of the barrel now and reassemble the same way.

I tapped the hole and installed a screw in each hole as I removed each rivet. Once it was all screws holding it together, I removed all the screws and disassembled.

[Lah Ca]

I recommend you mark the two halves of the barrel now and reassemble the same way.

I tapped the hole and installed a screw in each hole as I removed each rivet. Once it was all screws holding it together, I removed all the screws and disassembled.

Thanks.

I do not plan to disassemble the barrel any further for the moment. I need to acquire a small tap set and suitable small machine screws before I do anything else. Smaller sizes are not as readily available off the shelf as larger ones.

The alignment of the geared plate and the barrel at what we will call "hole #1" has already been marked with an awl.

[Lah Ca]

Shopping here is complicated by the fact that there seems to be no consistently used terminology for taps, dies, and machine screws. There are two other factors that add to the complications: 1) information on packaging is often cryptic and incomplete, and 2) the people who work in today's hardware stores don't know just exactly what it is that they are selling.

I can find an inexpensive tap set with a 4-40 tap, which I assume would match a 4-40 machine screw, which would be suitable for 3/32" hole. But the only 4-40 taps I can find are NC, National Coarse.

Machine screws seem primarly packaged by number and length, e.g. #8 1.5". Details about thread and pitch are seldom included. And most modern machine screws are Philips, Robertson, or Torx which would be stylistically inappropriate anachronisms for the project at hand.

However, I can find slotted brass pan or round head 4-40 screws which would be quite suitable except that they are fine thread--NF, National Fine? And these I assume would not match a 4-40NC tap.