Mercury Through The Years...

We had a roof full of these at Plant 4 over the crank grinders/block line, etc. When the ill fated Lamb piston line went in, they were over it also. We had problems on certain days holding sizes, especially ballizing the piston pin bores. The machine would go out of tolerance for awhile and then be back, mind you, we were dealing in 10,000th of an inch on pin bores.
Drove inspection and the setup men nuts! Then someone noticed as the sun passed over the skylights, it fell right on the machinery and warmed everything up! Just enough to throw pinbores out of whack! A couple cans of Merc Phantom Black over the skylights and we solved our problem.

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Originally Posted by bernie

We had a roof full of these at Plant 4 over the crank grinders/block line, etc. When the ill fated Lamb piston line went in, they were over it also. We had problems on certain days holding sizes, especially ballizing the piston pin bores. The machine would go out of tolerance for awhile and then be back, mind you, we were dealing in 10,000th of an inch on pin bores.
Drove inspection and the setup men nuts! Then someone noticed as the sun passed over the skylights, it fell right on the machinery and warmed everything up! Just enough to throw pinbores out of whack! A couple cans of Merc Phantom Black over the skylights and we solved our problem.

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Great story!!! We had a problem with some B2 fuselage pieces once. The machine beds were built atop some tidal mud flats in Seattle. The machining would be "off" at certain times of the day. It turned out to be "tidal pull" from the nearby Duwamish river.:eek: Thermals cause problems for everybody. Bridges, airplanes, you name it!

https://i.etsystatic.com/7119795/r/i...11097_piab.jpg...rare kiekhaefer mercury outboards flasher sign...

...good story bern. mercury phantom black...the universal anecdote...

https://mspmag.com/downloads/50615/d...fbe59b13&w=600

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...2bfaa0436b.jpg

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.tEbFy8...id=ImgDet&rs=1

"Just enough to throw pinbores out of whack" and thermal differences causing B2 fuselage out of tolerance.

Another reason why, I am still in awe, of HOT-internal combustion engines lasting as long as some of them do.

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Originally Posted by FUJIMO

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.tEbFy8...id=ImgDet&rs=1

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Originally Posted by WaterZebra

Were you given the opportunity to pass on your knowledge and experience to your successors, or did they even care?

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The smart new guys will pick your brain, most won't. They think they already know it all. That's why most are just parts changers. You can really learn from old guys that have been there

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Originally Posted by FUJIMO

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.tEbFy8...id=ImgDet&rs=1

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I never owned a Twister and didn't bother to ask those that did but how in the heck was the port side of the cowl attached where it clears the exhaust log?:eek:

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Originally Posted by WaterZebra

I never owned a Twister and didn't bother to ask those that did but how in the heck was the port side of the cowl attached where it clears the exhaust log?:eek:

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pretty simple. where the top and lower cowl ended,4 screws held 2 metal strips that were bolted vertically and where the wrap ends was folded to catch the 2 strips.

Attachment 518094

...cool...

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.GVQzjU...id=ImgDet&rs=1

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/06...g?v=1590941608