Finn Lassen wrote:

I'm considering selling my RV-3, buying a boat and using the Ross drive
as an anchor.

Seriously, I'm going to try to fix the Ross drive at the lowest cost
possible.

My current plan is to use a 2" long sun gear, get the input shaft turned
down from 1.44" to 35mm to fit the thrust bearing Tracy is using. Make a
simple 3/8" alu plate for the thrust bearing to rest on and to hold the
oil seal. I think I may even be able to avoid machining the rear of the
bell housing bulkhead by using the mounting bolts to adjust the thrust
plate 90 degrees to the shaft (plenty of RTV or a silicone baffle
material mat between bulkhead and plate).

If anybody can direct me to a suitable thrust bearing with a 1.44" ID and
not much thicker than 12 mm (and an oil seal to match),  I can even avoid
getting the input shaft machined down.

It all hinges on me being able to press out the sun gear/shaft pin,
pressing off the old gear, pressing on the new gear, drilling a new pin
hole and pressing a pin back in.

My prop should be back at the end of this week, so I'm very reluctant of
taking the first step of pressing the old sun gear off. As it is right
now, I could put everything back together and go fly.

BTW, I just measured the e-shaft end play: .04" which is at the upper
limit. So, if I don't put in a thrust bearing I'd have to replace the
engine thrust bearing in short order and I'm not sure I can get to it
without removing the engine.

Concerning lubrication, as far as I can figure, the oil that lubricates
the prop shaft bearings returns through the prop shaft. If I drill a hole
down through the center of the input shaft (from the front side) and a
couple of small holes in through the sun gear, some of that oil should
seep out and help lubricate the gears.

Finn

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