<VV> Re: VV> Tech question--pilot bushings / Answer from Ken

[mhicks130 at cox.net]

>From the internets:

>>
 Chrysler's Amplex division was founded in 1930 to make parts using the Oilite® process. Chrysler engineered the method of
manufacturing parts by mixing powdered metals and compressing them into near-net shapes. It was faster to make a part this way than
to machine one from raw material. A briquette, called Oilite®, made of iron, copper, bronze or aluminum powder is shaped by a press,
passed through a furnace and pressed again into final form, without any machining necessary. Parts made in this manner are used in
low-strength areas, not crankshafts, connecting rods, etc. A benefit of this process is that parts can be vacuum impregnated with oil,
hence the name Oilite®, and can be used for self lubricating bearings. The parts are actually 19% porous and hysteresis ( HEAT )
draws the oil out of the pores, forming a hydrodynamic wedge at 6 o'clock between the shaft and bushing. They started production
at the Dodge plant then moved here in 1937.  Chrysler stopped manufacturing Oilite® in the late 1980's.
>>


So it would appear just soaking your bearing in oil won't do much, you gotta vacuum impregnate it.  I'm not sure how that's done and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

mike