So after ~50 years of use and abuse my shop compressor needs work.

From what i can gather off the steel nameplates it's a Kellogg American model A320 two stage compressor.

The front oil seal started to weep about a year ago, but it finally started leaking so bad i can't run it anymore without fear of it going dry.

There's also an issue with the high side piston's cylinder wall. It is pitted slightly. I've located what seems to be a overhaul kit for this compressor with new rings, gaskets, etc.

Can i use something like a wheel cylinder hone to clean up the bore a tad? The high side piston is only 1.75" in diameter.

It seems to seal ok since when i put my hand over the piston and turn the compressor by hand it tries to suck my hand in. I'm just worried the pitting will break a ring at some point, if it hasn't already.

I've been running 30 weight compressor oil in it since i was given it but it does knock for a few seconds when dead cold, but once the oil starts moving through it stops knocking completely.


This thing has to be from the '40s or '50s going by the huge Delco 1 1/2 HP non capacitor brush motor. I'm guessing its either an 80 or a 90 gallon tank running 150 psi.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=100945&d=1257219052

Anyone know where i can get some information from? I'm curious about age and such. Hopefully i can repair it, because the modern compressors can't hold a candle to these antiques.

moved to shop

If the pits are small. you can hone them out. Otherwise, you would have to have the head bored out.

exactly what tom said.

we had an old twin cylinder compressor that water had gotten into the cylinders while being stood. We pulled it down and ran a sprung loaded cylinder hone down the cylinders and all was good

Scales (www.scalesair.com/) is where we used to get parts and repairs for our shop compressors.

was able to hone that cylinder a bit. it's better than it was, but still won't be perfect.

Now i've got another issue. I've got the thing all apart, rods out and all.

Both pistons were missing the oil control rings. They weren't even in the crankcase. It's like they weren't installed.

It's a strange oiling system in this compressor. It's not splash lubricated per-se.

http://c.searspartsdirect.com/lis_png/PLDM/00033410-00002.png

http://c.searspartsdirect.com/lis_png/PLDM/00033410-00003.png


The ring on the crank pulls oil up and it's fed into two ports that lead to the oiling hole in the crank for the main bearings.

There's also tubes that lead up to the needle bearings at the piston pin end of the rod.

I'm guessing it's an oil feed up to the needle bearings via centrifugal force.

Now comes my main issue. The rods are ferous, some sort of steel because they are magnetic.

The main bearings seem to be lead, or something very soft like it. i cannot get them out. It's like they are fused in there after 60+ years. I was able to knock a chunk out of each one as there's a hole int eh center that your supposed to drive the bearing out with.

I dont' want to damage the rod cap in the process so i've been trying to be careful.

The rod side of the bearing has that little tube in the center, and i don't' want to pry around there for fear of breaking those ancient tubes.


Any tips on how to get them out? the rebuild kit is supposed to come with new ones, as well as an oil seal and gasket set.

The low side's bearing was chewed up a bit(but not spun), but the crank seems to be ok save for the typical polish/wear patterns of running day in day out for 60 years.

Try these guys Dave you may find a manual on the bay as well there was one for the 4cyl. models.
http://www.gerardaircompressors.com/compair_kellogg.htm

http://www.aircompeq.com/kakits.html


CC

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_pppn=v3&_kw=Kellogg&_kw=Air&_kw=Compressor

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_pppn=v3&_kw=American&_kw=Air&_kw=Compressor

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_pppn=v3&_kw=Air&_kw=Compressor&_kw=manual

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_pppn=v3&_kw=American&_kw=Kellogg&_kw=Air&_kw=Compressor

CC

The main bearings seem to be lead, or something very soft like it. i cannot get them out. It's like they are fused in there after 60+ years. I was able to knock a chunk out of each one as there's a hole int eh center that your supposed to drive the bearing out with.


Dave, chance are the bearing are made of a material called 'babbitt', which was very common in small engines. I don't know the composition of it, but I believe it contained brass, plus something else. It was common in low rpm, moderately low stress areas.

Turns out the bearings are poured babbitt bearings. The bearing isn't an insert like on your average engine.

The bearings are physically poured into the rods(i'm guessing) and then machined "in rod" by the looks of things.

Can't find anywhere that these old style bearings are made. They are the perfect fit bearing more or less, and don't come pre-made. The model-As used poured babbitt bearings.

I wonder how old this compressor really is?

Anyways, i've seen prices on the low end of $100 a rod to pour new ones.

As i've always said, if it needs strange or difficult to acquire parts odds are i own it and found out the hard way.

Rods are out at a machine shop across the state that pours babbit bearings. The crank will also get a polish while it's there.

Re-ringed the pistons and chased all the threads in the block yesterday.

Pistons are actually steel, not aluminum.

Dave she will go another 50 years or so once it's back togerther....you can pass it down to your kids.......I hope my Ingersoll Rand will last as long as yours did my IR is going on 20 years i had to replace the capacitors about 5 years ago......steel pistons wow i guess they dont make'em like they use too;)

capacitors live a hard life and they all fail at some point. Only nice thing is that the capacitor motors are huge torque on startup, which means you can use a smaller electric motor on an equally sized compressor(less weight). Thankfully my electric motor doesn't have them, but it's also probably 200+ lbs of motor.

Might have my hands on another compressor that's even bigger. Only problem something is seized. Either the electric motor or the compressor itself. The guy at the machine shop wants to keep the tank, but said i could have the compressor and motor.

I wasn't going to argue with free. :D

It makes my compressor look tiny, which is sort of scary. triple V belt driven, so it flows some serious air. Hopefully it's not a fatal problem(broken rod, piston, etc).

If he was serious perhaps i'll be able to get it in 2-3 weeks when my connecting rods are good to go.

Still waiting on parts from machine shop. Another week maybe 2. :damnit1:

The tools to rebuild the cylinder head showed up yesterday. $20 a piece x 4 tools.

I go to use the first one, and snap. Tool fails. WTF!?!

Called the company i bought them from. Every single one they had in stock broke the same way when they tested them. Quality control problem, bad batch.

Now the kicker. I'm looking 2-3 months before i may be able to get a replacement, and that's if they even decide to make more of them due to low demands of the tools.

The other 3 tools worked fine, and i was able to rebuild 1/2 the valves in the head.

Going to see if i can redneck engineer the busted tool as it looks like i can drill out the busted pin and drive a roll pin into it's place. It only has to work 4 times(2 removals and 2 installs) and that's it.

This damn "free" compressor is really starting to not be worth the money. All said and done i'll be over $500 into this goddamn thing.

The motor on the "Freebe" might be 3 phase-- so it can handle the large compressor.

Chevy 6 cylinder used babbit bearingsand dippers, up to about 1950, and the early ones also had steel pistons.

Still no parts from the machine shop. Been almost 2 months now, if not more.

Went to a swap meet sunday and came home with a Kellogg American 325TV compressor pump for $175. A little cleaning and fresh oil and it runs really well. Problem is it's meant to have a 3 hp motor, mine is only 1 1/2 hp. I run it to ~120 psi and then shut it down manually as to not put too much load on the motor.

From what i've found out the tank blowoff/safety valve is rated at 200 psi. That would tell me that tank is at least rated for that, as the valve is original(both are kellogg blue).

The info i've found on line, what little there is anyways, says the cutout pressure should be 175 psi. mine cuts out at 150, but i suppose i can turn that up once i get the correct compressor re-installed after the rebuild.


In the process of running and sweating 1/2" copper pipe for air supply lines to the hose reels now. Hopefully i'm doing it correctly, because 175 psi isn't very forgiving if there's a bad sweat joint.