Aluminum Lovejoy coupler

[Henry W]

Well I could not resist. I looked under the 1993 240 Volvo 5 spd std. and they do have a nice system that looks like it will work. I know it it is origional and the Volvo has over 260,000 miles.

Henry

[vdubnut62]

Yes! Go Henry! I love it, just what I need, encouragement for yet another one of my hare-brained schemes. Ah yes! My Evil Plan is starting to come together!
Well you got me thinking anyway. I know when that happens, because I start smelling smoke.

[Henry W]

Well I am not going to take apart my volvo and use the parts for my project. The 1993 volvo iwith a 5 spd very rare to find.

But what can be done is find a rubber section that is commonly used in cars and machine a plate to mount on engine of choice.  And machine another plate to accept SK bushings.

Time to run an add for a good reliable Machinest.

Henry

[Henry W]

Yes! Go Henry! I love it, just what I need, encouragement for yet another one of my hare-brained schemes. Ah yes! My Evil Plan is starting to come together!
Well you got me thinking anyway. I know when that happens, because I start smelling smoke.

I just thought of somthing.

Can the the flex couplings flex sideways? Before we start building something with them we need to check and see if they do.

Henry

[vdubnut62]

Why sure they can flex sideways Henry. Look under that Volvo again and see if the drive shaft is perfectly straight and in alignment with the tranny and rear diff. Remember, the diff moves up and down with the suspension  unless it's IRS, I have never owned a Volvo.
These things must work pretty well, they are used by Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Cadillac, and probably a bunch more people that I haven't stumbled over. Below are the operating specs from the Lovejoy site for the Saga coupler.  I would think that the automotive application would probably tolerate a little more permanent mis-alignment.


          No End thrust in misalignment position

·         Absorbs misalignment and shock

·         No axial reaction force to damage or accelerate wear in system bearings

·         Accepts constant angular misalignment of up to 3º

·         Parallel tolerance of 0.060 (1.5mm), while reaction force remains low

·         Lateral softness without complication, or sacrifice of performance or durability

·         Natural rubber can operate in temperatures from -60 to +200ºF (-51º to 93ºC).

Ron

[vdubnut62]

Ok guys here is what I came up with, the parts are from a V-8 Mercedes so I doubt that the "Mighty Xing Dong" will have very much
luck in pushing the mechanical limits of the coupler. I have to locate a 6" steel slug to machine the generator half from. I'll keep you posted!
Ron

[flywheel]

Ron

It appears to me that your coupler is a long way out from the flywheel.  The farther out it is the harder it will be to have it run true without any wobble (think vibration).

Have you considered using a belt around the flywheel?  Another option would be a drive adapter from George at www.utterpower.com , they work great and have a coupler half attached.
                                                                                                       flywheel

[vdubnut62]

I did think about a serpentine belt around the flywheel, but then I would have to have a pulley custom made that would be huge. the engine is rated at 2000 rpm, the generator head is an 1800 rpm head, and the flywheel rim is 16 3/4 inches in diameter!
George Breckenridge of Utterpower fame will hook you up with Randy Allmand and he will build a custom direct drive setup for you that mates to a
Lovejoy coupler. I decided to go with a rubber donut type primarily because of the damping effect of the rubber ring, and I wanted to be able to say that I "made it myself".
And yes, the coupler IS too far out from the flywheel, I just stuck it in there for my own satisfaction and to see how difficult it's going to be to center up. The pulley will be indicated in on the lathe, bored to size, then a insert pressed and welded in, and then the insert bored to size to fit the driveshaft, which will also be welded. That will leave the vee grooves available for future use driving a compressor and alternator.
The generator half will use an SK type bushing so it will not vibrate loose, instead of set screws like a lovejoy coupler.
Anyway that's the plan.
Ron

[vdubnut62]

Here is the setup on the "Great Walla Walla Xing Dong" for my home built coupling, now it's  waiting for sandblasting, welding and paint.
I have plenty of slack in the OEM pulley to indicate everything in, it's within .010 just stuck together.
Turns out that I scored a big chunk of some really tough aluminum alloy, so that's what the generator end is going to be made of. I have a great big pile of aluminum swarf  already, and its a gittin' bigger!
Ron.