help installing new bearings in a Postwar Lionel 2343 horizontal motor truck

I believe it is best practice to ream the 2333-28 bushings after pressing them into the frame. In this case, I would consider installing the bushings, ream them, and the remove one to install the axle and drive gear to then reinstall.

Thank you for BMORAN4 for the thoughts.

I don't mean to be a prig, but 2333-28 bearing are for the 2333 style F3 without magnetic axles.
The 2343 has magnetic axles and uses 2343-79 axle bushing. The walls of these bushings are so thin, they almost look like slices of brass tubing.

I don't see any way around BMORAN's idea of installing both bushings, reaming them, and then removing them to install the axle and gear.
It certainly would be preferable to remove only one, but with the Hobby Horse system the bearings are pushed through the truck block, so I don't see how it could be used to remove only one.
Maybe with a brass pin punch?

I still want to see whether the original Lionel factory bearings I have work without reaming.

C W Burfle posted:

I don't mean to be a prig, but 2333-28 bearing are for the 2333 style F3 without magnetic axles.
The 2343 has magnetic axles and uses 2343-79 axle bushing. The walls of these bushings are so thin, they almost look like slices of brass tubing.

Apologies for the confusion - I was going through my service notes and documents and apparently inadvertently ended up referencing the incorrect part number while typing up the post as you described. However, the process suggestion remains the same regardless.

I measured a few bearing:

factory spec:  .317-.318  I.D.   .378 O.D.
Replacements: .312 I.D.    .377 O.D.
Old stock bearings (possibly postwar factory) .3155 I.D. .378 O.D.

The "replacements" certainly have to be reamed.
Perhaps the "Old Stock" too.

The factory spec comes from the Lionel Engineering Standards, which is available from Bob Osterhoff on CD.

C.W., does Bob Osterhoff have a website?  It might be handy to have a copy of that CD.  Thanks for sharing!

I'm not CW, but here ya go:

http://www.trainpaper.com/index.html

Scroll down to the "Lionel Engineering Standards DVD":

Ted,

You can find Bob at trainpaper.com.

As CW mentioned, the DVD you want is Lionel Engineering Standards.

It's worth every penny -- you'll love it. Note that Bob is likely at York this week, so you might need to give him a few extra days to respond.

TRW

I run a reamer through all the bearings I install. Sometimes I remove metal sometimes not. I believe that the zinc grows with age so even NOS bearings may need to have a little material removed. I discussed this with Jeff Kane some time back and he said that he believed new bearings need reaming after installing. I doubt Lionel reamed bearings on the assembly line, but what the manufacturing  engineers do does not always make it back to the mechanical engineers. As for not scoring the new bearings with the upset that retains the gear, I have seen 622 or 623 wheel and axle assemblies with the bearing installed between wheel and the axle upset.  I believe these to be original Lionel Service Station parts.  But the truck frame bore ID and the bearing OD and ID would have to all be correct for this to work.  

When I change bearings first I check the frame bore and bearing OD to be sure that I will get a proper press fit. Then I press in the bearings and ream. Then I install the axle and one wheel, scoring the bearing, and live with the results. 

What kind of reamers do you fellows use?
Do you ream by hand, or use some sort of setup in a piece of machinery?

I use a high speed steel round shank (chucking) reamers.  I put it is a tap wrench and ream by hand. They are available from McMaster in 0.0005 increments in most small sizes.   These are straight reamers. There is not a lot of choices of style in these small sizes. I usually look for 0.0015" to 0.002" over the journal size. 

Thanks
I was looking at reamers on the McMaster-Carr site.
I have a few, but of course none of them are the right sizes.

I am not clear on what you mean by journal size. Would that be the diameter of the axle? Or maybe the published inner diameter of the bearing?