Someone told me that old school mechanics , used to quiet a noisy crank by soaking leather in engine oil and some how place them in the bearing seals , ?? I don't build engines , so clueless , but is there any truth in that or is that just a myth ?

 

There is no truth what so ever.

 

My auto shop teacher back in school (late 1970s) once told me story along this line. Apparently him and a few friends were coming back from some sports game (back in the late 1960s)when they blew a rod bearing. They positioned the car over a ditch and removed the oil pan with the oil still in it. Replaced the spun bearing with a chunk from one of their belts, reinstalled the oil pan and made it back home. The next day the owner drove it to the dealer and traded it in. Whether or not this is true, I don't know. But he wasn't one to fool around or mislead us, so for me his story ranks high on the credible list.

 

It's absolutely true, but - hafta go way back to the days of Model T's and poured babbit bearings. Leather works pretty good to take up clearance in a low compression, low RPM motor. Probably done with connecting rod bearings. It's not factory approved but it worked. Farmers and folks like that did all kinds of things to keep them running. They couldn't afford to have machinery down waiting for parts, money was nonexistent so they made do with what they had.

 

That probably worked on really old engines that came from the factory with really loose bearing tolerances. Some Ford engines in the 60's used cotton ropes for main seals. You pounded them into place, and clamped the crank down on them to form the seal.

I read this out of an old car magazine, but I don't think it was real:

"...so we drank all the beers, melted the cans down, poured the aluminum into the hole in the piston, then assembled the engine, and went on our way..."

 

Yeah I'll agree with you on this one...it isn't real.