King Seeley Governor rebuild

I've managed to find an early King Seeley governor in need of a complete overhaul. It sat for a couple of years as I had to find all the replacement bearings and seals. Sadly these were not available locally so I had to import them from the US. Another major problem was finding a replacement operating spring which was missing. Sadly I couldn't locate an original so I ended up contacting a spring manufacturer who was willing to help based on measurements I got from forum member.

All the bushing I had turned locally and once I had everything I was able to start with the rebuild.

 

Here are some before pics: Note how the pulley is tilted - governor shaft bushing was completely shot.

 

Once disassembled I took the hardware incl. the pulley and the pulley hub cover for plating and the brass levers I had blasted. The housing I simply wire wheeled.

 

With everything ready the new bearings, seals and bushing went in. The long brass lever was also pretty worn out. drilled the hole slightly larger and pressed in a new bushing. The operating lever has needle bearings which was a bit of a pain to re-insert.

 

Inserting needle bearings

new lever arm bushing

When all seals and bushing were pressed and seated tightly in the housing it was ready to be re-sprayed.

 

With that done it was simply a case of assembling with all new bearings and gaskets

 

 

 

 

The spring feels very stiff. Perhaps someone with a KS can confirm that these springs operate under "great" tension..... I believe the spring is to spec - or very close at least to the dims given to me. The only variable might be the material used back then......

 

Claus