Great content! So glad you didn't say 'old school'. Too many now scoff at these older machines, they are the way things were done. Study and versatile! TA from the USA.
I totally agree with you that these are fantastic machines. They're all very old now, but still just as accurate as the day they left the factory. Then again, as far as I know, Van Norman were the only boring bar manufacturers to use catspaws for centring the bar. The big advantage of these is that you can use them to help keep the bar centred as it bores the cylinder. Other bars use centring pins that have to be removed before the bar is switched on, so they can't help support the bar as it goes down the barrel, but the catspaws on the Van Norman machines can be wound out till they engage with the barrel sides, then held under spring tension on a ratchet so that they keep the bar centred as the cutting head moves down the bore and away from the main bearing of the bar. You said about these bars in the past being fitted directly onto engines while still in the chassis in order to rebore them. That's still true today. I do rebores in the chassis with my 944's and sometimes if it's a smaller engine I'll use my SPS mini bar instead. From what I've been told by others, there are very few people left in the UK who offer this service, so I guess I'm one of a dying breed, but then again, I am in my 70's so that's not surprising. I've found that the 944 is just about the most versatile machine for reboring car, motorcycle and small commercial engines as used in UK vehicles. In the US they all use large bore engines for everything and the 944 is probably a bit small for boring them, but for the old Ford Cortina engines, and BMC Series A, B and C engines they're ideal. With a cutting range from 2.2" up to 4.4" they cover just about any and every private vehicle used on UK roads since WW2, and a lot of smaller commercial vehicle engines too.
Thanks for taking the time to write a lengthy reply, yes I have ran original manual which says that the cats paws are to be left I contact with the bored surface to aid rigidity.
I have one, I want to bore a v8 in situ, it wont do it unless I unbolt the engine mounts & spin the engine to one side ( so the block face is upper most) as the bar would move, is that correct?
@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaa4151 Yes, that is correct. Personally I wouldn't try to bore a V engine in situ. There are too many things to go wrong. It's much better to remove the engine altogether and strip it out completely before attempting to bore it. The advantages are that any swarf from boring the cylinders can be cleaned out of the crankcase much more easily than if the crankshaft is still in there, and also, when setting it all up, you can block up one side of the crankcase till one bank of cylinders is completely vertical, with the block surface horizontal, and when that bank has been bored and honed, you then switch the position round so that the other bank is completely vertical, with the top surface horizontal. Whatever you decide to do, don't forget to clean the top surface of the block till there's nothing that could prevent the boring bar from sitting absolutely flat against it. Even a tiny bit of gasket or swarf can tilt the bar, so that it bores the cylinder at an angle. Anyway, best of luck with your endeavour. Let us know how you get on, as I'd be interested to know how you went about doing it, and any pitfall you ran into.
Clever mods. I remember your mini engine strip, check and rebuild series of articles in mini world. We used to use a 944 for reboring Royal Mail van engines many years ago. We also used it to off centre bore a 1275 engine.
Hi, interesting what you say about the block face needing to be parallel. I've recently had a S engine rebored and previously, the block was not level, so the previous bore was off. Luckily, it could be corrected without going to the next oversize but was a concern for a while. All good now. Thank you for the explanation.
No the machine has a self centring system built in via 4 expanding feet which put the machine on centreline with the bore. I refer to these in the video as cats paws
@@qwer-wj2ro there is no meter on the machine the one you see in the video is a dial gage mounted using a magnetic base. The dial face is free to rotate which allows you to set the zero.
That all depends on the condition, and if the original tool kit is available, boring bars in good condition with tools can sell for good money, but not being in the market for one I am not up to speed on the current prices
I own 2 944s and seldom used but are in excellent shape
Very interesting machine, you have to have a lot of respect for the way things were done in the past.
Great content! So glad you didn't say 'old school'. Too many now scoff at these older machines, they are the way things were done. Study and versatile! TA from the USA.
I totally agree with you that these are fantastic machines. They're all very old now, but still just as accurate as the day they left the factory. Then again, as far as I know, Van Norman were the only boring bar manufacturers to use catspaws for centring the bar. The big advantage of these is that you can use them to help keep the bar centred as it bores the cylinder. Other bars use centring pins that have to be removed before the bar is switched on, so they can't help support the bar as it goes down the barrel, but the catspaws on the Van Norman machines can be wound out till they engage with the barrel sides, then held under spring tension on a ratchet so that they keep the bar centred as the cutting head moves down the bore and away from the main bearing of the bar.
You said about these bars in the past being fitted directly onto engines while still in the chassis in order to rebore them. That's still true today. I do rebores in the chassis with my 944's and sometimes if it's a smaller engine I'll use my SPS mini bar instead. From what I've been told by others, there are very few people left in the UK who offer this service, so I guess I'm one of a dying breed, but then again, I am in my 70's so that's not surprising.
I've found that the 944 is just about the most versatile machine for reboring car, motorcycle and small commercial engines as used in UK vehicles. In the US they all use large bore engines for everything and the 944 is probably a bit small for boring them, but for the old Ford Cortina engines, and BMC Series A, B and C engines they're ideal. With a cutting range from 2.2" up to 4.4" they cover just about any and every private vehicle used on UK roads since WW2, and a lot of smaller commercial vehicle engines too.
Thanks for taking the time to write a lengthy reply, yes I have ran original manual which says that the cats paws are to be left I contact with the bored surface to aid rigidity.
I have one, I want to bore a v8 in situ, it wont do it unless I unbolt the engine mounts & spin the engine to one side ( so the block face is upper most) as the bar would move, is that correct?
@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaa4151 Yes, that is correct.
Personally I wouldn't try to bore a V engine in situ. There are too many things to go wrong. It's much better to remove the engine altogether and strip it out completely before attempting to bore it. The advantages are that any swarf from boring the cylinders can be cleaned out of the crankcase much more easily than if the crankshaft is still in there, and also, when setting it all up, you can block up one side of the crankcase till one bank of cylinders is completely vertical, with the block surface horizontal, and when that bank has been bored and honed, you then switch the position round so that the other bank is completely vertical, with the top surface horizontal.
Whatever you decide to do, don't forget to clean the top surface of the block till there's nothing that could prevent the boring bar from sitting absolutely flat against it. Even a tiny bit of gasket or swarf can tilt the bar, so that it bores the cylinder at an angle.
Anyway, best of luck with your endeavour. Let us know how you get on, as I'd be interested to know how you went about doing it, and any pitfall you ran into.
The 944s is single speed the s stands for suction. They had a vacuum tube that mounted on the top to suck up shavings while boring a cylinder.
Thanks for that
Clever mods. I remember your mini engine strip, check and rebuild series of articles in mini world. We used to use a 944 for reboring Royal Mail van engines many years ago. We also used it to off centre bore a 1275 engine.
Ah someone be who remembers the miniworld articles, excellent!
Hi, interesting what you say about the block face needing to be parallel. I've recently had a S engine rebored and previously, the block was not level, so the previous bore was off. Luckily, it could be corrected without going to the next oversize but was a concern for a while. All good now. Thank you for the explanation.
Great video ! Got a 944s that i am rebuilding👍
Great video thanks so much 😊
You are so welcome!
Beautiful, TY
Top man.
Great work very neat. What brand is the fly cutter you have on your mill
It’s homemade
Great video
And this is good work!
Trying to buy a 944 or 944s can you help me please.
Thanks any way!
You just have to keen looking they pop up on eBay every now and then. You need to get one with the tool kit to be any use
Is there any way I can call you I'm in texas have questions about my 944,thanks in advance, Larry
Are you on Facebook?
How do you accurately position de machine to the bore? Little tap with a hammer?
No the machine has a self centring system built in via 4 expanding feet which put the machine on centreline with the bore. I refer to these in the video as cats paws
@@ACDodd thanks!
Hi,can i ask if there's a meter at the top of machine how to set it to 0?
@@qwer-wj2ro there is no meter on the machine the one you see in the video is a dial gage mounted using a magnetic base. The dial face is free to rotate which allows you to set the zero.
I've inherited my dad's Van Norman 944s, 905 and a "mini bar" which I'm looking to sell in Ireland. Any idea what kinda price these would go for?
That all depends on the condition, and if the original tool kit is available, boring bars in good condition with tools can sell for good money, but not being in the market for one I am not up to speed on the current prices
I’ll buy it if it’s for sale
Hi Where did you get the modern replacement cutters from??
Beam equipment in the USA.
I just got one on a good deal but it came without the tool kit. In my case the tool kit is going to cost me more than the machine.
They do indeed!
So does it goes down automatically?
Yes, it has auto feed.