1: The combination of heating the receiving bore and cooling the bushing
opens up dimensions which allows for ease of installation. When the temps normalize, the interference fit will have been achieved. I have seen bushings simply "drop" into place and then become very secure when normalized. 2: > I just drilled a hole, maybe reamed it to size (I forget) and used > Loctite 620 between bushing and aluminum. If it was a press fit, I > probably just tapped it in place.? Many thanks to all your comments and suggestions ! Today I picked my orders from AS and Wicks and made some tests. I think I will use a combination of all suggestions (incl. ideas from Larry's comment): - I found out my unibit drill is making slightly undersized holes, or the diameter of the oilite bushing is slightly bigger - the bushing will not enter freely at room temperature - The 3/16 ID - 5/16 OD bushing is easily installed at room temperature using a regular vise and wood blocks as press-fit tool, the drilling was performed at room temperature. The AN3 bolt rotates freely inside the bushing - This method doesn't work for 5/8 ID - 3/4 OD oilite bushings... even after heating up the 6061 plate. The bushing shrinks over the insertion tool (mandrel) and the latter gets jammed but gets loose from the 6061 plate when trying to remove the mandrel... I suppose the relative thickness of the bushing wall is too small and the deformation of the bushing is too big - Loctite 620 will help to secure the bushing inside the 6061. Some rough surface on both the hole and the OD of the bushing shall help a lot to get a permanent fit - I will probably cool down the bushing using liquid propane (at -40) and will heat up the 6061 to a temperatures around 150?C for easy insertion. FYI, I will only need to do that once, for my modified Matco tailwheel where is needed the 5/8 ID bushing. Regards, Stefan
