In article JawEf.30312$5G.19401@trnddc08,
Lobby Dosser wrote:

How much effort is required to make the changes? Do you need more than
one pair of hands?

Not much effort. I did it myself, working alone. If you actually open it
up regularly to oil the parts inside that you're supposed to oil & clean
every 10 running hours, it won't be difficult at all. If you never do
that, there's another couple of parts you might end up needing sometime
;-). Then again, with a '56 you have the access hole for easier oiling
without tearing as much down. I believe that the instructions which came
with the parts were adequate (though badly photocopied), but I also had
been in most of the same places to replace the Gilmer belt back in the
1980's, so I had some memory of it.

If you have a manual, consult the section on tensioning the Gilmer belt.
You need to understand how the eccentric mount works so that you can
slack it off and tighten it up.

The website sections on oiling and cleaning might be of some help.

Some of the old instructions mention a usful method for dropping the
motor which I don't know if the new ones do - lock the machine near the
right end, raise it to drill-press position, install the table from the
wrong side and use that to support the motor (which will rotate down 90
degrees once the drive belt is off, leaving you a lot more working room
in the headstock than when it's flat).

You may need to pick some crud out of the keeper screw for the quill - I
think it was filled with something to keep the owner from accidently
fiddling with it at the factory. Right on top of the machine, fits in a
groove on top of the quill.

As I recall, the new and old quills are splined differently, which was
part of the reason I went ahead and swapped the Gilmer out - there was a
replacement for the old quill, but it was not two bearing - going to the
poly-V instead of the Gilmer meant I could get the two bearing quill,
and the new-type belt should hold up better/run quieter as well.

Here are all the parts to do the job (if my records are correct)
:
555088 Quill Retro-Kit 1 66.00
518145 Drive Sleeve Assembly 1 63.99
521681 Poly V-Belt 1 13.99
5041809 Idler Sheave 1 21.99

Prices are 2002 and reflect a sale on the quill upgrade at the time.

Don't rush, it should be a one day job. Could be only a couple hours,
but that's only if you've been so far into the headstock assessing
problems before you get the new parts that you've refreshed your memory
on how all the weird bits work, and what goes where, and that sort of
thing.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by