Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

That is one "Girthy" engine Gil. I wish I had seen it up close at the show, it looks like a real neat piece of Iron.

That is one "Girthy" engine Gil. I wish I had seen it up close at the show, it looks like a real neat piece of Iron.

Thanks, Bruce!

The brass tag indicates the builder spent 1,842 hours on this build.



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I can't wait to see it running! 

I can't wait to see it running! 

Me too!   Not yet...

And not because I haven't attempted to at least make it pop.

It has some issues needing attention. First the side shaft (camshaft) was severely out of time. I have eyeballed it into a decent position which required a SWAG (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess) To avoid lifting the crank shaft out of the main bearings or remove the camshaft brackets and all I has to loosen the cam gear and twist it out of position. Then I adjusted the cam rotational position and backed off (retarded timing) to what I felt was a good place to twist the screw gear back on the shaft and hope it lands correctly in relation to the drive gear on the crank shaft.

Next issue is compression leaking from the intake plenum which is part of the cylinder head. I cleaned up the valve seat and that apparently wasn't the problem. I believe there is enough of a dip between the 2 cast parts of the head with the intake valve that even with a new gasket, the compression still leaks.

Then there is the original ignition which was a Lucas ML Magneto.
The end cap and housing has the worst case of zinc pest I have seen.
In one picture you can see where the magneto drive shaft and gear stick out the front of the engine base near the exhaust valve. There is just enough room to put a similar gear on the side shaft for a chain drive. The chain is included in the parts box that came with it, the mag and other odds and ends.
Fortunately I can use a battery and buzz coil in place of the magneto while I try to acquire parts to restore it (the magneto).
Pictures below.



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That is one substantial hunk of iron you have procured for yourself there Gil!

Looks like all your efforts have done wonders and like others I now look forward to seeing it running!!!

Thanks Daniel. I look forward to the same.

I did a bit of math on this piece, 1842 hrs. @ $25 per hr = $46,050.  ...Wow !