# resurrected an old project  3 cylinder fairbanks (going to be a long build)



## chuck foster (Feb 1, 2012)

well it has been a long time since i last worked on this engine, i hope to see this project through to the end this time (but one never knows)

first i have to admit that i messed up the original cylinder castings (all 3) i didn't have a rotary table to index all the bolt holes.
these bolt holes are to mount the cylinders to the crank case (8 bolts) and 8 more to mount the heads to the cylinders.







once i figured out the bolt holes were spaced wrong i set out to fabricate some new cylinders.

this picture shows the steel i used to fab the cylinders






and the various stages of turning











i next drilled holes for the bosses were the cooling pipes will attach






i used a dab of loc tite red to help hold the bosses in place







the three cylinder bodies in position 






drilling bolt holes in the right spot this time 






these cylinders have wet sleeves installed and this picture shows one of the sleeves.
















as you can see in these few pictures i made a simple jig to hold the cylinders so i could bore them











all three cylinder bodies waiting to have their sleeves pressed in place






well that's it for tonight, i hope i didn't take up too much of your guy's time.
i will try to keep you guys up to date as this project progresses.

i do have a question for you guys.............has anyone here built this engine or know someone that has???
i have a few questions about the cam and the roller lifters ???

chuck


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## vcutajar (Feb 2, 2012)

Chuck

Looking forward to your next installment.

Vince


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## tel (Feb 2, 2012)

Yes, I'll be following along with interest as well.


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## krv3000 (Feb 2, 2012)

OOOO I like it


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## Dave G (Feb 2, 2012)

Nice project Chuck, I always liked this engine but I never got around to purchasing the castings when they were still available. I have seen a couple of these running at shows but I have no experience with them so I am no help to you. I will be following along to watch your progress, Dave


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## chuck foster (Feb 2, 2012)

thanks for the kind words guys...........it helps me stay motivated hearing from you all. 

no work done on the engine tonight, but that is because my wife let me buy a d.r.o. for my old south bend lathe!!! ;D
now i just have to get it all installed and then get back to work. the wife also told me i could get a d.r.o. for my mill as well............god i love my wife  8) ;D

i hope to have the install done by saturday and then back to the fairbanks.

chuck (a very happy canuck)


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## Norman (Feb 2, 2012)

Once you get a Dro on the mill those circle bolt holes will be a cake walk. Your engine is looking good!
Norman


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## chuck foster (Feb 4, 2012)

well i managed to get the dro installed on the lathe................ and what a treat it is 
next i will get one for the mill.

i got the 3 sleeves pressed in to the cylinder jugs and i started cutting them to length and boring out close to the final bore size.
i will leave the bore .002" under size and lap the last bit so as to make the bores as close to perfect as i can.

here are just a couple of picture of the first sleeve being faced off and bored to size.
















hopefully i will get more work done tomorrow

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 5, 2012)

i didn't get much done today but i managed to get 2 of the 3 cylinder faced off and bored out to 1.373".
once i get the third cylinder bored out to 1.373" i will then set up and lap all three of them out to 1.375" then i will machine up the pistons and lap them to fit.

here is 2 of the 3 cylinders sitting on the crankcase 






and just for fun a picture with the cylinder heads 






i machined up all the valve guides years ago when i first started working on this engine and the valves are made as well.

i forgot to thank you norman for the kind words and i hope the dro on the mill will make life easier, it sure has made a big difference on the lathe. ;D

that's all for tonight and thanks for tuning in 

chuck


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## Kaleb (Feb 5, 2012)

Fairbanks vertical triple.... Is it going to be a diesel or hot bulb engine by any chance? (Hot bulbs and 'true' diesels are a path that's not often taken with model engines)


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## chuck foster (Feb 5, 2012)

hi kaleb

it will use gasoline as a fuel and the ignition will be a ignitor just like the original.

i know a little about diesels and i don't think i could ever build one (i don't even know if i can build this one).

fairbanks built this engine with one, two and three cylinders and this one is a copy of the 150 horse power triple.
this one is a 1/8 scale of the original. the book i have that shows this engine in full size say's it weighed 35,000 pounds.
a guy i know in alabama has a full size engine in his front yard and an ornament 

thanks for asking


chuck


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## bronson (Feb 5, 2012)

I will be following this with great interest Chuck. Nice start to your engine hope you finish it this time through. How about some pics of the dro on the old southbend.  

Bronson


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## chuck foster (Feb 6, 2012)

well i finished boring the cylinders for this engine so now i have to lap the bores to make them perfectly round and straight.

i bored the cylinders in my old 9" south bend lathe and the bores had a taper of about .0005" so by lapping i will be able to remove the taper.

the first picture shows the brass barrel lap that i will be using to do this job. i run the lathe at about 400 to 500 rpm's while lapping.






a different view showing the adjuster nut (on the right) that is used to expand the brass lap.






when i lap i never allow the part being lapped to come off of the lap more than the 1/2 the diameter of the lap.
as shown in the next 2 pictures











this is the manufacture of the laps that i use






i have them from about .250" up to 1 1/2" they might make smaller or bigger ones but i don't have them.

here is what the cylinder bore finish looked like before lapping, you can clearly see the machining marks.






and this is after lapping, it just needs a good washing with varsol to remove the lapping compound.






i use clover lapping compound and i think i started with 150 grit and finished with 400 grit

one thing i forgot to mention is you must cover the ways of you lathe to protect them from any of the compound getting on the ways.

i hope this all makes sense, if not let me know and i will try to explain it better.

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 7, 2012)

well now the cylinders are almost done (just need head bolt holes drilled and tapped) i turned my attention to the pistons.

i rough turned the pistons a few years ago so tonight all i had to do was fit them to the cylinder bores.
then i made a split lap and lapped them to size, i made the piston 0.0001" to 0.0002" smaller than the bore.
these pistons will be fitted with rings, 2 per piston.
i thought about making the rings and i know steve huck did a excellent write up about doing so but i think i will cop out and buy the rings. 
there is enough things to make on this engine that will challenge my abilities so piston ring will not be one of them.

here are the pistons after lapping (forgot to take pics while lapping)






the pistons will now need to have ring grooves and wrist pin holes machined in place.
the castings in this kit are very nice, this next picture shows up inside the piston and the wrist pin bosses.






enough about this engine cause..................................i have a tool gloat 
the wife let me buy a quick change tool post  th_wav and here it is











and 2 extra tool holders






ok so not a big deal as i know most of you guys probably have a qctp already.............but to me it was exciting ;D

well thats all for tonight from aurora ontario, thanks guys for tuning in Thm:

chuck


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## Harold Lee (Feb 7, 2012)

Chuck - I for one am glad you resurrected this project. Will be watching your progress and cheering you on. Just take a lot of pictures.

Harold


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## crab (Feb 8, 2012)

Great work Chuck,I really like those cylinders.I'll be watching and thanks for showing it.
Bill


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## Maryak (Feb 8, 2012)

Chuck,

Way back when, (1966), I was charge ERA of a Navy GPV which had a 5 cylinder FBM as the main engine, direct drive to the prop. It was always nervous nelly time going from ahead to astern wondering if the bloody thing would start and run the other way.

Thanks for the memories and it's great to see a model of these very fine engines.

Best Regards
Bob


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## steamer (Feb 8, 2012)

Harold Lee  said:
			
		

> Chuck - I for one am glad you resurrected this project. Will be watching your progress and cheering you on. Just take a lot of pictures.
> 
> Harold




Here Here!  Go Chuck Go! :bow:

Dave


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## bronson (Feb 8, 2012)

Chuck you must be doing something right you got a new dro system for your lathe at the beginning of page 1 and by the end of page 1 you had a quick change tool post. You have a very nice wife. The engine is also looking very good


Bronson


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## chuck foster (Feb 8, 2012)

thanks for all the kind comments guys, and i am glad it brought back some good memories bob 

well i didn't get much shop time tonight as i am just burned out tonight (my day job is getting crazy busy).
so i thought i would show you guys some of the mistakes i have made on this engine.

first set of cylinders have ALL the bolt hole drilled in the wrong place











so then i thought what the heck, i will just fabricate three new cylinders and put the bolt holes in the right place.






well i messed them up as well, i cut the water jacket too close to the bottom of the cylinder. when i went to press in the cylinder liner..........the bottom of the cylinder broke off.
as seen in this next picture






so i almost tossed this hole project in the scrap bin.............but i then thought why not try making the cylinders one more time and see if i could get it right.
so the cylinders i posted earlier are the newest batch.

now here is the hole mess of cylinders that i have made











i have made plenty of mistakes before but never have i had this much trouble making one (or in this case three) parts :wall:

right from the start of this project i figured i would show all the parts, good or bad in hopes others could learn from my mistakes.

now on to the cylinder heads  :hDe:






they were started long before i had a rotary table to index the bolt holes, man oh man i hope i don't have to fabricate these.

chuck


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## bronson (Feb 8, 2012)

Well good on you Chuck for pushing on through that. I'm sure the end product will make it all worth while.

Bronson


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## chuck foster (Feb 12, 2012)

thanks bronson for the kind words to help me along 

nothing to report as i have been sick all week end  but as soon as i start feeling a bit better i will be at this model with a vengeance !!!

no work tomorrow night as i have to pick up my new to me pick up............the wife let me buy this truck so i can haul my models 
and full size engine to steam shows this summer (i think she just wants me out of the house all summer) :hDe:

ah well off to bed to try to get some sleep...............good night all

chuck


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## b.lindsey (Feb 13, 2012)

What great project Chuck. I can understand your frustration as to the cylinders but Bronson said, good for you for pushing ahead and the final result will be well worth the effort I am sure. Thanks for resurrecting this one though we all know you were really just letting the castings "age" properly :big:

Will certainly be following along however long it takes.

Regards,
Bill


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## capin (Feb 14, 2012)

Beautiful job Chuck, I did the same thing not to long ago. Keep the lathe turning and when she hits the first time its all well worth it. Great craftsmanship your putting out there, I wish the castings were still available, I have always had a soft spot for it. Brian ;D


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## chuck foster (Feb 14, 2012)

i like your comment bill about letting the castings age :big: and it will be a while before i get back in the shop as i still cannot shake this flu bug 

brian you are right about the castings not being available any more. i heard that all the patterns and drawings were destroyed. if i was really wanting one i would get the drawings and fabricate the whole engine and then get 2 flywheel castings that were close to the original. it would take allot of time to fab. it but it could be done.
i got this set of castings from a good friend of mine who while i was visiting him just handed me a box full of castings and said "good luck"

well thanks again guys and i hope to be in the shop latter this week.

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 18, 2012)

well i got some work done today............all be it not much 

i ordered the piston rings from dave reed (otto piston rings) and they should be here next week then i will be able to cut the ring grooves in the pistons and finish them up.
just a quick word about otto piston rings, this guy stocks rings from 5/8" dia up to 50 or 60" dia. my dad and i have bought lots of rings from dave in the past for our full size hit and miss engines.
excellent guy to deal with and he all ways has what we want in stock.
any who enough about piston rings.

i figured the next parts to make would be the 3 connecting rods.
the first picture shows the first rod being turned to size.







then i faced off the rod bearing end






the three rods rough turned, to finish off the rods they will have a slight tapper 






this last picture shows the start of the rod bearings, they are steel block with brass inserts for bearings.






well folks thats it for today, i am still not fully over this flu thing so off to bed i go.

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 20, 2012)

well i got out in the shop for a few hours today and i managed to do some work on the connecting rods.

i started off by putting them on the rotary table and this allowed me to drill and tap the rod bolt holes

first pic shows the rod being dial indicated and centered






next i center drilled and drilled the bolt holes for #6-32 threads






tapped the holes






all tapped 






then i had to make a drive dog that would allow me to drill the con rod and cut a tapper the whole length of the rod and still use the rods center hole






the big chamfered hole is were the headstock center went through and picked up the center of the rod. the other two holes are for the bolts that bolt the rod to the drive dog.
like this






and here it is installed in the lathe and ready to go






finished the taper on the first rod






now all three






then i had to cut the rods to length and then make a cut out for the wrist pin eye. so i made a simple jig to hold the rod and locate the cut out.
i use a 7/16 end mill to make the cut out.






and here is the finished cut out






next will be the wrist pin eyes and then i will have to silver solder the eyes in place and machine them for the wrist pin bearings.
that will hopefully be tomorrow night.

thanks for looking

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 25, 2012)

hello fellow modelers wEc1

i got the con rods finished 






as you can see i silver soldered the wrist pin ends on to the rod, after the rods cooled i pressed in the wrist pin bearings (oil lite bronze)






the next part to make is the three big end rod bearings, so i cut out 6 blocks of bronze and soft soldered them together.
after machining them i will melt the solder and have 2 bearing halves for each rod.






thats all for now, but i hope to have the bearings done later tonight.

thanks for tuning in *beer*

chuck


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## chuck foster (Feb 26, 2012)

well i planed on having the rod bearings finished the other night but family things had to be taken care of first. 

so tonight i got some work done on the rod bearings ;D

i soldered the block together and had to find the center of the blocks so i could chuck them in the lathe and machine the bearing hole in them.

i did some lay out work and scribed center, then i had to center punch the blocks so i would have a reference to set them up in the lathe.

well my eyes are not that good any more so i got out my trusty optical center punch thingy (shown here)











i won't go into a long and boring how to use the optical center punch lecture, but i will show a few pictures of it in use.

first you use the optical site piece






once you found center you remove the optical piece and you insert the punch and whack it with a hammer to give you your center punch mark.






part all centered up in the four jaw chuck and being faced off






bearing hole drilled and then reamed to final size






the next thing to do is machine the outside diameter to fit the connecting rods. so i had to make an expanding mandrel to mount the bearing.
so i chucked up a piece of steel and turned it to the id of the bearing block, then i drilled and tapped a 3/8" bolt hole in the end then i split the mandrel in half (length wise)






now all you do is thread a bolt into the end of the mandrel and as it turned in it will cause the od of the mandrel to expand.






here is the block mounted on the mandrel 






i did not take any pictures of the machining of the bearing so here is a picture of it finished






now all i have to do is heat it up till the solder melts and i will have 2 bearing halves

here is the con rod and bearing almost finished






sorry for the long winded account of my adventures but from the start i thought i would give as good of write up as i could (i wish i could explain things like brian) showing the good and the bad. now if some one see's some thing i am doing and has a better way of doing it.........please by all means step up and let me know as this is just an account of how i do things.
if i have not explained things clearly just ask and i will try to clarify what i did.

thanks and good night folks

                   chuck


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## ileed (Feb 29, 2012)

Earlier in your build, I think you commented you would like to talk to someone concerning the build. 

Bob Bromps sold a kit of the 3 cyl, FM, and other iron cast engines. I am sure he would talk with you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions on building the engines, feel free to e-mail or call me. MY phone no. is 541-388-2513.

Greg R


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## chuck foster (Mar 1, 2012)

first off i would like to say thanks to greg r for the offer of help..........i will be contacting you when i get to the lifters.

in my last post i showed how i was going to machine the rod bearings, well the first one worked great but the next 2 did not.
when i put the bearing blank on the expandable mandrel and machined the o.d. of the bearing the solder joint broke due to the expanding mandrel pushing outward.

so i had to come up with a different way of doing the bearings, so i soldered the 2 halves together and then soldered a spigot on to the 2 halves.
the spigot was then held in the chuck to do all of the machining required. the pictures tell the story.

before soldering






after soldering






chucked up in the lathe ready to be machined






o.d. turned






bearing finished and desoldered






and finally three rods all done except for the rod bolts and some polishing






now i can move on and get the pistons finished and fitted to the cylinders.
we are moving along........all be it slowly but surely 

thanks for tuning in guys *beer*
chuck


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## cfellows (Mar 2, 2012)

Ah, man, I love the Fairbanks 3 cylinder engine. I've long had it on my todo list to build a compressed air version. Can't wait to follow your progress on this.

Chuck


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## chuck foster (Mar 3, 2012)

well first and for most i must say to mr fellows GET BUILDING IT :big: :big:

now back to our regularly scheduled program ;D

i got my piston rings last week end so today i figured i would cut the ring grooves in the pistons. so the first pic shows the piston set up in the lathe ready to have the groove cut.






here both ring grooves are cut (.062 wide x .070 deep)






three pistons grooved and waiting for wrist pin holes to drilled and reamed






now to get the wrist pin holes in the center of the wrist pin casting bosses on the inside of the piston required a little thought.
so i came up with this method.
first i made an aluminum plate that fit tightly between the wrist pin bosses. bosses shown in this picture (inside the piston skirt area)






aluminum plate used as a jig






jig inserted in piston






now the piston gets clamped loose in the vise






by running a dial indicator across the jig you can then set the piston parallel to the milling table then you are able to drill and ream the wrist pin holes in there proper place.






this picture shows the wrist pin bosses 






then you just have to center the piston and center drill, drill and then ream the hole






and here are the three pistons with there wrist pin holes in place






another shot of the inside of the piston






the next thing to do is remove that big ugly knob off the top of the piston (used to hold the piston for various machining sets)






i cut most of it off with the hack saw then just faced the piston to length and cut the required 30 degree tapper on the top of the piston.
now we have three pistons all done and we can move on to something else











not sure what will be next but i will have to look at the drawings and get going on it tomorrow.

thanks for tuning in 

chuck


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## vcutajar (Mar 4, 2012)

Chuck

Thanks for showing how you aligned the piston wrist pin bosses. I have to remember that trick when I do my Kiwi piston.

Vince


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## chuck foster (Mar 4, 2012)

vince i am glad you got some thing use full from my ramblings 

i didn't get much time out in the shop today but i did manage to fabricate the connecting rod dippers
they will need to be cleaned up before they are installed. 






i figured i would install the rods and pistons just to see if they fit.............and here they are 






next came the cylinders






and i mocked up this last shot just for mr chuck fellows, chuck i hope this inspires you to build a compressed air version :big:






not much from chuck of the north but there is always tomorrow.................i hope.

chuck


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## Harold Lee (Mar 5, 2012)

Lookin great Chuck.... Thanks for the idea on locating the holes for the wrist pins!!!

So much to learn, so little time 

I'm watching this one with real interest.

Harold


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## maury (Mar 5, 2012)

Great idea on the piston jig. I am a firm believer in making these little tools to aid building the project. They not only save time, but more importantly, they improve accuracy. I have always used a square ti sight in the piston, centered the drill, and measured in from the open end, but was never able to get the hole dead on. I'll try your method next time.

BTW, does anyone know of one of these kits someone might have and doesn't plan to build? I have been looking for one for about 3 years now, and have come up empty. Sure would like to do this build myself.

maury


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## cfellows (Mar 5, 2012)

Looking very nice, Chuck! Might have to get back to my drawings. My compressed air version will be about half the size of yours. Also have to figure out how to make the crankcase. Are your crankcase castings iron or aluminum?

Chuck


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## myrickman (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks for the build log Chuck. Lots of nice tips . Glad to also see the good, the bad and the ugly...


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## chuck foster (Mar 5, 2012)

good evening gents 

chuck: thankfully all the castings for this engine are either iron or brass.

myrickman: i am glad you like this build log ;D 
as far as the good the bad and the ugly :shrug: 

good....yes some good parts have been made
bad......yes some bad parts have been made
ugly......did i post a picture of me :big: 

thanks for the comments guys, it keeps me motivated Thm:

chuck


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## CMS (Mar 5, 2012)

Nice build you've got going on. Judging the piston shape, looks as if there's going to be some high compression in the future.

Craig


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## JorgensenSteam (Mar 6, 2012)

This is a photo of my dad starting a Fairbanks that he helped restore at his machine shop. I believe this engine is still operated by one of the local engine clubs.

This looks a lot like Chuck's model, but not exactly.


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## chuck foster (Mar 8, 2012)

good morning guys  (well its morning here)

craig i thought with the shape of the pistons it would be fairly high compression but there is a BIG combustion chamber in the head so the compression shouldn't be too high.

uni thanks for the picture 

well i didn't get much time in the shop but i did get some work done.

first off i figured i had better have a look at the lower crankcase and see if i did everything to it the last time i worked on this beast.
i soon discovered that the mounting holes were not drilled so a quick set up in the mill fixed that problem






here is a pic of one of the mounting hole bosses






i centered it up using a dowel pin and my crooked eyes :big:






and here it is drilled to size, only 7 more to go






flipping the casting over on its side i then drilled the oil drain holes (2)






here's a close up of the drain hole boss (there is one on each side of the engine)






both holes are drilled, tapped and spot faced waiting for drain plug's to be made






that's all for now

thanks for tuning in 

chuck


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## cfellows (Mar 9, 2012)

Hey, Chuck, back to your split mandrel for turning the connecting rod bushings. From the process you descried, I'm surprised that just threading in a common screw would cause the mandrel to expand. The screw isn't tapered? Does it hold pretty well?

Chuck


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## chuck foster (Mar 11, 2012)

hi guys 

chuck: when i made the mandrel i just drilled a 5/16" hole in the end of the shaft and taped it 3/8" nc but i only ran the tap in about 3/4" and the taper of the tap give you the taper in the threads that you need. then just split the mandrel and run a 3/8" bolt or set screw in to the hole and it will expand the mandrel when the bolt hits the tapered threads left by the tap.
the mandrel works very well but the solder holding the bearing halves didn't work so well :'(

i managed to get some work done this week end (but not as much as i wanted to)

first up was a pair of brass oil drain plugs for the crank case.not much to tell about them, they are just a plain turning/threading job. then over to the rotary table to put the square head on them.






now in the beginning i said i would show all the good bad and ugly about this whole project......................well i wish i never said that..............but i did 
i got to checking out the crank case and discovered the cam bore is way out of position and it drops from one end of the crank case to the other and is not parallel to the crank shaft.
the reason this is all wrong is because i must have had my head screwed on wrong the whole time i was working on this engine. :-[
just about every thing i did 6 years ago is wrong, and that is why i wish i never said i would show all of my mistakes, but i will show all .

first off the crank case had to have .032" milled off the top to bring it into spec. this picture shows the set up






and the end results of that little adventure 






with that done i bolted the crank into place and then bolted the top of the crank case in place. then put the whole assembly onto the mill and set the crank shaft parallel to the milling table.
the next thing was to find center of the crank and locate everything from this point. some good news came out of all this, the cylinder bores are center to the crank as are the lifter bores. so i guess i got lucky on those 2 things.






as you can see in the above picture the cam bore (hole on upper left) is out of position in two directions and from one end of the crank case to the other it drops about...........well..........lets just say a bunch of thous. :-X so the next thing will be to set the crank case up on my lathe cross slide and by using a boring bar between centers i hope to bore the cam bearings in the right place.
i will take pictures of the whole set up as it unfolds.

i hope i am not boring you guys with all this babble and if i did not explain some thing well enough just let me know and i will try to do a better job.

as always thanks for tuning in Thm:

chuck


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## rudydubya (Mar 12, 2012)

chuck foster  said:
			
		

> ...<snip> i hope i am not boring you guys with all this ...



You're certainly not boring me Chuck. Looking forward to your setup and execution of the re-boring on the lathe.

Regards,
Rudy


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## Maryak (Mar 12, 2012)

rudydubya  said:
			
		

> You're certainly not boring me Chuck. Looking forward to your setup and execution of the re-boring on the lathe.
> 
> Regards,
> Rudy



Me neither. :bow: :bow: I really, really like this model, comes close to the most fun you can have standing up. 

Best Regards
Bob


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## chuck foster (Mar 12, 2012)

thanks guys i appreciate the kind words it helps me stay motivated to see this project through. 

rudy............i too look forward to the set up, how ever it will be ??? as i have no idea as to how i will do it. i will just keep at it till it is done then move on to the next part.

bob i don't know how to reply to your comment :big: :big: but i am glad you are enjoying this adventure. 

again thanks guys and i will keep you all posted as this unfolds.

chuck


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## steamer (Mar 12, 2012)

Although that error sounds like a lot, its not that bad, bore it oversize and bush the holes.

Make up the bushings to bush it with ahead of time, and leave them .09 undersize or so on the ID. Install the bushings with loctite and bore them in place with the same set up. 

Looking good Chuck...always like this engine!

Dave


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## deverett (Mar 12, 2012)

Here are some pictures of a full size 3 cyl. FM, located at Antique Powerland Museum about 40 minutes south of Portland.














Quite a big beast, and makes a beautiful noise when running at about 180rpm.
The crankcase door was deliberately removed so that observers could see the big bits going round.

Dave
The Emerald Isle


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## cfellows (Mar 12, 2012)

That's a good tip on the expanding mandrel. Never ocurred to me that the tapered tap could be used in that way. Thanks!

Chuck


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## winklmj (Mar 14, 2012)

Very cool looking engine. Keep the updates coming.


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## chuck foster (Mar 23, 2012)

well here we are 10 or 12 days latter and we finally have some thing to post about this project ;D

the cam journals were bored about 5 or 6 years ago and they were in the wrong location, so i had to fix that and this is how i did it.

first i had to re-bore the 2 outer cam journals in the right place. i squared up the upper crank case in the mill and re-bored them.
for some reason i only took one picture of the set up so here it is.






once the outer cam journals were in the right place i then made 2 brass bushings to fit in the holes. now these bushings will guide a 1/2" dia. piece of drill rod.
the drill rod will be the boring bar (held between centers in the lathe) that will bore the inner 2 cam journals. this engine has 4 cam journals.






as you can see in the above picture the crank case was held down by two 5/16 bolts with a piece of flat bar.
the rear bolt was threaded into the cross slide right were my rear mount tool holder goes. the bolt in front of the crank case was threaded into a plug i made that fits into the hole were the compound slide would mount. as you can see the crank case was set up on adjustable parallels.

here is a shot of the set up.






this next picture shows the boring bar and the cutter i made out of a broken carbide end mill. the end mill was 1/8" in diameter (i never throw broken end mills out)






now with all this set up done all i had to do was bore the holes.
the boring bar goes around with the cutter and the crank case (bolted to the carrage) goes back and forth while the cutter bores out the cam journals.

now with that done i bolted the crank into the lower crank case






then came the upper crank case with a short piece of steel in the cam bores, for the cam gear to fit on.






next came the crank gear .................. i was getting excited by this point 






and then the cam gear was put in place ..................... holy crap it all fits 











now with all that done i think i will make the cam bearings and then i will start on the dreaded cam .................. oh mr steve huck were are you, paging mr cam shaft maker extraordinaire 

thanks for tuning in guys and mr fellows you are very welcome for the tap idea, but i cannot take credit for the idea as my good friend mr john crook told me about it years ago.

chuck


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## chuck foster (Mar 24, 2012)

here is a video of the set up and boring of the cam journals

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-E6ZqtwHoA&context=C4a59101ADvjVQa1PpcFOgbO3cT2hxIHX0W0RN7WFh187s8BML08w=[/ame]

and the gears !!!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqL_AWu28vs&feature=context&context=C4a59101ADvjVQa1PpcFOgbO3cT2hxIHX0W0RN7WFh187s8BML08w=[/ame]

chuck


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## smfr (Mar 24, 2012)

Great progress, and I love the Whoo Hoo! Very neat boring setup too.


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## rudydubya (Mar 24, 2012)

Interesting operation Chuck. Thanks for sharing. How did you hold the cutter in the drill rod?

Regards,
Rudy


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## vcutajar (Mar 24, 2012)

Chuck

Every small step is another step closer to the finish line. Way to go. :bow:

Vince


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## steamer (Mar 24, 2012)

Nicely done Chuck! woohoo1

 ;D


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## cfellows (Mar 24, 2012)

Congratulations on getting that part sorted out. Is the cam going to be all one piece? 

Chuck


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## gmac (Mar 24, 2012)

Here's the engine SteamDave posted pictures of, being started and run;

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnRiq8nTkic[/ame]

So now we can have a runoff between Chuck's finished model and the real thing! Great work and documentation Chuck - thanks for taking the time to show us how it's done.

Cheers;
Garry


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## mklotz (Mar 24, 2012)

I don't know how relevant this is but the Mount Wilson astronomical observatory in southern California used a FB engine to generate primary power for many years. The history of the site and the engine is chronicled here...

http://oldengine.org/members/levans/mtwilsonfm/

and a brief video of the engine running is here...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rhb1nr3DKk[/ame]


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## chuck foster (Apr 8, 2012)

thanks for all the kind words guys 

i just want to let you know that i have not abandoned this project like i have done in the past.
i have not posted in a while because it my day job is unbelievably busy and i have not had any time to work on this model.

i did get some work done and here it is.

the next few pictures show the outer two camshaft bearings that bolt to the crankcase.






















the next 2 pictures show the bearings in place.











next up is the camshaft. it will be made from several pieces, the shaft itself is made from two pieces that are pressed together.
















next will be the cams them selves, the intake and exhaust cams are all the same so it makes for easy machining.
here is a picture of what has to be made.






i started out with 8 blanks, i only need 6 cams but i am sure i will mess up one along the way :big:






first thing to do is machine them to size and drill a hole in the middle so they can be machined.






then i put them on a mandrel so they can be machined to size.






first i had to turn a shoulder on one end.






once they were all turned i then used the mandrel to hold the cam blanks in the mill.






i did not take any pictures of the actual milling procedure because i don't want to give away all my secrets (truth be known the camera batteries were dead).
so the next picture shows a cam finished (all accept the polishing)






and here is a pair on the camshaft waiting for the other 4 cams.






next up will be the ignitor cams and then the time consuming task of degreing the cams into their proper positions.

i hope to get some more done this week but with the way work is going i don't know if i will get any time to work out in the shop.

thanks for tuning in guys

chuck


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## steamer (Apr 8, 2012)

looking good Chuck!  I hear ya about work!  I'll be in for it next week I'm sure1

Dave


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## cfellows (Apr 9, 2012)

Glad to see you back at it, Chuck. I'm looking forward to seeing the ignitors. 

Chuck


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