# Silver Bullet Back to Work Progress



## Mosey (Jan 29, 2012)

Finally got back to work in the shop on the Silver Bullet after the real job quieted down.
Here is some real progress for me. I finished/remade the water pump, and it has turned out very pleasing for me. This really has the juices flowing again. A senior guy on this forum generously helped me out with the gear stock.
The pump entailed boring out for the twin pump gears, shafts, and the crossflow water piping. I am especially proud that the backing plate with it's 2 mounting tabs was milled in 1 piece going around the tabs and the circular plate without manually blending the tangents into 1 smooth curve.


 I also made a new fan hub, and will make a new, better fan.
So, it ain't much for most of you, but for this guy, it is wonderful, as I am learning and getting better.


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## Mosey (May 10, 2012)

Well, I'm getting closer to completion, and I need some advise on how to fit everything for the final clearances and assembly. Should I assemble the entire engine, put oil in it, and then turn it under an auxiliary power source such as an electric drill to run in all of the bearing points? Or, should I attempt to fit each pair of piecee separately and get each pair of surfaces run in to each other? Help here!


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## ProdEng (May 11, 2012)

I would be inclined to build a bit at a time to find any problems without backtracking. Once I rebuilt a four cylinder car engine, dropped it into the car only to find it would not go around  :'( In my defense, I was only 16 at the time but the lesson was learned.

Jan


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## gbritnell (May 11, 2012)

Hi Mosey,
When you build something to close tolerances it doesn't hurt to run it in a little. I would rather do that then build 'loose' and have everything rattling around after a little bit of running time. Normally if fit as I go but I still spin it over once assembled.
gbritnell


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## Mosey (May 11, 2012)

Here is where things stand.
I have measured the crank journals and the bearing blanks, and they are as follows:

Rear crank journal 0.37360"  inside bearing 0.37520"  delta 0.0016" maybe too much slop?

Front crank journal 0.37340"  inside bearing 0.37640  delta 0.0030" too much slop
So, I guess I should make bearings that are closer fitting to the crank, right? How about 0.0005"? then run them in on the lathe between centers? 
what do the sages think?

I should mention that the bearings are oil-impregnated bronze on steel crank.


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## steamer (May 11, 2012)

Thats looking great Mosey! :bow:

F1 working for ya?

Dave


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## Don1966 (May 11, 2012)

Heh! Mosey I am a newbie and I think that is great work. I am going to follow you on this. I have the plans for the Silver Angel another Bob Shores project.

Don


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## Mosey (May 11, 2012)

I'm the Rip Van Winkle of modeling. It may take me more years to finish! But, I'm trying.
Dave, Yes, the F1 is great for the really little stuff.


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## Mosey (May 16, 2012)

Peckin away at it.
Here are some new progress shots.
I took a day to align my lathe so that I can make better, tighter main bearings. That is done. Strange feeling of well being having your lathe turning straight.
Well, I got some brackets from Mrs. Shores, and milled them up to be better looking. Next I drilled and bolted them to accept the pan.Now it looks like an engine.
Later still, I will mill them so that they are I beam like in cross section.
Oh, and that is the new fan you see.

Forgot to mention, that I milled out the broken 2-56 tap in the head for one of the carburetor mounting bolts. Had to mill with a large carbide mill and fill the hole with an alum plug, the re-tap. Came out OK. You'll never see it.


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## Don1966 (May 16, 2012)

Aww! You see Mosey I knew you had it in you. A little push goes a long way. Just keep plugging at it and before you know it it will be finished. As they say "one perfect piece at a time". Can,t You just see it sitting on your mantle. 

Don


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## Mosey (May 17, 2012)

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep going.


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## lazylathe (May 17, 2012)

Mosey,

If you paint it just right it will look like a rocket sled!!! :big:

Looks awesome so far!!
Way beyond anything a lot of us can do!
Keep it up, we now expect regular updates! ;D

Andrew


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## Mosey (May 17, 2012)

I don't care for the sled look, so you can expect something to change as I go along. I am now concentrating on getting it done, and refinements will come later if at all.
Work just exploded again, so I hope I can keep up the momentum.
I am going to build the engine from the bottom up, making all parts fit properly, starting with the crank, bearings, etc.
i'll try to show better pics, and do them as I go on the ma :bow:chine.


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## ProdEng (May 17, 2012)

Mosey,

I noticed that there was no comment on your bearing clearances so I got out my 1971 Machinery's Handbook and had a look. I would imagine main bearings would need a medium running fit RC5 giving a clearance range of .001 to .0025. Both of your bearings would probably work fine with your larger clearance only slightly bigger than this spec. Hope that helps.

Jan


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## Mosey (May 17, 2012)

That does help, but my ego says try to do better. As the bearings are simple turning operations, why not give it a go. I've already told production to go ahead with this order, hah!
Big thanks.


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## Don1966 (May 17, 2012)

You sound like me, when I set set something in my mind it will not go away till I do it. Awww! But it is all good, this is how we get things done. Sometimes we get those £¥+%# moment, and you blow it off, and get after it again. This is what I call regrouping. Take a deep breath and breathe easy.

Don


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## Mosey (May 19, 2012)

Armed with my new confidence from lurking on this site, and a little help from Steve Huck, I made new crank bearings today. Took about 20 minutes. Crank diameter 0.37370", Drilled 0.365", then reamed nominally 3/8" slow and lots of lube, inside new bearing 0.37390". It slid on. Nice.
Pictures to follow.


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## stevehuckss396 (May 19, 2012)

I suspect the bearings being over sized was caused by the tail stock being mis-aligned. As the reamer goes in it pushes to the side and opens the hole up bigger but also will taper the hole. If your hole is actually .3739 it would seem your reamer is getting old.


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## Mosey (May 19, 2012)

Yup, so am I.
Actually, I aligned the tailstock first, then tested the reamer in a spare part, and then reamed the new bearing.


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## Mosey (May 19, 2012)

Pictures worth a thousand words.


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## Mosey (May 20, 2012)

All kidding aside, I think it is important to point out that
I made the crank journals too small.

I made the bearings too large and tapered.

Both typical of my beginner work.

Steve Huck points out that the offset tail-stock leads to tapered reaming, thanks Steve.

Now, with aligned tail-stock, the reaming is within limits and the bearing just slides right onto the crank, with no excess clearance.

I think I've graduated to "Beginner 2" level. I hope to extend this to the rest of the engine. Stay tuned.


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## Don1966 (May 20, 2012)

Hey mosey I will be here with you, now you are starting to get you confidence back. On the right track here bud. I want to see progress here continue.

Don


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## Mosey (May 25, 2012)

Thanks, Don, it is appreciated.
Progress: I am now about to fit the pistons. They are aluminum with Cast Iron rings into cast iron cylinder sleeves. The pistons are 0.7495" and the cylinders are presently 0.7480-.7490" diameter. So, I intend to polish the pistons on the lathe to about 0.7425"?? Sound OK? I will use fine emory paper and oil to reduce theer diameter. Is this the right approach?
The pistons have spigots attached to mount in the lathe. See below.


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## stevehuckss396 (May 25, 2012)

Hey Mosey!

If they are 6061 go about 1 to 1-1/2 (.0015) smaller than the bore. If they are 7075 you can go 3/4 to 1 thou under size. 

.748 cylinder - .747 to .7465 piston (6061)
.749 cylinder - .748 to .7475 piston (6061)

That is what I would shoot for. My opinion only.


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## Mosey (May 25, 2012)

Truthfully, I don't remember, but I think they are 7075. I'm going .001" under. I'm gaining on it.


OK, here is where I now am with the piston to cylinder fitting.

Remeasured both cylinders very carefully...Rear 0.75000"- 0.75065" Piston 0.74920" difference 0.00080"-0.00145"
                               Front o.75000" -0.75020"       0.74890"        0.00110"-0.00130"

I think it's time to stop. 
Next. I'm going to fit the pistons to the wrist pin/small ends, hoping to space the pistons to center on the cylinders


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## Don1966 (May 30, 2012)

Mosey I do not know much about IC engines as I have not built any yet. Hoping to learn here as you do yours.i do know Bob Shores used cast iron on a lot of his projects and fitted the piston to the liner. And I do know aluminum expands a lot more then cast iron, but I have no clue other then what I have been reading. Steve's suggustions I would follow because he has built these. Bob Shores leaves it to the builder as to what to use, but tells you how to do it with CI. Are we going to see more progress soon?

Regards Don


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## Mosey (May 30, 2012)

Don,
Nice to know that you are interested and watching.

Yes, progress is coming. I have fitted the pistons and as soon as I receive the wrist pin blanks from EBay, I will put the entire block together and post some pics and comments. 
I know I am slow, but that's the best I can do, with work getting hot again, and other stuff. Patience is it's own reward?
Then, it's on to fitting the valves, cutting the seats, and that stuff. The show goes on.
I did follow Bob Shores directions pretty faithfully so far, and will continue that way. CI liners, rings, and alum pistons.

I have had a look at the radiator also, and made a jig for soldering the fins. It was great to finally have a serious setup to cut the numerous parallel slots using the horizontal head on my little F1 mill. Pictures will come later.


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## steamer (May 30, 2012)

I'm watching Mosey.... ;D

Dave


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## vcutajar (May 31, 2012)

Hi Mosey

Just to let you know that I am also following your work on the Silver Bullet. Keep it up and no hurry. I good piece at a time.

Vince


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## ozzie46 (May 31, 2012)

I'm here also. Keep sloggin. One piece at a time. ;D ;D ;D

 Ron


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## Mosey (May 31, 2012)

Thanks guys, I'll do my best.
I feel almost like Britney Spears, with everyone watching.


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## Mosey (May 31, 2012)

Today I had a look at the valves. I have about a dozen of them nearly finished. The stems are 0.112" in diameter, and the plans call for reaming the guides to 0.109" . I assume that I must match them by lapping down the stems or enlarging the guides to a close fit.  How about 0.0005" for clearance? Steve?
By the way, my ultra-cheapo imported plug gages measure about 0.00020" under. Gotta watch out for that.
Hopefully here is a picture of them unfinished. I have to grind them to length, removing that little tit on the head, and cut them to length. some are rejects. I made little keepers and will be using store bought e-clips. Gotta turn those slots just right.


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## Don1966 (May 31, 2012)

Great job Mosey now were are on the right track. Keep up the great work bud you are making good progress. It always help to get a little extra practice just keep thinking ahead like you are doing. This engine will be running before you know it.

Don


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## Mosey (May 31, 2012)

I will be traveling for a couple of weeks in June, so I hope to get a lot done before then, otherwise, the shop will be quiet. Let's see how much can happen.


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## idahoan (May 31, 2012)

Hi Mosey

It sounds like you have a minus set of plug gages; the minus sets are usually lapped 2 tenths under. All the ones I have here at home are minus sets; at work we have minus sets, plus sets and right on the money sets. ;D

For general inspection I prefer the minus pins.

Keep up the great work on the Silver Bullet!

Dave


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## Mosey (Jun 2, 2012)

Reporting in:
Today we got the 0.156" reamer blank to make wrist pins.
I reamed the small-end bearings with my .156" reamer, but it is undersize...about 0.154". What to do?
I put the reamer in the drill press and ran it inside the bearing hole, moving it around by hand as if I was filing the hole. Gently. Voila, I got it to exactly 0.156". 
Then I put the wrist pin in the drill press and ran it with a little lube inside the hole and it came out perfectly fit to the pin. Wow, that was nice.
Now I just have to cut the pins to length and mill a little flat on them to accept the tiny bolt inside the piston skirt to hold the pins in place.
The pistons swing back and forth on the pins smoothly with no play. Perfect!


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## steamer (Jun 2, 2012)

Hi Mosey,

Looks like a chucking reamer...it has about a .002" taper on the nose....that's probably what you ran into.

Dave


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## Mosey (Jun 3, 2012)

You had me worried...so I measured the reamer and it is 0.15580-0.15600 all the way up the straight flutes. But it seems to cut smaller than that???!! I have to work it in the hole to get full size. Strange.
Anyhow, I am now done with the pistons, wrist pins, rods.
I will put it all together.


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## Mosey (Jun 3, 2012)

Rome wasn't built in a day.


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## tvoght (Jun 4, 2012)

Keep up the good work!


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## Don1966 (Jun 4, 2012)

Keep it up Mosey you are doing great. One more step complete to the finally. Still with you bud.

Don


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## Mosey (Jun 7, 2012)

The Ringy Dingy!
Tonight I built the patented "Ringy Dingy"!
It is a little device for honing your rings to proper thickness, made by turning a little reveal on the end of a cylindrical rod. Wow! What machining genius!

Pop your rings onto the end, and place them on the flat chisel grinding machine and in a few moments you have rings of just the right thickness.

Ok, now I have a batch of rings of 0.030" to crack and then heat treat.

Stay tuned.....


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## stevehuckss396 (Jan 7, 2014)

Hello Mosey!

Any progress? I thought you had the ignition worked out so I was hoping to see a video of it running here real soon.


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