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as someone already mentioned, that's not "silver solder" that's "tin solder" that has a percent or two of silver, it will probably work for the intake side, but not the exhaust side. You really want to get real "silver solder" (56% silver, and some 45% for filling gaps) and real "brazing flux"...

exactly my experience too !!!, machine to .001 oversize, use abrasives to get perfect finish and perfect size. I find that 600-grit wet-or-dry paper takes about a "half" (of a thousandth) at a time, and 1000-grit takes about a "tenth" (of a thousandth) at a time. also I find that ball...

two halves of the intake manifold roughed out, will either be TIG welded, or maybe JB-welded, together

AFAICT you can only get "helical lap" brand in cast iron, all of mine are. if you're trying to save $$$ you might be in the wrong hobby :) !!! (for example you can't save $$$ by buying a cheap tap :-( !!!)

"helical lap" is the name of the company and you buy directly from them and that's all I use (along with their 1200 grit alumina abrasive), I do have some from "acro lap" but don't really use them as they aren't long enough and their adjustment creates a barrel shape so hard to get a perfectly...

Lloyd, you cannot get a good enough finish with a reamer, instead you will need to lap them, turn them to about 1 to 1.5 thou undersize then lap them to right on. you can usually get an acceptable lap using an "Acro Lap", but if you want perfection use a "Helical Lap". Peter.

Lloyd, I've been using epoxy "additive machining" for years to recover from machining mistakes (who me, make mistakes, not possible :-) !) and never once had any epoxy failures !

look at what happened to for example Paul Breisch castings, or Shelf Pet Models castings, or the Replica Engines Aurora, once the person doing them passes away or gets out of the business those patterns seems to disappear forever and no one ever makes new ones. so while it is theoretically...

IIUC this is a Richard Maheu "Quarter Scale Merlin" casting, only a few were ever made, he stopped making them long long ago, they are very intricate lost-wax castings, he create the waxes and then had a company in L.A. do the casting. they are irreplaceable ???

you've never used it, so why are you advocating it ...?... I did try some "aluminum solder" a while back, the flux turned the aluminum black and prohibited any wetting, it was totally unusable, yes I've seen youtube videos of people using it, but my experience says otherwise. also even 400...

Roger, thanks!, I found the F1 article very interesting! (but its still spark-ignition), but the HCCI article is about how model airplane diesel engines have always worked and is neither interesting nor promising IMHO its just another unnecessary research project, YMMV... Pete.

"I make everything from scratch, except for screws, gears, and ball bearings, those I buy" :) !!! the only thing thats important for timing gears is the 2-to-1 ratio, actual module/DP doesn't matter, and actual size isn't all that critical either just location of the second shaft relative to...

JB-Weld, Hysol 3455 and 9340, are all grey and high temp resistant. you do not want to subject your casting to TIG or even braze temperatures, you could have done that before machining, but it will warp and require machining to get back to being straight/flat/etc and its too late for that now...

to machine a flywheel I typically use a 3-jaw for a 6-spoke wheel, and use the jaws to grip on the inside of the wheel, that way you can machine the outside of the wheel and the bore for the shaft all in one go and they are guaranteed concentric and it will run straight and true :-) !!!

in modern times Diesel means fuel directly injected near top-dead-center so that it ignites based on the heat of the compressed air, the actual fuel can be almost anything, the reason for "diesel fuel" is it is less costly to refine from crude than gasoline, but pumps and injectors won't last...

I took the Muncaster to the Golden Gate Live Steamers open house last Sunday (they invite us Bay Area Engine Modelers to show at their open house, set up tables and supply compressed air) and after oiling the Stuart started oiling the Muncaster and realized I've jump the gun a bit, I still...

you can't tell from the video 1) if this is really "brass" or is mis-named "bronze", and 2) what the valve plate is in contact with. what I'm trying to say is that brass-on-brass is not good (was not good for me at least), and maybe the plate in the video is intended to slide on steel (although...

congrats !!! I just learned that the Allison is what powered the P38 Lightning designed by none other than Kelly "skunk works" Johnson, so its on the historically significant list for me ! I've seen Richard Maheu's Quarter Scale Merlin up close (we were somewhat acquainted back went he was...

Creasy, FYI, I found the valve rod guide to be problematic, nearly impossible to get its bore lined up perfectly with the valve rod, I used shims above and below the screws that hold it onto the boss in the base in order to tilt it into alignment, but if I ever have to take it apart and...

at 5" diameter compressor and 5-1/4" diameter turbine these don't seem right for a quarter scale V12, in the photos of the hydroplane they are about as big in diameter as the valve covers are wide, but the rotors inside can't be more than about 1-1/2" (based on their max RPM) so maybe you could...