5 Cylinder radial (winter's project)
- Thread starter gbritnell
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George,
Thank you so much for your replies, brilliant photos, updates and info.
I can't say anymore than I have already said about your work, either for this build or for your past builds.
(Except to say that you are an inspiration; from "newbies" up to old pharts like me)!
Kind regards,
Ron.
Thank you so much for your replies, brilliant photos, updates and info.
I can't say anymore than I have already said about your work, either for this build or for your past builds.
(Except to say that you are an inspiration; from "newbies" up to old pharts like me)!
Kind regards,
Ron.
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Between the family get-togethers for Memorial day I had some time in the shop. I finished up the plug wires which included the distributor end boots and the small terminals for the plug ends. The carburetor linkage, throttle arm, clevis and linkage was taken care of as was the handle for the oil shutoff valve.
It's almost to the point that I could try and start it but I want to finish the prop first. I went searching the net for propeller information and came up with some good cross sectional view. I know what is needed now I just have to convert what I have into something that I can machine. It will require mounting a piece of stock in the dividing head and making stepped cuts while rotating the blank. I have a friend that does aluminum casting but I don't know how thin off a cross section he can cast without choking off the metal flow.
Anyway here's 2 sets of photos of the finished engine, sans propeller.
The next time I post will hopefully be a video of it making noise, good noise!
gbritnell
It's almost to the point that I could try and start it but I want to finish the prop first. I went searching the net for propeller information and came up with some good cross sectional view. I know what is needed now I just have to convert what I have into something that I can machine. It will require mounting a piece of stock in the dividing head and making stepped cuts while rotating the blank. I have a friend that does aluminum casting but I don't know how thin off a cross section he can cast without choking off the metal flow.
Anyway here's 2 sets of photos of the finished engine, sans propeller.
The next time I post will hopefully be a video of it making noise, good noise!
gbritnell
Mosey
Well-Known Member
We all now have the standard we can strive to achieve. Thank you George. Keep it coming.
Mosey
Mosey
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George,
Presuming this IS you (and I believe, nay, I know it is you)! then I truly feel that our fellow members deserve to see some more of your fantastic work.
(That is, if they haven't seen this already).
A true craftsman.
Kind regards,
Ron.
George,
Presuming this IS you (and I believe, nay, I know it is you)! then I truly feel that our fellow members deserve to see some more of your fantastic work.
(That is, if they haven't seen this already).
A true craftsman.
Kind regards,
Ron.
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Hi Dave,
Well this morning was the second test. I played with it yesterday but there seemed to be too much oil getting into the lower combustion chambers and drowning the plugs. For the time being I drained the oil tank for this mornings tryout.
I cleaned the plugs and reinstalled them, made sure everything was tight and where it needed to be and started turning it over with a 12 volt model airplane starter. As I was turning it over I slowly opened the needle valve and got it to the point where it wanted to run, in fact it did run for about 3 seconds. I turned off the ignition box and felt the cylinders, surprisingly one of the lower cylinders was hot and 2 of the upper cylinders so it was running on 3. The other bottom cylinder was still pushing oil out. I don't know where it was coming from as there was no oil in the system. I re-cleaned the plugs and gave it another try with about the same results. I'll have to sort out why all the cylinders aren't running. The compressions seems good if I flip the prop by hand. Each cylinder has a resistance when it gets to TDC.
Just the usual start up problems. Any multi-cylinder engine I've ever built has teething problems of some sort.
I'll keep you apprised.
George
Well this morning was the second test. I played with it yesterday but there seemed to be too much oil getting into the lower combustion chambers and drowning the plugs. For the time being I drained the oil tank for this mornings tryout.
I cleaned the plugs and reinstalled them, made sure everything was tight and where it needed to be and started turning it over with a 12 volt model airplane starter. As I was turning it over I slowly opened the needle valve and got it to the point where it wanted to run, in fact it did run for about 3 seconds. I turned off the ignition box and felt the cylinders, surprisingly one of the lower cylinders was hot and 2 of the upper cylinders so it was running on 3. The other bottom cylinder was still pushing oil out. I don't know where it was coming from as there was no oil in the system. I re-cleaned the plugs and gave it another try with about the same results. I'll have to sort out why all the cylinders aren't running. The compressions seems good if I flip the prop by hand. Each cylinder has a resistance when it gets to TDC.
Just the usual start up problems. Any multi-cylinder engine I've ever built has teething problems of some sort.
I'll keep you apprised.
George
Mosey
Well-Known Member
Spectalular!
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Hi Dave,
The more I turn it over and have it kind of running the better the rings seem to be seating as the compression is coming up nicely. If I clean the plug on #4 cylinder and try to start the engine it will hit on all 5 for just about 5-6 seconds and then the plug oil fouls. I'm hoping that after a few attempts the rings will seal up and prevent this from happening. After all the full sized radials smoke like a chimney on startup the only difference is that given the size of my plugs they have a hard time cleaning.
I will give it a few more attempts and if I don't have any luck I'll have to pull the cylinders and make some new 2 ring pistons for it.
I'll keep you updated.
George
P.S. Part of the reason for the erratic running is the prop is not giving it enough flywheel action and when it misses on #4 it has to go from #2 back to #5 to keep running.
The more I turn it over and have it kind of running the better the rings seem to be seating as the compression is coming up nicely. If I clean the plug on #4 cylinder and try to start the engine it will hit on all 5 for just about 5-6 seconds and then the plug oil fouls. I'm hoping that after a few attempts the rings will seal up and prevent this from happening. After all the full sized radials smoke like a chimney on startup the only difference is that given the size of my plugs they have a hard time cleaning.
I will give it a few more attempts and if I don't have any luck I'll have to pull the cylinders and make some new 2 ring pistons for it.
I'll keep you updated.
George
P.S. Part of the reason for the erratic running is the prop is not giving it enough flywheel action and when it misses on #4 it has to go from #2 back to #5 to keep running.
...could you pull the plugs and motor the engine in the lathe for a while to seat the rings?.......
steamer said:
I was thinking the same thing. Fill it with mineral oil and give it a twirl in the lathe.
Any update on what you've tried and what did or did not work? Probably by year's end I'll be trying to bring up a nine cylinder radial that I've been working on for the past year, and so I've been following your thread closely. I'm really interested in what happens in the time between finishing all the machining and getting the engine to sustain running. I built Jerry' Howell's V-twin and V-4 engines and there was alot of difficult and frustrating solo learning that went along with getting them to the point I was happy with their performances. I'd like to learn how more experienced builders troubleshoot all the inevitable issues we run into. - Terry
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Hi Terry,
Thanks for the interest. After my last attempt at running and having the oiling problem with the #4 cylinder I decided to check the oil pump to make sure it was scavenging the oil. When I built the oiling system I figured it would run in a closed loop, meaning that it would take oil and return it with no trouble or to clarify there would be no buildup of pressure of negative pressure applied to the tank so therefore I didn't put a vent hole in the cap. Well I was wrong. What happened was the scavenge side having more capacity was pressurizing the tank enough to not allow the oil to return after a short run. Long story short I put a vent hole in the cap and then test ran the engine in the lathe and it seems like it has cured this problem.
Now as to why there has been no update. With summer in full swing here in Ohio there has just been too many outdoor activities and I haven't had time to put it back on the bench and run it.
I have had my engines at a couple of shows so they needed tending to and I do motorcycle, lawnmower and ATV repair along with small machining jobs for people so with my 'retirement' I just haven't had much time.
As soon as I have news I will update everyone.
gbritnell
Thanks for the interest. After my last attempt at running and having the oiling problem with the #4 cylinder I decided to check the oil pump to make sure it was scavenging the oil. When I built the oiling system I figured it would run in a closed loop, meaning that it would take oil and return it with no trouble or to clarify there would be no buildup of pressure of negative pressure applied to the tank so therefore I didn't put a vent hole in the cap. Well I was wrong. What happened was the scavenge side having more capacity was pressurizing the tank enough to not allow the oil to return after a short run. Long story short I put a vent hole in the cap and then test ran the engine in the lathe and it seems like it has cured this problem.
Now as to why there has been no update. With summer in full swing here in Ohio there has just been too many outdoor activities and I haven't had time to put it back on the bench and run it.
I have had my engines at a couple of shows so they needed tending to and I do motorcycle, lawnmower and ATV repair along with small machining jobs for people so with my 'retirement' I just haven't had much time.
As soon as I have news I will update everyone.
gbritnell
Thanks,....
(note to self: don't forget the $@&# vent hole.)
Terry
(note to self: don't forget the $@&# vent hole.)
Terry
