Half Scale Ford Quadricycle Engine

[vascon2196]

Thanks Ross.

I did not machine the bore...just honed. It was seamless tubing from McMaster Carr, not sure the exact material.

Yes the crank pins are brass...I normally use a shoulder bolt for crank pins but I thought making them from brass would look nice. Do you think they will get too hot? I can add an oiler.

 

[robcas631]

All I can is WOW! Great job! I can't wait untill it's completed!

 

[vascon2196]

Thanks Rob...it's going a bit slower than I thought but each time parts fit together as they are supposed to makes it all worth it.

 

[vascon2196]

Alright then...I have a bunch of pictures and have made a ton of progress. It helps that I have the summer off (best perk of being a shop teacher). I also took pictures of my new DRO for my Bridgeport...the original Trak DRO started flaking out on me (it was 30+ years old).

Both pistons fit great and slide nicely...once I finish the exhaust valves I will add the piston rings and continue working them in to the cylinder bores.

Then I still have to make all the ignition/timing components.

 

[johnmcc69]

That's really coming along nicely Chris! Nice work!

John

 

[mnay]

Great Job. I have been following the whole process. Can't wait to hear it run!!!!
Mike

 

[mnay]

Thanks for going to the trouble of sharing the process with us!!!!!!!
Mike

 

[vascon2196]

Thank you folks for all the kind words...I am trying to get this finished by October for the Yankee Steam-Up in Rhode Island.

 

[radial1951]

Thanks Ross.

I did not machine the bore...just honed. It was seamless tubing from McMaster Carr, not sure the exact material.

Yes the crank pins are brass...I normally use a shoulder bolt for crank pins but I thought making them from brass would look nice. Do you think they will get too hot? I can add an oiler.

Hi Chris, sorry for this very late reply to your question a few weeks ago.

Yes, lubrication will certainly help, but I suspect the oil flying off will look like murky gold paint after a while! I was also thinking about the low strength of brass and the highly stressed area at the corner where the thread meets the shoulder. That might be a test for the brass...

Probably the best setup in this case is a polished steel crank pin running in a thin wall bronze bushing in the conrod, but there may not be enough room to fit a bush. If the crank pins do wear quickly, then bronze pins could be a solution.

Please take the above as just my suggestions, not meant to be critical of the nice job you are doing on this engine and also the full size one.

It will certainly be great to see and hear it/them running.

Regards, RossG.
radial1951
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[vascon2196]

Thanks Ross...I will most likely swap out the brass crank pins with hardened steel in the future. For now I have to find some drill rod for the exhaust valves!

 

[vascon2196]

Almost finished!

I'm having difficulty with compression and sealing the exhaust valves. My biggest problem is that I am using piston rings that when installed leave a small gap. I did however turn 2 grooves just in case! That means once the 2 extra piston rings arrive each piston will have 2 rings each. This should eliminate any air passing by the pistons in that direction.

Then I'm going to add gaskets behind the exhaust mainfolds...and maybe add JB weld around all the fittings.

I have been trying to get the timing right all morning and have gotten frustrated. So I decided to upload the pictures I have so far...also a video at the very end.

I ordered 2 buzz boxes but I'm not sure if I really need two buzz boxes?

Enjoy.

 

[vascon2196]

So it's been kind of a rough day. One of the connecting rods broke while I was trying to install the piston with 2 rings. The solder joint failed...not once but twice it failed. After throwing a fit, I launched the broken connecting rod into the woods.

Now I'm going to thread the rod ends and loc-tite them. I've never tried this approach but I think it will work just fine. The solder just wasn't holding up. Hopefully the rods won't bend either because I am not using heat.

By the way...I had to take EVERYTHING apart to get the pistons out...one of the crank keys flew somewhere in my shop lost forever so I had to make a new one.

I also had a 5 year old outside the shop shouting "dad", "dad", "dad", "dad", "dad", "dad", and so on.

Not a very productive day, BUT the new piston rings came in, and I'm making a better more robust connecting rod. I also think I have the timing right.

Whew....;D

 

[vascon2196]

Sooooooo...I got the timing as best as I could...wired it up as best as I could...and it kicked over about 3 times! Very exciting.

BUT, I saw some air bubbles leaking out of the exhaust manifold on Piston-1 so I decided to make a gasket for it. When I took the manifold off I placed it on the table to do other things. Well, I knocked it off the table and it hit the concrete floor with the valve stem facing down. I did not notice any dents or major problems right away and proceeded to make the gasket.

After putting it all back together the valve hold no air...no compression at all. The piston just pushed all the air out of the cylinder when it is supposed to be compressing.

I'm going to take out the gasket I made because I think it is preventing the valve from seating properly. If that does not work then I must have bent the valve just enough to make things fail.

Huge bummer.

 

[vascon2196]

More and more problems for the Half-Scale Quadricycle engine.

I ended up making a new piston...repaired the connecting rods...made new crankshaft keys...drilled and tapped the cranks in place...scrapped the electrical distributor and went with a simple make and break contact on the flywheel....made new gaskets.

The damn thing was still leaking air.

But wait!....it gets better....when I was testing it yet again today with starter fluid it kicked over a couple of times which was nice to see.

THEN...it blew up in my face. I was deaf in my left ear for a minute or so and the noise scared the heck out of me. My silver solder joint around the front manifold failed! So I took the entire engine apart again and I am bring the frame to the welding students to see if they can remove my solder and replace it with weld.

How Henry Ford built his full size Quad back in 1896 is incredible. Well...there was only one Henry Ford.

 

[vascon2196]

I finally got around to fixing the half-scale Quad engine! I made a new valve and repaired the valve seat, and lapped it in.

I welded the manifold to the frame so that won't come loose again!

Starting with the right cylinder manifold, I used a gasket and Permatex Gasket to create an air tight seal for compression.

I put it all together, spun the Flywheel, and the piston bounced back at me!!!

Next is the second cylinder and pictures to follow.

I may have this this thing running this year!

 

[radial1951]

Alright then...I have a bunch of pictures and have made a ton of progress. It helps that I have the summer off (best perk of being a shop teacher). I also took pictures of my new DRO for my Bridgeport...the original Trak DRO started flaking out on me (it was 30+ years old).

Hi Chris

Good to see some real progress. It will run just great.

Back in your post #44 you showed your new DRO PRO. Curious, where did you buy it, and are you happy with it? I'm thinking of getting one for my mill.

Regards, RossG
radial1951
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[vascon2196]

Hi Ross,

Thank you...I am looking forward to running this so I can focus on the full-size Quadricycle!

The DRO works great. Of course there is a bit of work involved with mounting the scales but it went quite smoothly. Lots of "how to" information and there is a ton of videos on YouTube regarding the unit.

The machine shop instructor here has a dozen of them mounted to their Bridgeport's and swears by them. He convinced me it was the DRO to buy.

So far it has worked great...very accurate.

 

[vascon2196]

Funny...but I just noticed I started this thread on 12-24-2013 and about 5 minutes ago I was able to get the engine to turn over about 5 times on starter fluid! Today is 12-24-2014!

That is just a weird coincidence!

I have had to take the engine apart at least 10 times, repaired a valve, rebuilt a new valve, rebuilt both exhaust manifolds, welded the frame, new ignition, new piston rings, new connecting rods (one is still broken but hanging on), and I still need to replace the crank pins with shoulder bolts.

BUT, the damn thing is finally running.

Now it can only get better.

Pics to follow.

 

[stevehuckss396]

Awesome! I am eagerly awaiting the video.

 

[radial1951]

Funny...but I just noticed I started this thread on 12-24-2013 and about 5 minutes ago I was able to get the engine to turn over about 5 times on starter fluid! Today is 12-24-2014!
Pics to follow.

Well done Chris! A great achievement, but it never happened unless we see the video proof of it running!

Merry Christmas to all engine builders. It's already the 25th here...

Regards, RossG
radial1951
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