T head engine by Brian

Home Model Engine Machinist Forum

Help Support Home Model Engine Machinist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
To add to what Steamchick said above,

I don't do TIG, although I wish I did sometimes. I tried Alumiweld several years ago during my car-restoration years.

I found that the product did work as advertised, and I was able to get what I wanted from it. However, I also decided that much more aluminum work would call for getting the TIG, and that's where I stopped. I think that I was able to use the Alumiweld well because I had a whole lot of experience with Oxyacetelene, MAPP, and propane torches and could weld, braze, and solder just about anything all right with careful flame control.

Either approach has a learning curve. If I had TIG, I'd go that way.

--ShopShoe
 
I spent this morning working on a real job (to pay for my DoAll bandsaw). Then I spent this afternoon running all over town trying to buy stuff that nobody in Barrie carries. Then I machined the little bits and pieces that make up my fan. My local bearing supply shop has changed their policy to a $25 minimum charge for anything bought at the store. They have lost me as a customer. The sealed bearings in the picture are 3/16" i.d. router bearings from Busy Bee Tools. My friend the electrical wizard is coming tomorrow to help me sort out the bandsaw VFD. next thing for the engine is to make a fan blade.
zakbl8.jpg
 
Try Bearings Canada (online).
https://www.bearingscanada.com/
(Not to be confused with Canadian Bearings - generally a rip off.)

Great prices, good stock and just about anything you'll need. I've had great success with them. They might be up your way. Not sure if they have a store. They ship by Canada Post at good rates.
 
dsage: you are right, it is Bearings Canada in Mississauga. Their web site is easy to navigate. They are the company I dealt with a few years ago when I needed a bearing for my Panther Pup. Time sometimes confuses the memory. A look at their site to-day shows one way bearings at about $12-14. Makes a great way to crank an engine. Colin
 
Closer than I thought (to me). Such is shopping on line. I could probably stop by if they had a bricks and mortar store. I'll have to check and save the post.
That's where I get my one-way bearings and other related items too.
 
Today I machined a fan, and done something dumb. The fan and pulley are silver soldered together, and the hub has a recess for two ball bearings and a spacer. They are in a blind hole, and all of my reamers have a chamfer on the end. To get around having a chamfer in there, I cut the counterbore with a 3/8" endmill. Dumb move. A 3/8" endmill cuts a hole about 0.010" oversize, enough to make the hub go all "wobblycock" on the bearings. My fix is to mount the fan and hub in the 3 jaw chuck, and mount the fan shaft and bearings in the tailstock chuck. Liberally coat o.d. of bearings and spacer with J.B. Weld, then advance the tailstock ram until everything is where it should be linearly. If I've lived a good clean life (Ha-Ha), everything should be aligned when get up tomorrow.
MnWdkc.jpg
 
By the time I pay for shipping to Barrie from Toronto, there is no financial advantage to buying bearings online.
 
This morning I brought all the drawings up to date and saved them as .pdf files. There are 43 drawings, and some have multiple sheets, so there are about 50 drawings in all. Each component has a detail sheet, and the main overall assembly has parts lists and identifying part numbers and bills of material. I have a bit of finish work to complete on the fan components, but the drawings are complete and included in the package. I sell a complete set of these drawings for $25 Canadian funds, paid to Paypal to [email protected] ---Brian
 
Now, for something a little different----I had trouble cutting the cams for this engine on my manual mill. The main reason for this was the extreme overall length of the cams. I appealed for someone with CNC capabilities to make me a set of cams in exchange for a set of engine plans. Sid stepped up and machined a beautiful pair of cams for me, but doesn't want the plans. He asked that a free set of plans be given to someone else who wanted them. Okay, I'm going to do that. The only stipulation I would ask for, is that whoever gets the free plan set must start a thread on building the engine and post it here for us to follow. So, who will it be?--If you want a complete set of engineering drawings for this engine, and will post a thread on this forum to show us your progress, then let me know. I am going to send a free plan set to whoever speaks up first, as long as they can meet my conditions.----Brian
 
Today was painting day. I picked up a can of orange Tremclad paint, because that was the only color that I hadn't used already. The fan can be flat back, it's not that important. The aluminum gear covers didn't really need to be painted, but there were enough dings and low spots in them that I filled all the low spots with J.B.Weld yesterday, sanded it smooth this morning and gave them a double coat of aluminum paint. I wish there was a filler that matched the raw aluminum color exactly, but if there is I don't know about it. Now, it seems like I've worked myself out of a job for the time being, so the rest of the day will be spent doing not much---Ahhhh
cpv4Hg.jpg

HFqrb4.jpg

J6u37H.jpg

HnmHOw.jpg

OMdbTx.jpg
 
So here we have the engine dressed out in all of it's pretty colors. I had to get my good wife to take the pictures with her cell phone. Right now it is taking better pictures than my $700 digital camera. I will post one more video of this engine running, and then, as Bugs Bunny would have said--"That's all folks!!!"
yCsyY6.jpg

M8WVhb.jpg

tJcddG.jpg

Tmw3WA.jpg
 
Question--do you have to have a special tool to insert helicoils? I have a couple of 10-24 threaded holes in my aluminum cylinder head that are getting kinda funky. I can buy a bag of helicoils for $12, but I I buy a "helicoil kit" the price shoots up to $45
 
Question--do you have to have a special tool to insert helicoils? I have a couple of 10-24 threaded holes in my aluminum cylinder head that are getting kinda funky. I can buy a bag of helicoils for $12, but I I buy a "helicoil kit" the price shoots up to $45
Yes, you need the correct tap to prepare the hole for the coil and the driver tool to engage the tang at the bottom of the coil to turn it into the hole then you use a punch to knock the tang off.
 
Brian, The kit comes with a drill bit, tap and installation tooling, usually have 5 or 10 coils in the kit as well.
 
After painting and reassembling the engine, it looks lovely but it won't start. It won't start because it has lost compression at the valves.
It started and ran fine earlier this week. The painting process didn't involve any of the things that would make the valves leak. Valve timing and ignition timing have been checked, and they are "spot on". The only difference between this engine and other engines I have built is the exceptionally long guided area of the valve stems. I have a theory that the longer contact area is creating enough friction on the valve stem to keep them from closing properly. First and easiest thing to try will be stronger valve springs. If that doesn't fix things, then my other idea can be seen at the right hand valve in the drawing. The lower portion of the guide area of the valve cages would have a clearance from the valve stem, and an inserted, concentric supplementary guide Loctited into the very bottom. This may well be the reason that Vederstein couldn't get the valves to seal on the t head engine that he built.
kGKe0r.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top