Rusty lump of metal

[lendusaquid]

All the rings are in good condition except for the oil ring which i dont know about  as i have not managed to remove it yet.It would be nice to get the engine working again even thou i did buy it for spares.I was hoping maybe to get rid of the ridge by honing it away and just running the engine for display with no load.

[oliver90owner]

Lendusaquid,

Re the top ring groove:  I was contemplating replacing my piston with one from a tractor, but did not need to.  The rings for the tractor pistons I have were wider, especially the oil control.  Then I found the pistons were dished and was just going to fit a wider top ring after a little machining.

There are lots of fixes out there if you know where to look.  Making a compression ring from scratch is not difficult either.  I have the recipe, just not ever needed to do it ....... yet.  A local friendly foundryman is an advantage as well.  The one near me does quite a few jobs for the local model engineering society.

As another alternative, a dry liner would not be so expensive if an oversize piston was not available for a straight rebore.

As a last resort there is always Stationary Engine Parts for new Indian-origin replacements.

Regards, RAB

Regards, RAB

[lendusaquid]

The most sophisticated metal working tool i have is a file.I dont even have a bench drill.So making a piston ring is way out of my league.All the rings are ok anyway. I did wonder about leaving the top ring off if it causes any trouble. On my other engine i had the dry liner replaced and used a new indian piston.The old piston had a different arrangement of ring sizes than the later pistons and i had a spot of bother trying to find new rings for it.The indian piston was given to the people fitting the liner to make sure things fitted.I could have got a new Indian cylinder for the price of having that liner fitted to an old frost damaged cylinder but i wanted it to look as original as possible.
 As for this rusty lump, its all theory whether i get it working or not but it would be fun.     

[lendusaquid]

I got the oil scrapper ring out,in four pieces .Cam looks good,idler looks good and i want to use the gov cover as its got an oil seal at the base which my present one does not have.The stop handle is no good but the rest can be salvaged.Any advise on removing rusted on flywheels would be handy.One flywheel has not even got a key in place and the notches are not lined up so its just rust holding it in place.

[Tom]

With the condition that beast is in, how about a sawzall. Unless you really think the crank is salvageable. You can then put the flywheels in a drill press and drill out the stubs of the crank.

[lendusaquid]

Yes that is the last option, but it would be a shame to scrap the crank.

[Tom]

I think you would be more likely to save the flywheels. If you try to pull them they may break.

[Doug]

Quid:

Clean up the rust as best you can ( use a little naval jelly if you have to to get the exposed metal as clean as possible.

Get a puller on it and aply some presure, but don't be nuts about it. Tap the back of the hub, add more oil, release the presure on the puller, reposition puller, tap, more oil.

Just keep working at it.

Try and save the crank since its a real RA lister crank you can be sure its better stuff than an Indian and the machining tollerences are more likely to be better. I would have this crank rebuilt if needed....

If you can't save the crank and have to cut it save the pieces. Believe it or not this can probably be welded ( sub arc ) and rebuilt but the cost will obvioulsy be higher.....

[Stan]

Go onto the smokstak site and search for pulling rusty flywheels.  there's a wealth of experience there and some very good suggestions.  Among them is the best penetrating fluid ever found, Water!.  do a google for smokstak.
Stan

[MacGyver]

Any advise on removing rusted on flywheels would be handy. One flywheel has not even got a key in place and the notches are not lined up so its just rust holding it in place.

I would probably take a propane torch and GENTLY and evenly heat the rusted flywheel/crank area to about 250 degrees F. When it's hot, douse it liberally with your penetrating oil of choice and let sit until cool. Repeat once or twice daily for a few days, then try the puller and tapping that Doug suggested.

Heating the goods to 225-250F or so helps drive moisture out and expands the air in the little microscopic voids between the flywheel and crank.

Oil it when it's hot, and as the parts cool and that little bit of air in those voids contracts it will help draw the oil in between the parts. Repeat frequently and be patient...


Steve

[Chuggy]

If it doesn't pull off easily with a puller then I agree with Steve, get some heat and plenty of penetrating oil on it.

junk and disorderly
Chug

[lendusaquid]

Doug
Ive made a well around the key slot and filled with diesel.I will keep it filled for a few weeks while i build a puller.Ive removed all rust from the crank so nothing stopping it there.I will try and be patient.
Stan
I will check that site out.I dont know if using water for a prolong period of time would be a good idea in this situation,but i can see it working on other things. 

Steve,Chug
I would love to put some heat on the hub but i have read that it is a dangerous thing to do on an iron flywheel.It would put a lot of stress on it with maybe catastrophic results later.

Graham

[Doug]

Quid probably not wise to heat that fly wheel.

Steve considering the stresses involved, age, the nature of cast , and unknown condition of the hub itself heating it is not wise and may cause a crack.

I wouldn't try that with a new Indian fly wheel....

I've posted these many times before but here is my Petteroid being pulled a part.
No where near as tough a pull as you probably have Quid but as you can see I made some pullers specific to the job so I wouldn't damage anything.
You should consider a puller that has a collar behind the hub

http://www.putfile.com/pic/4199807?pos=top
http://www.putfile.com/pic/4199746?pos=top
http://www.putfile.com/pic/4159569?pos=top

[MacGyver]

There is certainly good reason to be cautious with the cast iron flywheels, that's for sure.

But the amount of heat I'm talking about is not much more than normal operating temperature.
The object isn't to heat the wheel up a so it'll expand and let loose of the shaft.  Just enough to help the penetrating oil get in there. Just barely spit sizzling hot is plenty.
Not even enough heat to discolor the paint.  Applied slowly and gently. Using a heat gun or heating lamps would be fine if a propane torch makes you nervous.

Anyway, time and patience and lots of oil...

Steve

[lendusaquid]

Well i am willing to give a mild heat up a go.Maybe get the oil hot before i add it as well.I dont know.Decisions ,decisions.I used to be indecisive but now iam not so sure.