Author Topic: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine  (Read 21199 times)

dax021

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #30 on: March 09, 2019, 07:42:26 PM »
One of these days she is going to read your forum postings...........then you are going to be in the brown stuff.

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2019, 10:07:17 AM »
Hi Guys, sorry for not having posted much recently, between my health issues and those of my Wife rather a lot of time has been consumed by doctors, pathologists and etc.

I have, however managed to finish the crank case assembly and also the flywheel. Took me three days to get the crud off the flywheel, a leaking crank case seal had covered it in oil that then mixed with the Australian dust to form a quarter inch thick layer of tarmac! I have also managed to clean and reassemble the rocker assembly. Photos attached.

We now get to the difficult part which is finding spare parts for an engine made in the 1950`s. There are a lot of bits that cannot be reconditioned so replacements must be found. I have had contact with a couple of Southern Cross experts and sent them a spread sheet detailing the bits I am missing. I am not expecting to find everything I need and so will have to resort to manufacturing or machining them myself, I will let you know how the process goes.

Bob

dieselspanner

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #32 on: March 19, 2019, 08:33:33 PM »
Looking good!

Cheers
Stef
Tighten 'til it strips, weld nut to chassis, peen stud, adjust with angle grinder.

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #33 on: March 20, 2019, 11:11:06 AM »
Hi Glort, sorry to let the side down. You will be pleased to hear that my Wife is having her last tests tomorrow. I am hoping that this will result in a definitive diagnosis and a permanent treatment regime that works. My own surgery has been knocked back by two weeks so I have a little more time to spend on engines before I become temporarily disabled again.

There has been some movement in the legal battle I have been having with the insurance company. I am hoping that I may finally get some compensation for my injuries and loss of income. Once that has been dealt with I am going to have to sell my home and move closer to the medical care that we both require, and away from this beautiful rural property that I can no longer maintain.

I have no idea of where to start looking for a new home, I couldn`t live in a city again so I have to find somewhere rural but close to a city. My Wife has ambitions to live in Tasmania but I am unsure about how we would cope with the cold winters having lived in the heat of northern New South Wales.

Where ever it is, I shall being setting up a full machine shop with the intention of doing as much old engine renovation as I can, before my time runs out. I am not thinking of this as a business just a hobby which might bring in a small income.

If your mate with the lathe doesn`t know how to use it please advise him to go to TAFE or even the local Men`s shed for tuition. Operating any machine tool without the necessary skills is a recipe for disaster, I have personally witnessed the results of these sorts of industrial accidents and they aren`t pretty.

One tool that I definitely want is a boring machine, something that could easily be used to re-bore and sleeve old cylinders. I will probably have to settle for an older universal milling machine, with more modern tooling. I would love to own a Bridgeport milling machine, due to their versatility, but I doubt they would make a good boring tool for larger cylinders.

A Colchester 1600 or 2000 lathe is also on my wish list along with a smaller tool makers lathe.

Anyways it`s all just a pipe dream at present.

Bob


ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #34 on: March 21, 2019, 09:08:52 AM »
Hi Guys. looks like I need to make a miraculous recovery or nurse Glort is going to hunt me down!  :laugh:

I didn`t get much done today buy I did go to visit my old mate Tom the tractor collector. Here are a couple of photos of what he does for fun.

Also a couple of pics of old stationary engines he is willing to part with.

Bob

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #35 on: March 21, 2019, 09:12:27 AM »
I also picked up a nice little piston pump which I will be fitting to the ETB when it is finished.

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #36 on: March 21, 2019, 12:33:08 PM »
Hi Glort, the Field Marshal tractor is an amazing beast, single cylinder horizontal diesel engine. It can be started with a hand crank alternatively it also has the facility for a cartridge start, just like early aviation engines. You drop the cartridge into a hole, screw down the cover and then strike the firing pin with a hammer, bang, and away she goes.

If your Dad still has some of those little piston pumps hanging around let me know. I`m pretty sure I`ll get them going, this one is all steel brass and cast iron and corroded solid, what could go wrong?

Not a Southern Cross, sadly, but it is a 4 HP petrol Cooper engine, nearly as desirable. It has the original cast iron base plate and a cooper/sunbeam 32 volt generator head. It is intact except for the magneto and fuel tank, it is also seized. Tom wants $340 for it, which is what he paid for it ten years back. I would love to own this myself but think that it would take a lot of time, money and enthusiasm to restore. I still have some enthusiasm but not much of the other two. I`ve dropped a couple more photos of it at the bottom of the page.

Bob






ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #37 on: March 22, 2019, 10:51:06 AM »
Hi guys, In did get a bit done today, piston and con rod cleaned, balance weights cleaned, made new replacement tab washers for big end bearing caps and balance weights.

I have a dilemma, (please see photos) if you look at the big end bearing cap it has a locating pin to keep the white metal bearing in place. I have two sets of ETB78 new old stock white metal bearings, the locating holes are different on the two options I have available. One set of bearings lines up with the joint between the con rod and the cap while the other set is offset so the bearing joint is parallel with the piston skirt. I am thinking to go with the second option. Anyway what do you guys think?

Bob

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #38 on: March 22, 2019, 10:55:32 AM »
Sorry Gents posted the wrong picture you need this one to make a sensible choice.

Bob

oldgoat

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #39 on: March 22, 2019, 12:53:33 PM »
Looking at the photo of the 32v generator it looks identical to one i have but it has a Westate plate on it.   I'm wondering who made these and stuck the appropriate tag on it for the various buyers

sirpedrosa

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #40 on: March 22, 2019, 07:01:46 PM »
Hi Bob

I think the correct set is that is offseted, and parallel with skirt, or as we see perpendicular to con rod. But this engine is only to showoff, not to loads, so it can take any set. IMMO.

Cheers
VP

PS: By the way, have you find a suitable injection pump an injector?
« Last Edit: March 22, 2019, 07:09:28 PM by sirpedrosa »
By order of firing up:
Bernard 18A - 1968 (mama's water pump - year of my birth)
Petter PAZ1 - Jun 1967, 3HP, sn 416xxxx
Petter PAZ1 - Nov 1979, 3HP, sn 425xxxx
Lister 12/2 - 12651227, the pearl!
Deutz MAH 914, 1952 - Zündfix in chamber and go (7Mai2023).

mike90045

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #41 on: March 22, 2019, 08:04:14 PM »
>  Anyway what do you guys think?  Bob

Glad you asked !  I think you are awesome

>   a bit done today, piston and con rod cleaned, balance weights cleaned,
> made new replacement tab washers for big end bearing caps and balance weights.

That would take me a month to figure it all out ....

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #42 on: March 22, 2019, 11:00:28 PM »
Thanks for the support Guys. I think I will go with Pedrosa and use the off set bearing so the joint is perpendicular to  the crankshaft. If it causes any problems I still have the other set available and can swap it in about a half an hour.

The old piston is a little corroded but shows very little sign of wear or scoring, the piston crown is a very unusual design and has a small chip out of it. (see photo) I am going to take it down to my local sheet metal worker and ask him to fill the dent with his tig welder.

I have found a guy called Len who lives in Toowoomba, where this engine was originally made. He has most spares available including fuel pumps and injectors. I will probably have to make the fuel pipes myself. I am hoping he can provide me with new piston rings. Failing that I  will have to go through the catalogs and try to find a suitable set from a lawnmower or motorbike.

Bob



dieselspanner

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #43 on: March 23, 2019, 07:35:40 AM »
Hi Bob

If the engine will run on without repairing the piston I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

Whilst there's every chance the repair will hold, if it does detach it's self (incompatibility of metals, thermal shock and stuff like that) a chunk of metal flying around the upper cylinder is going to play the cat and banjo with the valves and bore.

'swot I fink, anyway......

Cheers
Stef
Tighten 'til it strips, weld nut to chassis, peen stud, adjust with angle grinder.

ajaffa1

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Re: Southern Cross ETB diesel engine
« Reply #44 on: March 23, 2019, 09:24:37 AM »
Hi Guys. Thanks Stef I was thinking of leaving the piston as is and see how it goes. So you just saved me having to buy the local sheet metal worker a sh1t load of beer, guess I owe you a couple now! I do have access to a new piston if this one causes problems.

Hi Glort, there is no mention of the compression ratio in the manual, however there is an oil filler plunger into the intake manifold which raises the compression ratio on start up. so I am guessing at somewhere around 17 to 1.

The piston crown is pretty radical, as is the cylinder head (photos attached). This is very advanced engineering for an engine that was first made in the early 1950`s and must have been designed in the 1940`s. There are no locating pins or dowels in either the block, cylinder or cylinder head, so the only alignment between the piston up-stand and the hole in the cylinder head comes from the 5 cylinder head bolts. That might well explain the dent in the piston. I will try to upload the PDF manual so you can get the overall view.(I have had trouble sending PDF files before)

I also discovered why this engine was taken out of service, the exhaust port was coked completely solid. I suspect that the piston rings were worn and burning oil choked things up good and proper, I did wonder about the valve guides but they appear to have minimal wear. Perhaps they were burning crude oil or something similar.

Bob