I have to say I played with this idea a bit myself. Not so much because of the legal aspect as for the adventure of it. Depending on time, and how my current project goes, I may still go after it, just with a bit of a twist. Now that I already have an 18/1 in the works, the only way to go is up! Maybe a 36/2, or a 72/4? I'm already laying out a "Boxteroid" in my head, but whether or not it ever makes it to metal only time will tell.

When I was looking at doing what you are talking about, I was thinking more along the lines of building it up from raw steel. If you have the machinery (which it sounds like you do), the ability, and the time, skip the garbage Indian castings altogether, and do it right. The problem I had, was sourcing the plans (note to self, become really good friends with the g-man  ). Without those, or an engine to work from, it was a no-go.

I don't think you honestly need to worry about picking up a parts kit and throwing one of these together for a home generator. If you try sneaking them into production on next year's VW line-up you may grab some attention, but a dude in his garage isn't even on the radar.

If your primary objective is to stay off the radar (though I doubt you really have anything to worry about), whether you buy a "full set" of parts, a compressor to convert, or just a set of castings to build from, it's all the same as far as risk. It wouldn't take a Sherlock Holmes to crack that case. The only way to stay off the radar, if you really felt you needed to, would be to build from scratch, or very near to it.

Now, if your primary objective is the cool factor and adventure of doing it yourself, you should be going full on from scratch anyway, AND, you should be taking lots of pictures to share, because if that's what you're about, I like your style, and want to see what you make!

Hi McR,

Nice job on those followers - add champion machinist to your qualifications - Quick question - are they for IP/Oil Pump or valves..... If valves, you are aware that changing from flat follower to roller follower changes the open/close/dwell/acceleration/characteristics of motion for the valve train(Possibly not so much to be of concern)?

Just a thought...

Regds
Ed

They are for the valves. After reading 38ac's build thread, and learning about those indian valve trains, I decided I was going to make a big project bigger (as is may way) and fabricate an entirely new camshaft and lifter setup rather than try and make do with what I had. Necessary? No. But again, it is a weakness of mine to overdo things. I will make a new shaft and lobes to suit.

I may potentially have access to a large and steady supply of WVO. The only real hitch I see is that there is likely to be some contamination with hydraulic oil. The amount of hydraulic relative to WVO is relatively small, but variable. Some of the WVO may have none, and if a leak has occurred recently, there may be a small percentage of hydraulic oil mixed in.

The questions I am hoping you guys can help me with are these...

Is there a percentage of hydraulic oil that is acceptable when burning WVO in one of our simple diesels?

Is there a means by which we can determine easily what level of contamination there is? (The hydraulic oil does contain dye to alert operators of a leak)

Is there a method by which I can separate the two oils easily?

Is there anything else that jumps to mind as potential concerns that I haven't mentioned here?

Thank you in advance!

Clearly the Indian design has increased bore and stroke, but to cope with the increased stresses that direct injection (when compared to the original Lister CS indirect injection engine) places on the wrist pin and big end bearing journals it would be interesting to know if these have been increased in diameter from the original Lister dimensions (wrist pin 1.25" diameter, big end 2.5" diameter).

The wrist pin on my unit measures 1.377, and the big end 2.753.

Also are the main bearings on a white metal bush or a taper roller bearing arrangement?

These are tapered rollers, pretty hefty ones (~.675 dia. rollers).

I'm not sure if this is considered heresy or not, but white is what I had on hand, so white she is.

Awlgrip "cloud white" to be exact. It was my first time spraying Awlgrip, or spraying anything from a real gun actually, so I am good with how it came out. Only 1 real sag out of all of those parts, and wouldn't you know it, it happens right in the middle of a flat surface. I figured for sure if I had any trouble it would be with the more complex pieces...
Oh well, one more step on the road to getting her running!

I have a little more cleaning up to do, but the bath worked out great. There weren't any real nasty surprises, pretty much what I had expected to see after all the reading I've done. Cursory inspection shows there is clearly a load of sand to remove, but that is not news to anyone I'm sure.

So here are a few of the bigger pieces, waiting for the next step...

Good work !
Can't wait to see what she looks like.

Gary

Can't wait to pull her out and see what sort of castings I've got.