Guys,
I have acquired another 1951 6hp engine needing a rebuild - this time a Startomatic engine. I will use Indian parts on this one - now that our shipment form India is landed in the UK.
The pictures are on the LCSOG (Lister CS Owners Group) (coppermine would not play ball)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lister_CSOG/Following this morning's 2 hour voyage into the unknown, I can now report
some progress in stripping down the 1951 6hp SOM engine.
Basic tasks accomplished today:
Rocker cover off
Valve rockers off and useable
Cylinder head off
Valves and guides and springs out and reusable with a little regrinding
Cylinder - twice subject to frost damage, repaired once - basically toast.
Bore was surprisingly clean and pit free *
Piston -, calcium deposits, rings all stuck, should clean up well, going
to dunk it in a jar of diesel for the next week
Little end -OK
Big end, minor wear but serviceable
Mains - OK,
Injector pump - iron oxide based lifeform!
Injector - replace
Cam shaft, gears and tappets free and serviceable
Push rods -a little weathered ;-)
* Piston and bore had accumulated a kind of hard calcium carbonate (chalky,
limescale) oily deposit that bungs things up and is fairly tough. Will come
off with gentle scraping. I guess this could be a minor leak of coolant
water, that then boils in the hot bore and on top of the hot piston and
leaves about 0.5mm of limescale behind on the top of the piston and seeps
down towards the top ring.
I now need to drain the sump and steam clean and take the grinder and
wirebrush to the crankcase and flywheels.
Bearing in mind that I have only had 4 hours on this engine and it's nearly
in bits, I would say that a less rusty could be totally stripped down,
assessed and rebuilt in a day or two.
I drove out the valve guides with a round drift and they came out with
almost no fight. The lower end of the exhaust guide gets very hot in usage,
and the cast iron tends to embrittle. Mine has lost about 4mm in length from
a new part.
A drift made from brass or aluminium turned to the valve stem diameter would
the best tool to get these out. The exhaust valve guide threads in for
about half inch, then you have to drift it.
The injector pump and injector are unlikely to be salvageable, the oilpump
seems free but the cam that drives it is stuck firm in the fully out
position.
Tomorrow I will remove the cylinder studs (double locknut method) and get
the crankcase ready for steam cleaning.
There is one fascination with these big old engines, the great thing is that
the parts are big and chunky and very forgiving.
regards
Ken