Well McGyver, wasn't sure at first you would do it. But you stayed with it, and now have a decent engine.
See, it doesn't do a bit of good to fuss, or belly-ache about an issue, but THAT energy can sure be well-used for DOING something!
Well Jim, it was a long road, and there were a few times when I wondered if I was going to end up with a decent engine or not when it was all said and done...
But in the end it came together pretty well considering the limited amount of "machine tools" at my disposal and I think it'll be a nice engine now.
I have *way* too many hours invested in it that should have been spent on other projects. I expected some problems, and most of the ones this engine had are "well known" issues that I'd read about long before buying. I guess I'd hoped I'd get lucky and that I wouldn't have *quite* so many things to fix...
Here's a list of things that needed attention before running. Some are minor, some not so. Some I expected, some were a surprise.
Presented more or less in order of their discovery:
Problem: Cylinder deck not parallel with crank centerline. A well known problem, and the 1/2 gasket I found when I took it apart gave it away.
Solution: re-shim cylinder with "1/2 gaskets" to tweak the cylinder into being parallel with crank. I'll bet I got it closer than the Indians did...
Problem; Defective connecting rod casting.
Solution: The good folks at Utterpower sent me a new rod immediately. No hassle.
Problem: Green Paint. On *everything*.... Tappets, Governor linkage, gasket surfaces... all the places it oughtn't be and places you'd be surprised it could get to.
Solution: Power tools, wire wheels, lye bath, elbow grease.
Problem: Sand in the crankcase (A good fat teaspoonful hidden under the paint).
Solution: Poking, Prodding, cleaning, scrubbing, hosing... Be diligent and check everywhere/everything!
Problem: Surface texture on crank journal was awfully coarse.
Solution: It was round and measured good, so it just needed a final polishing. I used the "shoestring and sandpaper" method. I'm sure it would have run "OK" as it was, but I think the rod big end bearings will be *much* happier for my efforts and live a healthier happier life...
Problem: TRB's had a LOT of preload on them from the "factory". (easy fix)
Solution: I added over .030" of gasket/shims just to get to .001" end play.
Problem: Cylinder liner not square with top of cylinder block and also protrudes too high. One side sticks up .011" and one side .019".
Solution: It involved a belt sander and I don't really want to talk about it. I *think* it's better now... will be watching for head gasket leaks in the future....
Problem: Governor arm (inside cam cover) in precarious engagement with collar. This looked like a governor failure/overspeed disaster waiting to happen some day.
Solution: Grind the surface of the cam cover down (where the governor goes from "inside" to outside") to move the governor arm closer to the cam centerline.
Problem: External governor linkage binds rack "full open". Another potential disaster in the making. The problem is that silly sliding post setup that converts rotary bellcrank motion to linear rack motion.
Solution: Elongate holes for clevis pin so that it has a little slop to it. (Great tip from a list member) That eliminated the bind. I still dislike that whole arrangement and may try and build something better in the future.
Problem: Rocker arm pads *way* out of square. Terrible contact with the lash cap. In general, the valve train geometry was *horrible*. It was a big invitation to VERY short valve guide life.
Solution: I reground the pads "freehand" on a wheel and straightened up the pads and also moved the contact patch centerline outward somewhat (away from the rocker shaft centerline) to better center the contact patch over the valve stem. I'm actually very pleased with how well this worked out considering the crude methods I used. I got a pretty decent compound curve on the pads that keeps the contact line pretty well centered over the valve stems through the entire lift cycle.
Problem: One rocker arm not centered side to side over valve stem. (minor problem) This one is *easy*, since one side is fine and the other wanted to be shimmed farther away from the rocker stand.
Solution: 4ea. McMaster-Carr part # 3088A433, 5/8" ID x .031" thick steel shims put the rocker right where I want it.
Problem: LOTS of excess play in the cam gear train.
Solution: One of xyzer's offset cam idler gear bolts did the trick very nicely. A very easy fix, just a few extra bucks...
Problem: Tappet faces not square with tappet centerline. No tappet rotation in running engine.
Solution: With a cheap little chinese lathe, a dremel tool and stone, and a homemade bracket to hold the dremel on the lathe cross slide, I got these remarkably flat and square. They spin great now.
Problem: Gib keys don't fit very well.
Solution: grind, sand gib keys "a little thinner" so that they fit better. I don't know if the keyway in the crank is a tad shallow, or the flywheels are cut a tad shallow or what, but even with what I consider to be a "good solid whack with a fair sized hammer" they still don't go in as far as I would like. I will rework these some more in the *immediate* future, and also order some 2" collars fro McMaster-Carr to clamp on the crank just outboard of the gib keys to make sure they can't get away.
That's all the problems I've discovered and fixed so far. There may be other issues but they haven't surfaced yet. It seems to run real well so far.
Now I need a generator for it so it can go to work.