Did first smoke on July 16 after cleaning everything up. Found a few things that needed correcting.
- As mentioned before, bushing missing for cam inside of gear cover. Have large BRASS Washer installed to eliminate end play. In my opinion, a bushing is not required here anyway. The camshaft and gear are BEEFY. I think that there was a problem originally with the Bushing lining up with the shaft. These gears are Straight Cut and there is very little sideways force on the brass washer.
- Found some sand and swarf in the sump. I do like how the Oil Pickup Strainer is high up from the bottom of the sump. My calculations on filling with oil show that you would have to use 4 Litres of oil before the strainer would start Sucking Air. The strainer has a fine mesh screen. Cleaning the sump was easy, as far as getting into the corners etc.
-When I re-installed the Opposite Drive End Flywheel, I noticed it was rubbing on the gear case cover. I had to mill .060" off of the inside of the hub. Lucky I have a Mill Drill! The flywheel must have been dangerously close to gear cover originally. This is important as this rubbing would have eliminated required crankshaft endplay.
-Upon examining the Gear Case Cover, I noticed that the outboard roller bearing inner race would not turn freely with finger force. It would move back and forth 3/16". I pulled out the inner race and found hardened rust inhibitor in little blobs between the rollers. Cleaned it and re-installed ,and it turned freely. Zinc content, if any, in this inhibitor, should be good for 'break-in'! The little bit of oil in the sump from the factory test run seemed to be thick, like gear oil, with a particular odour.
-For 1st 'Smoke' I had engine sitting on 2 short lengths of spruce 2x4's, with #12x1" Robertson Screws and washers in the mounting holes. Engine rotated 30 degrees until a 2x4 found a high spot in the concrete, then unit remained stationary for 30 minutes, the duration of the test run! Excellent!! If I tried this 'STUNT' with my Listeroid, it would have been out of the garage down the driveway and onto the street in the same amount of time! Sorry! I can't help it, OK!
-A little more fine tuning at the factory for QA/QC is all that is needed to make these engines into a 'FIRST CLASS UNIT'
- Other small problems that can be eliminated very easily at the factory would be a little more attention to detail eg. paint work< stuck governor shaft, leaky drain cock on water pump, lack of any sort of fuel filter( $1.49,Princess Auto). The 6 feet of coolant hose gets soft and kinks when hot even with a gentle radius in the bend. This is just small stuff. When you get everything up and running , you want to use Goodyear Hi- Miler hose or equivalent anyway etc.
- Now the BIG QUESTION! Would I buy another Redstone if I needed another one? YES!!!
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