This engine is a 4 cycle cross head
designed engine with an 11" Bore & 18" Stroke. There is one huge 5 1/2'
diameter flywheel. The engine was the fore runner
to both the Buffalo and Titusville Olins.
My friend Ron Polle measured the O.D. of the newly metal sprayed piston for me. I don't have
micrometers big enough to measure the 11.125 diameter piston.
Its not that I didn't trust the shop that did the metal spraying but I wanted to
know what I had. Ron set things up on the surface plate and used a height gage to measure
the piston O.D. and the ring groove dimensions. Thanks a lot Ron...
In photo #1 I am facing off the other end of the main barrel for the intake valve assembly.
In photo #2 you can see how things are going to be assembled. I am checking the fit between the
main barrel I.D. and the valve guide...
Photo #1 shows the orginal intake valve assembly (on the left) that I am copying, and the one I am
making (on the right). Photo #2 shows the new intake valve assembly before welding the valve
guide in place...
Here in these next (2) photos you can see the valve guide welded in place. I welded about 1/2"
down each side of the valve guide ears and then a small weld on the top and bottom face
too...
Now in these next (3) photos you can see Ron Polle helping me make a couple of rings in the
lathe that will be shrunk over the O.D. of the intake valve assembly. The O.D. of these rings
will seal against the I.D. of the larger tube that will make up the entire gas and air valve
assembly. Ron is drilling a large hole (by stepping the drill size up) in a 4 1/2 diameter piece
of steel in the lathe to get ready for boring...
With a 1 1/2" diameter hole drilled in the (2) blanks or disks its time to put them in the lathe
and bore them out to fit over the intake valve assembly. Why where on the subject of lathes, I
have added a lathe to my shop. Its a 18" X 54" LeBlond lathe that is a beautiful running
machine. This lathe is smooth running and accurate which make it a joy to operate. Getting this
lathe in the shop took a little bit of time away from working on the Abel Acme restoration but
in the long run its all worth it. Check out my shop webpage to see a few more photos of the LeBlond lathe. Back to the restoration.
In the first photo you can see one of the disks set up in the lathe for boring. In the second
photo my oldest son is home from college and helping out boring the large hole in the disk.
The third photo shows the ring ready to be heated and shrunk onto the intake valve assembly...
These next (4) photos are of heating the rings and slipping them onto the intake valve assembly.
I built in a .002 interference fit between the intake valve assembly barrel and rings. After
the rings cooled I don't think they are going to go anywhere. There is still a lot of machining
to be done to the intake valve assembly but I am going to wait till I get the main housing
fabricated and machined up so I know some final numbers. This way any part movement or warpage
from welding can be handled...
This photo shows (2) of the parts for the main housing assembly. One part is the center tube
and the other is a 1" plate that I cut with the torch to get it to rough size. I am going to
start welding these parts together but need to make (4) bosses that will make up the mounting
holes...
In these (2) photos I am taking some 1 1/2" diameter stock and turning it down to 1 3/8"
diameter. Next I will slice it up into (4) pieces to make the (4) bosses for the main
housing assembly...
Here in this photo you can see the (4) bosses in there approximate location on the main
housing assembly. Its time to get things set up and start tacking the parts together. If you
look on the welding table behind the parts just mentioned, you can see an original main
housing assembly that I barrowed, to use as reference. You can see the (4) mounting bosses
if you look close...
These (2) photos show the main housing assembly starting to take shape. You can see the center
tube welded on both sides of the 1" thick steel plate...
Next I positioned the (4) bosses and tacked them into place. You can see this in the first
photo. Then I double checked all my measurements to make sure they were located in the right
spot. The second photo shows the bosses all welded in place. Notice the original main
housing assembly in the back ground of the second photo. Are they starting to look a like?..
Now it was time to put the main housing assembly in the lathe and start truing up some areas
of it up. Notice in the first photo getting under the slag with the lathe tool bit. This helps
save the carbide tool bit. The slag is very hard on the bit. In the second photo I have the O.D.
of the plate almost to size, and am getting ready to face the tops of the (4) bosses.
A lot of the machining on the main housing assembly wont take
place till after the welding is all done. This way the heat from welding wont effect
the critical areas of the main housing assembly, like the bore in the tube...
In these next (4) photos you can see the chamber that the gas will flow through start to take
shape. In the first photo I am fitting a piece of 3" C channel to the main housing assembly.
Notice the original main housing assembly next to the one I am fabricating. In the second
photo I have drilled (3) 17/32 diameter holes for the gas to flow through. The third photo
shows the channel welded in place. In the forth photo you can see a piece of flat stock welded
to the channel to close in the chamber. All thats left now is to weld a piece of flat stock
on the top and totally enclose the chamber...