Bush Mechanic

JP pistons, in SA. Their business is now called Nornda Automotive, P/L, Ph 08 8261 7222. They manufacture pistons, rings, etc for older vehicles to order. I believe that for some US cars, they make the parts exclusively for US suppliers, and won't sell them direct. Well worth a try. I believe they make pistons for Egge, as well.

Nothing personal, Ed, but I think it is a shame that Mexico has been given such a negative image by the US press. That country is starving for the tourist dollar, mainly due to negative press reports in the US. Sure, it can be a bit edgy in places, mainly near the US border, but statistically, US cities are more dangerous than those in Mexico. We spoke to many Americans living up against the Mexican border, and almost without exception they were afraid to go over and visit, due to the press reports. All views were here-say. And if you read the state department travel guidelines, you wouldn't go far from home. (The same applies here in Aus). We found it a really interesting culture, and the most friendly folk you would care to meet anywhere. Many of them beseeched us to spread the word in the States, as their tourism industry was in such a bad way. We refused the armed convoys close to the Texas border, due to their high speeds, and did our own thing, travelling in our old motor-home. Of the few other motor-home travellers that we met, NONE were from the nearest northern neighbour. All from Canada or from Europe. US citizens were conspicuous by their absence. Now, I wonder why that is! Apologies, nick8086, for getting off topic, but I couldn't let the misconception pass.

I agree with Roger and the other posters above on the CR. Having just checked a 1926 Belgian engine and found it to be at 6:1, I was a little concerned and did some research. Of around 100 US made cars in 1923, the highest CR was 5:1. Average would be below 4.5:1. (Dykes). While this was largely dictated by the fuel of the times, the engineering of the crank, rods, gudgeons etc was calculated to handle those pressures. And the lovely Humberette doesn't appear to be particularly massive in the bottom end, so I would approach raising the compression ratio with some caution.

Usually it ends up with 1/8" to 3/16" dimple in the centre of the depression. The depression might typically cover over 50% of the plug. I use a hard setting sealant, 'Stag', but only because my father always used it. Some Welsh plugs have given me a hard time, recently, and I have taken to buying over-size brass plugs, and carefully turning them down to an accurate fit on the lathe. (They are easily friction held against a three jaw chuck with a tail-stock centre). They can be installed without sealant, but I have not tried it myself. Such a pain in the a.... if they leak on start-up. I suspect you are not dishing them quite deeply enough.

I am not familiar with the layout of components on the Reo, but had much the same problem recently on a freshly restored MGB. The new owner drove it the 770 km to his home, and later phoned to say the new clutch slave cylinder was damp, and dripping occasionally. On closer questioning, I realised that he had washed the car on arrival, and the air vent's drain hose was dripping slowly onto the pipe to the slave cylinder. While unlikely to be your problem, with the car on jack-stands, it demonstrates the elusiveness of some liquid leakages in motor vehicles.

I would remove the oil pump and check that it is clean and spinning freely. From memory, (it was about 50 years ago), I think you can drop the sump (oil pan) without moving the engine. That will give you a good opportunity to clean out the sump, as well. The oil pump drives through a simple slot and tang, and removal is a straight-forward process. Well worth the effort. That taught me a good lesson early in my life.

Hi, Banjo. BEWARE THE OIL PUMP. I was given one of these Scouts with a blown-up engine once. I located a replacement engine of unknown origin at a wrecker, and swapped them over under a tree. When I started it, I had no oil pressure. The cause of this was a freshly snapped shaft on the oil pump. It seemed a very flimsy affair, which could not handle the stiff old oil in the oil pump. Swapped it for the pump from the first engine, and all was well. Being in Australia, it was the 4 cylinder engine. Half of an international V8 truck engine, with one bank cut off the block. It had a tin plate screwed over the resultant opening. Still with the V8 distributor, utilising half of the plug lead outlets. So it would have been the same oil pump shaft as your V8. Indestructible, if serviced properly, but thirsty, by Aussie standards. It never had any brakes at all in the time that I owned it. Or a starter motor.

It looks good and straight. Well done. The main 'trap for young players' in sill work is welding a slight sag into the structure which plays havoc with the door shut lines. It is very easy to get wrong, and difficult to rectify. I am constantly trial fitting the panels and door at that stage.

With regard to PM Heldt's description of soldering the halves together. If combined with a hose clamp it may assist in the machining of the surface on which the steady runs. But I think two clamps at that stage would give sufficient rigidity. My bearings are 3" long, plus support length, hanging in a small 4 jaw chuck. With the stock out of round after slitting, turning the steady track will be 'gently, gently'. And we have finally seen full view photos of your lathe and mill. (Perhaps I missed them in an earlier post). Well preserved and robust older machines always look good to me. Excellent.

JV, I am very impressed with your work on that job. Hopefully it will come out well, and put another veteran back on the road. I am also faced with making my own split camshaft bearings. The older, experienced, engine reconditioning people here do it with clamps around the job after slitting the stock. They actually use hose clamps, 4 jaw chuck and a steady. And a lot of thought regarding machining sequence. As their waiting time for this type of 'recreational' work is out to 14 months, I intend having a crack at it myself. Awaiting the arrival of the correct alloy stock. They suggested an OD oversize of .004" for clamping crush, (on 36mm journals) and either a hone finish or to make a test piece first to arrive at the correct ID. I have seen it successfully done with hose clamps for a Hup model 20 centre main bearing. And if it is unsuccessful, I may be able to fall back on the Puleo method. One of my slit bearings has a thrust flange on it, just to make it interesting. Two others are un-slit cylinders, which appear fairly straight forward.

Thanks, Jon. The area figures are particularly useful. I'll print that one out.

Very timely post, JV. The engine which I'm currently working on was completely stripped down 50 years ago, and put into boxes. Among the components I have found some parts of the pressure relief valve, but no plunger. The spring I found appears to be about right, and the adjustment has quite a long travel. The seat is a flat bottomed bronze insert in the main oil gallery. I have been picturing a flat topped piston type of plunger, with a guide shaft running inside the spring, into the adjuster. Very similar to the one you have just made. I don't have a surface grinder, and was leaning toward a face mill, then finishing on the flat plate with fine wet and dry. The car does have an oil pressure guage, of sorts, which is a help. A Malivert guage, which simply shows white for oil pressure, and red for none. I will probably hook up a graduated guage on start-up, although what pressure it should run is an unknown. It is a 1926 Metallurgique engine. Edit. I have just found wear marks on the outside face of the spring, so I doubt that it was the original item. Tension feels about correct though.

Wow! that came up nicely. Well done, Sir.

Hey, Bob, what's a DoAll? And how have I got through life without one? Sorry Zipdang, we're wandering again.

As to that home-made tool, my best guess is a 'spanner' to fit on the jaws of a chuck to unscrew it from the head-stock. I use a 1" square length of hardwood between the jaws, then spin the lathe rapidly by hand. When the wood strikes the bed, it unscrews the chuck. There is probably a 'correct' method, but that one works for me. And I can recommend a board to sit across the ways, under the chuck, for that occasion when the pesky thing slips out of your hands. I'd rather damage a board than the ways.