Sloth

Hello, At the last two days a lot of stitching and related activities happened. I made a lot of pictures but Thursday afternoon my IPhone choked in an update. Anna went to a telephone shop, they repaired it, but I lost some pictures. Oh well, still a lot survived. Thursday I continued with the stitching, some good progress. Crack between the water outlets stitched Pins, peened and partially leveled Water outlet to deck stitching, two nearly invisible cracks The most difficult parts of the stitching are the edges of the deck, they are real brittle, later more on that. Furthermore, I broke a tap on a diamond hard lump embedded in the casting. The drill just went free from it but the tap touched it enough to break. Took me two hours with a Dremel and some dentist small mills to remove it. During the drilling I discovered more hard lumps and some (molding) sand, all embedded into the casting..... But luckily no more breaking of tools. Drilled the first half of holes in the deck (first crack, 3 to go) After counter sinking and threading I put the pins in Leveled and peened the pins Just another crack in the deck, clearly caused by welding (I guess...) Here should be the pictures of the repair process of other three cracks, they got lost due to the malfunctioning Iphone, grumble 😡. Picture of the deck, the stitching can clearly be seen. After drilling and countersinking, tapping the thread for the large inserts Shortening the large inserts, just 1/4" too long Large inserts secured in the block Hole for stud insert drilled and threaded As my Iphone again, started to behave erratically, I am gone on expedition to find my old and thrust worthy Sony Cybershot 😃 (still not found). This (Saturday) morning I started with leveling all the pins (mostly by using a file). After completion, I made a setup for leak testing (pictures tomorrow). Started with 20 PSI, just 3 very small leaks. The one at the large insert was easy to repair, just putting another pin in. The other two were nasty, to say the least. Both of them are situated on the the deck edge. So I started drilling a hole at 45 degrees on the deck edge, for pinning the first one, went for an eight of an inch deep, and lo and behold sand and a very hard lump of ?? came out. Cleaned it thoroughly with the Dremel, and drilled it to the appropriate depth. Threaded the hole and put a pin in. Leaked solved. For last one I needed 2 pins, same problem, sand and hard lumps, but at last success. One other "challenge" is drilling on the border of the welding and the cast iron. The welding is very hard and the casting no so. Detecting where the welding ends and the cast iron starts is nearly impossible, so I guess the crack line is the border. But I must say the drills that came with the kits are top quality, not one drill broke. I used a cordless drill with a torque limiter, it worked very well. On the end of the afternoon, having 25 PSI on the block, NO leaks are found. Left it, with 25 PSI, will see tomorrow how much of the pressure is left. So I am reasonably happy for now ☺️. If my luck holds, I have an usable engine. I must admit I felt rather a bit depressed about the situation with the engine. Tomorrow (if I can find the camera), I write more in detail about the process and the tools and materials I used. Regards, Harm

Yesterday morning (Monday) I painted the radiator a dull black, heat resistant paint. As it was again a very hot day, the paint dried very quickly, so in the afternoon I assembled the radiator (distance pieces between the tubes and mounting pieces) and mounted it at the chassis. I am pleased with the result, another small job done. Painted radiator ready for assembly Radiator "hanging" on the chassis As most of the yard chores are nearly done, I wanted the repair of the engine block done. This morning I gathered enough courage to start with the stitching of the engine block. I started with stabilizing the block. Used just some wooden blocks and a heavy clamp to fix it at the work bench.. I started with the crack between both pipe thread holes, this according to the advice from Jeff at Lock and Stitch. He provided me with a lot of advice and drawings. Furthermore a lot of useful how-to instructions can be found on YouTube. Stitch kits for the large holes (Number 4 and 5 on the drawing below) Stitching kits with small and larger pins, drills, taps and countersinks. Engine block fixed at the work bench. Crack between the pipe thread holes pinned. A very difficult pin at the end of the crack at the pipe thread hole. Tomorrow, I hope to tackle the small crack left between the pipe thread hole and the deck and finish the pins I placed today. As the small crack was welded the metal is very hard, at this moment I did not break a drill nor a tap 😁. I must say, that I took my time to place the 11 pins visible on the pictures -easy does it-. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Thank you for your kind words. Didn't know what an Apple-Betty is. Looked up the recipe for Apple-Betty. As we have a lot of apples an Apple Betty is foreseen in the very near future😄. At the moment we are still suffering from a heatwave. Weather forecast told us, this heatwave will continue till the end of next week. So Anna and I doing not much, the temperature in the shop is about 90F. Outside temperature 96F, and no cool breeze at all. Saturday we started cleaning the shop. Started early this morning 6:00 o'clock😪 , this morning we brought a lot of scrap iron to an old iron merchant. Didn't get much money for it, old iron is not very valuable these days. Regards, Harm

I liked your earlier comment🤣

Hello Al, Mostly late season apples and pears, the pear trees are full of pears. Looks like we will have a very good year for pears, further we had lots of prunes. This year the zucchinis harvest is very good, 3 plants and more than 30 zucchinis of a very nice quality. We use them for spaghetti with meatballs and rice with several kinds of spicy curries (medium and hot). Stitching the crack in the engine is a bit on the back burner. At the moment we are "enjoying" a heat wave, way to hot to do anything in the shop. But anyhow, when I start with the stitching, I must be sure not to be interrupted by small chores....😉. Regards, Harm

Hello, after a very busy period of work at the farm and the garden, I expect/hope to have more time for continuing the restoration of the Cleveland. Below some pictures of the new pavement and a some of the cobble stone pavement. Driveway between shops and farm Completed driveway Small part of cobble stone pavement Cobble stones detail Furthermore, in between, I rebuild Anna's pottery kiln, the old one was to small 😉 . We bought a larger secondhand kiln, but that one was like a 80 year old car out of a muddy field. So, some rebuilding activities where needed. Replaced some heat resistant bricks, new steel frame etc. Took 2 weeks of hard work to finish the thing. Today we are painting it. But as this kiln needs 11 KW, I have to lay a new and heavier power cable, sigh ☹️. Kiln inside As the shop is now a big mess, cleaning is in order. But at the moment a heat wave is building up, yesterday temperature 85 F. The weather forecast, predicts temperatures in the region of 95 F and higher. They also predict that this heatwave will continue at least till the last week of august. But because of these temperatures, Anna and I only work during the morning when it is still relatively cool. Afternoon and evening are spent at (in) the swimming pool. Cleveland activities: not so much to report. Because of the nice weather, I hope to paint all the radiator parts. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, At the moment I think, just a stripe under the moldings, chassis green stripe on red body. Stripes on the hood I am not sure where to apply stripes. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, As these cars looked to me as a mid 1960's Wolseley (6/110 if I am not wrong...), you are certainly not overrun by the police 😁. As far as I know, they are driving now a days in less frivolous machines, at those times they seemed to drove around in classic cars (very good taste they had) 😉. Regards, Harm

Alan, me lacks a steady hand... 😄. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, Good for you, picking up a Warner clock. It certainly a very nice addition for the Locomobile. Yes, home grown fruit and vegetables usually taste way better than bought at the store. At the moment we are till our armpits in zucchinis... Eggplant is coming. And that's one of the problems growing your own vegetables, it starts early with all the lettuce at the same moment ready for consumption, same for the green beans and so on. Its becoming a very good year for prunes, apples and pears. Our walnut tree is full of walnuts, and because of that, old people in our neighborhood (hear me..really old people that is) say we must prepare for a harsh and cold winter. But, last year the same lot predicted, that we should prepare for the meanest winter of the century. Well, at the end we had not a single day with substantial frost, on the contrary, it became one of the warmest winters in history. So much for long term predictions based on nuts 😆, length of fur of our cats and so on... At last, the paving is complete. We are now busy with leveling the garden edges to the same height as the new pavement. At the moment Anna and I are paving cobble stones around the farmhouse just 3 feet wide, measured from the walls. (Those cobble stones are small boulders which where used in the past for paving roads -very uncomfortable type of paving!). Its quite a puzzle to lay the boulders level and flat, so on the end your are not breaking your neck stumbling over them. You can rightfully ask me, why are you using these boulders, well tradition! Furthermore, they are very useful for spreading the water which falls from the thatched roof. When using flat pavers, the water always splashes in the same direction against the underside of the bricks of the walls, After some years the brick are starting to deteriorate. When using cobble stones, because they are very uneven and round(ish), they break the water into small droplets, leaving the walls unharmed. Some 25 years ago, most farms used this type of cheap pavement (now a days very expensive). But I must say I am very happy with the result of the paving project. Just some serious hedge cutting is left (250 yards two row Hornbeam) which is getting a bit out of control..... waiting for some dry weather. During the month of July it rained a lot, not much wind but a lot of rain and moderate temperatures. All the farmers in the neighborhood seemed happy 😁, a good harvest this year. Sorry to say, but the Cleveland is a bit on the background 😥. I hope to continue with the Cleveland project during the coming weeks.... In between, I ordered and received all the stuff needed for stitching the engine. Looking forward to start with it. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, You are right, still busy with the paving project.... Last week we had not much luck with the weather, occasional heavy showers. But last Thursday it rained heavily, the whole day long. So the contractor people came at 8:00 hr and went home at 10:00 hr. Friday the driveway was soaking wet, so not much done. Saturday nice and dry, the contractor came with extra people to finish the job. Not so, he miscalculated the number of pavers needed 😠, they were not amused to say the least. Now we are waiting for pavers again. After the contractor finish the paving, Anna and I have to do a lot of garden work. Removing excess soil, leveling the garden to the new driveway height etc. I am not looking forward to it...🙄. I must admit that at the moment, I have not the peace of mind to do anything with the Cleveland. I wanted to start with the repair of the engine, but postponed it to a later date. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, No, they are not the same color. We have selected the plain gray (concrete gray), the existing reddish/pink color pavers, are not available at this moment. The contractor expected a "few" month delivery time, this did not sound good to me..... So, at the end we had to chose the yellow, black or grey ones, we selected the grey pavers. Another point with the colored pavers is color fading, after a year or two, the colors start to fade and become dull, and after ten years the pavers are all grayish. Compaction: as most of the driveway is more than a 100 years old, the sand below the pavers compacted through the years as a rock hard layer of 2 feet thickness. Furthermore, the sand they used a 100 years ago (yellow/red color) contains loam. The contractor fills the holes etc, with the same kind of sand, and after leveling the driveway, they will put on top a few inches of paving sand (sand that does not contain loam or clay). After some months the pavers are settled, and we can use it without a problem. Good to read about buying the Beugler, it will help a lot with the stripping. Regards, Harm

This week no progress at the Cleveland, instead we were very busy with outdoor tasks. After 60 years of service the concrete paving stones disintegrated slowly, so we decided to have the paving stones replaced by new ones. At long last, the contractor called Monday morning to announce that he would start Thursday morning 02 July. Lo and behold, at the promised date they showed up 😃. Delayed by 8 weeks because of the Corona crisis and the non availability of paving stones, last week they resumed business. They brought with them some heavy equipment. They made short work by removing 4500 square feet of old pavers. Anna and I are happy now! Also they are putting in some extra water drains. Tuesday very early, a large truck delivered the first batch of the new pavers, production date 26 of June.... Yesterday day the second truck arrived with the remaining batch. So, Anna and I did a lot of preparation work the the days before the contractor came, removing potted plants (large and heavy), removing tables and seats and so on. As we are not 20 anymore, at the moment we are a bit tired (very much that is). Some pictures: Part of the drive way, old pavers gone, new ones at the side. We need 36 of those pallets with pavers. Square between farmhouse and shop Square between the shops The contractor needs 2 weeks, to complete all activities. I hope, I can find some time to continue restoring the Cleveland. Regards, Harm

Hello Terry, You are right, that are the vestiges of a part line. I will try to make a more detailed picture, the line is clearly visible at the engine in front of me, but does not show clearly on a picture. Thank you for your kind words about the chassis. Took much time to get it that far 😁. Regards, Harm

Hello Joe, According to the literature, Cleveland made the engines themselves. It seems that they had the capabilities to do so, although I have my doubts.... As Ben stated in an earlier post, the Oldsmobile engine and the Cleveland engine look very much the same. Interesting subject to explore further, I have a few friends who own Curved Dashes. As soon as the Corona virus crisis is more or less gone, I will visit them and take pictures and measurements of the engine block. But my first preference is repairing the original Cleveland engine. Regards, Harm

Hello Garry, That are really very nice drawings, I am properly impressed. You are good with it, what program do you use? The weight is not far off, 27.8kg / 61.4 pound. Thank you for spending the time to make these nice 3D drawings. Regards, Harm

Gentlemen, as promised, some detail pictures of the Cleveland engine block. Botom side Right side (as seen from the top deck) Left side (as seen from the top deck) Up side Crank shaft bearing side Cylinder deck Some dimensions: Length of block as pictured: 20.375" Outside dimensions crank shaft bearing side: 11.22" x 4.33" Width of ears at crank shaft bearing side: 5.7" Inside dimensions at crank shaft bearing side: 10" x 3.35 Diameter of cylinder outside: 6" Diameter of cylinder inside: 4.8 Length of cylinder outside: 6" Gentlemen, if you need more dimensions or pictures, please feel free to ask. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, That is a devastating message. I am saddened to hear about your outlook and to be honest, I really don't have the words. The only thing I can do wishing you a lot of strength, and hope you enjoy our posts. Best regards, Harm

Hello gentlemen, I love this 3D discussion. That's why we report our restorations, don't we? We learn ticks, new techniques, and also old(er) techniques and got tips to make life easier (some times, that is). In my humble opinion, all this, enriches us very much. Terry, I learned a lot from your former posts. Also I followed with great interest your blog on the Practical Machinist forum, were you reported restoring the large Wisconsin engine. I have no problem with the deviation of subject in my blog. I am looking at it as a vacation trip, driving along at a nice touristic route. Sometimes one leaves the main road to look whats behind the next tree, but after a while one returns to the main road. Well, returning to the main road: Today I managed to get the chassis on its four wheels, a milestone is reached! At the moment, I am very happy, although I realize much has to be done. The whole steering gear must be made. I have some parts but a lot must be made/repaired. Further some special nuts for the kingpins and the front stub axles. At last, on all its 4 wheels. Just a better view of the chassis. Picture of left front side Picture of right front side Regards, Harm

Hello Jan, Yes, actually I did. At my former work (aerospace contract research) we did a lot of 3D printing, mostly used it for fast prototyping activities. Well metal printing; let me say, using metal printing wasn't exactly budget friendly..... Another challenge is making the right 3D drawings suitable for metal printing, not budget friendly either. Another department than mine, operated several of those machines, the operators where very skilled high end engineers. I must admit, we needed several exotic metal powders, those are huge cost drivers. One of the biggest advantages of metal printing for my department was, that one could print shapes, who could not be manufactured by conventional machining. For example: complex curves inside a "'semi hidden" cavity or many layers of very small tubes (0.01" diameter). But, mostly, on the end of a project, I had some to explain to the "higher management". At home I have a 3D printer for PVC, ABS etc. filament. A very nice extension of the shop I must say. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, That are really nice patterns and castings, I am impressed I really love this kind of work! Making a pattern of the Cleveland engine block does not seem too complicated. Its a simple straightforward engine, no hidden cavities. Could be reproduced without much trouble. The only thing which needs improvement, is the thickness of the deck. Its 3/16", and that is a bit on the thin side, I would go for 1/4" or 5/16". The threaded holes for the head studs don't have much meat on them either, improving that is easily done. Regards, Harm

Well, I guess it is possible, but -in my opinion- that would be quite a job to take on. On the other hand, the engine block itself is not complicated. Regards, Harm

Hello gentlemen, Thank you for your comments and encouragement. Before I take on the stitching of the Cleveland engine, I will try it out on a cracked block. If I do not feel save with the process I will stop and thinking again what to do. About the pictures, yes during the stitching process I will make and publish a lot of them. To Edinmass, point taken. To Terry and Ed, I don't have detailed pictures of the engine block. Coming Sunday I plan to make lots of pictures, and will send them to you by PM? Today I received the Babbitt bearing material from Germany and also the repair parts for the NH carburetor from the USA. Each took just 5 days to arrive, to me it seems that the shipping of goods goes better and faster than it did some months ago at the beginning of the Corona crisis. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, Yes, that happened to me about 8 years ago. At a swap meet, I bought a Splitdorf type A (very early and rare) magneto, but not working. So I contacted a gentleman in the USA to restore it, and send the magneto with a well know shipping company to him. The shipping company managed to lose it...., they could not trace where it was etc. To this day I am still angry about their handling of the case 😡. The man who would restore the magneto told me, that it happened before. Regards, Harm

I discussed the matter with some brass car friends and engine shop owners. Most of them opted for welding... but the more I heard and read about it, the less I liked it. As Ed stated no welding or brazing and right he is! I also tried to contact by telephone, the gentleman Ed advised, but to no avail. So, after a lot of searching on the web I stumbled on ...... (no idea if it is allowed to name the company), I send them an email with some pictures and asked if the repair could be done by myself. I got a reply of Jeff (service manager) and asked some detailed information. Long story short, I will take on the repair by myself, and they will send me all the tools and stuff and I will need to repair this engine. I already got a detailed drawing and instructions of the repair sequence. I know, it is not cheap, but sending the engine to the USA and getting it back isn't cheap either (to say the least). I must admit I am looking forward to it. Regards, Harm