Sloth

Hello, After some weeks of no Cleveland progress, today, I continued with the bearing bushings of the Cleveland. The lack of progress was caused by some long over due chores. I replaced all the electric wiring at the work shop and disassembled the engine of my Ford model A for having the cylinders sleeved and have the engine block milled back to standard dimensions. Luckily all the bearings are fine, all had some shims left, so adjusting them is still possible (if needed). Today I split the bushings with a thin 0.02" saw cutter, everything went well, each pass about 0.02", easy does it. After that, I fitted the bearing shells into the bearing seats. After compressing the shells into the seats, it turned out that the shells fitted very nicely but sat a bit proud. After some careful filing they are seated correctly now, and are ready for Babbitting. Now its time to make some fixtures for pouring Babbitt, I must say, I am looking forward to it. Splitting the con rod bushing very slowly, each pass about 0.02" and very slow feed. The bearing shells fitted into the engine (cylinder half). No oil holes drilled, that will be done after the Babbitting. The bearing shells fitted into the engine (crankcase half). Regards, Harm

Tuesday, I completed the boring bar. The suggestion of JV Puleo (Joe thanks!), to put a small spring under the tool bit, works excellent. I used a part of the spring of a ballpoint, not too weak and not too stiff. After some experimenting with the tool bit set up tools, I decided not to clamp the tools on the boring bar for set up. The space between the mill and the engine casting is too small, just no wiggle room enough. Yesterday and today, I made the bushings for the bearing shells and the bush for the cushion block (bearing at the end of the crankshaft). I have to turn one other bush for the con rod bearing shells. I expect next week, to split the bushings into shells, than to crush fit the shells into the engine casting and con rod. If they fit, then, at last I can start pouring Babbitt. Turning inside hole of bearing bush. Boring bar, cushion block bush and two crankshaft bearing bushings. The same as above. The good wishes on the picture (Dutch language) means: Have a Nice Christmas and a happy New Year 🎄 Dear forum friends, We hope 2021 will be less emotional and stressful. The events of 2020 are more than enough for the rest of our lives . Anna and I wish you all and your families, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Best regards, Harm and Anna 🎄

Hello, Made two tools for measuring the height of the cutting tool bit, relative to the boring bar. Indicators for measuring and adjusting cutting tool bit @edinmass I experimented a bit with the half round block and the V block. I think the V block is a bit easier to use, and a easier to make. So I opted for the V block design. The setting (adjusting) tool is on the right of the picture. The black hand secures the micrometer. As the micrometer I used came from an old Russian "thing", I had to make a pocket to accommodate it. Each division on the scale is 0.0004", the same as on the indicator on the left. Today I removed the piston rings. Well, I was in for a surprise. As can be seen on the picture below, the rings are very worn on the under side. Most of the burned oil accumulated at the under side behind the rings (remember its a horizontal engine). The thickness of the "unworn" side 3/16" (4.75 mm) , the worn side less than 1/8". The piston seems in good condition show no wear at all, dimension at the skirt 4 3/4". At the top above the first ring 1/16" less. Furthermore the rings are fixed in the grove by a small pin and the rings are slotted. Quite an elaborate design, and expensive to make I guess. The motor number and ring number are neatly stamped into the inside of the rings ( 55-1, 55-2 and 55-3). They are all three the same, no recognizable oil ring.... Piston ring number 1 (top ring). No not photographic distortion, just plain wear. Piston ring with hole for the pin and the slotted ends. Piston with some coal buildup, after cleaning some evidence of the (dull?) tuning tools can be seen. The ridges are hardly visible on the piston it self, even with my thumbnail they can't be detected. At the groves the numbers of the rings are also stamped in, again 55-1, 55-2 and 55-3. Piston number 55. Looks bad, but in reality is very smooth, dull tuning tool? Its nice to see that all the engine parts are numbered, as they have all the same number (55) I can be sure its an original engine. Furthermore, as this engine is build before maintaining high accuracy of the dimensions (as Leland -Cadillac- did) every part was hand fitted. So in a production environment, numbering all parts saved the day 😉. @AHA: I worry a bit, that modern rings are a bit to "stiff" for such a low power engine, but I might be wrong on that. May I ask, what kind of engine did you put modern rings on? @AHA and Terry Harper: gentlemen thank you for the links to ring suppliers. I will send them pictures and asking if they can make the slots in the rings. I will keep you informed. @Terry Harper: yes you are right, if I can not buy the rings I have to make them. Thank you for the info, very useful and interesting. But I must admit, it will be the last resort 😉. Well, I in the afternoon I continued with the boring bar. Drilling the first hole I broke a drill, the end is stuck deep in the bar. Got i out by drilling at the opposite side. OK, tapping a 1/4" UNF thread would not be too difficult, wouldn't? But half way the tap broke (at the same point where the drill gave up the ghost. I must say, I can't remember when I broke a tap. Did not improve my mood, to say the least...🤬. Covid-19, Last Monday, 14th of December 2020, our PM gave a TV speech. He announced a nearly total lock down of the country. All shops, with exception of shops selling food and pharmacies, are closed at midnight the same night. No relaxation of rules at Christmas and New Year festivities. Schools and Universities are closed. At home not more than 2 guests, at Christmas 3 guests. Hotels, restaurants and cafe's are closed. Sport accommodations, theaters, cinemas, swimming accommodations etc, all closed. Traveling, only if absolutely necessary, again only working at home, and so on and so forth. All this till at least the 19th of January 2021. Germany: the same measurements as in the Netherlands, due Wednesday the 16th. Italy, Denmark, Norway and Sweden will follow very soon. Great Britain: this evening "hell broke loose", Boris Johnson announced a Tier4 lock down for London, the South and the East. All Christmas festivities are canceled, no Christmas shopping no traveling. Stay at home! A real disaster for all people involved, most of the people could not make preparations for a lock down of this kind. The reason for this draconian lock down: A new kind, fast spreading strain of Covid-19 virus is going around. Experts hope that the current vaccine will be effective for this strain, but nobody knows for sure. Regards, Harm

Yesterday morning I started to replace the broken down 3 axis digital readout display of my lathe. The display started to smoke two month ago, and as we all know, electronic devices run on smoke. So when the smoke left the display, its 'kaput'. Tried to repair it, but as the display is of Chinese origin, and at least 10 years old, that attempt came to nothing. I ordered a new one, they are not expensive I payed $90,- and that includes "free shipping". Three weeks ago the package arrived and also did the import duty bill of our customs department. On the end the display costs are $130,-, not too bad but still... 😒. The old display and the glass scales are connected by non standard 5 pin round plugs. The new display came with 9 pin mini-D plugs, so I had to replace the plugs of the scales by D-mini plugs. Not much of a problem, but the wire colors and the pin numbering did not fit the info what came with the display. Google came up with a lot of info, but not what I needed. So, out with the oscilloscope and measuring the signals. Well, interesting, all three used different wire colors for the same signals. Changing afterwards the plugs, was a one hour job. I am quite happy with the result. With the display came a user manual describing a lot of nice functions I will probably never use. The new 3-axis digital read out display. Left the "new" plug, right the old obsolete plug. Today, I started making the measuring tools I need for measuring the bearings of the engine, during line boring. When I Babbitt-ed the engine bearings of the Flanders 20, I made some tools. Kept them well stored and hoped to use them, but you guested it, no way. Different dimensions. Tomorrow I begin making a new set, below pictures what I used for the Flanders. The micrometer shown above, came from a vandalized Russian "thing". I have no idea what it was used for, I bought it, together with a lot of useful micrometers at the end of the 1980's, that's when the iron curtain came down. During that time, many Russian tool traders came to Germany and the Nederlands. I visited very often swap markets, and bought a lot of, really good quality, stuff from them. Only problem, nearly all sentences on the tools and manuals are Cyrillic. Not so easy to translate. Google has some problems with Russian technical descriptions..... Luckily the numbers are Arabic. Regards, Harm

Hello Joe, Thank you very much for the pictures. Clamping the adjustment tool on the boring bar is the way to go. In the past, I Babbitt-ed the bearings of my Flanders. Adjusting the tool bit was a hell of a job. Took ages to get it right. Never thought to clamp the adjusting tool on the boring bar. Regards, Harm

Today I weighted the piston: 9 Lbs, connecting rod: 6 Lbs. Cleaned both thoroughly, both are in remarkable good condition. So I decided to use them as is. Will go after new piston rings, Ed you mentioned a company in England, do you have a name of the company. I googled, but found several companies making piston rings, I must say I prefer the one which you can recommend. Regards, Harm

Hello Joe, Taking photographs would be very nice of you. The diameter of the boring bar is 1 3/16". Regards, Harm

Hello Joe, Good tip, I will do the same, as there is not much meat for the set screw. Still looking for the adjusting tool, I must admit I started again at page one (read it before), fascinating thread. Regards, Harm

Thanks Ed, I measured the rod, it seems straight but needs a new bearing (Babbitt-ed shells). No bearing shells came with it. The rod is very heavy, I guess 8 Lbs, length center of piston pin to center of bearing 13 5/8". The piston seems OK, cast iron and also very heavy, I guess 8 Lbs, diameter of piston 4 3/4", length 5". So the reciprocating mass (without the fly wheel) is already a lot. As the piston fits very nicely in the cylinder, I will use it as it is. But I have my doubt about the piston rings, they seem a bit weak. I will weigh the piston and rod tomorrow. Piston, connecting rod, piston pin and shims. Inside picture of piston Piston detail of the piston rings Connecting rod. Regards, Harm

Yesterday and today, I finalized the line boring setup. It took quite some time to measure all the important dimensions twice, and calculate the deviations and where necessary correct them. At long last I got everything within spec. Off center wobble of the boring bar is less than 0.0008" (I think, not bad at all for using an industrial type bearing block). I tested the whole assembly for vibration, at 47 RPM no vibration at all. At 150 RPM I feel some very light vibration. So the RPM will be set at 47. The only job left: completing the boring bar, drilling the two holes for the cutter (HSS tool steel), and come up with some form of fine adjustment for the cutter. I plan to drill the holes exactly at the center line and grind the cutter so that the top of the cutter is at the center line again. ( makes measuring and adjustment a lot easier than setting the cutter before or after center, but I am open for comment 😊) Regards, Harm

Started this morning with scratching a line, length wise on the boring bar (put the boring bar in the lathe an used a sharp turning tool). With this line positioned on top of the boring bar, I have some guide to center the crankshaft bearing holes exactly along the split of the castings (see pictures). This solved my worry that the crankshaft bearing holes are not positioned parallel with the boring bar. Crankshaft bearing, flywheel side of the engine. Crankshaft bearing, camshaft side of the engine. Also made the near end fixture, the near end of the engine is fixed and positioned on it. Near end engine fixture. Started to complete the "outboard" bearing assembly. Hopefully tomorrow I can assemble al the parts of the line boring setup, and make a dry run. I am anxious to see if there are some vibrations, that's my main worry about this set up. Vibrations during line boring will ruin the quality of the Babbitt bearing surface, which is of course unacceptable. Regards, Harm

Hello Alan, Good to read that all your farm work is done before winter sets in. As about 100' of the hedge between our neighbor and us, died last summer (too hot and dry). We will replace the dead shrubbery with new plants. Not much is going on here. Anna and I are renovating the second floor. Our intention is to have it insulated before it gets to cold to work comfortably at it. As the roof is thatched, reed offers no insulation at all. Today we finished all the dry wall, took a lot more time than we anticipated. One of the problems with these old buildings are, that trying to make corners in rooms at right angles, and have the walls perfectly vertical is nearly impossible. So, a lot of measuring and fitting is needed. But on the end Anna and I are satisfied. Next week we will start, and (hopefully) finish, insulating the ceilings of the rooms. This afternoon I went a bit further with the line boring set up. Made the fixture for the near end of the engine (pictures tomorrow). I seems that the boring bar and the bearing holes of the engine are not quite at a right angle. Have to look at it, and correct that. At this very moment Anna and me are watching a press conference of our MP about the Covid-19 status. The numbers of Covid-19 infections are slowly deceasing, but are still too high. But most restrictions and measurements will be continued. Many hospitals are overloaded with Covid-19 patients. Operations are suspended, only emergencies are handled. We are hopeful that vaccines will be available first quarter 2021. Test and trace is going well, our military helped to build very large test centers. But I guess Christmas will be lonely, no family or friends. But we can live with that, keeping healthy is the most important issue at this moment. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, I attended the Bonhams sale online. For selling the Crestmobile, I think the sale attracted the wrong public at the worst possible period in time. BTW, I was astonished about the "low ball" bid, and hoped your car would not sell. I know it sounds odd, but I am happy for you and Jane that your car did not sell 😄. Best regards, Harm

Friday health improved, so I started repairing the lathe. Completed the repair at Saturday morning. I am happy with the result, less noisy gearbox. Saturday morning, after completing the lathe repair, I started with the Cleveland engine line boring setup. My idea is to use the mill for this purpose. The engine just fits at the table of the mill (length wise). As this mill (Elliott U0 with universal table) is heavy and sturdy, I guess, together with some heavy iron to fix the engine and boring bar outer bearing at the table, it will do the job (see picture). For the engine and bearing fixtures I used heavy angle iron. But some milling is necessary, as the angle iron is not flat and not square enough for this purpose. Furthermore I welded some steel plates between the small and large sides of the angle iron to prevent it from vibrating. For the boring bar I use a piece of 1 1/4 " C45 steel. Just an impression of line boring setup. The green bearing is hanging loose, should be fixed at the steel plate on the left. As the engine does not fit under the overarm of the mill, I had to make an auxiliary bearing attachment (the green one on the left). Its a pity that I could not use the overarm bearing fixture for the milling bar. Furthermore, I have to make a fixture for the near end of the engine. Also that must be fixed on the milling table. Cylinder fixing plate ready to be milled, to be flat and square with respect to the table. Milling in progress. Cylinder fixture nearly ready, one of the two holes a bit on the high side.... Boring bar bearing setup detail The whole assembly of steel fixtures is rather heavy (30 lbs), well the more dead weight the better. Regards, Harm PS At the last moment, the London to Brighton Run 2020 has been cancelled (due to Corona lockdown). This is only the second cancellation since WW2. First cancellation 1947 due to petrol rationing.

Hello Alan, Thanks! Yes I am up and running, but surely not 'full speed'. A bit creaky like my brass cars. The Cleveland is on my personal radar for sure, but first I must repair the lathe. Received the bearings, so when I feel less dizzy, I will take on that chore. Al, I do not know of any organization in the Netherlands that has WW1 stuff. The Netherlands was a 'neutral' country during WW1, no battles were fought on Dutch soil. At the Western front, most battles were fought on Belgian and French soil. Belgium and France have a lot of WW1 museums and organizations specializing in WW1 history and stuff. Mmm, apple cider I love it! One of the neighbors sons collected the apples of our threes and is making cider of it. Alan, do still find some time to work on your Locomobile? Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, I have really no idea what I did to upset the dentist. Payed the bills of my last visit on time, did not flirt with the female dental assistants 😉, did not discuss his tariffs, not even mentioned them 😇. Mmm, did not flirt, maybe..... Regards, Harm PS Getting old is nice, being old not so.

As the health of the lathe left something to be desired, so did mine. Tuesday morning at 8:00 I went to the dentist for preparation of a crown for a molar, nothing special. Got home at 9:00, and at 12:00 felt not well at all. So went to bed, woke up at 15:00hr with high fever and felt really bad. Long story short at 20:00hr I was put in bed again, but this time at the hospital. Reason for this speedy action: in 2015 I got a biological aorta valve (I suffered from a defective hart valve). The cardiologist at the hospital suspected a beginning endocarditis. In between I was tested for Corona, turned out to be negative. Luckily my condition improved and I was released yesterday, a bit shaky but happy. A cause for the high fever could not be found. This was the third time I was prevented to start making bearings for the Cleveland engine. Mmm, maybe I displeased one of the car Spirits... Regards, Harm

Hello Jeff, so did I 😁, now I am used to the HP and treat it with respect. Clamping the tools and work piece into the chuck very tight is of utmost importance. I use F type collets for heavy cuts. 5C collets are just to light for heavy work. Regards, Harm

An oily affair. This morning I had planned to turn the two bushings for the main bearing shells of the Cleveland engine. Saturday and yesterday I cleaned the lathe and put oil into all 4 of the gear boxes and the ways, as is described in the TOS MAS 18S lathe manual. All nice and done on Saturday and yesterday. This morning at 7:30 hr, off to the shop, to make it a long and useful day. Well not so, I was greeted by a large puddle of oil on the floor around the lathe 😠. First thought, I overfilled the main gearbox. But after some investigation, I saw that some oil leaked behind the drive pulley. Conclusion: the oil seal of the main drive axle was gone. But the reason why it started leaking just now, is a mystery to me. First thing to do, to scoop all the oil into a container. I scooped about 1.5 gallon of oil, used oil absorbent material on the remaining oil (worked very well). After that, I lifted the gear box a bit (which is situated into the large foot under the head-stock and is really heavy). The reason for this is, I wanted to have some room for removing the large flat belt and the drive pulley. This lathe is indirect driven by a 4 inch wide leather flat belt, the head stock pulley runs in separate bearings independent of the spindle. This ensures that no vibrations of the motor and gearbox are transmitted to the spindle. Removing the gearbox pulley was easy, not so the two bearings and oil seal. Took me several hours to get them off. One bearing is shot, the other is nice and clean. The oil seal had seen better days. Just to be sure, this evening I ordered 2 bearings and an oil seal. I hope to receive them Wednesday. Scheme of the lathe drive, the blue arrow points to the pulley and bearings. Gearbox with half inch oil puddle below, drive pulley on the right. An oily foot, left oil pump supplying the head stock with oil, right the 6HP drive motor. (No problem with heavy cuts 😁) A lot of oil absorbent material was needed to remove the remaining oil Regards, Harm

Hello Jeff, Thank you for the good wishes. The frame is completed and ready now. So tomorrow back to the shop and the Cleveland engine, for making a mock-up of the line boring tool (wood again..). Anna and I limit the time we will spend on the renovation to two days a week. Progress will be slow but we are not in a hurry. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, After replacing the bad part of the frame, I decided to replace the whole frame. And so it became a lot more work than foreseen. I finish it tomorrow, I am to old to wrestle with 300 Lbs wooden beams😓 . Furthermore, we started renovating the second floor. We never thought about doing it. Working together on this job, is really satisfying 🥰. But as we are now in a partial lock down, due to the rapid increasing spread of Covid-19 infections, our social life is very restricted. Well, to be honest, no social life anymore to speak about. Yesterday evening, our prime minister announced a package of firm measures, to get a grip on the spread of infections. We are now a few weeks into the second wave and it really hurts. But as shit happens, we stay at home and hope to stay healthy. Right side of frame (left side is identical) Did not much work on the Cleveland. Planned coming weekend to start with the bearings of the Cleveland engine. Designed a line boring tool for it. Ordered some steel and bronze bushings. My other old cars are sitting unused, not a single outing. Feel a bit sad about it, but Anna and I are very grateful being healthy and health is what counts. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, The beam strengthening looks well done, and sound. I expect that the beams are much larger than can be seen. But you should tell to the BMW parts selling person, that the incandescent light is way too heavy 😉 . I guess that is the root course of the beams to sag. Regards, Harm

Warning: not car related content. 😄 Dear gentlemen, Last days I got a bit distracted. During an early thunder storm (4 month ago), we heard some serious creaking of the wooden farm frame. After an inspection, we found one of the joints of the heavy wooden roof cross beams gave way a bit. At a closer look, not much of the joint was left (bad quality Oak, just only 200 years old.... 😉) . Well, we needed to do something rather quick. So I tried to order new oak beams. Called several lumber yards and saw mills. No Oak beams available, try again in December... Asking what was available and strong enough for the task, I was advised to use Douglas. OK, I need 4 beams 10" x 10" 10 feet long. Yes, we have that, kiln dried, dimensional correct, and no warping,sounds good. OK, we will send you an email, when we deliver your order. And then the Corona virus spoiled the party.... we had to wait at least two months. Shit happens, so we waited, but at last, some weeks ago the beams where delivered, nice and dry. As autumn is approaching, Anna and I decided, we should replace the beams as soon as possible. So we started last Saturday, removing a lot of valuable things (junk that is...). Yesterday I started, making the joints in the new beams. Sawing and chiseling out some joints, o boy, that wood is dense and hard. Today, bad weather, a lot of rain. Will continue tomorrow. Pictures of the 'nearly gone' joint, the long 'sleeper beam' which runs from the front to the end of the farm stable, is a bit twisted. Further, during the years, it moved a bit to the end of the rotten cross beam 😨. Detail picture of the disappearing joint. With the end of the sleeper beam clearly at the end of the cross beam. New beams with some joint preparation done. Living 'with' an old farm house is really nice, no doubt about it. But there are always small and not so small maintenance jobs. This is one of them, luckily most of the jobs are small and can be left till nice weather arrived again. But not this one, so I expect the next few weeks no Cleveland progress 😢. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, Sounds good to me, a tribe of "Grumpy old car and machine restorers"? Well, on a serious note, a lot of farmers in my neighborhood are ending farming. Most of them own very large stables. Their farms are unsaleable (too large) and too many of them. But for one who needs a large hobby shop its ideal, although I must admit, the cost of maintenance would be high (how do I know...😅). Nowadays, getting rid of these large agricultural buildings proved a real problem for the (ex)farmers. Selling the land, no problem, selling the farm with the buildings, impossible! Regards, Harm

Hello Jeff Thank you for your kind words. Sure you can live with us, no problem. But please take your beautiful cars with you 😏. In my neck of the woods, more brass cars restored by its owners would do us a lot of good (at least me..... 😄). Very few people around me are restoring brass cars... so very few restorers to talk with. Regards, Harm PS Don't forget your machines, I love your Hendey 😏! I think you will need some electronic frequency converters (our power supply standard: 230V or 400V 3 phase 50Hz).