Sloth

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).

Today, we had a nice and warm day, so I could do some painting work outside. I painted the lower body and seat with West System epoxy. Weather forecast for the coming week is good, so I will sanding the body and hope to put on some thin layer of spray filler. Seat Lower body Regards, Harm

Today, I painted the engine parts (black). The temperature was A bit on the high side, 90 F (32 C) The paint ( MIPA, Poly Urethane) did not flow well, dried nearly immediately, found a new unopened tin of retarder (due date 2017.... 🙄). That did the trick, used it during the last spray turn. Engine parts, the two lids on the right look bad. But in reality they are just nice and shiny. Has it something to do with the Iphone camera?? Now its time to think about making bearing shells and poring Babbitt. Must not forget to do this also for the bearing block, located at the end of the crankshaft. This bearing block is bolted at the chassis, it supports the very long and slender crankshaft. As the chassis is not very stiff, I wonder what happens when the chassis flexes, this, for instance because of driving through a pothole or something like that. Regards, Harm PS: I am still capable to use my slide rule😁, found it back, including the book with all the log, anti-log, sine, tang, and so on tables. First two years at technical college its use was mandatory. At the fourth year the Texas Instruments SR-51 A was allowed during the exams, but not HP as those calculators where more or less programmable. I think I must have it lying around some where (ANN would you ........😉).

Hello Terry, For me, this would be a tempting project. But having already too many projects underhand, I guess my better half would object very strongly 😉. But building this engine has all the challenges I like: making models for casting, machine work (a lot of it I think), and so on. Thank you for your extensive reaction. Regards, Harm

Today, I started very early (7:30 o'clock, not bad for a Sunday 😄). The plan was to paint all motor and carburetor parts with epoxy primer. As we had very nice weather (a bit windy, but in the right direction) I could spay the parts outside. It took quite some preparation time, but I am satisfied with the result. Tomorrow I hope to put some black paint on. Weather forecast is quite good, no wind at all and a temperature of 75 F (25 C), perfect for 2K painting. The result of a days work. Regards, Harm

Hello Gary, I guess 500 - 600 RPM max. I took 500 RPM to calculate the teeth on the sprockets, given a max speed of 25 miles / hour on a flat road. Regards, Harm

Hello Gary, Thank you for your answer. Ah yes, some simple equations🙄. Looking at them and remembering struggling at technical college with integral and differential calculus, I think, it is better just get the engine running and do some experimenting what settings are needed to have it run nicely. That would be the shortest way to happiness and a good night sleep 😄. Calculating and interpretation of the results would be nearly impossible for me, as I have no reference background (no experience at all with this kind of engines), being just a simple electronics engineer/designer by profession. And yes your school teacher was quite right. When the first computers became available at my department, a lot of engineers and scientists believed the computed answers. They learned the hard way and very rapidly, to evaluate the computed answers. Computer: ambiguous or incorrect input data = useless answer out (we called this the shit in = shit out principle). I felt this as a problem with new young colleague at my department, just not enough practical experience to evaluate the answers for validity, but enough grumpy old engineers and scientists around to show them the real world.... 😆. Regards, Harm

Hello Mike, that is a very nice picture. Anna and I like the car very much. I am happy to learn that the car now runs well (and brakes well 😉). In "normal" times Anna and I would travel to London to attend the sale at Bonhams (hoped to see the car in person) and enjoy the rally as spectators. But not this year. Gentlemen, I read your comment about about the two piece valves and took this very serious. Making valves would not be much of a problem. But as I used to have a big box with new valves somewhere, I raised this morning early and started searching the box with the valves. After one hour found it (well Anna found it, she walked in and pointed to a box in right front of me 🤬 with clearly written "VALVES" on it). No never saw it, this happens to me again and again, feel a bit dumb now. Started measuring some valves, and lo and behold, Ford model A valves are perfect. Same stem diameter, when I cut the mushroomed end off they have the same overall length and the same valve diameter. As they are modern Rust Free valves, they would not cause a problem for a very long time. Well that makes short work of the valve problem. What is left is cutting a thread on the exhaust valve for the adjustable spring keeper (the exhaust valve clearance can be adjusted...). Further making a decent spring keeper for the inlet valve. Weighing the old and the new valves, surprised me. The old valves are 3.42 ounces (97 grams) and 3.28 ounces (93 grams), the Ford valves (after cutting off the mushroom end) are 3.42 ounces (97 grams). Inspecting the head further, I saw that a previous owner put in a valve seat insert at the exhaust side. I don't know what to think about it, as it appears the seat was slightly out of wack (one side was a slightly higher than the opposite side). I think they machined the recess not at 90 degrees but 88 or something. I don't dare to remove the insert, I have no idea if the seat is pressed or screwed in... So I took my Neway seat cutter set and used the very hard new cutter inserts, I bought them several years ago (and never used them). Well they cut as a sharp knife through butter, just a few cuttings and the valve seated very nice. The inlet side valve seated perfect no cutting here. Head with inlet valve left and exhaust right Ye Olde Valves (would be a nice name for a Pub...) Head with valve seat insert on the right, the black ridge shows the "high" side Neway valve cutter set I made some pictures of the head. I have never seen in my life, a head with an valve "chamber" and galley, as this one has. I am very curious what reason the designer of the head came up with, to design it as it is. The spark plug is located above the exhaust valve, so it will take some time for the ignition to reach the cylinder. I guess this engine needs a lot of advanced ignition, to let anything happen in the cylinder at all. Years ago Roger Weiss warned me "Harm, it is not much of a road car", we will see.... Further I found two letter O and R on the head, I have not the slightest idea what they mean... maybe the Manufacturers initials? Spark plug is located on the left side (into a small cylinder head - head). Ignition and explosion going through the small galley into the cylinder (will take ages, I guess). I must say, I enjoy myself immensely, learning a lot about the early stages of engine and car development. To me it seems that, at that time, European and American car development, where different on a lot of characteristics. In Europe, by 1902, slow running horizontal engines where long gone, in favor of the high revving vertical engines. Regards, Harm

After some adjusting of the position of the engine, at last, both large and small sprocket line up. So I can be sure that the chain is keeping its position on both. Today, I looked for the necessary tools and part for pouring the engine bearings. Also inspected the head, the valve seats are not bad. But the valves and valve guides are very worn. The inlet valve is automatic (atmospheric), small and light. Head and stem are separate parts, the head is screwed on the stem. When opened by the vacuum of the engine, the valve spring is just capable to get the valve closed again . Timing of this engine will be an interesting experience I guess. Regards, Harm

Hello Ed, Thank you for the tip! I never thought of it, but 3/4 of a horsepower is about 12% of the available horsepower, and in this case that's a lot. So I will use the standard chain, which I have to clean and oil. No oil-less chain for me. Regards, Harm

Hello Al, The sprocket is an off the shelf item, 1" pitch. As we live in a rural area with farmers and lots of agricultural machines, this kind of replacement items is readily available. Many agricultural machines use chains, for example tillers, manure spreaders and so on. A fair mix of European standard and American standard chains is used (depends on the brand). So getting a chain and sprockets for my Cleveland is not a problem (wish, I could say that for all the parts I need 😁). Roger Weiss told me, his Cleveland was fitted with a chain which is no longer available. He advised me to use a standard 1"pitch chain. So I did. Regards, Harm

Today, I managed to fit the small sprocket on the "gear box" brake drum. First I made a mandrel of aluminum to mount the sprocket on. Then removed the boss by turning it down. After that I turned a small recess into the sprocket to have it precisely positioned on the brake drum and the internal driving gear. One odd thing, the gear is fasted with 5 bolts at the brake drum and internal drive gear, 6 bolts would be logical in my opinion, 60 degrees offset between them. But 5 at 72 degrees seems unnecessary complicated. One job left for tomorrow, broaching the key way 1/4". Removing the boss, sprocket mounted on an mandrel Turning a small recess Finished sprocket on the brake drum "Odd" hole pattern Regards, Harm

Hello Ed, You are absolutely right, I will paint it not too shiny black. I hope to do that before it gets to cold, mostly I paint outside the shop. Regards, Harm

Last two days, I cleaned the shop and re-arranged the tool chests and lockers. Got rid of much junk, you will recognize it... "I can use this small piece of steel/iron/whatever..." but to be honest it just ads up, and it never fits or can be found back on time. So, off to the municipal dump. I assembled the engine and mounted it into the chassis, this took the best part of the day. The main reason for this was to motivate my self a bit, and see if I did not lost parts of it. Well, no parts lost, but oh boy that thing is heavy as iron 😁. Just some random pictures. Looking at it, I felt something was wrong with the distance of the small sprocket to the chassis and the distance of the large sprocket on the rear axle to the chassis. Well, right, a difference of 1", sigh. That means, shift the engine 1" to the passengers side. Drilling 6 holes and welding shut the wrong holes. Nice job to tackle tomorrow. One of the more challenging jobs will be, to contrive the gear shift mechanism. I got some vague understanging of the mechanism, but have not much of a plan how to tackle this item. I looked at the Olds CDO and Cadillac model A, but they are quite different. Also the Ford 1903 model A gave me not much of an idea. Roger Weiss did send me some info, he made some parts for the shift mechanism of his car. But at that time, I just did not ask enough questions.... Regards, Harm

Hello Ed, That are really wonderful cars. The Stearns-Knight looks huge. Are you planning to restore it, or leave just at it is? Regards, Harm

Dear gentlemen, As promised the "How I stitched the engine block of the Cleveland". How I stitched a 1903 Cleveland engine block, After a discussion on this forum, about possible repair methods for the cracked engine block of my 1903 Cleveland, I decided that stitching was the way to go. Some welding was done in the past. I think, causing more damage than the initial crack. Searching the WWW, I found Lock N Stitch. I had an email discussion with Jeff of Lock and Stitch (LNS). He explained to me what metal stitching is, and gave me some back ground info about the screw thread design they use. It is quite special, the form of the thread pulls the metal together. More explanation can be found on their website. Furthermore there are some really good and clear YouTube movies about the stitching process, I learned a lot from it. Also, Jeff send me a drawing he made, with the repair sequence and a lot of instructions about the stitching itself. So my confidence grew in tackling the job myself. After a while I ordered all parts needed. That is to say, I asked Jeff what stuff I would need. Well cost…..it is not cheap, but if you want to know, please send me a PM. Drawing of the engine block, the number present the repair sequence When I received all the materials, well packed and in good order, I just put them at the work bench and so now and then stared at them just to familiarize with it. But, it is as with swimming in slightly to cold water, if you want to swim, you must jump into it. So I started last Wednesday with cleaning the engine block. Then removing the paint 2 inches at either side of the cracks. Later on I removed all the paint, as was advised by an experienced forum member. Later more on that. Then I accentuated, with a fine line color marker, all the cracks I had to stitch. Repairing the thread in the deck for the stud seemed easy. The repair of the water holes thread and the related cracks was not so easy. Tools I used: 2 cordless drills with torque limiter 1 air driven grinder with assorted grinder pads ( 40, 80 and 120 grid) Files: large and small, round and some flat, fine and course Assorted spanners and screw drivers Assorted pliers Lathe, for shortening the stud and waterhole thread inserts Drill press Milling machine Selection of tools used for stitching Materials (I ordered everything at LNS Inc) : For the stitching of the cracks, Pins L4CS and C2F, 50each Drills for the pins Spotfacer Depth stops for the spotfacer Taps for threading, beware these are not ordinary taps, but tap with a special thread. Tapping and drilling fluid Heat resistant thread sealer/locker fluid Pin stitching tools and pins For repairing the water holes thread and the stud thread in the deck: I ordered the complete kits (Full-TorqueR) at LNS Inc, containing: Threaded inserts 5 each Installation tool Drill bit Spotfacer Tap Small retaining pins Long drill and depth limiter for small retaining pins Thread in deck repair kit Waterhole thread inserts Spotfacer showing the pulling form of the inserts Starting the repair of the crack between the threaded water holes. I carefully measured the distance between the two holes. Taking measurement of the inside of the holes. The edges of the raised edges must also be repaired. After some calculation I decided to use 11 pins spaced evenly. After tapping and spotfacing, I cleaned the holes meticulously. Then applied the thread sealer and inserted the pins. Filing the remaining pin heads till they are slightly higher than the casting. Then I inserted the pins between the already inserted pins. Same procedure. What was left was the repair of the raised edges of the water holes. Took me quite while to figure that out. I put the block in the mill and milled a small flat so I had some “meat” to drill trough. That worked very well. During the process I did not break any drills, although I encountered some hard spots in the casting. One of those hard spots caused me to break a tap. Stitching the small cracks and the deck followed the same route. Shortening the waterhole insert in the lathe Repairing the threaded holes. First the water holes, I put the block on the drill press and secured it very well. Drilling the holes caused no problem. Using the spotfacer was a bit tricky, this because of the difference in material (grey iron and the steel of the pins). But I ended up with nice holes. Tapping caused no problem. The insert were 1/4” to long, the lathe made short work of it. By using the installation tool, inserting the inserts caused no problems, drilling the hole for the small retaining pin, caused no problem either. But performing the whole procedure, I took my time! For repairing the threaded hole in the deck, I used the same procedure. Drilling the threaded hole in the deck After all the pins were grind-ed and filed, just slightly higher than the surrounding casting, I started peening the pin edges. I used the smallest ball peening hammer I had. This went fairly well, during leak testing just three leaks showed up. Two were easily fixed, but the third not so. That one was situated on the very edge of the deck. It took a lot of time to got that one fixed, I fixed it by inserting a stitching pin at 45 degrees. During drilling I encountered a very hard lump of material and some sand. Removed it by using a Dremel tool and some very small mills as used by dentists, the mills are really hard and top quality material. Pins before leveling and peening During the tapping of the threads at the deck, I broke a tap. Drilling the hole caused no problem, but tapping did, so I guess the drill just did not touch the hard spot, but the tap did. For drilling, spotfacing and tapping the pin threads, I used the cordless drills with the torque limiter set very low… that worked well. I did the tapping of the large holes by hand. On the end a forum member advised me to remove all the paint of the block, and crack test the whole block. That was a sound advice, so I did so. Luckily no other cracks showed up. Well gentlemen this is my report how I stitched the engine block of my 1903 Cleveland. I am much relieved it went so well. If you have any questions, please let me know. Regards, Harm

Dear gentlemen, I feel honored by your very kind comments. I must admit that this repair caused me some sleepless nights..... Thank you all. Regards, Harm

This morning I went up early, anxious to see what happened with the pressure on the stitched block. Well, I am very happy to mention that the block still held 20 PSI! So during the night only 5 PSI was lost. I think that due to my hastily cobbled together, leak test contraption, some pressure is lost trough the cork gasket and the water hole plugs. But never the less, I can remove this repair of my to do list. I realize very well, that the real "proof of the pudding" will be starting and running the engine (in the very near future I hope). "Make shift" leak tester Leak tester, all cooling water holes closed off by means of a 3/8" thick plate a cork gasket Ed, I followed your advice and removed all the paint on the block. After using the penetrating dye and developer, I could not find new cracks. I took my time for the inspection, used a magnifying glass, large LED lamp etc. Made a lot of pictures, got worried when inspecting the pictures I took. But strangely enough, what seems a crack on the picture is just a small scratch in reality. Penetrating dye applied after meticulous cleaning the whole engine block After applying the developer and cleaning the block, no red lines (cracks) showed up. I got worried when I saw the the long crack like scratch on the deck. And that is just what it is, a scratch. The deck has suffered a lot in the past, many scratches prove it. Part of the stitched area of the deck, no cracks anymore I left the two short studs alone, as they are stuck in the deck, I did not dare to remove them. They are looking good to me, will use them as is. As the deck is rather thin, I am afraid, that applying some force to remove them, will damage the deck. A detail picture of a stitched part of the deck Detail of a stitched part with the edges which caused me some trouble to stitch I am sorry but ran out of time and energy to prepare the "how to" .... Item has to wait till tomorrow. Regards, Harm

Hello, Thank you for your post. Is your father still alive? Regards, Harm

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