[SEL] Need Stover Help!

[Paul Maples]

Good Morning Joe,

Joe I think you may just be right about your analysis of the setup. I have
never had a fuel saver arm since I acquired this engine. But thanks to my
good friend John Billings I now have the one that  you see in the pictures.
I also, up until now, never understood how the darn thing was suppose to
work but as you, Arnie, and Curt have now done an excellent job in
explaining to me how it works I can see that this may be the right setup.

You are right, the exhaust valve is closed and right now it is "stuck" so I
cannot depress it any further until I get it unstuck. I will start today
loosening the valves up and you are probably right, once the exhaust valve
is depressed there should be enough movement to let the arm swing under the
intake valve. Right now the skirt on the bottom part of the fuel saver arm
is a little long thus keeping the arm elevated to high on the pivot pin.
This can be easily taken care of allowing the arm to fit down on the pivot
pin and the top of the arm to be flush with the top of the pivot pin. Also
the spring is currently applying reverse tension to the arm, in other words
it is causing the fuel saver arm to spring away from the intake valve and
not towards the valve as this was the way John's setup worked. I will need
to get another spring or maybe I can modify this one, don't know much about
anything and especially winding or modifying springs. John had ground the
bevel on the arm on the wrong side for me but the right side for his engine.
This also can be easily taken care of, just braze this area back up and then
dress it down to achieve the square look again.

I am going to take the head back out to the shop and put some penetrating
oil on the stems and let it soak today while I continue to work on wiring up
my son's new home today and just maybe when I get in later this afternoon
the valves will be loose enough so I can depress them and I bet when I do
you will be right, there will be enough movement that will allow the arm to
swing under the intake valve washer which would hold it closed.

Thanks Joe, Arnie, Curt, Patrick, and to anyone else I have missed that has
written in about this issue. It is great to be able to call upon such
knowledge. Man I am feeling better about everything now and I cannot wait to
get back to the shop tonight and work on loosening up the valves and getting
started in this engine.

I am still wanting to develop a colored brochure/booklet on all of the
different style fuel saver arms that Stover made so as I get the pictures in
I will add them to an album and make them available for all to see.

Thanks folks and keep those cards and letters coming in,

Paul

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Prindle" <joe_prindle2001 at yahoo.com>
To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: [SEL] Need Stover Help!


> I fail to understand what the problem is with the set up that you have
> pictured. The fuel saver arm should only be doing its job when the exhaust
> valve is being held open. In the photos it looks like it fits good, the
> intake valve is free to open. If the exhaust valve were held open, the
> little finger on the bottom of the rocker arm would move out of the way so
> that the torsion spring that belongs on the fuel saver could swing the
> fuel saver over under the washer on the intake valve and keep the intake
> valve from being sucked open by the air rushing in and out of the cylinder
> while the engine is on the miss strokes. The fuel saver arm comes into
> play only when the exhaust rocker arm is holding the exhaust valve open.
> In the photos, it does not look like the rocker arm is holding the exhaust
> valve open, so the fuel saver should not be in position under the washer
> on the intake valve.
> It looks to me like what you have pictured is very close to being a
> working assembly, with little more than a little handiwork with a file
> needed to make it all fit together nicely.
> Perhaps I am not looking at this right, but it looks pretty good to me.
> Joe
>
> =====
> Joe Prindle
> Patternmaker, Founder & Machinist
> See my 1889 Reynolds Corliss at:
> www.tznet.com/jprindle
> Our Club:
> www.badgersteamandgas.com
> See Yoo in Baraboo!
>
>
>
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