[SEL] Economy Antique Engine

[Michael Tucker]

Scott,

Congrats on your first engine and getting it running! Keith Kinney will know better than I (he’s at the Badger Steam and Gas Show right now and then will be going on to the Portland show so he may be tough to contact right now) but if you go to http://starboltenginesupplies.com and then open his catalog pdf you can find the main and crank bearings for your Economy on page 8 (item 210 A1, 210 A2 or 210 A3). You can call and talk to Bill at Starbolt to make sure that these will indeed fit your engine. Also talk to Bill about a new gudgeon pin for the piston and bearing for the crank as those are common sources of engine knock.

Hope this helps,
Mike

On Aug 14, 2014, at 8:52 PM, Scott Richards <scottandsusan.richards at gmail.com> wrote:

> I recently (three days ago) purchased an 1-1/2 HP Economy (Hercules) Model E
> engine with Serial No. 71260 (1914 or 1915 year of manufacture) that had not
> been run for six or seven years. This is my first antique engine and first
> exposure to antique engines in general. After cleaning up the engine (mostly
> exterior) I was able to get the engine running after finding the Instruction
> Book for the Model E engine on the Hercules website. 
> 
> 
> 
> When I first ran the engine, I heard a knocking noise from the crankshaft
> area. I felt the bearings at the crankshaft end of the connecting rod and it
> felt loose. I removed the two thinnest steel liner strips on each side of
> the bearing and put the bearing back together and ran the engine. The noise
> was still there so I assumed it must be coming from the crank shaft bearing.
> I removed the crank shaft bearings and found that one half of each bearing
> on each side was broken and in pieces. I understand that these bearings are
> "made of special die cast babbitt." My question is where I can obtain some
> replacement bearings. One of the bearing halves that was not broken had a
> crack in it, so I probably need at least 3 half-bearings. 
> 
> Also, I am not sure if I have the battery/coil properly hooked up. I ran a
> wire from the battery to the + side of the coil and then a wire from the -
> side of the coil to the igniter. I then ran a wire from the ground post on
> the engine (next to the igniter) to the negative terminal of the battery. It
> seemed to work, but I was not sure if this wiring scheme was providing the
> spark advantage of the coil or not. The engine requires considerable
> cranking in order to get it started, but that could be for other reasons. 
> 
> 
> 
> In checking to see if the igniter was producing a spark when hooked up just
> to the battery by breaking the points contact, I may have pitted the points.
> Can I just file down the contact points to see if that helps with the hard
> starting?    
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for the "newbie" type questions, but any help would be appreciated.
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Scott Richards
> 
> 1700 Spring Grove Road
> 
> Hollister, CA 95023
> 
> 559.901.1664 (Susan's cell phone)
> 
> 559.647.9892 (Scott's cell phone)
> 
> scottandsusan.richards at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
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