[SEL] Economy Antique Engine

Scott Richards scottandsusan.richards at gmail.com
Fri Aug 15 11:47:13 PDT 2014


Thanks. I thought that might be what it was (wrist pin). Do I need to remove
the head cover to remove the piston, or can I remove it from the crank end
by removing the governor first? I didn't want to "disturb" the head gasket
if not necessary, but then maybe I should look at the valve seats anyway.

Scott 



-----Original Message-----
From: sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com
[mailto:sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com] On Behalf Of Michael Tucker
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2014 10:42 AM
To: The SEL email discussion list
Subject: Re: [SEL] Economy Antique Engine

On Aug 15, 2014, at 12:03 PM, Scott Richards
<scottandsusan.richards at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you for the information and parts lead. I did remove two of the 
> shims on the connecting rod, but now will research the "gudgeon" pin
further.

aka, the wrist pin. the 3/4"-ish rod that connects the connecting rod to the
piston. It doesn't get as much oil as it should so it and the bushing are
notorious places for wear and subsequently engine "knock."

Mike

> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com
> [mailto:sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com] On Behalf Of Michael 
> Tucker
> Sent: Friday, August 15, 2014 6:54 AM
> To: The SEL email discussion list
> Subject: Re: [SEL] Economy Antique Engine
> 
> 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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> 
> 
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