Fairbanks Morse - First smoke

[rcavictim]

Chris,

I can tell you really like this stuff!    Great collection.  Very nice work, particularly on that 'rust ball'.  I love that new engine.  350 CID in one hole....awesome!

[cschuerm]

Okay guys.  I did a little shopping for you today.  Think I have located sufficient quantities to make everyone happy.  Prices for a rebuild-able core range from $1200 to $3000 depending on model and condition.  Can also purchase totally rebuilt to new condition but that gets pretty expensive and there's not much you can't do yourself.  I'm documenting my rebuild so that I can share a total price breakdown as well.
Chris

[BioHazard]

Wow! Anybody wanna buy one of my extra kidneys? 

[billswan]

Okay guys.  I did a little shopping for you today.  Think I have located sufficient quantities to make everyone happy.  Prices for a rebuild-able core range from $1200 to $3000 depending on model and condition.  Can also purchase totally rebuilt to new condition but that gets pretty expensive and there's not much you can't do yourself.  I'm documenting my rebuild so that I can share a total price breakdown as well.
Chris

Thanks for thinking of us members chris.

Will be watching your rebuild with lots of interest and was hopping you would include your cost outlays in the end.

By the way you never mentioned how much your almost runner cost you?

Billswan

[cschuerm]

Bio - doing good on the kidneys but may be in the market for a liver at some point :-)
Bill, I gave $800 for the engine.  I'll probably put another $1000 into it by the time I'm done unless I go crazy on the paint.  The 6HP IHC I mentioned earlier is painted with an epoxy primer covered by 3 coats of Dupont Imron which was very expensive!

chris

[rl71459]

Hi Chris

I know what you mean about the "Imron" being expensive! We use the industrial version of it for the machines we Build/Rebuild where I work. That stuff is about as tuff as it gets when it comes to paint.

I personally have never applied it, But our "Paint Guy" says it's great to work with, He claim's it's easy
to put on cause it can be applied in heavy coats without sag's. Do you use an Air Suit ?

Before Imron, we tried many others but none hold up as well in the manufacturing environment.

Rob

[cschuerm]

Results of a long day of cleaning and bead blasting.  Head is in excellent condition.  Next step is to remove the guides and seats.  I've purchased new guides, seats, valves, springs, and keepers.
Chris

[cschuerm]

Not many old engines have removable seats, this one does.  The Fairbanks guru I've found tells me that the easiest way to remove them is to weld a bead inside the face and that they'll pop right out.  Will found out soon how accurate this information is :-)

[cschuerm]

You can't say Fairbanks skimped on the metal.  This is the final small drive gear that turns the magneto!

[cschuerm]

just realized I hadn't posted a "before" pic of the head.

Chris

[billswan]

Not many old engines have removable seats, this one does.  The Fairbanks guru I've found tells me that the easiest way to remove them is to weld a bead inside the face and that they'll pop right out.  Will found out soon how accurate this information is :-)

Chris

I have in the past just welded the old wore out valve to the seat, then just hit the stem with a hammer and that will pull the seat. If the old valve is scrap just grind some spots in it to make room for the weld. Or what worked better for me was to dig through my scrap pile and usually I could come up with a smaller valve that would allow welding to the seat all the way around and no need to grind. Just drop it in the head and weld wait to cool and drive the whole thing out and toss back into the scrap.

Billswan

[LowGear]

Wasn't there a system of warming the entire head to 250 degrees F. and then putting a round core of dry ice on the seat?

Casey

[cschuerm]

Yes, heating in an oven then using dry ice is a good way to remove/replace seats.  You just need to make sure to air the house out really good before your wife gets home and wants to know why her oven smells like "your old engine junk"

chris

[cschuerm]

Cylinder head finished.  New guides, seats, valves, springs, keepers, etc.  Super great guys at Reed Engine had the proper tools to grind and lap the new seats.
I've decided not to go back with the original green paint job on this engine.  I have a barn full of green things already and since I already had some nice gray paint, I'm going to see how it looks.
Oh, and before someone asks, the guys at Reed Engine confirmed that these engines left the factory with a little cover over the intake valves, but nobody has seen on in 40 years.  Wish I could find a picture so I'd know what it looked like.  Wouldn't be too hard to fabricate.

[cschuerm]

Scored a NOS fan assembly too.  Wasn't cheap, but what I had was in pretty bad shape.  I don't know when this was manufactured, but the box was stored in a pile in a warehouse and was covered by a half inch of dust :-)

chris