ALCO generator

"J K Siddorn" wrote (snip):-

Definitely. No matter how humble the engine, the first time it runs is one of those magic moments. For me it is also often the point at which interest starts to wane and I am looking for the next project!

It's a great pleasure to hear the first stirrings of life, confirming that it WAS the magneto, valve etc which was the problem but, it's usually the time when the noises tell me that there's some work to be done to get this beast running nicely....

So like Nick, I'm always slightly deflated when the engine goes, but pleased to hear that in order to reach Nirvana it really does need further attention.

This happened with my little Bamford 2hp horizontal last weekend. After looking at a few Bentall Pioneers at rallies, I realised that I didn't get a Bamford silencer with it, but a Bentall Pioneer silencer. So Frank Gelder knocked me up a nice Bamford style silencer at considerable expense.

I put it on and instead of CHUFF on each firing it was a very polite phht. It sounded so much better that I stood listening and daydreaming of the polite life this engine must have had back in the thirties, when the girls were so pretty and the Summers were soooo long......

Then my reverie was spoiled by this rumbling rough sound amongst the music.

So now I've got a little end to do when I start back to the hobby engineering class in the Winter!

Bittersweet.

And the moral of this tale is:

Don't inhale too much exhaust smoke - it makes your head go funny!

Back from Saxon house building, browner, thinner (marginally) and weary for two days.

I had the ALCO featherweight clamped in the vice before I went, getting it to run briefly on the Thursday before I left. Returning to it today, I've freed off the governor adjuster screw, found a fuel pipe that fits filled the float chamber and had it running several times for short runs. It is very brief in the fin department and still lacks its cowling. I may be wrong, but it sounds retarded to me .......... Anyone have timing details for it?

This afternoon I cleaned it with Gunk and a wire brush in the electric drill and removed fifty years of oily poo, aluminium corrosion and scale. Beneath it all were a couple of patches of khaki paint, but I'm afraid I am seduced by all that aluminium ( the dynamo is built up from three ali die castings) and will leave it all bare and spray the cast iron cowl, rocker cover and timing cover black.

It occurred to me that it would fit in the kitchen sink, so to avoid carrying water about, I took it indoors with me. Hazel was working on her book on the downstairs computer and we chatted amiably as I washed the Gunk off and gave it a wash down with my favourite degreaser, washing powder (well, fluid) and boiling water. Abstractedly, she commented on the nice smell (she is a creosote freak, I'm afraid) and eventually looked up to see what I was doing.

"There's an engine in my sink" she observed. "That's right" I replied cheerily, "it saves carrying water about." "Well, as long as it isn't the thin edge of the wedge" she said, pushing her glasses back up her nose and returning to 'How to Survive Being a School Nurse'.

I washed all the remnants of Gunk away and cleaned the sink behind me, so there will be no repercussions. A good wife is worth a lot to a man....

Masked it up and sprayed it with red primer in the right places. Dynamo tomorrow.

Regards,

Kim Siddorn.

Kim,

I passed some Alco Featherweight parts on to your chum in Scotland who was a little surprised to find that the timing cover I sent was CI whereas his (broken) original was alloy, later it emerged that his engine has a CI cowling while mine is alloy!

Wierd, what combination of materials does yor engine have?

BTW he also mentioned that he used to have a couple of Scotts (PA and SE) which had come from Jim Anderson but had now been sold on - drat!