Briggs & Stratton going now ;o))

The more I see of them, the more I am impressed with these little model N Briggs & Stratton engines. I've managed to come by five of them now, none costing more than £25, each one having stood for decades, they always go without much trouble and have nothing wrong with them.

The latest one had no spark, but it was just (as usual!) dirty points. That fixed, the good old "electric drill with a big cup wire brush jammed against the belt pulley " trick soon had it running.

No two seem to have the same ignition set up, this latest one (just an engine, not a generator) has points and condenser under a neat steel cover which lives under the flywheel and must be damn near waterproof and a big, lumpy LT/HT coil nearly the size of the cylinder sitting OUTSIDE the flywheel - a Type N magneto according to the technical pages at

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Very useful - and they go on to tell me that mine is from the first year of production, between March and April 1941 .

If anyone is interested, there is an excellent picture at

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just scroll down to the Model N and that's it. Except mine is definitely black from the start, not military colours. There is still a fair amount of paint on it now I've cleaned it.

Anyone got a silencer for it? It came without one.

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

Reply to
J K Siddorn
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Each to his own and all that, but what's the particular attraction Kim? Looking at the site, the only models I find visually interesting are the early 'slanted fin' types and none of them seem to have much to offer in terms of exiting, unusual or innovative engineering.

BTW. Presume you are aware of the Antique Small Engine Collectors Club, which specialises in this kind of thing.

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Reply to
Nick Highfield

About $1.50 at your local Walmart. Actually, originals are very scarce, they were thin metal and never intended to last.

The 5 cubic inch model "I" predates the "N" by a year. The only difference is the half inch shorter stroke. The Model "N" never died, the Model "6" and "6S" were the same, just new name. The "I" continued as the "5" and "5s" with the Model "8" being a "6" with 2.25 inch bore. Most had air vane governors, but some can be found with the optional mechanical governor, and are more desirable. All production ended in 1957. Together, around 5 million were made, the most common cast iron engines ever made(?). More millions of the same design continues to be made today, but of Al alloy, and with simpler ignition and carburetor. The 5 cubic inch "WM" "WMB" "WI" versions use a shorter main casting, with fewer fins, air vane governor, and other differences. These came in 1935 to

1936, and I think were the first to use the external coil on top of the flywheel, which briggs calls the armature. The wire to the points passes under the flywheel as you noted, which actually is a weak point. Water can fall along the wire and enter the sealed points area, causing corrosion. Usually the entry point is sealed with rubber material. also, vibration can chafe the insulation off the wire and cause problems. For some reason, the "WMB" with external fuel tank is more desirable to collectors. Millions of these still seem to exist, and considering how neglected during their day, are very easy to repair.

I have had fun with these engines. Currently I have one "A" one "B" one "BP" (ball bearing mains) two "N" one "WI" two "WMB" and a big "ZZ" and some number models.

Still looking for a "FH" slant fin, though. Brent Wegher

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Reply to
bw

"What's the attraction?", says Nick - and a very good question too. The short answer is I really don't know, but over the last couple of years my interests in stationary engines have shifted from a general interest leaning towards the high quality English open-crank engine like Ruston Hornsby, Crossley, Gardner etc, to smaller, air cooled devices.

It is not lost upon me that much of my life in engineering has been spent with the dirt under my nails having come from a motorcycle and I'm certain that this has given me a predilection to view air-cooled engines as definitively better in some way than their water cooled brethren.

Another element is the undoubted fact that working on my own means shifting them on my own and the Crossley 1075 at seven hundredweight has only moved three feet from where it stood when it arrived 18 months ago. Space restrictions mean it is unlikely that I'll now mount it on its own trailer - which would then have to live outdoors etc. I run it from time to time, but as we all know, these big water cooled engines are never happy on tick over for long.

I've a throttle governed Amanco that I've had for thirty years which would light someone's fire, but it just sits there and looks at me reproachfully - frankly, if someone made me a decent offer of cash or swap, I'd feel no remorse in seeing it go.

Bottom line? Like all of us, I fancy, I have no firm answer that I can put my finger on. As far as Briggs and Stratton goes, there is a certain piousness in that, whilst they undoubtedly made 5,000,000 of the things, you don't see many about, do you, just fifty short years later?

Whilst others were out saving the whale, I suspect I'd be concerning myself with the humble herring - although it is certain that a flying fish would distract me ;o))

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

Reply to
J K Siddorn

"J K Siddorn" wrote (snip):-

Actually it is a pretty stupid question as I find it quite impossible to categorise my own interest in engines!

I tend to mentally divide show exhibits into 'punter's' and 'engine men's' engines. The former will impress most general rally goers due to size/shiny bits/whirly bits, or any combination of the above. The latter might not look like much but will usually be rare/beautifully engineered/unusual in some way, or again any combination. Of course the two categories can and frequently do overlap, but in general I suspect I lean toward the latter, the sort of thing that makes my heart skip a beat is Mike H's recently acquired Barr and Stroud or the seminal (but very derelict) Day two-stroke which appeared on the front of SEM a few years ago.

What of my own engines? None are particularly rare or valuable, but some are perhaps a little unusual. No.1, twenty something or perhaps now approaching thirty years ago was a late Petter M, a birthday present from my father. I remember being vaguely disappointed at the time that is was not the hit-and-miss Amanco which I was so in love with,. But I gained much satisfaction and useful experience in getting it running (I have never really 'restored' an engine with all the fettling and prettifying that implies). Next (after a long break of trying to get edumacated and playing with radios) was the Bradford King-Of-All, I still desired that h&m open crank experience and nearly PX'd the Petter for an Amanco from Ed Bolton, but ended up with what is sometimes dubbed the 'British Amanco' from an Ad. in SEM. So nothing particularly out of the ordinary there. But then I got the Fuller and Johnson Farm Pump Engine, Marconi-Douglas and Marconi-Stanley. After that came late Normans (local connection), military

80W charging sets (cute and an appreciation of Edgar Westbury's work), Kubota KND3 (wanted a diesel) and the long sought after Scott (father a long time Scott M/C enthusiast).

Of course I have my share of grey porridge - the Danish gen set with its Villiers Mark something which I enjoyed getting running, or the Delco-Light (just put few pics on webshots), which looks like it may prove a challenge on the electrical side when I finally get round to it - let's face it, I guess I enjoy a good tinker with just about any mechanical contrivance!

With one too many glasses of Isley malt.

Nick Highfield.

BTW Magic Band were effing brilliant, but I see from Peter's aside about sipping muscrats while listening to beef oven's pasteurised sympathy, that I am p'ing into the wind with music as uncategorisable as my taste in engines!

Reply to
Nick Highfield

We have had Pink Floyd and Enigma on this evening... :-))

Although nearly 60 I still am a fan of early rock in it's best forms, and recently acquired yet another reel-to-reel tape deck to continue listening to my early tapes of radio shows etc. Unfortunately, quoting people like Charlie Gracie, Pat Boone and Tab Hunter these days brings forth a puzzled "who?" from most people, along with "Round the Horne" radio shows etc etc.

Engine/Music/People/Women/Drink (I shan't add 'Men' as there are no known ladies that frequent the group) are all a matter of taste, and I would be very surprised if we all agreed on even the smallest of subjects, but we frequently do!

Peter

Reply to
Peter A Forbes

...... like my colleagues at work, who could just NOT get their collective heads round "He's fallen in the water!"

Brian L Dominic

NB Rumpus

Web Sites: NB Rumpus:

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of the Cromford Canal:
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Light Railway:
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Reply to
Brian Dominic me

"Peter A Forbes" wrote (snip):-

Ah, The Pink Floyd. For a long time just a curious name graffittid onto a road sign near in High Wycombe to me, but now an aural pleasure to be savoured, albeit at irregular intervals. Of course this also overlaps into the domain of those with an interest in the history of technology for the band's early exploration of electronic musical instruments. Enigma? No you've lost me there.

Are we not truly lucky to have such a history of recorded music to raid?

Reply to
Nick Highfield

I used to be into heavy metal but what with the price of scarp these days ......................................................

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Reply to
John Stevenson

A small puzzle. Whilst the B&S runs OK on tickover, it will not open up. Primed by a chance remark from Deezljohn (thanks!) off list, it appears that there is a vane type governor that operates the carb butterfly. It's driven by cooling fan suction, the faster the flywheel turns, the more the vane moves against spring pressure, balancing the throttle opening against load. How ingenious ..........

Upon examination, the vane is there, but the link wire and spring is missing, which explains a lot! It's only silly things, but if anyone had them (even new, heaven forefend) it would save me a lot of guess work and experimentation.

Thus inspired, I dug out the B&S 12v ex army genny I'd failed to get running properly some months ago. I swapped the carb over and got it to run ok, but I'm afraid it is in the closing stages of terminal death. My tuned ear can detect mains, piston slap and it burns so much oil I'm surprised it starts at all, so it probably has broken rings too. It's a shame the crankcase is different from the other engine which appears to have had little use. No good swapping them over with the bore and case being one piece.

The governor? No, don't be silly, of course it's different. The generator engine has a fixed throttle arrangement operated by a little thumb screw - ingenious, but guaranteed to burn your fingers - that sits behind the carb on the back of the ignition generator case.

Off to Reading tomorrow to pull nails out of 900 square feet of Walnut floor we've been given for our Saxon Longhall. We got it for nothing from a posh London office that was being renovated - cost £60,000 three years ago ...................

See you all on Monday, 'cos I'll be too knackered to turn it on tomorrow night!

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

Reply to
J K Siddorn

Gentlemen, If you like Pink Floyd then maybe Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Yes, Cream, Jimmy Hendrix should keep the ear wax clear for years and all of which I have black plastic of.

Martin P

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Campingstoveman

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rprovins10

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