Hi folks
As i shortly intend to start my wolseley WD 2 after some work on the valves i have a couple of questions. Oh and by the way i have no starting handle yet!
Does the thing go clockwise or anticlockwise. Is it easy to time up the magneto.
Cheers and bye for now.
Tim,
On your mag there should be an impulse mechanism, decide which way that goes and work out direction from there. Sorry to be so obvious but I cant remember otherwise. The starting handle is a tube with a loose ish fit on the crank with a notch cut to fit round the pin sticking out of the crank. Timing it is like the Lister D find top dead centre and adjust the flywheel so that approx two inches before TDC the points should start to open. The mag is on a radial slot so that once it is running you will have some adjustment assuming you have the mag set in the middle of it.
Martin P
Try both. The first direction that works is the winner.
If it has not been started for some years it would be worth checking that the governer is free. Over the years I've done 5 WDs and all but one were siezed where the rod sits in the fork right at the top of the arm. I may just have been unlucky but one runaway was enough for me :-) I can do you pics of the handle if that would help. hth Roland
Roland said (snip) ....... If it has not been started for some years it would be worth checking that the governor is free. Over the years I've done
5 WDs and all but one were seized where the rod sits in the fork right at the top of the arm. I may just have been unlucky but one runaway was enough for me :-)
Indeed. This happened to me too. Being a novice in the affairs of The Stationary Engine at the time, but well used to ICE's of other kinds, I had a WD2 on my crowded workbench. Off with its head, grind in the valves (took ages as the seats were pitted all to hell) anneal the head gasket and back together. No Spark. Clean the points and Lo! a spark appeared as if by magic.
It is truly fortunate that the flywheel is larger in radius than the height of the crankcase, as this had prompted me to coachbolt the engine to a couple of bits of rough pine so I could rotate it on the bench. Things could have been very much worse ..........
I've had three of these Wolseleys now and in my experience the handle is usually a better fit on its shaft than on many engines I've come across. What with the sleeve into which it fits surrounding the OD, it is all too easy for it to jam. Clean and grease, Tim, clean and grease!
So there I am on a bitter winter's day with the engine perched on the bench at navel height. I rotate it gently to get the feel of it and feel it fire as it goes over compression thanks to the impulse mechanism. Woo-hoo! Here we go. A somewhat more determined rotation and off it goes.
As every other 500cc engine I've ever worked on up until then had been incapable of being started out of the motorcycle frame from whence it came, I completely underestimated the power in a big single and at the second compression - when it fired in earnest for the first time - the back of the two bits of pine jumped up into the air as it tried to rotate about the flywheel's inertia. I was impressed but not worried.
Yet ......
BANG, BANG, BANG.
I've twiddled with engines all my life and the sound characteristics (you all know what I mean) of the second stroke told me the throttle was wide open, the third confirmed it and after that I rather lost count, being far more concerned with backing away.
The footprint of the engine is quite narrow and I contemplated the leaping beast from several yards away as it accelerated towards light speed. I was concerned to see that torque reaction and vibration was carrying it backwards and very soon spanners and stuff would get under the bearers and then it would tip over and plummet to destruction and mayhem.
At this point, the spark plug lead dropped off as I had only popped it onto the thread, dropping the little brass nut on the floor and meaning to look for it later. It seemed quite cross at being deprived of its intended suicide as it spun harmlessly to a standstill and my heart was still pounding as Hazel appeared with Coffee.
"It goes then"
"Yes, fired up first time."
"Do they all make that much racket?"
"Only when they are running at full speed, love."
"The neighbours will not be impressed." Sniff. Exit.
I sit on a box and contemplate my navel for a while.
Regards,
Kim Siddorn
When we first started up the Ruston & Horsby 1ZHR 11hp diesel, we used the half-compression cam and smouldering starter as prescribed, and it was very gentle indeed.
Once we slipped the cam over to full compression it became most aggressive and really banged away hard until up to speed, at which point it was really jumping around, despite being bolted to 7cwt or so of steel and timber.
No doubt it would be very steady if bolted down to a concrete plinth, but smooth it is not!
Peter
-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk
During my apprenticeship, a colleague had a Panther motorcycle. 650cc single. We reckoned that the piston stayed still and the bike went up and down.
John
The other way is to decide which way you want it to go and if it doesn't work, swap the carb and exhaust over. That also amuses later owners who think they have a rare reverse rotation engine. Of course, you could rotate it by hand and watch the valves. The exhaust works before the inlet.
John
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