Another Snow Double

[squarej]

I too have undertaken this build and after sharing with Joe D that I was working on one and needed some help, he provided great guidance and suggested i post some of my progress, so here goes.

I am building this out of 304 & 17-4 stainless instead of the leaded steel. I thought it sounded cool and since it will sit on a shelf most of its life didn't want any chance of rust developing so what the heck. I figured the cases would be a bear since there was so much material to remove and it was but got through it. Lots of chatter until i realized I shouldn't run at aluminum speed! I have not tapped any holes in the stainless yet so any pointers there would be appreciated. Planning on using Tap Magic EP ex thick and uncoated taps.

I read somewhere that someone was making gasket kits for this model but could not find specifics. Are there sets available?

AND I am still in awe of the incredible work other folks on this board do so please if you see me set something up weird and there is a better or have any suggestions please let me know.

And here are a few more of the progress to date - http://picasaweb.google.com/squarejtx/EngineSnow?authkey=Gv1sRgCIDDkI2-gPP_4QE#

Jason

 

[rake60]

Looking great to date Jason!

Welcome to HMEM.

Rick

 

[joe d]

Jason

Happy to see some progress photos. Looking good, that stainless sure looks nice compared to the aluminium I used!

Cheers, Joe

 

[joeby]

Looks good!

A company I used to work for made their entire product line from 304 and 316L stainless steel.
The only tapping fluid I can remember seeing used is this stuff,
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=1648480&PMT4NO=0

Since you have a couple of holes to do :, it might be worth a look. Get some good, name brand, HSS taps. The extra few dollars spent will be nothing compared to getting a broken tap out!

Kevin

 

[squarej]

I started tapping stainless holes and although not easy the Tap Magic Extra thick stuff works well. VERY thick in a 40 degree garage but once it warms up its much easier to spread around. I tried it for cutting off the valves and man its the best cutoff fluid i have ever used. Made the stainless into butter.

Jason

 

[deere_x475guy]

Alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...I have always admired this engine and now we have two builds to watch....keep up the good work Jason.

 

[squarej]

Man it’s cold in Charlotte, glad I got my heater working.

OK, progress update. Completed the valve bodies, at least I think, man those had a lot of operations hope I didn’t miss one. I got all the holes tapped and the Extra thick stuff worked fine on the stainless.

Finished the valves too. Not too many problems but going from 3/8 -> 1/8 was time consuming. Doing what Doug suggested by cutting about a third of the stem at a time worked well. Cutting it down to about .127 and filing/sanding the rest is the way to go. I had 4 x 3/8 rods so cut down all 8 ends before re-setting up to cut the 45 then after all those were done parted them off. Glad I had 4 pieces of stock, made not having to change the setup much quicker.

I seem to have pretty good seals on all the valves, seems almost too good as lapping and I have never gotten along. Having 8 to work on I came up with a simple system, will recheck tomorrow as I still don’t believe they are sealing as well as they seemed to.

Assemble the body and valve
Chuck the valve stem in lathe
Oil the stem and drop of lapping compound on face - Using Clover 500 grit
Run for about a minute
Disassemble and completely clean – no grit anywhere
Put back on lathe, this time only oil and run for another minute
This final pass seems to remove just enough material to make the perfect seal

As I said I have always found lapping frustrating but this method seemed to work well. The cages and valves were 303 stainless.

Jason

 

[joe d]

Looking good there Jason.

I do like the look of that stainless.

Joe

 

[Maryak]

Nice work Jason :bow:

Best Regards
Bob

 

[squarej]

Alright, time for another update. I started and finished the head covers, easy parts but i had to find the 1/8 Alum, whudya know, true value had it. Pick up a sheet and the Tormach made easy work of it. Then made a simple fixture in the lathe to clean up the sides, deburred and done.


Then i started on the rocker arms. I wanted to change it up a little so i put arcs on the sides and cut out a few. I also want to hide the bolt head as much as possible so plan on countersinking them into the bracket. Here is one test part partically complete.

Jason

 

[deere_x475guy]

Looks like your making progress and the parts look good. Keep up the good work.

 

[b.lindsey]

Man it’s cold in Charlotte, glad I got my heater working.

Jason, looking great so far. Would that be Charlotte NC you are referring to? I am just west of you over in Gaston County if so.

Regards,
Bill

 

[squarej]

I had a lot of free time this weekend so i worked on the valve assemblies. The wire retainer was next on the list and then recalled the way Bob Shores who showed me how to use horseshoe washers in his "Little Angel" engine plans so i went that route. I was lucky enough to meet Bob at his home in Florida many years ago, great guy, lots of cool engines and good stories.

I started with a piece of 1/4" stainless which fit the .250 recess in the top of the valve retainers. I planned on cutting a .030 wide groove .015 deep in the top of the valves where the pin would have gone so i drilled a .095 hole in the 1/4 piece that would be the horseshoe washers since that was the new diameter of the groove in the valve. I then slit the 1/4 piece opening it up to .095 along one side so it would slip around the grooved area. I then used the slitting saw to slice all eight .029 thick washers, cleaned them up with some files and they worked great. Here are a few pictures.

I am still trying to direct place the pictures in this posting and am inserting the link to the pictures on Google between the

but it just shows a red X in a box so no luck. Any suggestions?

Here is an example -

Also i am trying to locate some 1 1/2" cast iron to make the cylinders, pistons and rings, does anyone have a suggestion on where to find that?

Jason

 

[squarej]

Charlotte, NC, it is. Man was it nice today, found some time to hit the road bike and enjoy the hills and sunshine.

Jason

 

[b.lindsey]

Jason,
You can check www.metalexpress.com or any of the other online metal suppliers but what i see at metal express is in the range of $45-50 per foot for 1 1/2" diameter. How much are you gonna need?

Bill

 

[kustomkb]

Great looking parts!

Well done.

 

[mu38&Bg#]

Metal Express is robbing people.

http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-4277-8388-1-12-rd-gray-cast-iron-class-40.aspx

Speedy has 1 1/2" cast iron for 10.38 per foot. I bought some from them not too long ago.

Greg

 

[squarej]

Wow, that's a lot. I found it at speedy metals for about $15 for 18". Joe D suggested that place.

Jason

 

[squarej]

Rocker brackets complete, whew. There were a lot of steps for these things too, not as many as the valve cages but still took some time. I had a tough time getting the fixture pocket cut where the bracket would slide down into it snuggly so i could cut the indent on the second side. I had to adjust the 1/8" end mill size down to .1175 in my CAM software to get my mill to open the pocket up enough. Not sure if it was the CAM software not producing the right NC or the mill or what but finally worked it out just shrinking the size of the end mill.

Also in the third pic is my really shoddy fixture for drilling the set screw hole. Was screwing around trying to figure out how best to hold it at the correct angle and somehow came up with the right drill bit and lever to hold it at just the right angle. I guess sometimes making it work doesn't equate to making it "purdy".

Jason

 

[squarej]

Flanges and more flanges, these things gave me some trouble. Actually i caused it myself by not ordering 5/8 brass when i ordered my other brass so i scrounged until i found some brass fittings at Home Depot that had enough meat on them. Trouble is i didn't think they made them with a precision device in mind sooo as it turns out some of the flats are >.560 across and some are not so i had to buy almost double the amount as i didn't realize that right away so i ended up with a lot of scrap, but got through it, found enough good parts and here are the results.

Now to the hard part and that is silver soldering the flanges to the cages, any suggestions? I am picturing a pretty big mess which if i could turn down/ clean up after the fact i wouldn't worry but i don't know how to clean any solder that goes away from the joint. Any suggestions on how to keep all solder local to the joint? Maybe groove the flange around the part that insets into the cage, wrap some solder around that, assemble it and then heat so it melts and everything stays internal?

Jason