Howell v-2 four stroke gas engine.

[gus]

Final Assembly has begun .

Fitted on running gear,piston & con rods, cylinder assemblies,cams and push rod etc etc. But I have a bucketful of mini parts to rework/fit. After 10 long months,I could see light at end of the tunnel. In between work and rest the V-2 sits on my PC Desk purring away quietly. All the pains and trials about forgotten.The Carb Throttle Arms are a bit stick and need rework.
Tuned the push rod and could the cams moving the push rods,rocker arms and valves.

 

[Gordon]

Hi Gordon.
We share some common grounds. I am not really a material handling man and I did not volunteer but found myself volunteered by the local GM to design and build two non-contact conveyor lines to send finished goods from my Compressor Assembly Plant to Warehouse. Was supposed to buy the flanged rollers from Interroll but ended doing same myself. Took four months working half day on the design from scratch. A good friend/sub=contractor did the controls for us. Was surprised there was very little hiccups from day one. Also design and build jib cranes and overhead cranes for in-house use. Followed with ''Wheelabrator''steel shot blast Cabinet and dust collector. Been fun.Calculating the motor hp for the conveyor line was fun. Boiled down to a very simple formula we learnt in our 1st year Engineering Science.

Gus: That is the same sort of thing I spent my working life designing and building. It is a big step going from something like that which for the most part is very forgiving on tolerances to something measured in three decimal places and you can hold ten of them in the palm of your hand and if you drop one on the floor you man never find it again.

I am truly enjoying the change brought about by my retirement. I enjoy the challenge of determining the proper sequence of operations where if you do the operations out of sequence you cannot complete the one you missed. Lots of planning and set up. 20% pre-planning, 70% set up and 10% actually making the part. Fun stuff.

Gordon

 

[gus]

Hi Gordon,
Your approach and planning is best. After machining the parts to print is not the end, storing them carefully for retrieve later is a must. I dropped a very well done pinion gear over the balcony into the garden and I was sure could find it as I marked the small tree. Pinion gone forever. Even the lathe chip pan is another trap for mini parts.

Besides assembly of Ingersoll-Rand Small Air Compressors, I also make air receivers. As you said,tolerance to plus and minus 1/8 was about the tightest. With our engine building hobby, its narrow down to 0.0005''. We need a sharp tool and lots of tea and pee breaks as we come to the last cut. Been fun. Am glad I am about to come to the end of the V-2. With the engine block done the rest will not be so demanding. Take Care.

 

[gus]

Cutting Thin Circular Paper Gaskets.

When you are ham-fisted,hand cutting and hole punching small/thin paper gaskets is not your game.The ID will be anything but round and will be tattered and torned. The Main Bearing Housing ''O'' Ring went AWOL. Replacing the O Ring will be tough. Modified the Rotary Gasket Hole Cutter to cut ID. After some fine tuning the ID was a snug fit on the spigot. Punching the 2 mm holes will be tough. Tried Spot drilling with plywood as support base to avoid tears. Results were good and gaskets came out to expectation.Trimming the OD was easily done. End result is highlighted by the ball point end. Its Sunday and its fishing after morning mass. The RC Church is just across the road.

 

[gus]

Week end fishing serves to give stress relief after 5 days of serious engine building. Neap Tides are known for bad fishing here in Singapore.The fish were very unlucky to be hooked by three lucky anglers. Five good size snappers and grouper. Gus had a good fight with 2 kg Red Snapper. Took foto of mate with my fish.

 

[michael-au]

Week end fishing serves to give stress relief after 5 days of serious engine building. Neap Tides are known for bad fishing here in Singapore.The fish were very unlucky to be hooked by three lucky anglers. Five good size snappers and grouper. Gus had a good fight with 2 kg Red Snapper. Took foto of mate with my fish.

Nice fish

 

[gus]

Lube Oil Spray Nozzle and Restrictor Pin

Mini items like above takes time and patience too. Drilling 0.035'' orifice was easy but looking for the 0.032'' Restrictor Pin was tough.Had planned to use a mini drill 3 thou smaller as required. Fortunately my darling boss was around and she suggested using sewing needles. Am glad I married a Nursing Sister cum engine building consultant. Will buy her a good Christmas Lunch/Dinner.

Spray Nozzle Assembly fitted on and tested with Singer Sewing Machine Oil. Could see mini drops seeping through.

 

[gus]

Punch or drill 3 mm gasket holes.

Ham-fisted guys like Gus would have difficulty to punch 3 mm holes and get them to fit and with no tears.
Spot drilling the gasket holes was about the perfect way. Back up support is required to avoid torn holes.Please feel free to advise alternative.
Drawing did not call for gaskets but since I messed up the contact faces,gasket is required to seal of oil leakage.


A bit hot and humid by 11 am and I had to stop work.
I am inching towards completion of Howell V-2 Engine. Will be another week or two or even three to starting and running. Sub-base and ignition kits yet to be done.
.

 

[michael-au]

Looking good Gus, will be watching to see the first run, keep up the good work

 

[Gordon]

Gus:
I use either a brad point drill or a leather punch to make small holes in gaskets. Works great. Brad point drills are used for wood work and rotary leather punches are pretty inexpensive. The small holes do not have to be exact as long as the bolt fits through and there is enough gasket material left around the hole.

 

[gus]

Soldering the Electronic Ignition Kits from JerryHowell.

Haven't been soldering electronic parts on circuit boards for 55 years. Jerry advised we must take precaution when soldering on the electronic parts. Resistors are OK but you must use pliers as heat sink to prevent high soldering temperature damage on the Transistors.(This advice is 55 years late for Gus.No wonder my DIY transistor radios never worked well.)
Best to use Soldering Station to prevent heat damage soldering iron tips and oxidising tips. Bought a set Made in Taiwan . For once I see no excessively overheated/oxdised soldering tip.
Since I have only 2 hands and I need a third hand to hold circuit board, made use of Mini Vice Grip and Vise. 2 Kits done.

 

[gus]

Howell V-2 Engine assembled after some reworks and refits. Valve Timing and Ignition Timing will be done last before start up.
Now figuring how and where to site the ignition coils and electronic ignition kits.

Ignition Coils

Good News. Above not made in China. Came from Bajaj,India. Bajaj makes look-alike Vespa Scooters in India. It was selling so well despite delivery time of 3----6 months. These scooters performed very well on the Indian Roads but somehow we ended with junks in Singapore. Kick Start levers would fall off after a month and a host of mini problems.Whereas with the Italian make Vespas we have no such problems.

Back to the layout on the Sub-Base. I like the ""Red'' High Tension Coils and the laminating which provide mounting holes. Will enjoying figuring out a neat layout but I also have to provide location for the 2 electronic ignition kits.

 

[michael-au]

Looking good Gus, you have done a very good job on the engine, looks like it won't be to much longer before its running
Will be watching for a video should have a nice sound as well

 

[gus]

Hi Michael-Au,

I have one more to rework. Fuel delivery line to both Carbs is out of alignment and this makes the overflow non-functional. Will be a 1 hour job.
Been a relief at last to be out of the tunnel and into the open. Machining skills overstretched, New skills demanded and Patience overstretched. The high tension ignition coil size is about right though Jerry Howell does offer the mini coils. Like the Red Coils and they looked rugged. Weekend fiiiiiisssshhhhing again.

 

[gus]

With the Howell V-2 Gas Engine assembled after 10 months of hard labour plus mental bashing, it was time to do some good fishing.
Had two line breakers today but hauled cup a 4 pounder Snapper. When you are using light lines and rod, its so easy to lose the fish. Gave away fish to a mate who need more than me. Not exactly charity. Or Just a Christmassy Giveaway.

Now getting familiar with the New IP6S Phone and the reformatted Apple NBook. Posting fotos and videos now a simple task.

 

[gus]

Fuel Line Header.
Redo Tee Piece as per Howell Drawings so as to be as tidy as Jerry prescribed. Task took whole morning with balcony machine high humidity. The brass fuel cup if not properly aligned will not have its overflow functioning to requirement and may flood carbs.
The foto shows short messy cut using tubing to connect up both carbs to fuel cup.The second shows the rework. Getting the tee piece to align with carbs was tedious with two scraps. Going back to finishing up the electronic ignition kits. Soldering the tiny cables tidily will be difficult for ham-fisted Gus.Will go shopping for heat shrink insulation sleeves. Will be fun. Another new skill to pick up.

 

[gus]

Locating the two bulky Ignition Coils.

Had to make a base to mount engine and coils.Took quite a few days to decide best spot to mount coils.
With the coils fastened and wired up to spark plug. Will have insulate bare metal spark lug to prevent arcing to o/head fins.
Next is to figure out best solution to house batteries and the electronic ignition boards and wire up. Looks like have to DIY a box
to house them.Will be at least 3---5 days to hear the vroom vroom.

 

[gus]

Spent 2 1/2 hours making a box to house the duplex Electronic Ignition and 6 volt power pack. Workmanship and jointing has improved a wee bitty. Come tomorrow will figure out how best to wire up,solder and make cable harness to engine.
Had wanted to leave the top lip uncoated but while running thru the pile of planks,found the Formica Laminate and when on to laminate lid top.

Happy New Year.

 

[Gordon]

Gus:
Have you tried the ignition? I have used the Howell ignition and I was not able to get it to operate with AA batteries or even the larger 6v lantern battery. I had to use a 6v GEL battery in order to get enough spark. I think that you are going to need a larger battery. I do not remember what capacity was required but it was far in excess of AA.

 

[gus]

Hi Gordon,
Thanks for the timely advice. I did get away with AA Batteries with Electronic Ignition bought from S/S Machine & Engineering with the Nemett-Lynx Engine which ran well for a while and thereafter just simply refuse to start and run. Culprit may Gus and the AA Batteries.
I am about ready to test the Ignition and spark plug for sparks. Back up would be buy the 6 volt Gel Batteries. Most likely would post my gaffe with AA Batteries. Not too much problem to wire up Gel Battery.