The little Wonder engine

[Lawijt]

Hello Friends,

Some time ago I buy a Little Wonder engine from the Engineers Emporium in the UK. I choose for the premachined kit , because I have troubles with building my Hubbard 1912 engine. The kit is great machined.
Now I see also how presisely everything is machined.
I study electronics & work now already 20 years into swimming pools. I do all the techniques. So I have never learned something about turning & milling.

I need to learn all myself & that is really hard. I take a lot of pictures , but a accident with my SD card & all the pictures are lost. I'am very sad about that. But life goes on right.

The build was hard , because there was not a plan , drawning or a stucklist. So it was really a puzzle. But with some mails to the seller & she respond me with some pictures , everything comes to a good end.

Realy all the parts where superbe machined. I am really happy.
Here some pics from that beautifull engine:

The box with all inside;

All the pieces together;

Painted & part builded;

And here some pictures from the engine;

Now you can see how bad the paintwork is. This is make by a professional car painter. He told me already before that the aluminium is very bad too paint. So that is why I make a topic for anodising. The castings have some other things inside it. But I can absolutely live with that.
Runs very good & swallows already 1/2 liter of nitromethane glow fuell. So what is very funny.....All the other engines that I see on youtube , they stops when the glowdriver is taking off. If I take my glowdriver of , he still runs great. I need to stop the engine while I push the intake valve. I know very much about model diesel & glow engines , but not how to build those. I have a collection about a 600 engines. My wife love me really much , because they are almost all in a closet into our living room.

But thats that. I order also the premachined ECONOMY hit and miss engine. But tomorrowmorning I have to go to the clinic for a complicated operation in my right shoulder & than 3 months revalidation. I hope that I can do something just with my left hand.

Best regards

Barry

 

[stevehuckss396]

Thats a fine looking engine. I had no idea you could buy a machined kit. I am going to check it out for the next time someone asks about one,

 

[OrangeAlpine]

I have yet to paint a model engine, but I've stripped a couple of full sized ones and repainted them. The castings were not smoothed, just minimal grinding. They were then covered with a thick coating of filler, which was sanded smooth and painted. By thick, I mean up 3/16".

The end result was a very smooth, great looking paint job. But there was no directly painted cast iron. Get a good quality body filler, NOT BONDO, IT IS CRAP, completely cover your castings, smooth and paint. Bondo does not set up evenly, always has gummy spots and is hard to sand.

Bill

 

[deverett]

I use etching primer as the first coat of anything that I paint. It helps later coats to adhere well. I only start rubbing down after a coat of ordinary primer has been applied on top of it.

From UK, I use Masterguard Etch - Primer 3000, available in rattle cans on eBay. Item number 220668463452 as an example.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[Lawijt]

Thanks Dave for the tip. How do you work with it?? But for now I'am out for a while....The operation works well , but now I can not sleep. So much pain that I have.

Barry

 

[deverett]

Barry

That looks painful! Hope you get well soon.

Some people test run their engines before painting, but I believe it is better to paint first, or at least give them a couple of coats to seal the pores in the castings. Oil on bare cast iron is very difficult to remove completely (unless you have an ultrasonic cleaner).

Fill the blemishes of the bare castings with car body filler and rub down to as good a finish as you can. You may need several layers. Next spray the etch primer. Then use ordinary primer - from an aerosol or by brush. Rub down with wet 'n' dry, starting with 240 grade, going down to 320 then 600. Then apply the next coat of primer in a different colour. I use 3 colours - red, grey and white from aerosols. Keep painting and rubbing down until you are satisfied with the finish. Some folks go down to 1000 or even higher for the final rubbing down. The last coat of primer should be the closest match to the top coat colour you will be using. When you have a good base, a couple of coats of top coat should be sufficient.

I'm no pro, but use advice I have been given from various sources. No doubt the experts will add their ideas on painting, which may well be completely different to what I have written. Best of luck - nay, SKILL - in your efforts.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[Lawijt]

Thanks Dave for the tips. I will try that all on my new engine.
Here a small movie from the engine. I hope you will like it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PLZiiyV_1E&feature=share&list=UU1BXeMnWzIagQAC7fKYx0_g[/ame]

Barry

 

[AussieJimG]

Well done Barry, you have an engine to play with and listen to during your convalescence.

I hope the pain goes away soon and that the surgery makes your life better.

Jim

 

[Thivoth]

The engine is looking great! I hope you're doing better

 

[kadora]

Hello Lawijt
Nice running engine now back to Hubbart do not give up.
Hope you get well soon.

 

[Lawijt]

Thanks Thivoth & Kadora. The engine runs every day that small glas of fuell. I love too see it working & sounds great.
Tomorrow I go too look for a other Lathe. After more than 10 years we found the problem.
Than we go back on the Hubbard engine.

Barry