The pistons are pushed out

I took Whitcomb block (cyl 5-6) and 2 blocks from the spare engine to J&M welding in Rock Creek Ohio. Joe used a 100 ton press to push out 4 stuck pistons. The newer Aluminum pistons seem to stick tighter than the cast iron ones. Then my friend Al and I chiseled the rings out of the pistons. The three best blocks were degreased and honed with a glaze breaker. The two best blocks are in fine shape. The third best block has a few small pits in the cylinder but is serviceable.

Disc clutch

After the torque converter there is a single plate clutch operated by a foot pedal. The foot pedal controls an air cylinder. When the foot pedal is pushed down it puts air into the cylinder and disengages the clutch. A large spring returns the cylinder and engages the clutch. The clutch did not move under air pressure. I tried to move the cylinder with a large bar. The cylinder was rusted stuck. I took the cylinder out of the loco and took it home. I hooked the cylinder up to the winch on a tow truck and put some tension on it. after 4 days it broke loose.
With the linkage disengaged, the clutch plate was stuck between the flywheel and the pressure plate. I worked on that for a couple days. I finally got the clutch adjuster freed up and the with the adjuster backed off the clutch plate freed up.

Torque converter

Locomotives need a way to apply power to a load (of cars), exerting a force on the load until the rolling friction is broken and the cars start to move. You dont want to do this by 'slipping the clutch'. In our Whitcomb gas mechanical loco the power is exerted through a torque converter. Whitcomb called it Hydro-Motive. I so fortunate to get a copy of the operation instructions for the Twin disc torque converter. The torque converter is basically two fined plates which operate in oil. The instructions recommend light turbine oil or 10 wt oil. I am planning on using 10 wt. hydralic oil. Our model is a 24 HU-00 which takes 18 gals of oil. The book says to fill it until oil comes out of the fluid over flow level hole. Apply a small amount of lubricant through the fittings every 50 hours. I wonder when that was last done ? I hope that the seals are still good after 67 years.

Good neighbors

The pistons in both engines were stuck. I called Bill R. at Cliffstar about pushing the pistons out with a hydraulic press. Bill said that Cliffstar would help us anyway he could. I took the blocks over to Cliffstar and they put them in the press. They were able to get two pistons out. Two need a bigger press. Thanks Bill and his excellent mechanics.

Fill the crankcase

There is a big cast iron strainer basket in the bottom of the crankcase. Somehow this got broken on the locomotive. One of the first things that I did when I started on the rebuild was to take the good basket out of the spare crankcase. Over the years the copper screen that surrounds the basket deteriorated probably because of acidic conditions in the crankcase. New screen was found and wrapped around the basket. When I went to put the basket in I found that the copper pipe to the oil pump was split. Whether that was what caused the engine to sieze or whether that happened after the engine siezed, I dont know. I spent a whole day just removing the good pipe and oil pump from the spare crankcase and installing the good pipe and new basket in the Whitcomb crankcase. I began to wonder, could the oil pump pull up the new oil when the copper pipe to the strainer basket had air in it. I thought of a way to prime the oil pump and fill the pipe with oil. I stuck a piece of plastic tubing up through the strainer into the pipe. It was downhill to the oil pump. I forced oil in the tube and filled the pipe with oil. I filled the crankcase with 15W40 oil and Lucas oil stabilizer.

In January 2008 I went to the museum with the idea of getting 4 pistons out of blocks. I have freed up several stuck engines by using a hardwood dowel and pushing down on alternate pistons. My friend Al and I had found some hardwood logs about the right size to fit in the cylinders. I laid the block on the floor and put a 6.5 inch log in the cylinder and hit it with a sledge hammer. Ray helped me. Only one piston would budge. We agreed the rest would have to be pushed out on a hydraulic press. I took the pistons to Al's house to soak in solvent. After 3 or 4 days in the solvent we tried to get the rings loosened up on the pistons. We started tapping gently on the rings after a half hour it was obvious the only way to get them out to break them out with a cold chisel. It was a tough job and even cleaning the groves was tough. The good news is we had 2 good pistons.
I got prices on piston rings from several auto parts stores in my area. Prices varied from 21 to 27 dollars per ring. the 6 cylinder engine takes 24 rings. Quite a bit of money. I called Hastings Piston Ring company in Hastings Mich. I talked to a technical specialist named Dawn. Dawn gave me a special price for the museum. Ray gave me the OK to buy the rings. Al and I put the new rings on 2 of the 6 pistons.

update on the cylinder heads

The Leroi engine has 6 cylinders, with the blocks cast in pairs. There are 3 blocks and 3 heads, with over head valves. In November 2007 Ray, James, and Jerod helped me load 3 heads in the trunk of my car. I took the 3 heads home and took the valves out of the heads. There were different style valves, different springs, and different conditions from useless to excellent. This is evidence of past maintenance and limited availability of parts. One head was excellent. The seats in the head were excellent and the valves were excellent. I ground the valves, reassembled and painted it. The other 2 heads were pretty rough so I took all 3 back to the museum hoping to find 2 more excellent heads. There were no heads any better in the freight house, so again I came home with the 3 next best heads. I took the bare heads to Jeff Gardner at Gardner competition engines. Jeff is a friend of mine and agreed to grind the valve seats in the 3 heads as a contribution to the museum. THANKS JEFF. The valves are over 8 inches long and were too big for anybody's valve grinding machines. I called my friend George. George has a machine shop in his garage and builds 7.5 inch locomotives, steam, gas and electric. George put the valves in the lathe and a small grinder on he tool holder. He resurfaced the best 8 valves. Eight were needed and we used the best 8. The rest of the valves from 2 other heads are too rough to be used. As it turned out 2 of the heads from Jeff were in better shape. Out of the Whitcomb parts in the freight house we were able to rebuild 3 heads required for the engine.