Using the same hot water and Purple Power process I soaked and pressure washed the cylinders, rods, and pistons in prep for core ship to Clark’s Corvair. Because these parts were made of steel and rust was an issue they required a bit more prep. After washing I immediately put them in front of the shop heater to dry:
Cooking of the water with shop heater150K BTU per Hour dried things quite well 🙂
After drying I sprayed everything down with 2-26 lube and wrapped the cylinders with grocery bags. Cores all ready to ship to Clark’s:
Pistons, rods, and cylinders ready for core
As I impatiently await the arrival of parts, the shop continues to improve:
WorkbenchPegboard and workbench in progress
Finally I needed to make it easy to move my engine around. I used the base off of an old office chair to make an engine dolly. I just screwed some 2×4’s to the base. Works great:
Old office chair converted to engine dollyShort block prepped and wrapped for core
That’s all for today. Initial goodies from Aircraft Spruce are on the way so stay tuned!!!
I have ordered the short block assembly, top cover, distributor, and the rear starter/alternator assembly. It is being built by Bill over at Azalea Aviation in Georgia. I have my “core block” all ready to go, so when my engine arrives I will use that crate to ship my core back. Here is the cleaned and gently assembled core ready for shipping:
Case prepped for rebuild core
Tomorrow I will be ordering the tail section kits and Pietenpol plans from Aircraft Spruce. Hopefully it will look as cool as Bill’s Piet:
Tomorrow I will also be core prepping my rods and cylinders for Clark’s Corvair. They will provide hardware such balanced rods, cylinders, forged pistons, lifters and gaskets. Bill at Azalea will do the heads and covers for me. Stay Tuned!
The original push-rod tubes are going to be reused. I was fortunate that all of my tubes were in great condition. Give them a makeover and they will be ready to use.
The ProcessÂ
First step is to get them spotlessly clean and set them up to dry. I used Purple Power and hot water to soak them for a few hours.
After soaking I used cheap toothbrushes to clean the inside of the tubes and HFT cleaning brushes to clean the outside. I then stood them up to dry for about 30 minutes.
Next I cleaned the tubes inside and out using starting fluid. I then sanded the tubes with 150 grit sandpaper until they were all nice and shiny.
tubes before sandingtubes after sanding
I used high temp zinc primer to prime the tubes then high temp ceramic white to do the final painting.
zinc primer and high temp painttubes with bailing wire hangers and paper end plugs ready to primetubes hanging to dryThe finished tubes
These turned out great. Not sure if I need to remove the paint around the seals or if I should leave it. I am sure Bill at Azalea will know. Almost time to order my fuselage kit from Aircraft Spruce. Stay Tuned!
The disassembly and cleaning went very smoothly. To finish the prep on my core for maximum value all the casting burrs need to be removed from the case. The tools that worked the best for me were a straight deburr tip and a wire wheel tip.
Before DeburrAfter Deburr
The purpose of this procedure is twofold. First and foremost, these small extra pieces of aluminum can break off the case and get in the oil and possibly work its way into the motor. YIKES! Second there are sharp edges that will shred your gloves and hands during the detail cleaning process. A deburred case is SO much easier to work on.
Azalea Aviation is doing my Fith Bearing build on the short-block so I will be ordering that today. This means I need to get my oil pump housing prepped for the conversion to a rear alternator/starter setup. This will allow Bill at Azalea to include the alt/start with my block build. Working on my push-rod tubes now. Stay Tuned!
I have begun my airplane building project with the engine. Why? It was the cheapest and easiest part to acquire so I could begin my build immediately. This also leaves open the option to build something other than the Air Camper if I happen to change my mind.
I got pretty lucky on the Corvair engine core. It was very clean and in good shape.
It has most of the core parts needed for the conversion. I think everything except the distributor was included for $400. It had been mounted on a trike and a prop boat before that and was very clean. I found a distributor for that core on eBay for $50 after shipping.
The only caveat was that the heads were “smog heads”. These are unfortunately not suitable for aircraft build. However, it looks like Azalea Aircraft may still be able to accept them for core value. More on that when I get to it.
Heads are almost ready to send in for core value.
The disassembly went quite easily and took me a little more than a day. Here are some of the parts almost ready to be packed and shipped out for processing:
The first thing to build is the short block and Integrated Fifth Bearing. I used Purple Power ($6.50 per gallon at Dollar General) and a pressure washer hooked up to my hot water heater. Using hot water with the pressure washer is highly effective. I will deburr and detail clean the case in the next article. Stay tuned!
Case ready for deburring.
Off-Grid Sustainable Living & Life Hacking – DIY or DIE!
