The mounting for the reversing lever (and handbrake and water bypass control) is welded to the top right part of the superstructure. The alignment with the engine, on its vertical pillar, was a bit out - I am assuming that welding and the making of box section tubes is not a precise process. Compensation for this has been achieved by putting extra washers on the engine mounting bolts, which push the engine forward and upward, by 1 and 3 washers' thickness, respectively. I had to use my block and tackle to take the weight of the engine while doing that. The reversing lever shaft can now be bent slightly and gently into alignment. I thought I might need to use washers under the mounting brackets on the engine, but this was not needed because there was sufficient free play on the mounting bolts (once the paint layer had been removed).
The next job will be to finish the engine timing. Turning the engine over by hand is proving to be an issue, with the gland packing and piston rings in place and causing resistance. I have had the kind offer of loan of an air compressor to enable the engine to be powered up and tested, assuming that connections can be made or blanked off. I have been fairly liberal with my oil can, so everything seems to be coated in lubricant. I wonder if I should invest in some "universal" steam cylinder oil rather than using motor oil designed for internal combustion engines.
Hi Alan, Yes, you need to invest in some Steam Oil - otherwise when you eventually do steam the engine ordinary motor oil will be useless and just run off like water so the engine will effectively be running dry!! Now the welding IS a very precision process, BUT the process does cause some distortion in the top body rail and hence why your reversing linkage does not align with the engine!! I had the same problem! You don't need spacers/washer etc under the engine - leave it sitting in the chassis properly as designed (or you may have problems later on!)! What STW told me to do, is to realign the welded reverser fitting with a strong bar (e..g. socket set extension bar) after removing the reverser/brake levers. I found it only needed to move a little bit to correct the distortion such that the bar/rods all became a perfect fit with just 5 minutes of effort!! You didn't really bend the bar did you??!! Otherwise you may have to ask STW for another one!! Likewise, when the engine is fitted, I found the top of the vertical engine tube did not align. No problem! Move the body left/right until it does - this was the first opportunity to properly align everything as up to now the body was quite flexible!! Again, no washers/spacers needed.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps you.
Regards
Greg
Greg, Thank you for reading my blog and offering some useful advice. No I have not bent the bar beyond its elastic limit!
DeleteRegards, Alan