6889 Glenroy Street, San Diego, California 92120
I thought you might enjoy the history of the restoration of a
little CT-1 Stover. The photos show the steps required to bring the
little engine back to life.
I found the little engine at an auto parts swap meet a couple of
years ago. The engine seemed complete but, as could be expected,
was covered with years of grease, grime, dirt and straw. The engine
was stuck tight, and the mag was full of dirt. After some
negotiations, I was able to purchase the engine for just about the
going price of the magneto.
The first step was to stand the engine on end and load up the
cylinder and other moving parts with penetrant to free up the
piston. After a few days, I began to try to rock the flywheels, and
after a few tries the piston began to move a little at a time. When
I finally got the piston out, I was happy to see that the bore was
in great shape. I proceeded to fully disassemble the engine and
clean all the parts. To my surprise, the engine was in fine shape
with little wear. I lapped the valves and purchased the normal
engine overhaul parts and a muffler from GEM advertisers.
The only other part that needed replacing was the gas tank, which a
buddy made for me out of sheet metal.
I primed all the parts with a good red primer, and then gave it
two coats of acrylic enamel covered by a clear coat to help fuel
and oil-proof the paint.
I mentioned that the whole deal had cost about the price of a
Wico EK magneto. Well, I tore the mag down, cleaned the parts,
replaced the points and covers, and it worked and looked like
new.
After assembly I filled the tank, gave it a couple of spins, and
it started right up. Actually, it started a little too well and
took off hitting on every stroke getting faster and faster. After a
panic attack, I shut it down and made some adjustments, and things
worked great.
This is just one of those cases where a great little engine was
saved by looking past the grease and dirt.