26 Mott Place Rockaway, New Jersey 07866
I am writing this article in response to an old saying that was
really emphasized in a recent purchase I made. I had written to the
‘Reflections’ column in Gas Engine Magazine about the
existence of marine engines built by the Detroit Engine Works.
Until about a year ago, I did not know that Detroit had even made
marine engines. Further research has uncovered some information,
but that is the subject of an article yet to come. Among the
responses to my query about the Detroit marine engines (and I
most sincerely thank those who responded), was a gentleman from
Rye, New York, who said he had a 2 HP Detroit marine engine and it
was for sale!
We talked on several occasions and exchanged information. He did
not know much about the Detroit, other than it was stuck and rusty
when he obtained it. He stated that he had freed it up, that it had
good compression, and he hadn’t run it yet because the water
pump drive was incomplete (the eccentric rod was missing).
I told him that I also owned a Detroit marine engine, and maybe
he could copy the eccentric rod from my engine, in order to make
one for his engine. We exchanged directions to each other’s
homes, and set a later date to try to get together.
A week later, my Union Hall (UA Plumbers Local 14) called with a
job offer on a site near the George Washington Bridge (that goes
over the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey), on the
Atlantic Palisades. I took the job, and on the second day thought,
‘Gee, I’m almost there already, why not go over the bridge
after work and see the engine?’ I made the call that night and
we set up a time for the following day.
The job had an early start, and we finished up at 3:30. I left
the jobsite and was on the bridge in less than two minutes. It took
less than 30 minutes to find the town of Rye, and the man’s
shop was only a couple of minutes from that. As I got out of the
car, I spotted a couple of nicely restored trucks in the shop, as
well as a couple of very restorable projects! After getting a quick
tour of the shop and the many neat things inside, I was led to a
work bench upon which sat the Detroit Engine Works Marine engine,
serial #1157, that was built about 1910.
My first impression was ‘Man is that thing UGLY!!!’ It
had been painted a strange lime-green color, much like the
lime-green paint used to protect the steel rebar used on highway
repair jobs.
All of the exposed brass looked like it had either been dipped
in a cleaner, or had been sandblasted. It was not polished, but it
was clean. Unknown to me at this time, it was an ominous sign of
things to come.
On closer examination, I noted the following items:
1) The pump eccentric rod was indeed missing.
2) Besides the rod, the eccentric strap itself was also
gone.
(3) The eccentric itself had been cut off of the crank, to
facilitate the removal of the crankshaft. I was told the original
was a tight press fit, and it was damaged during an attempt at
removing it. A new one had been made, but had not yet been
installed.
4) The flow restrictor was missing off the ‘ Kingston carb,
as well as the retention springs.
5) The oilier mount had been broken off, and the part had
been repaired with 50-50 solder, which, in my opinion, would have
sheared under vibration.
6) The timer arm was bent.
7) There was a fine threaded tapped hole in the end of the
crankshaft that was open.
8) The fuel tank was missing.
The rest of the engine appeared to be in pretty good shape. It
had good compression, and had no visible cracks in the water
jacket.
The engine ID plate, made of brass, was off the engine.
Apparently Detroit made their ID plates from heavy flat stock. The
company name and information was acid etched into the surface and,
on later engines, the serial number was stamped onto the plate. The
plate was then wrapped around the cylinder jug, and mounted
in place with two screws. On most of the plates, eventually the
stress of being bent was relieved by the breaking of the
platetherefore the cracks. About 70% of the Detroit Engine Works ID
plates I have seen are cracked (including one on another Detroit
engine I own).
We talked about the engine for about half an hour, and during
the conversation the price of the engine came up.
I thought that it was a fair price, but I really didn’t know
if 1 wanted to take it, as at my garage (as many people who know me
can attest), space is at a premium. I should note here that there
were several other items that were for sale as well that caught my
interest. We also speculated as to what the hole in the end of the
crankshaft was for. On my other Detroit Engine Works marine engine,
the crank was drilled for a grease passage to the connecting rod.
As this was a later engine, with the dual feed oilier, I felt that
the grease cup was not really necessary. Some probing of the hole
revealed that it was about two inches deep, and that it was a blind
hole. When we were done, I told the man that I would keep him in
mind, and if I heard of anyone who wanted the Detroit, I’d give
him a call.
Several days later, I gave a call, and I told him I was
interested in the Detroit, as well as the old water pump that he
had. We set a date, and I went to his shop to pick up the two
pieces with my minivan and trailer.
First the old pump was loaded onto my trailer. It is a Kewanee
Model N 8 C, 1 cylinder, that had been removed from a mansion in
Rye, New York, when city water had been installed. The engine was
loaded into the rear cargo space in my minivan, as I didn’t
want to take a chance of it bouncing off the trailer. The
prescribed amount changed hands, and we said our goodbyes.
As I was walking toward my car, the man called out to me,
‘You bought it AS IS you know, there’s no guarantees.’
I stopped for a second, the words sinking in, and I thought,
‘Now why would he say that, especially now, when our
conversation had ended, and we were going in two different
directions?’ I turned to ask why he had said that, but he had
already gone into the shop and was talking to one of his workmen. I
just shrugged and drove home with my prizes.
When I got home, I decided to start work on the Detroit right
away. First, I wanted to tackle the missing carb parts. I took off
the top of the carb, and noted that it was pretty clean inside. I
made up a new restrictor plate out of some old stock parts I had,
and I installed a new pressure balance spring as well. It was then
time to set the engine on the floor and give it a test run, even if
only for a few seconds.
As I picked the engine up off my workbench, it began to slip,
and I grabbed the carb in order to hold onto the engine.
Fortunately for the engine (but not for my pinched fingers), the
carb assembly turned in the ‘ pipe screw fitting into the
block, pinning two fingers between the fuel bowl and the block.
This made me put the engine down very quickly! I pushed the carb
down in order to free my now purple fingers, and noted that
actually it was the check valve assembly that was loose in its
fitting to the engine block. In order to tighten the check
assembly, the carb would have to be dismounted, in order to be able
to turn the assembly in a complete circle.
The carb was then removed posthaste, and what I saw in the mouth
of the check inlet stopped me cold in my rush to get done and hear
it run. The inlet had about ‘ of blasting sand inside. A quick
look inside the throat of the carb told the same story. At this
time my heart sank, as I realized that if the sand was here, it was
probably inside the engine already. If the engine had been run, or
even had been pulled over fast enough, the sand would have been
ingested through the intake tract and into the block, cylinder,
piston and bearings as well. The engine could be ruined. The
man’s warning about the ‘as is’ condition now stood out
clearly. If indeed the engine was run with this sand in it, then
what I owned was now a hulk, just fit for parts and pieces, instead
of a possibly run able engine. I have seen engines with wiped out
cylinders have compression, due to a judicious use of some
40-weight oil; all I could do was hope that this was not the
case.
I removed the Lunkenheimer check assembly and disassembled it.
It looked like the engine had indeed been run with the sand in it.
The check valve guide shaft was scarred by the sand and the seat
was loaded with sand too. There was evidence of oil and carbon
mixed in as well, which meant that the engine possibly had
backfired through the intake. I also noted that sand was also
present in the intake passage, a fact that meant a complete
teardown of the engine was now necessary. I had no choice.
The first item off was the muffler. A quick look at the piston
told the story: the sand was indeed through the engine. It was all
over the side of the piston, and I could see abrasions on the
piston skirt and the cylinder wall as well. There was plenty of oil
on the piston, that’s why the compression was still good.
The next item to be removed was the cylinder itself. I removed
the four mount bolts, the oilier was removed, and the jug was then
lifted off of the cylinder base and piston. As the piston came out
of the bore, I could feel the sand grating between the piston and
the cylinder wall. On first inspection, the bore did not look too
bad; it seemed to have been only lightly scarred by the sand, and
it was set aside.
I then examined the piston. The piston is about 2′ in
diameter. It had three ring grooves, two above the wrist pin and
one below. This followed the usual practice of the Detroit engines,
as oil trapped between the lower two sets of rings tended to flow
into the hollow wrist pin and then lubricate the upper connecting
rod bearing through a hole made for that purpose (see diagram 1).
Not standard for Detroit, there were two rings per groove, all
showing sand damage, as well as some telltale darkening in select
areas due to a poor fit to the cylinder bore. I noted as well that
the wrist pin was loose on the connecting rod, and figured that the
piston had to be pulled from the rod as well.
I then removed the inspection plate off of the engine block and
removed the connecting rod big end retaining bolt, in order to
remove the connecting rod and piston assembly from the crankshaft
(see diagram 2). The big end of the Detroit connecting rod is
hinged in order to simplify adjustment and removal, so this did not
take long. The bearing was not scarred at all by the intruding
sand, although there was about of an inch of sand within the sump
of the engine crankcase. The crankshaft itself was also scar free,
and indeed had a mirror finish to the journal itself! The piston
and rod assembly was set aside for later disassembly and
inspection.
The flywheel was the next item to draw my attention. Even though
the Gibb key was fairly tight in its hole, the flywheel still moved
about 1/8 to either side of a given point, a
total of 1/8‘ Engine end play was
excessive at approximately ‘, but this was with the engine
thrust bearing not in place.
The Gibb key was removed with a pair of wedges and a homemade
puller that I built myself (see diagram 3). With some filing of a
few high bump scars on the crankshaft, the flywheel slid
effortlessly off of the crankshaft. The timer assembly was then
removed, and the engine crank and cap was now easily accessible for
removal. The crank was removed, and I quit for the night.
The next morning, I examined the crankshaft and found it to be
in good shape. Luckily, the sand did not damage the crank main
bearings. I did note that the crankpin oil slinger was loose, and
the excessive endplay had worn the journal shoulders on the
crankshaft itself. An .040′ thick bronze washer was placed on
the flywheel side of the crank to help alleviate the endplay
problem.
The now stripped base was thoroughly washed with kerosene, and
was blasted with high pressure air until the interior was dry, in
order to be sure that all of the sand and residue was removed from
the engine block.
The used kerosene was caught in a large clean tub. It was
strained and filtered and then reused to clean the sand from the
remaining parts. All in all, I retrieved about cup of the infernal
sand from throughout the entire engine!
I began the cleanup and reassembly phase of this project. The
first order of business was the piston, connecting rod, and wrist
pin assembly. The wrist pin floats in the connecting rod and is
anchored in the piston bosses by a x 20 set bolt (see diagram 4).
The pin was tight in the piston, and the set bolt was loose, and
partially stripped. I removed the set bolt, and noted that it was
not safety locked. That is, that it could have come out if the
engine was run. The wrist pin was removed and the piston was freed
from the rod. I checked the pin fit in the rod bushing, and found
some slight play. The pin itself had some pitting to the sides, but
the wear surfaces were clean and not badly worn. The rings were
then taken off of the piston and everything was cleaned in fresh
kerosene. After the piston and other parts were dry, I looked
closely at the piston. The tapped hole for the wrist pin retainer
was in good shape and it took only a couple of minutes to repair
the set bolt. The end where the threads were stripped was ground
off. Then about 3/8of an inch of the
remaining threads were removed and the end of the bolt was reground
to a point. If you look at the diagram of the bolt (#4) you will
see that there is a slot cut in the head of the bolt, as well as a
hole is drilled through the bolt head. The hole is for a cotter pin
to be placed within, to prevent the bolt from backing out. I also
saw that the screw slot was buggered up and so the slot had to be
recut with a saw.
The play in the wrist pin bearing was taken out by compressing
the bearing within the rod.
This was accomplished by placing two heavy steel blocks against
the bronze bearing and squeezing the assembly in a heavy vise (see
diagram 5). The pressure was added 1/8 turn
at a time, checking the wrist pin fit at every stop, until the pin
was just snug (a light drag) in its fit. I checked the pin for
square with the connecting rod, and it was in good shape.
In the meantime, my son Andrew was looking at the piston. He
asked me what the pins sticking into the cavity inside the piston
were for. Then I realized that they were the locating pins for the
original full width rings (5/16‘). The
original rings had been removed, the pins driven through the
piston, and two rings inserted in the grooves, with no locators. I
was afraid to try and drive the pins back out for fear that they
would work loose and destroy the cylinder wall. So, I decided to
retain the rings that were on the piston. The piston exterior wall
was sanded with 120 grit sand cloth, until it was fairly smooth.
The six rings were glued to an old cylinder hone with silicon
sealer. The old hone was then set in a block and the faces of the
rings were cleaned up with some 180 grit sand cloth mounted on a
block (see diagram 6). The rings were removed from the hone and the
silicone residue cleaned off. The rings were reinstalled on the
piston, making sure that they were both 180 degrees apart in their
respective grooves and 120 degrees apart from each other, as well
as being away from any ports in the cylinders. It took four tries
to get everything aligned.
The cylinder was sanded with 90 grit emery on the high spots and
then honed until there were no more spots left. After the honing,
the cylinder underwent a good washing with fresh kerosene and was
dried off. The piston was inserted in the bore after being coated
with a liberal coat of WD-40, and then the assembly was set
aside.
I put the crankshaft back into the block, reusing the end cover
gasket, as it seemed to be in good shape. I had my son, Andrew,
help me assemble the cylinder to the base, as well as linking up
the connecting rod to the crankshaft at the same time. The
cylinder-to-base gasket was also retained, as it too was in good
condition. At this time, the thrust bearing and its retainer were
mounted on the crankshaft. The crank was cooled with ice, and the
eccentric was heated to the point where I couldn’t pick it up
in my bare hands. The pump eccentric was driven onto the crank
until it hit the shoulder on the crank itself, trapping the bearing
in place between the eccentric and the case. There was still a lot
of endplay to the crank! I painted the block assembly and the
flywheel with Dupont Dulux #72001D-H, and left them to dry.
This color matches the green paint on my 1904 Detroit Engine Works
3 HP engine. The engine timer was also painted at this time,
too.
I didn’t bother to try to straighten the timer, as the part
that is bent is made of cast iron and I was afraid that it would
break if stressed.
I began the work of polishing up all of the brass pieces, making
sure that they were ready for installation. Most of the pieces were
pretty clean, as I mentioned before. A little wire brushing and
some rouge had them clean and shiny right quick! When I got to the
water pump, I decided to pull it apart in case there was sand in
it.
I found that the packing was shot. The piston was lightly scored
from the d–n sand, and the checks’ brass closure springs were
missing. A quick check of my spring goody-box soon had two springs
in short order. The packing was found in my grandfather’s old
plumbing supply box, and I polished out the scoring on the pump
shaft with rouge and the wire wheel. I blew out the pump with air,
and got ready to assemble it and mount it to the engine. The check
valves were installed with their new springs and the packing was
restuffed. The pump was then set aside.
The first thing to be mounted was the inlet check valve for the
carburetor. I polished the exterior and replaced the closure
spring, as the old one had broken from age. I also lightly polished
the check guide, as the sand had gotten to that too. In making the
fitting up on the block, the last two turns were a bear, as the
outside of the mixer came very close to the block itself.
Next was the mount for the twin oiler. I melted out the old
solder from the repaired base, and resoldered the joint using a
silver bearing no-lead solder. This stuff is so strong that you
will rip the fitting before the joint will fail. The brass was
polished, and the ell was mounted on the engine. I installed the
brass oil feed line from the oiler’s position to the feed point
for the connecting rod bearing. I noticed that the gaskets used on
the base of the oiler were actually Neoprene faucet washers, and
that the oil had attacked the Neoprene and made it swell up to the
point of being useless. New gaskets had to be made. I made them out
of some sheet cork that I had in the garage, mounted the oiler, and
then tightened all of the connections.
The muffler was painted and installed on the engine. It was
finally beginning to look like an engine again.
At this point, the timer was reinstalled and the mechanism was
cleaned. The timer arm was reassembled with its brass parts and
then the flywheel was installed. Trying to set the flywheel in
place with the Gibb key was a real pain. The flywheel would either
be too tight against the block, or there was too much clearance,
and therefore too much end-play. It finally took my son and I about
three tries to simultaneously hit the output side of the crankshaft
and the Gibb key on the flywheel side, in order to set the flywheel
in place, where it was wanted.
As we were taking a breather during this frustrating piece of
work, Andrew asked, ‘What is the hole in the end of the crank
for?’ At the time I happened to glance over to my Detroit
Engine Works 2 HP stationary engine. A shiny spot caught my eye and
suddenly I realized what, indeed, the hole was for!
On the stationary engine, there was a brass end cap, held in
place with a brass bolt, over the end of the crankshaft. This
decorative cover helped retain the Gibb key in place and it also
helped keep the flywheel from walking on the crankshaft. I tried
several sources for a brass cap that would work, but ended up
making one out of a ‘ copper sweat cap fitting instead. The
silicon bronze mount bolt, also, is copper colored, so the end
effect came out quite nicely.
The water pump was the next item to be operated on. I mounted it
on the engine and pulled the pump shaft down about ‘ to allow
for clearance of the packing bolts. I had to figure the offset, the
measurement end to end, and the diameter of the pump drive rod and
its eccentric strap, as they were missing when the engine was
purchased. Unfortunately, the pump used on this engine is different
than the pump on the 3 HP engine I own, so I could not copy that
one for a template.
I ended up making the eccentric rod out of a piece of
5/8‘ brass square stock, with the ends
being altered in the following manner: the rod was heated and given
a 2′ offset at a 2’ radius rounded turn. I did not want to
make it on a 45 degree or sharper square break, because I thought
that it could lead to stress fractures in the brass. At one end a x
20 copper plated nut was silver-soldered to the short end of the
newly bent shaft, to act as a bearing at the pump end of the rod.
The other end had of a square cut 90 degree
1/8 tapped ell silver-soldered in line with
the offset, approximately from the end of the rod. The remaining
rod was ground and filed to a round profile approximately
3/8‘ in diameter, which was then threaded
with a 3/8‘ die (see diagram 7). This was
drilled out to allow passage of grease.
The only thing remaining was the making of the eccentric strap
itself. I had a general idea of what I wanted, basically, a
plumber’s split ring hanger. The trouble was getting one to
fit. I ended up using a 2′ copper clad split ring hanger made
for copper tubing. I took a ‘ wide piece of 2’ copper type
DWV tubing and cut it open. A 3/8 piece was
silver-soldered onto one of the open ends, and then the interior
was filed smooth. The copper ring was trimmed by trial and error
until the fit on the eccentric cam was just snug, with the hanger
tightened around it. A 3/16‘ hole was
drilled in the ring, in line with the eccentric rod mount, so
grease would be able to get to the bearing surfaces. The brass was
polished and the new eccentric strap was painted. The entire
assembly was installed on the engine. Some ‘ brass IPS size
piping finished off the plumbing for the water cooled exhaust.
The last thing to be mounted was the name tag. I used a special
acid base flux and soldered the cracks with the silver bearing
solder I had used earlier on the oilier mount. The plate was then
soaked in a baking soda and water solution, to make sure that the
acid was neutralized.
The plate was polished and mounted on the engine with two 10-32
screws. All that remained was to set up the ignition system and a
coil.
I located a good model T coil and mounted it on the wooden base
that came with the engine. Of course, the hi-tension lead went to
the spark plug. The positive lead went to the plus side of the
battery, and the negative went to engine ground. The battery
negative went to the kill switch contact on the engine timer.
Current flow is as follows: power flows from the battery through
the coil to the timer contact arm. As the timer cam rotates with
the crankshaft, with the timer arm straight up, the ignition will
occur at top center. The timer cam makes contact with the timer arm
completing the circuit through the engine block. The current then
flows through the timer arm through the kill switch contact and
then back to the battery. When the kill switch is opened, current
flow is interrupted, thus stopping the spark.
At this time, I still have yet to locate a fuel tank, but the
engine has been test run and it appears to be in good shape. If
anyone has information on the Detroit Boat Company or the Detroit
Engine Works, either the marine or stationary engines, I would like
to hear from them. Please contact: Andrew K. Mackey, 26 Mott Place,
Rockaway, New Jersey 07866, or call (201) 627-2392 after 7:00 p.m.
Eastern.
William J. Earl, 63 Wilstead Dr., Newmarket, Ontario, Canada L3Y
4T8, sent this photo of two popular tractors used by Canadian
threshermen, situated in a field 25 miles from Toronto. On the
left, a 1924 Eagle 20-40 HP model H; on the right, a 28-50
Hart-Parr built in 1929. Both tractors have been immobile since the
early Fifties.
