P.O. Box 618, Allyn, Washington 98524-0618
I acquired a ‘Frisco’ Standard 4 HP stationary sideshaft
engine in April 1997. Most Frisco Standard engines were marine
type, so I was happy with this find. Of course, restoration was in
order. As the photos show, restoration proceeded well as I broke
down each unit for degreasing, sandblasting, etc. I had to renew
the sideshaft so my machinist friend did some machine work for me,
namely boring out the rusted shaft from pieces attached. My next
problem was to get the piston out. It was stuck, of course! I was
told when I purchased it that it shouldn’t be too hard to
remove, as the exhaust had always been covered and oil had been
placed in the exhaust to cover the top of the piston. That had been
done as mentioned, but the exhaust valve was closed, so no oil got
into the cylinder. I bought a new anti-seize product at the local
auto parts store that worked wonders on the piston and I got it out
without too much of a problem. I removed all the piston rings and
got them ready for reuse. I honed the cylinder wall, which was now
in good shape. Next came the biggest problem of all: the crankshaft
was badly pitted on the sideshaft bearing side, the worm gear
(spiral helical) on the crank shaft was half gone, and the
remaining teeth weren’t much better. The matching gear that was
on the sideshaft was in good shape. The crank was spray-welded and
turned down to its original size, 1.5 inches. A new gear or a
replacement was in order. It was pressed off by the local machine
shop, coming off in one piece. I’ll discuss the replacement
problem further in this article.
The next project was to get the valves out in one piece. Again,
my local machine shop (automotive type) did a wonderful job and
saved the valves. They were reusable Great! I sandblasted the head
and it also came out great. With the head now done, I primed and
painted it close to its original color what else but green! The
base required little work, needing only to be sandblasted and
painted. The cylinder was something else. It needed to have that
hole patched! I obtained a piece of cast-iron pipe with the same OD
as the water jacket. With a template of the existing opening, I cut
the cast-iron pipe with a saber saw. I set the piece in place using
two sheet metal screws to obtain the right height. I then made four
tapered holes in the corners with a cone-shaped burr and inserted
four screws. With the new piece firmly in place, I ground all the
screws flush and wire-brushed before applying an epoxy that met all
the specs for heat and water.
I sent the ignitor to a GEM advertiser, Mr. Brook over, with a
picture of the original ignitor, and he did a great job rebuilding
it. The governor/throttle control was assembled, cleaned and placed
on the shelf to await installation later. Remember this paragraph,
as it will play a big part in this story!
Now, back to the worm gear. My first choice was to send it to a
GEM advertiser to make. They sent it back to me as they
couldn’t make it, so I needed to find someone else. I got an
estimate from a gear shop for $700.00, but thought that was a
little steep. All the machinists I know personally didn’t have
the right set-up to make the gear. After talking and looking for
three months, I was told about a friend of a friend at the Brooks
EDGETA Engine Show who had a gear like mine.
When he showed up, he did have a crankshaft almost identical to
mine. He didn’t want any cash for it, but would trade for a
whistle he wanted if I would buy it. This exchange sure beat the
$700.00 estimate I had been quoted previously. When I took my prize
home, I promptly compared his crank with mine. They were a little
different, but close. His crank was for a 4 HP Frisco Standard
marine engine and mine was a 4 HP stationary engine. I now had to
press the gear off with my newly acquired ‘H’ frame press.
With the gear now off and cooling down, I was anxious to press it
on my shaft and get it installed. Wouldn’t you know it? The
gear was a loose fit. For a better fit, I had that section of the
shaft spray-welded. With the gear again pressed on, I started to
put all the other pieces together.
With the engine all put back together and timed, I primed it and
got it to ‘pop,’ but it wouldn’t run. What now? I
loaded it on my truck and took it to my good friend, Dale. If
anybody could get this engine to run, it would certainly be Dale.
He checked the timing, etc., and all looked good. To get it up to
about 140 rpm, we belted it up to his John Deere crawler. It still
wouldn’t run, so back to the drawing board. It was determined
that the valves and seats should be remachined and the spring on
the mechanical intake be made stronger so the valve wouldn’t
chatter.
With the valves completed and a new spring, I hauled it back to
my friend Dale’s place on October 10, 1997six months after I
had acquired it in California. Now with all the work and help from
my friends, it just had to run! We repeated the first scenario with
the John Deere crawler to get it up to the correct rpm and guess
what? Again, it wouldn’t start! What a disappointment! Dale
asked, ‘Don, did you overhaul the throttle control and put it
together right?’ I assured him that I had done that. After
another conference with all hands, it was decided to remove the
throttle control, as it was determined that gas was not getting
drawn up through the unit and it was ‘all my fault!’ At
this point, I accepted responsibility and said, ‘Let’s
check it out!’
We removed the throttle control, disassembled it and found it
was done correctly, but would you believeinside the 90 degree elbow
between the control and the head, it was completely plugged with
mud daubers. What a surprise! While the throttle control unit had
been sitting on the shelf waiting to be put back on my engine,
those wasps had really done me in! After a good cleaning, the
control was reinstalled and the engine started with very little
effort. It is now a smooth-running and very interesting engine. It
runs counter-clockwise.
