1223 Westover Drive Danville, Virginia 24541
My father’s uncle, being a carpenter, needed an engine to
power a ripsaw. According to my father, his uncle purchased a
Sandow 1? hp. gasoline engine about 1920. This engine was
manufactured by the Detroit Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan.
This is a 2 cycle, water-cooled verticle engine. The ignition
system for this engine is comprised of a spark plug, a dry cell
battery and a vibrating coil. The engine is controlled by throwing
a time lever either side of the center of a contact ring which is
connected to the shaft by a key. One unusual feature about this
engine is that it has no exhaust valve.
The carburetor is located on the left side of the cylinder. The
gas is pumped to the carburetor and forced into the cylinder by a
back pressure which is created in the crankcase of this engine.
This back pressure is caused by the movement of the piston. Once
the carburetor has filled with gas, a circular cork float rises,
raising a valve which is supposed to keep the engine from flooding.
Below the carburetor is a ball valve which helps the engine
maintain its prime. Whenever gas is used, the cork float lowers the
valve which allows the crankcase back pressure to pump more gas
into the carburetor. This same back pressure forces the gas into
the cylinder by means of a short tube from the carburetor into the
cylinder.
On the right side of. the cylinder is located a two side feed
lubricator. This provides oil for the piston and one main shaft
bearing of the engine. The other main shaft bearing is lubricated
by a grease cup.
To start this engine, one follows three basic principles. One
starts first by priming the engine. This is done by pouring a small
amount of gasoline into the priming cup which is located on the
cylinder. To finish the priming procedure, you then draw the gas
into the cylinder by turning the flywheel. After priming the
engine, one moves the timing lever a little off center into the
direction in which the engine is to run. The third step is to run
the flywheel in the opposite direction of which the engine is to
run. The result of this procedure is that contact is made and the
engine should start.
The engine usually doesn’t start according to the described
starting procedures. To start the engine, we usually have to belt
it to a tractor belt pulley. Using the tractor power to start this
engine has its merits because 1 have mashed many blisters under my
finger nails while trying to start this Sandow engine. This happens
when I’ve tried to keep the engine turning over and having my
fingers come between the flywheel and the engine’s skids.
When the engine has been started, it does not always run well.
It will often times flood or run out of gas. The adjustment of the
needle valve in the carburetor does not help much. Once the engine
has been started, its speed is controlled by a flywheel governor
which is linked by an arm to the crankcase air valve. The speed of
this engine can also be controlled by the timing lever.
The engine referred to in this article has been restored and is
used as an ‘adults’ toy. If anyone has such an engine or a
similar one and can provide some operation techniques, I would
appreciate hearing from him.
