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Message-ID: <41DCC222.3080906@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 22:44:18 -0600
From: David Staten <Dastaten@earthlink.net>
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To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Garage tinkering - "rebuild" progress... all story no data.
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Well.. just another journal entry in the path to flight. Those who have 
followed Chris's and I's progress will remember that we obtained 3 
engines on Ebay for $700 back in July. Another $100 in gas round trip 
and we had them home in my garage for the forseable future. Well Engine 
#1 was torn down and reassembled. Engine #2 donated a rotor to Engine 
#1's cause.. and I finished its disassembly before the holidays. I have 
been working at #3 since before the holidays and hit a wall. I got the 
rear nut off without a lot of drama (Big 3/4" drive impact is WORTH 
EVERY PENNY) but the flywheel was froze on... Lots of corrosion. In 
addition there was rust visible in the intake ports on this one, and I 
didnt hold out a lot of hope for this engine being useable. My goal at 
this point was to FINISH disassembly so that I could move all my 
major/power tools up to the hangar and not have to tote them back and 
forth.

I had tried prying at this flywheel will all sorts of ideas.. pry bars, 
claw hammers, multiple pry bars and hammers.. no dice. I HAD a "puller" 
but the arms on the puller were not wide enough to let the bolts go into 
the flywheel, rendering it useless. After another drum session today 
trying to get it off (heat didnt help either), I decided to get mid-evil 
on the engine and I commenced to making my own puller. I took some 1/8 
th inch thick 3" wide strap metal, and cut off a 7-8 inch length. I 
drilled two 1/2" inch holes for the flywheel bolts but the center hole 
for the puller/jackscrew was bigger than that.. So a little "routing" 
with the drill press and voila. I used the existing puller underneath 
the strap for its threaded center hole and to reinforce the strap as the 
tension was applied. I put the Impact wrench on the jackscew and pulled 
the trigger. Grudgingly the flywheel came off, and the strap metal was 
now in a shallow V shape, but still useable in the future.

Taking the engine rear off, my initial suspicions were confirmed: There 
were puddles in the rotor chambers.. rusty, LOTS of corrosion in the 
passages Rotor faces covered with rust. Water passages had white residue 
(combustion leak??) as well as rust and overwhelming sedimentation. As I 
pulled it apart I looked for the culprit and finally found a blowout on 
the front housing down past where the plugs would match up (on the 
adjacent rotor housing). So, the engine is blown, and personally I don't 
intend to spend ANY time trying to salvage the irons on #3. I will check 
the rotor housings and rotors for future potential use, but the irons I 
am not even going to bother with. At this point I figure I have TWO 
useable engines out of the three blocks we got before.
 
I also have a buttload of parts to sort through from a junk core or two 
from Chris, some extra parts the ebay seller had when we got the 3 
blocks and all the intakes, tubings and so forth that I pulled off of 
ALL of them. At this point I have 2 idler arms, a couple sets of oil 
hoses (banjo bolts?), turbo oil hoses, oil injection air tubing (spider) 
and a set of fuel rails. Considering I WANT to use the stock primary 
injectors the fuel rails are a must have item. I just took a closer look 
at the intake Chris had given me and not only did it have both fuel 
rails, it had some secondary injectors stuffed in them to boot. BONUS.!!
 
On an aside, I had found 8 LS1 coils on ebay, mounted on 2 banks of 4, 
and at the time was going for $75 for the set of 8. Tracy told me these 
run for $30 each new, so it seemed like a worthwhile investment and have 
a spare set/2nd egnine set in one fell swoop. Well.. tonight, with one 
hour to go, the price had made it to $250. I dont see ANY reason to pay 
NEW prices for used stuff if I dont have to (I'll just buy new) so I let 
it go. Easy come Easy go.
Recent acquisitions include a stock aux oil cooler, a stock intercooler 
and the PSRU arrived from Tracy just before Xmas. The EC2 is on order, 
and on my list of upcoming acquisitions  are: counterweight, flywheel, 
intake (BRUCE??!!), coils, wires, new spark plugs and if I can swing the 
$$ an EM2. A prop remains high on my list too.. catto 3 blade seems to 
be the best option, but for ground run and break in a loaner prop will 
do (dont HAVE to make full HP to tune the EC2 but will get it in the 
ballpark).
 
After reviewing Bob's pics today, I realize that I have omitted 
something on my rebuild... I havent tapped a place for PSRU oil return 
(or feed). I also havent gotten a look at the manual for the PSRU so I 
will check what it says with regards to feed/drain requirements.
 
Pics of the blown engine will follow later. Got work in the AM.
Dave Staten