pH 1 engine

[Matchless?58]

Hi , I had a right result today .
I took some scrap steel to the local scrap yard and just as I was unloading it a small lorry came in and tipped up a load of farm scrap . As soon as it hit the floor I spotted a pH 1 engine come sliding down in amongst the carnage ! I slightly know the bloke who operates the grapple so I asked him to hold off for a second until I could have a look at it . It was in relatively great condition considering it had just been slung off the back of a lorry with only the cast iron exhaust manifold broken off and a small dent in the top of one of the covers. The engine was also free and turned easy with the decomp lever up .
It also has the clutch still bolted to the back of it . This engine has definitely been dry stored as its rust free .
I went straight to the office and agreed a price of 50 quid ! That is a real bargain to me as its exactly the same engine that's in my little dumper .
Thing is I only wanted it for spares but the condition of it has created a bit of a dilemma as its too good to break up .
So I think I will try to get it running on the bench in the next couple of weeks it might not be as good as it looks and I'm going to have to make a sturdy frame to mount it on otherwise it will walk out on its own .
Never a dull moment here and never stuck for something to do .
Cheers Chris

[Jeremy Rowland]

Nice one Chris well spotted, just amazing what is out there if you happen to get lucky.

Jeremy

[essexpete]

Years ago anything like that would be put to one side by our local scrap dealer. His employees knew to look out for anything that could be reused or recycled. When the yard changed hands it modernised and no time for separating anything. One of my boy's first bikes came from the yard!

[Matchless?58]

Yes scrap yards have changed a lot over the years . I used to really enjoy going down there and climbing all over the old cars looking for that elusive spare part . I don't think I would have ever got to work if it wasn't for the Saturday trawl round the yard looking for parts for my old transit . The lads on the site used to call the old van Jaffa as it was orange !
Now the health and safety bods have got involved we are all being looked after by the nanny state and commen sense has gone right out of the window . We are not allowed to think for ourselves now .
That old engine was seconds away from the crusher I also spotted a vintage petrol pump being dropped in , it was part of the same load but I was too late as it happened while I was doing the deal on the petter . Wish I had seen it a bit quicker .

[Jeremy Rowland]

Yes scrap yards have changed a lot over the years . I used to really enjoy going down there and climbing all over the old cars looking for that elusive spare part . I don't think I would have ever got to work if it wasn't for the Saturday trawl round the yard looking for parts for my old transit . The lads on the site used to call the old van Jaffa as it was orange !
Now the health and safety bods have got involved we are all being looked after by the nanny state and commen sense has gone right out of the window . We are not allowed to think for ourselves now .
That old engine was seconds away from the crusher I also spotted a vintage petrol pump being dropped in , it was part of the same load but I was too late as it happened while I was doing the deal on the petter . Wish I had seen it a bit quicker .

Right in all you say; so much for so-called progress NOT

Jeremy

[Matchless?58]

Hi I thought I would post a few pics of the ph1 . Damage to the engine covers and the exhaust manifold can be seen . I turned the engine over this afternoon and it turns freely with good compression . The lift pump lever also freed off with a bit of WD 40 and is working . I am going to make a temporary stand for the engine while I work on it and try to get it running . I am having thoughts about running this engine on a saw bench as we have a wood burner . Got to sort it out first though . Enjoy the pics .

[cobbadog]

Well done and not too much damage so will be an easy project for a bloke of your talents. The exhaust doesn't appear to be too badly damaged so that too can be a repair job.
I recently sent a cam shaft with a severely worn lobe from a very old stationary engine for specialist welding. He did a beautiful job on it and was linished to shape and installed. Further along with the restoration I had other cast iron parts that had broken but not as critical as the cam to be repaired using the correct welding rods. So I thought why not give it a go and so I did. I used my MIG welder with gas and it did a great job and is holding very well. If it breaks it is an easy thing to remove from the engine and get it welded properly but for now the MIG weld is holding.

[Matchless?58]

Hi cobba I am very much a novice welder and I didn't know that you could weld cast iron with a mig welder . All I have is my little stick welder so I guess that is a job I will have to farm out . That manifold wouldn't be broken if the bloke on the fork lift hadn't been in such a rush to chuck it in the van he tried to lift it without a strap around the engine and just snapped it off with one of the forks . Rest of the damage happened when it was tipped up from the lorry . Cheers Chris

[cobbadog]

When you talk to welders they will all say that you must use the proper rods to weld cast iron and yes that is correct. I have in the past just to get me out of trouble used standard 2013/6 rods to keep parts together and they are still stuck together. Buying the correct cast iron rods is an expensive exercise out here then you have the procedure of pre heating and slow cooling to be done the right way.
All too often people are just about getting things unload the quickest possible way and like you suggest a simple sling would have had it off with no damage. I have a box trailer with an engine crane bolted to the draw bar if we are just taking engines only to a show and have many sizes of slings to suit the lift. Now we all have to conform to rules and regs to use lifting equipment so might as well buy it.