Radiator and Misc. OX-5

I mentioned in the last post I would talk about the radiator as it has an interesting story.  I'm not ready to fit it up yet, as it attaches to the engine mount and still have to fabricate that.

When Andy purchased the project in the '60s, no radiator came with it since it was destroyed in the accident.  A neighbor of Andy's at the time was helping to track down misc. parts - like the radiator.  He contacted Mrs. Page (Ray Pages' wife of Lincoln-Page) and she gave him the name of the original supplier of the radiator - Mart DoRan & Son in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The same person that made them in 1928 still ran the company.  Remarkably, they had just enough of the original Winchester core stock to make one more.  This material was sitting on their shelves for the last 40 years!  They charged Andy labor only, so he was able to purchase what is basically an NOS radiator, made by the same company from the same material for $105.38.  Unbelievable!!  Attached are some original correspondences.  They are worth reading.

Here's a photo of the radiator.  A priceless historical piece that I feel very blessed to have!

I know I said I was ready to install the cylinders, but they are not on yet.  I took care of a couple of misc. things first:  fit the rods and install the tappets.

Flattening parting surfaces of cap and rods

Lapping compound used for final fitting

Looking at the rods and caps, I wasn't happy with the flatness and fit of the rod and cap.  I flattened them on a surface plate which greatly improved the fit.  This caused some of the bearings to have some tight spots.  My friend, Mark, heard of a lapping compound that has been around since Henry Ford's Model T days, specifically designed to lap in babbitt bearings.  The stuff is safe to use in engines and breaks down into a non-abrasive powder.  I purchased some, having nothing to lose.  In spite of the claim that it would not harm the engine, I was careful to remove all residue.  Well, it worked great - the bearings fit perfectly with .0015" clearance.  This avoided scraping the bearings which makes it difficult to get full contact of the bearing surfaces.

All the rods installed

Tappet components

Next, the tappets.  Here's a picture of the components:  The body or housing, exhaust tappet (smaller diameter part) and the intake tappet (larger diameter part).  The screw retains them and keeps them from spinning in the body.

Dressing out flat spots

 The intake portion of the tappets will develop a flat spot as shown at the right in this photo.  The manual says to carefully dress this out on a stone.  I used a 1000 grit water stone that worked very well.  The lower one to the left has been dressed out.

Completed and polished intake and exhaust tappet

Here is the exhaust (inner) and intake (outer) tappets dressed and polished.

New gaskets

Had to make new gaskets too. Made from .015" gasket paper like the originals.

Installed tappet assemblies

The tappets can be installed after the cylinders are on, but I installed them first as they were easier to get to.

So now, I am finally ready to install the cylinders!








Started working on the firewall.  I cut it out from 22 gauge galvanized steel, but still need to brake-form it.  It is a dish-shaped firewall that goes into the fuselage about 6 inches, providing clearance for accessories - water pump, etc on the OX-5.  I'll include pictures in a future post.

Original seat belt

 Here is another interesting photo of the original seat belt.  I went and saw Jack Hooker of Hooker Harness the other day to see what could be done to duplicate it.  Well, not much.  We can't use cotton belts in certified aircraft, and there are no approved materials that are close.  So I'm going to use military style belts to satisfy the FAA and use the original cotton ones for display only.  I'll re-plate the hardware with nickel, replace the leather straps, etc.

OK, since my track record of what I am going to post next has not been very good, I'm not promising anything.  You'll just have to check back and see what's next!