I got my 259 back from the machine shop that was seizing when hot. The machinist determined that the rods were not true and therefore were resized. The bearings were severley scrubbed and required replacement, mostly indicative of starved for oil. As the routine maintenance was continued the oil galleys were cleaned and were excessively clogged with debris, I believe the clogged galleys were responsible for the connecting rod issues. The machine shop disassembled the engine corrected the issues, rod sizing, deglazing, polished the crank, clean oil galleys and generally clean parts. The engine was in the shop for about 6 weeks and I called him for a status report and the standard answer there were several jobs ahead of mine. Within 2 days the work was completed and my engine was to be delivered with one condition that I assemble it myself, I agreed. The engine went together with no issues the weather was good I worked outside with my grandson (15) I let him do all the torqueing.
After assembly and attempt to start the fun started. All the valves were set to .024 by hand turning, after the first attempt to start there was no action the engine turned over briskly but no fire there was good spark however and the timing was right on. I decided to recheck the valves and there were all open with no clearance at all therefore no compression. After about 5 revolutions checking the valve clearance they were finally all re-established at .024 and stayed there. This engine is operating on 6 volts by my choice. Attempts to restart failed as the compression was re-established and it turned very slowly, too slowly to start. I removed the plugs and it spun over very rapidly. To confirm there was oil in the system I filled the plug holes front and back with about 16 oz of oil and confirmed oil by removing the front plug while cranking and there was a gusher, that was a good sign. With the plugs back in, the 6 volt system would not turn it over, it would barley turn. The cables were #1 however there was a substantial difference in diameters. The cable from the battery to the starting solenoid was #1 and the cable from the solenoid to the starter was also #1. While attempting to crank the #1 cable from the solenoid to the starter was so over heated it started to melt the insolation and I couldn't put
my hand on it. This led me to believe the cable was too small, I therefore replaced it with a 1/0 cable and the engine turns over briskly once again. I also purchased a new battery of the same category as the existing battery however it had an additional 100 amps cold cranking power, the new battery turned the engine over an additional 10% faster than the original battery. The engine started up very smartly even on 6 volts.
After assembly and attempt to start the fun started. All the valves were set to .024 by hand turning, after the first attempt to start there was no action the engine turned over briskly but no fire there was good spark however and the timing was right on. I decided to recheck the valves and there were all open with no clearance at all therefore no compression. After about 5 revolutions checking the valve clearance they were finally all re-established at .024 and stayed there. This engine is operating on 6 volts by my choice. Attempts to restart failed as the compression was re-established and it turned very slowly, too slowly to start. I removed the plugs and it spun over very rapidly. To confirm there was oil in the system I filled the plug holes front and back with about 16 oz of oil and confirmed oil by removing the front plug while cranking and there was a gusher, that was a good sign. With the plugs back in, the 6 volt system would not turn it over, it would barley turn. The cables were #1 however there was a substantial difference in diameters. The cable from the battery to the starting solenoid was #1 and the cable from the solenoid to the starter was also #1. While attempting to crank the #1 cable from the solenoid to the starter was so over heated it started to melt the insolation and I couldn't put
my hand on it. This led me to believe the cable was too small, I therefore replaced it with a 1/0 cable and the engine turns over briskly once again. I also purchased a new battery of the same category as the existing battery however it had an additional 100 amps cold cranking power, the new battery turned the engine over an additional 10% faster than the original battery. The engine started up very smartly even on 6 volts.
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