Actually that does give me an inspiration. Been ponderin' on how to make a test club to run the lil' connie when the time comes. Never even thought of a heavy, round steel plate. Genius!! 
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Corben Junior Ace Scratch Build.
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
These have been on FB for 27 weeks. No idea what they fit but $40 seems dirt cheap for new magneto`s. What are they for?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1226428502306108/
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1226428502306108/
No one want's 'em because they're obsolete. You can't get parts for 'em anymore.
Cleaned the pistons up today.
Of the six, 4 are absolutely beautiful.
One is toast... way too much corrosion pitting.
The last has a pretty good gouge on the crown. Haven't gone crazy on it yet, but I think it'll be too deep.
So... 200 bucks got me $800 worth of pistons for lil' Connie. I'll take it.
Of the six, 4 are absolutely beautiful.
One is toast... way too much corrosion pitting.
The last has a pretty good gouge on the crown. Haven't gone crazy on it yet, but I think it'll be too deep.
So... 200 bucks got me $800 worth of pistons for lil' Connie. I'll take it.
Two more intake manifolds showed up today. That just leaves the 4 intake runners to complete the induction system. I'll probably just add a couple feet of 4130 or 6061 to my next AC Spruce order and make my own.
@Pat D ,next chance you get, can you stick a magnet on one of your intake runners and tell me if it's steel or aluminum? Edit: Found a nasty rusted one on Ebay for ten bucks. Soon as it gets her I can dimension it and duplicate it times 4.
The gouge on the last piston turned out to be nothing. A little 600 paper, then red and blue scotchbrite pads took it out. Puts me at 5 of 6.
One the negative side, only managed to save 2 of the six wrist pins. They're about a hundred apiece. I suppose on the glass half full side I could say that's two hundred I won't have to spend.
@Pat D ,
The gouge on the last piston turned out to be nothing. A little 600 paper, then red and blue scotchbrite pads took it out. Puts me at 5 of 6.
One the negative side, only managed to save 2 of the six wrist pins. They're about a hundred apiece. I suppose on the glass half full side I could say that's two hundred I won't have to spend.
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Love following this!
That's good, 'cause I'm havin' a blast doin' it!
...... 'cept the open door lettin' all the money out that is.... ouch.
Decided to just hold on to the last good piston... just 'cause. 
Me too! I went straight from model airplanes to heavy jets. I missed this entire world.
It's never too late...
I grew up a model geek. Dad got me started on the puddle jumper experience. Air Force gave me fighter jet experience. B F Goodrich Aerospace gave me the heavy experience. Only thing I missed out on was was business jets. A little corporate... not enough to call me experienced though.
Actually pretty hard to say which was my favorite.
FB71
Expert Turd Polisher
I got to be decent friends with Butch Eaves, who ran Eaves Auto Parts - NAPA on Ebenezer and Rt40. I was devastated when he retired and closed up shop. The man didn't even need those catalogs. He had most of it committed to memory. And if you're talking about the Pete's in Bel Air, that was a Pontiac dealer first, wasn't it? The original Pete's in Baltimore city is long gone. I used to stop there and drool, before they moved to Fullerton.
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Switching gears....
I bought the bending brake attachment for the press 'cause I got 1/8" 4130 to bend. The first pieces I wanted to try are the brackets that hold the drag/anti-drag wires inside the wings. They get bolted between the compression member and the spar... These guys...
As you can see, the bracket needs two bends. 4 per wing, 8 total. First thing I did was cut ten 2-1/4" squares out of 4130. 8 for the wings and two for the inevitable screw ups.
Started with a grinder. Didn't take but about 30 sec to figure out that won't cut it... pun intended.
Broke out the Zeny. Cuts like a champ.
Next up I needed to make a die to fit on the bender to give me my two bends. Grabbed a piece of 3/8" mild steel out of a scrounge bucket. Thinking that wouldn't be strong enough, I cut two pieces of at 1" and stacked and welded them together. (love that Zeny
)
Welded 4 pieces of 3/16" mild for attachment and stability.
Smoothed down all the edges, set it up in the press and bent a test piece out of mild steel. As I feared ( but expected), it didn't give me two bends... just a curved piece. One hell of a radius, eh?
So... plan B. Took my die and drilled and tapped 3 holes for 1/4"-28 bolts, spaced the same as the compression member.
Took one of the 4130 squares and drilled 5 holes.... two for the clevises and 3 for the compression member.
Stuck it back in the press, took a deep breath.... and went to pressin'
sumbitch if it didn't work exactly as hoped for.
Still need to round the edges and clean up the tooling marks, but here 'tis in all it's glory. One down and seven to go.
Plum tickled, I is.
I bought the bending brake attachment for the press 'cause I got 1/8" 4130 to bend. The first pieces I wanted to try are the brackets that hold the drag/anti-drag wires inside the wings. They get bolted between the compression member and the spar... These guys...
As you can see, the bracket needs two bends. 4 per wing, 8 total. First thing I did was cut ten 2-1/4" squares out of 4130. 8 for the wings and two for the inevitable screw ups.
Started with a grinder. Didn't take but about 30 sec to figure out that won't cut it... pun intended.
Broke out the Zeny. Cuts like a champ.
Next up I needed to make a die to fit on the bender to give me my two bends. Grabbed a piece of 3/8" mild steel out of a scrounge bucket. Thinking that wouldn't be strong enough, I cut two pieces of at 1" and stacked and welded them together. (love that Zeny
)Welded 4 pieces of 3/16" mild for attachment and stability.
Smoothed down all the edges, set it up in the press and bent a test piece out of mild steel. As I feared ( but expected), it didn't give me two bends... just a curved piece. One hell of a radius, eh?
So... plan B. Took my die and drilled and tapped 3 holes for 1/4"-28 bolts, spaced the same as the compression member.
Took one of the 4130 squares and drilled 5 holes.... two for the clevises and 3 for the compression member.
Stuck it back in the press, took a deep breath.... and went to pressin'
sumbitch if it didn't work exactly as hoped for.
Still need to round the edges and clean up the tooling marks, but here 'tis in all it's glory. One down and seven to go.
Plum tickled, I is.
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All cleaned up.
And here it is next to the one Piper used on their Cubs. Remember, I tore apart a set of Cub wings for this build.
Mine's a fair bit beefier. Needs to be because the compression members are out of a Citabria.
Now, do I paint it or zinc plate it? Decisions decisions...
And here it is next to the one Piper used on their Cubs. Remember, I tore apart a set of Cub wings for this build.
Mine's a fair bit beefier. Needs to be because the compression members are out of a Citabria.
Now, do I paint it or zinc plate it? Decisions decisions...
Mailman popped by...
Ebay valve removal tool for 20 bucks.... what can possibly go wrong?
Well first off, it doesn't work as delivered. It came with M6 bolts for an American cylinder with 1/4-20 threads... dipshits.
Anyway, easy fix. Scrounged up some bolts that'll work.
Not sure what kinda mess I got goin' on yet. Valves both look to be recut. The exhaust looks just fine. Intake is shot though, pitting on the face cut.
EX.
IN.
Thankfully, there's no signs of pitting on the seats. I think at this point I'll just disassemble all 5 cylinder, make a spreadsheet and dimension everything on all of 'em and see where I'm at. Hopefully I can bit-n-piece 4 good cylinders together.... fingers crossed.
It was a year ago today I lost Tink. I still think about her. Sweet dreams, Tink.
Ebay valve removal tool for 20 bucks.... what can possibly go wrong?
Well first off, it doesn't work as delivered. It came with M6 bolts for an American cylinder with 1/4-20 threads... dipshits.
Anyway, easy fix. Scrounged up some bolts that'll work.
Not sure what kinda mess I got goin' on yet. Valves both look to be recut. The exhaust looks just fine. Intake is shot though, pitting on the face cut.
EX.
IN.
Thankfully, there's no signs of pitting on the seats. I think at this point I'll just disassemble all 5 cylinder, make a spreadsheet and dimension everything on all of 'em and see where I'm at. Hopefully I can bit-n-piece 4 good cylinders together.... fingers crossed.
It was a year ago today I lost Tink. I still think about her. Sweet dreams, Tink.
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Dumb Question again .What fuel is it taking ? The Valve seats on fex a BMW airhead coming up for sale Soon have not had the seats
redone for lead free Fuel and needs additive in the tank.
redone for lead free Fuel and needs additive in the tank.
Forgot to add... mailman also delivered the nuts for the case halves and cylinder bases. New, these things go for about ten bucks apiece. I picked up 20 for 20 bucks.... I'll take it.
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Per the book, 73 octane, leaded is the minimum. Nowadays we have 100LL (low lead).
