[Jeroen]

I happened to have to go to Rotterdam yesterday for an appointment. On the way home I stopped by at HBM to buy some more tools.

Got this one, from their discount stall. Its where they keep everything that is slightly damaged or might be missing something. And usually marked down heavily.

I have shown my oil filter wrench multiple times and it has yet to fail me. But I thought sometimes it might be handy to have one of these.



Bought various other bits and pieces too:



My grinder wheel was getting a bit dirty:



So I got myself one of these little (diamant) tools (not sure what they are called) to smoothen/clean the surface. Works very well, very dusty, must wear mask!

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Should have come with a setting bar. Keep, and use it carefully.

Only the larger of the two came with a setting bar.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Get the digital. Most important advantage is the ability to set zero. Like taring a weight. Incredible timesaver/ errorsaver.
Don't let the battery leak.
And most important avoid the cheap stuff like crazy. They don't hold calibration over whole length. Nothing worse than a measuring instrument which gives wrong readings.
In fact for measuring tools which you are actually going to use, get the best that you can afford.

And now for the piece de resistance:

Followed your advice. I did a bit more searching on the Internet and this one came out as a very good one. And it was not cheap, let me tell you!





It has the ability to zero when fully closed, or zero at any opening you want. Which could come in handy too I guess.



Unusual packing material. I had never seen this before:



So I looked it up:

https://www.aframestokyo.com/ferobri...001000500.html

I am still working on putting the material list together for my little two stroke. I have also been doing a bit of phoning around. Both the cilinder and the piston should be made out of pearlitic grey cast iron (GG25). I have found a few places who stock it, but it is ridiculous pricey. We are talking Euro 110 for a 50mm round, 150 mm length. I have already found somebody that offered the same for about half that money (Which is still a lot!). I have also received some tips from some of my modelmaking forum buddies I need to follow up.

By all accounts, the cilinder and piston are the most critical and most difficult components of this particular engine. Which, by the way, goes by the name of Debbie. (No I did not make that up, that is how she is officially listed!)



The cilinder needs some very careful machining and the inlet and outlet ports look tricky too. Of course, the piston needs to fit much more precisely on this engine, than on my previous Wobbler. Should be fun!

Tonight I am getting my Spider ready for Sunday big drive and tour. Looking forward to it. Weather forecast looks good. Just received the route from the Alfa Romeo Spider Register too.

When I was organising these sort of events, we provided our members with written route description. Often using different systems, from the famous Rally system, to very elobarote description where to drive, for how far, which junctions on landmark you need to turn.

Today they will still provide you with a written route description as well, but they also provide a GPX file you can put into your GPS device. So I have the route already in my TomTom.



This route takes place in the northern part of the Netherlands. We will be visiting three of our Provinces, Groningen, Friesland, Drente. Almost 200 km to get to the starting point, the route itself is 129km and driving back is probably around 230 km. So it will be a good test as to how much oil my Spider uses!

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Bought various other bits and pieces too:

Attachment 2028220

The toolsteel bars - grade (M2, M35 etc) should have been marked. Price depends on it.

My grinder wheel was getting a bit dirty:

Attachment 2028224

So I got myself one of these little (diamant) tools (not sure what they are called) to smoothen/clean the surface. Works very well, very dusty, must wear mask!

Attachment 2028225

Wheel dresser. Though I prefer a single point diamond dresser + attachment to use it properly.

Only the larger of the two came with a setting bar.

Attachment 2028217

Attachment 2028218

That is because the smaller one does not seem to have an adjustable sleeve.

Followed your advice. I did a bit more searching on the Internet and this one came out as a very good one. And it was not cheap, let me tell you!

Attachment 2028223

Attachment 2028226

It has the ability to zero when fully closed, or zero at any opening you want. Which could come in handy too I guess.

Attachment 2028228

Mitutoyo. Absolutely standard shop equipment*. Can't go wrong with it. As is say Starrett or Moore and Wright. Steer clear of the catalogue junk.
* Though most of my Mitutoyo equipment, some around 40yrs old, work just fine, the digital caliper I had gave up the ghost in a few years. The LCD leaked, turned black.

Unusual packing material. I had never seen this before:

Attachment 2028227

Very common. Used when you don't have the time, or can't coat the item in lacquer. Also a hassle taking off the lacquer before use.
VCI does have a life though.

OSHA must be getting uppity about chemicals!

Both the cilinder and the piston should be made out of pearlitic grey cast iron (GG25). I have found a few places who stock it, but it is ridiculous pricey.

Chosen in this case I guess for easy machinability. But I'm sure lots of modellers have successfully used more conventional materials.
And should not be that expensive.

Regards
Sutripta

[Thad E Ginathom]

Congratulations on the tool haul! Material prices sound horrendous.

If I remember correctly (Sutripta?) there are two tools for grinding-wheel maintenance. One is for truing the wheel and making it flat. The other is for roughening it, as in getting rid of the gunge caught in the grit.

the first is the diamond thingy?

the second is a thingy thingy with star-shaped steel wheels ??

[Sutripta]

^^^
Since Jeroen didn't complain about the wheel dresser price, I'm wondering how long it will last! My experience with cheap diamond flake/ cbn encrusted tools has been disastrous. In the nature of use once or twice, then repurpose as say paperweights.

Santoshbhat can educate us on grinding wheels. Hope he pops in.

Sutripta

[Thad E Ginathom]

I just know I never got around to getting a dresser for my wheel, which I had rather abused. But is use as a polishing machine was far, far greater than as a grinder.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

the second is a thingy thingy with star-shaped steel wheels ??

I believe they are called star or wheel dressers? No expert here, but I believe they are used on more coarse wheels? We used to have these onboard the ships I sailed on

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
Since Jeroen didn't complain about the wheel dresser price, I'm wondering how long it will last! My experience with cheap diamond flake/ cbn encrusted tools has been disastrous. In the nature of use once or twice, then repurpose as say paperweights.

No, it was not expensive at all. I saw BlondiHacks using a very similar one. It appears it did a good job. So no big deal if it doesn’t last too long. Just another reason to pop over to HBM again!.

I have almost finished putting together a material list. I just put it in a simple spreadsheet, so it is easy to sort. Still need to do the carburator and all the bolts. But I have also found a place that can provide me with all the materials including the pearlitic grey cast iron and all the other materials too at very decent prices.



A real hobby shop specialising in just this kind of stuff. So I will be putting my first order for them together this weekend.

I have asked around a bit about using a different material for the pearlitic grey cast iron. Nobody seems to want to say yes to that. Going by my very rusty material knowledge from the very distant past, I would say I should be able to use just steel. Also, it is not as if I am going to worry about wear. If I get this engine to run, and the if is really a big IF, it’s not as if it is going to get a lot or running hours. Probably two minutes, if that, to produce another video.

Anyway, I am just sticking to the original design. From what I have learned so far, it should not be a problem turning this cast iron.

On that turning, when looking at the design of the cilinder, see previous post, in what sequence woud you gents advise? Should I drill the in- outlet ports before or after reaming the cilinder to its final dimension? I have got one of these twisted reamers, so in theory it should cope with any holes in the cylinder, but I have yet to actually experience this.

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

^^^
Could you post the material sheet as an Excel file, or a larger image. Cant read it otherwise.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
Could you post the material sheet as an Excel file, or a larger image. Cant read it otherwise.

Let’s see if this works:

Debbie Two Stroke.xlsx

Still working on it, but you will get the idea. I have added a column with “my stock”. And then what I will be ordering from this neat Hobby Shop I have found, Sauerbier. They have an odd way of specifying their stock, they are using mm and also cm and m. I have converted it all to mm.

Still some parts I have yet to find the correct size stock for. Notably the two Aluminium supports. I have also no idea on who to produce them.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Last Sunday I went of a beautiful tour with the Dutch Alfa Romeo Spider Register.

It was announced as the Groningen, Friesland, Drente tour. The three most northern provinces of the Netherlands. It is not an area I am that familiar with, so for that reason alone, nice to be touring somewhere differently.

We do have some Corona restriction in place, which means social distancing and in restaurants, you can not sit at a table with others, only your own family.

In all some 25 Spiders and crew participated. I was very happy to catch up with some very old Spider friends. Claus and Hildegarde are Germans, they joined our Dutch Register almost twenty years ago. And they come to most of our drives. The German auto clubs, big as they are, simply don’t organise these sort of drives, or very rarely. We have 8-10 of these and two European drives and two technical meetings every year!

Claus is a true petrol head and he has quite the car collection. Quite a few Alfa’s. He has a gorgeous Spider Coda Tronca, but these days they drive something a bit more modern. Long way for them as they live in Cologne.



A few piccies along the route. Always a bit tricky to do so, when I am just by myself.





We had a very interesting lunch location. The prison museum! In all honesty, I wasn’t aware we had such a museum. It was fabulous. This particular building was actual more of a mental institution, but in those days it sort of amounted to the same thing. You were locked up, without your consent I dare say.

The Register had arranged for us to park inside the main building area, which made for an interesting line up of Spiders:









The had some interesting cars and busses. These busses, until recently, were used to move prisoners around.



But special cases, require special transport. So the department of correction also has some very special kitted out cars:



This two cars are specially armoured. The Mercedes weighs in at over 3800 kg and the BMW at almost 3100kg. This cars were used to transport some high profile prisoners from their prison to court and back. One of them was Willem H. the kidnapper of famous beer brewer Heineken. Another “famous” prisoner here in the Netherlands that got to ride these cars was Slobodan Milosevic. He stood trial here at International court in the Hague.

This being the Netherlands and a museum it means they will also have special arrangements for kids. Look at this climbing tool.



Quite an amazing place. I enjoyed wandering around and learning some of its history.



All in all, a very enjoyable day. Perfect weather and a very nice drive.I left at 08.00am I started heading home around 1600 hours and arrived back home at 18.50.

Filled up with petrol once on the way home. Amazingly, my fuel efficiency was almost 1:13. I have had my Spider for almost 25 years and I run consistently at 1:10, no matter what. But I have done a lot of work recently. It has four new tyres, slightly higher pressure than normal, a few other things, so lets see, it that holds.

More importantly I am very happy to report that the engine hardly used any oil. I drove well over 500 kilometers, 380 on motorways doing about 110-115 km/h at 3500 RPM. I checked the oil level this morning, with the engine and oil properly cooled down. Only a few millimetres lower than when I set off. That is good news!

I do believe that the blocked crank case vent had a lot to answer for! With the engine running very well and such good fuel efficiency I really don’t think I have any problems with the piston rings. At worse, maybe the valve steam seals. But i can replace those this winter.

In a few weeks we are heading south for our annual trip to France to stay with our friends Cees and Annelies in their B&B. We will be driving with at least four Spiders this year. Looking forward to that.

I have also arranged for a day trip with spanner mate Peter in mid August. We are taking our wife’s along and we have planned to visit one the Steam Engine museum nearby Peter’s home too. It should be in full operation that day too!

I have also noticed an announcement of a huge steam engine model building event in the UK in the Midwest in Mid October. We will be monitoring the situation in the UK closely, because I would really like to go. Essentially, you can travel unrestricted to/from the UK already. But let’s wait and see how it all develops over the weeks/months to come

Jeroen

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Let’s see if this works:

Attachment 2029772

Still working on it, but you will get the idea. I have added a column with “my stock”. And then what I will be ordering from this neat Hobby Shop I have found, Sauerbier. They have an odd way of specifying their stock, they are using mm and also cm and m. I have converted it all to mm.

Still some parts I have yet to find the correct size stock for. Notably the two Aluminium supports. I have also no idea on who to produce them.

Jeroen

Seems OK.

If you convert to $/Kg, you'll have a heart attack! But then you are not an industrial buyer. As long as you are OK with it in absolute terms, all is good.
If you are confident of machining SS, maybe some of the brass parts can be substituted with SS. For variety. Though polished gleaming brass has a seductive charm, upkeep requires elbow grease.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

If you convert to $/Kg, you'll have a heart attack! But then you are not an industrial buyer. As long as you are OK with it in absolute terms, all is good.

In all honesty, this is probably about as good as it gets for a hobbyist machinist. Many of the larger firms won’t sell you small pieces, or charge extra for it. In my case, most sizes I am fine with just 10cm of stock.

I am not sure yet on how to start on the cylinder. I don’t think I can drill 24 mm, so I will need to cut it most likely. Need to check my cutting bits, I need something very solid, internal diameter needs to be very precise!

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

In all honesty, this is probably about as good as it gets for a hobbyist machinist. Many of the larger firms won’t sell you small pieces, or charge extra for it. In my case, most sizes I am fine with just 10cm of stock.

If you have a jobshop nearby, they'll have odds and ends lying around. Scrap to them, raw material to you.

I am not sure yet on how to start on the cylinder. I don’t think I can drill 24 mm, so I will need to cut it most likely.

Drill to whatever size you can, then bore. As the bore opens up, you'll have shift boring bars to go to the thickest (most rigid) you can use.
In any case, even if you could, drilling does not give anywhere near the dimensional accuracy or finish required. (There have been people on this forum who thought that car engine cylinders were drilled out!)

Industrial production would require honing after boring.
Rule of the thumb is if depth more than 3 times diameter, special means have to be used.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

If you have a jobshop nearby, they'll have odds and ends lying around. Scrap to them, raw material to you.

Yes, check the material list, I have a lot of steel stock, all pickup from a machine shop down the other village. But they don’t have much brass lying around, unfortunately!

Drill to whatever size you can, then bore. As the bore opens up, you'll have shift boring bars to go to the thickest (most rigid) you can use.
In any case, even if you could, drilling does not give anywhere near the dimensional accuracy or finish required. (There have been people on this forum who thought that car engine cylinders were drilled out!)

Industrial production would require honing after boring.
Rule of the thumb is if depth more than 3 times diameter, special means have to be used.
[/quote]

I wonder; could you ream after boring? I guess you can, just need to get a 24mm reamer.

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

^^^
They might have SS. In any case get some SS stock, and machine it to get a feel for working with it.

Reamers - theoretically yes. Wouldn't suggest it.

Sutripta

[Jeroen]

I am going to set up a seperate thread for my metal model building. I don’t think it is a problem to occasionally show some things beyond automotive fiddling, using my tools and workshop.

But I am not sure it is of interest to those who are primarily interested in fiddling with cars. My car fiddling has bottomed out a bit I realise. There are two contributing factors. The first one is I have done a lot of big and small jobs during the last four years. So all three cars are in pretty good nick! The other factor is, of course, the Corona situation. Which means I have not been able to attend any (classic) car shows, go on drives, technical meeting and so on.

Hopefully, we are slowly reverting back to something resembling a new normal. My Spider Tour last weekend was the very first of Club meeting this year! More to come and a few other car events are already announced for later this year.

I also have some thoughts on some more jobs on my cars, so stay tuned!

Jeroen