Rebuilding 'RO-C-11' - 103544E

I found this clunker advertised in an old engine collectors magazine. It was destined to a life of rallying on a stand. NO WAY !!! Top dollar was being asked to "save it" and it came with a carby and magneto which lessened the blow. I was told it was in good order though the piston was slapping, the crankcase was hissing and the compression was poor. I must be crazy buying this thing but into the back of the ute it went..the Fairmont bug has bitten deep and I just cant say no!

As you can see it has been exposed to the weather for some time but fortunately it was not seized which maybe its saving grace. Note the larger size M18510 generator pulley. These pulleys where cast and supplied by Fairmonts licencee downunder Tutt-Bryant's and I believe they are unique to Australia. They make a big difference in keeping your battery charged.

The C5 carby is covered in corrosion and missing the mixture scew. Internally it may not be too good. By the look of the drive pulley this engine was originally fitted to an MT14 H

The Crank Pin had to be drilled out. Can you see the rust around the flywheel nut and where some bright spark butcher has been attacking the flywheel with a hammer.

The Head nuts came off easily...I wonder what I am about to find when I get the head off....have I just paid mega bucks for another lemon?

Note next to the far right centre stud is fitted a decompression valve. This was also unique to Queensland Fairmonts and was supposed to reduce the incidence of kick back when cranking of which magneto engines are notorious for.

Hey it doesn't look too bad inside. No lip at the top of the stroke and no evidence of rust or scoring.

There is no chamfer at the top of the bore and that tells me this engine has been sleeved. The sleeving material used is a lot harder than the original casting and I am hoping for not too much wear. Look closely and you can see the sleeve outline at the top of the bore. I must tell you that without the chamfer inserting the piston and rings is one big pain in the butt!

Phew! The bore has about three thou wear over all which is fantastic so why was the piston slapping under compression? Looks like who ever did the last rebuild re-used the original piston which as you can see is well past the use by date.

The big end bearing is not looking to healthy either.

Time to pull the flywheels and check out the crankshaft and bearings.The belt side seal was made of leather...straight out of the ark but in a lot better order than some used neoprene seals I have replaced!

The magneto drive shaft is removed next. Its in good order and will be re-used. Those of you who have never seen a magneto drive engine may find this pic interesting. The magneto bolts on to where the drive shaft is resting. Magneto fitted ROC's use 3 x PB15G rings to seal the timing side of the crankcase similar to the OD-B engine.

Although I purchased this engine in New South Wales the magneto side bearing casing was a plagiarized replacement part manufactured by Queensland Railways so I would surmise that this engine must have originally been fitted in a 42 inch gauge MT14H from Queensland.

Had a job and a half getting the flywheel off with all that rust. You can just see the sealing sleave retaining spring sticking out.

The big end is uneven and will need some rebuilding and machining work.

The A5307 outer bearing/seal race has been spinning on the crankshaft. The crank is a real mess and going to need major work. I will have to get a replacement crank and a new set of bearings for this particular engine rebuild.

I always use Locktite shaft seal when replacing these bearing/seal races as I have seen this condition before. It is in part due to the newer SKF/NSK A5307 replacements that are a tad over size on their ID and therefore a slightly looser fit on the shaft.

The block had been acid dipped, resprayed, honed and is now ready for reassembly.

I replaced most of the side bearing studs as they were in a bad way also. One was very loose which explained the crankcase hissing noise.

New side bearing studs being fitted.

Replacement crank fitted.

New Generator brackets and new seals fitted.

A new piston and rings have been fitted. The flywheels and the head are back on and there is good compression already without the rings being bedded in. I am heading off for the big run tomorrow..its going to be a late night and looks like the first test run will be on the track.

ROC-103544E fitted to my Ex Australian National Railways M19 - Road Number CC53 - seen here on a crisp June 2003 winters morning at 'Kalangadoo' in south east South Australia ready to tackle an 80km return trip on day two of its return to the track. As with most of my projects I ran out of time so I didn't get to silverfrost the head or condensor for that finishing touch... to be honest I am not that fussed anyway.