1924 Fairbanks Morse "Z" 3 hp.

Restoration of a Cosmetically "Rough" Engine

In late 2001 my brother Ken purchased a 1924 Fairbanks Morse Z 3 hp. engine. Except for the oiler and muffler the engine was complete. It even included the original starting crank which hopefully will never need to be used. From a safety standpoint we much prefer to start engines by pulling the flywheels through compression.

The first few pictures show the engine as it came to us and the rest show many of the procedures and tools (some homemade) needed to end up with a nice looking, good running engine.

The piston was stuck but came loose after a liberal application of Gibbs and then a little friendly persuasion with a properly sized wood block and a small sledge hammer. The nuts holding the water hopper on had to be cracked open with a nut breaker but everything else came apart rather easily.

As usual, there are large pictures behind the thumbnails

	Seems to be some rust.			This side is also a little rusty.
	Can't ignore the rust on this aspect either.			There is an American Bosch AB34 magneto hiding in there. Note crank in hopper.
	A better view of the magneto.			Marginal attachment method for the oversize belt pulley.
	A little original paint survived but not enough to save.			Note bevel cut gears.
	Ken cleaning the gasket face on the underside of the hopper.			The crank bearings and journals seem fine.
	This hydraulic lift table is proving invaluable on this project.			Cleaning the water passages.
	Homemade water passage cleaner-outers.			Some 1/4-20 all-thread, drilled out old broom handle and a few nuts and washers is all you need. You can even pound on them if needed.
	The curved one reaches under the hopper. The threads act like a full length rasp and the ends can be shaped as you want them.			Some interesting pieces of iron found jammed under the cylinder partially blocking the water passage.
	Proof that the molasses method of rust removal works.			A creative use of some shim stock.
	Deformed keyway caused by improper attachment of belt pulley.			Since we are not set up for sand blasting the high speed wire brush is what we use for most of the rust removal on large pieces of the engine.
	If I had a larger vat I'd try the molasses treatment on some of these larger pieces but the brush also works fine. Eye protection is a must.			The clean-up continues.
	A large percentage of the water hopper gasket face is nice and smooth like this but......			......one end is pretty well eaten up and will need corrective action.

The saga continues (more pictures of the restoration)

Comments and questions can be sent to: lfevans@pacbell.net

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Updated 04-27-02

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