Woody engine

[automatic]

A poster on the TDC forum posted that they had bought a rebuilt engine and had fired it up to find in running rough. They took the engine apart and found it had a wooden piston. Of course we have asked for pictures and I will post across when he puts them up.

personally I think an engine with wooden pistons just wooden go ;D

Has anyone come across this themselves or know of someone. Equally what other truly bizzarre bodges have you unearthed in your time. My personal best is an inner wheel arch made out of a t-shirt soaked in stone chip underseal

Paul

[fatbaldbloke]

Back in the mid-80s Channel 4 ran a series on the Africar project, a wooden chassis car using 2CV running gear. As they drove that through Africa they needed a garage to do some repairs and discovered that apparrently hardwood pistons weren't that uncommon.

[cairyhunt]

Yeah I've heard of it but never seen it. Also heard of hard wood bearings.

[lewist123]

With my knowledge of wood, a hardwood piston that worked reliably for a while is not impossible.

Some of the hardcore dense tropics hard woods have massive strength and very high density meaning it takes a hell of a lot to make it actually burn.

Lewis

[optima21]

I think Lignum Vitae is a wood thats used for making bearings from, and was used in making joints in the steering or suspension on pre- ww2 Alvis cars

[accord83]

My old man used to talk of fitting lignum vitae bearings pre war, he served his time at a garage that serviced Rolls Royce, Daimler, Minerva and any other exotic of the period. Post war he turned some cylinder liners out of a cast iron down spout for a local farmers tractor.

[skinley]

Surely it would be easier to go to work for a day or two and earn money to buy a piston?
Sourcing a suitable(?) wood and machining it to the correct tolerance would be far more difficult/expensive?

[composimmonite]

Apr 24, 2011 21:06:11 GMT accord83 said:

My old man used to talk of fitting lignum vitae bearings pre war, he served his time at a garage that serviced Rolls Royce, Daimler, Minerva and any other exotic of the period. Post war he turned some cylinder liners out of a cast iron down spout for a local farmers tractor.

One of my cousins machined his own piston rings (for a 1930's Sunbeam roadster) out of cast iron pipe. He the x-ray'd them to check the grain was right.

Paul H

[stealthstylz]

My mate once bought a Rover V8, I pulled it apart and it had home made ally conrods that looked like they'd been machined by Stevie Wonder using a 4lb hammer and a wood chisel.

Matt

[PhilA]

Apr 24, 2011 21:11:32 GMT skinley said:

Surely it would be easier to go to work for a day or two and earn money to buy a piston?
Sourcing a suitable(?) wood and machining it to the correct tolerance would be far more difficult/expensive?

Depends where you are. My uncle used to live in Johannesburg, and had a '68 Mini 1275GT which needed new pistons. due to trade embargoes and local poitics and national politics, obtaining parts for the venerable A-series was nearly impossible. He was quoted three figures (worked out to pounds sterling) per piston. My dad went to the local motor factors and ordered in a set for twelve quid each and mailed them off to him

so no, it may not be cheaper or easier to get metal pistons, depending on where you are.

Lignum vitae is a very fine-grain, oily wood, we had some garden shears with a lignum spigot from the late 40's in our shed. Lasted 60 years then split. Hornbeam is another one used too, because it's so tough. Dad said from when he was stationined in Zambia (then Rhodesia) if you tried to cut an ironwood tree you'd blunt an axe very quickly and get nowhere lol

--Phil

[skinley]

Apr 25, 2011 0:45:37 GMT PhilA said:

Zambia (then Rhodesia)

--Phil

Zimbabwe.

[IDY]

Apr 25, 2011 2:11:28 GMT skinley said:

Apr 25, 2011 0:45:37 GMT PhilA said:

Zambia (then Rhodesia)

--Phil

Zimbabwe.

Zambia was Northern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia which became Rhodesia in 1964

[PhilA]

Yup ;D

My dad has a sticker in the back window of the Sprite that says "Zambia in the Sun"
I forget what it says on the other side, been a while since I saw it.

--Phil