Replacing Pistons and Such 1935 era

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

While not a military vehicle REO did make military vehicles in World War Two, Vietnam ... So the company fits here under "restoring".

What options would there be if once I start to work on my 1935 REO Gold Comet motor that has not run for 3 or 4 decades that the pistons and cylinders have seized and are unserviceable? REO made their own engines at the time. Did REO stick to the same dimensions for their engines over a long period of time so there may be some degree of inter-changeability within the same company?

Can different manufacturer's pistons be adapted to fit? Or is it a case of taking a relatively intact sample to an engineer with a request to make six of these please?

I would like to start on the restoration mid next year. So I have some time to explore options. What have other people done when working on 81 year old engines of unknown qualities.

I am going to buy a flexible inspection scope to put down a spark plug hole. I have also been putting a mix of diesel and CRC down spark plug holes into the cylinder at intermittent intervals.

Supposedly the engine was running when it was parked up I could be pleasantly surprised and it could all be pristine. However, I tend to work to the worse case scenario - you know "ye of little faith".

Kind Regards
Lionel

[David Herbert]

I assume that you have not dismantled the engine yet. The first thing to do is completely dismantle it, making sure that you can identify where EVERY bearing, bearing cap, piston and valve came from. Though they look the same they are not and if good enough to reuse they must go back where they came from. All the drilled holes for oil will need cleaning out as these can be blocked with dried crud and will destroy an otherwise good engine.

Once you know what you need I would first look for a REO owners club/forum in the USA and tap into their knowledge. Also there must be one or more specialist vintage REO parts dealers. I would be suprised if you can't find NOS pistons for your engine. It is certainly possible that pistons from another engine could be made to fit but finding which engine is the challenge. Making new pistons from scratch is again possible but by the 1930s they had become quite sophisticated and it would be very expensive to get one set made so this really is the last resort.

Whatever you do, it is important to clean the bores and remove all remains of oil that has turned to tar before you try to turn the engine. don't think that flushing the sump with diesel and putting a big bar on the flywheel to force it to turn is ok. You might get it to run but not for long.

Good luck, David

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

...

What options would there be if once I start to work on my 1935 REO Gold Comet motor that has not run for 3 or 4 decades that the pistons and cylinders have seized and are unserviceable? REO made their own engines at the time. Did REO stick to the same dimensions for their engines over a long period of time so there may be some degree of inter-changeability within the same company?

...

Kind Regards
Lionel

There has been a lot of chatter on MLU about rust removal, preparing and working on very rusty assemblies. For example there is a long thread on reverse electrolysis, which brought out many very good conversation points. Then there is a second, and I find more intriguing, discussion of prolonged immersion of large parts in raw molasses. Someone had a before and after photo of a Stuart final drive. Red and scary at first, then steel and clean after. That convinced me.

In your situation, if the engine block has been removed from the frame, I'd favour the molasses bath. You 've already scheduled work on it later in the future. So you have time on your side. Molasses by all reports has none of the 'potential' metallurgical effects that reverse electrolysis does.

Over to you while you do your research. And keep us posted.

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Can different manufacturer's pistons be adapted to fit? Or is it a case of taking a relatively intact sample to an engineer with a request to make six of these please?

Lionel

Hi Lionel,

When the time comes, one source of pistons is JP Pistons in Adelaide. If not in their catalogue they can do one-off small production runs. They may also be able to match pistons based on your dimensions if not listed as REO pistons. See their website.

As mentioned however there is a good possibility you can find NOS ones from one of the many people engaged in vintage parts here or overseas. Just requires a bit of detective work to find what is out there and what is used in other engines if there is any commonality.

Good luck with your project.

Cheers,

[Lionelgee]

Hello David, Terry and Jacques,

Thank you for the information The benefits of a large shed is that projects can sit inside and not be exposed to the elements while their owner concentrates on other tasks. I hope to have a rather time consuming long term project have all its boxes ticked and squared away by April 2017. Working on the REO Speed Wagon will be my reward.

I am a member of the REO Club of America and I frequently scan the wider internet for parts. Gold Comet parts from the era do not come up on the radar very often. I am going to take some photographs of places where items are missing off my truck. I will send them to a club member who has the same truck in the US so they can take photographs of what should be on my truck. Hopefully they will also have some hints as where to get some goodies from. I am just waiting for the current club magazine to arrive so I can source their contact details as person with the same truck as mine is the designated Technical Consultant for the era. I think the magazine has arrived in Australia. Upon its arrival it was probably tied to a snail and courtesy of Australia Post's new slooooow mail service may wend its way towards me before April!

I also have a copy of the Hollander Interchange book 1920's to 1948

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Mike K]

seen this Lionel

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...ry=Advertising


http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...ry=Advertising

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

seen this Lionel

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...ry=Advertising


http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...ry=Advertising

G'day Mike,

No I had not seen the two advertisements on Trove. Thank you for posting up the links.

The top link features two lots of "1935" the straight vertical grille is from the financial year 1934-1935. The more slant back tip truck style is from the financial year 1935-1936. Mine is the nice one - oops the 1935-36. I did find that they were referring to the "Gold Crown" engines in the heavier capacity trucks. I dug out my collection of REO advertising folders I have been collecting over the years and they too say "Gold Crown" for the heavier truck like mine. The Gold Comet engines came out around World War II.

So my truck has a Gold Crown motor. It will help me use the right name for the engine when I go looking for parts The light weight trucks came with the Silver Crown engines..

So that is good news about getting the name of the engine right

I had a win today - I found a radiator cap online - cross fingers that it fits as the truck did not have one when I bought it. It seems a common theme in photographs of 1935 REO Speed Wagon trucks that are on the internet. I have tried to find an accurate photograph to make sure what one looks like. Some real flash ones were available with wings as optional extras. The advertising brochures show a mix of fancy to plain dome tops.

The second link has the 1936-1937 model that has the curve in the centre of the front bumper.

Thanks again for the links Mike.

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Mike K]

Lionel

There are many more REO truck adverts on the Trove website . I even spotted a REO car advert in the 30's , never knew about them .

The Trove site allows you to browse newspaper adverts by newspaper eg the Sydney Morning Herald or the Melbourne Argus . It also selects adverts with illustrations . Mike