Aurora .060 rusty and unresponsive

rsv1cox Sat Feb 16, 2019 8:32 am

Tried everything. Soak in Simple Green, cleaned it. Soak in Evapo-Rust, removed all the rust, and heated to the point of crackling and burning the table top. This thing is stuck.

So, it's off to the crock pot for an A/F boil. Never failed me yet, but doesn't do much for rust and while the crank shaft is free, I can rock it, the piston I'm sure is rusted to the cylinder.

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Aurora .060 rusty and unresponsive Minwax11

Aurora .060 rusty and unresponsive Minwax12

Interesting engine, back end is interchangeable whether .060 or .049. Good for me as I have a front end with no fuel tank assembly that I can use if this one doesn't work out.

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I just would like to keep that Aurora SE5A with it's original .060 engine.

NEW222 Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:00 am

Sorry to hear the bad news Bob. I am honestly surprised the Evapo-Rust did not work as all I have heard was very good. But I guess that if the piston and cylinder are that stuck, the Evapo-Rust cannot get in-between them. However, I wish you the best of luck with the Crock-Pot! If anyone here will get it done, it would be none other than you with all of your persistance!

ticomareado Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:02 pm

Do you have an Aurora glow head wrench?

**Cribbs74** Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:26 pm

I was going to sugggest the same thing. Remove the head and dunk it back in the Evaporust. That way it can work from the top down and bottom up. If that doesn’t free it up put a torch on it. Use a prop for more leverage.

Another option is to unscrew the cylinder. The rod will hold the piston in place and the cylinder will unscrew and break free of the piston. Work carefully

Or if possible unscrew the cylinder and piston as an assembly and use shop press to drive the piston out.

Ron

ticomareado Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:40 pm

I once bought a TD .049 in similar condition at a swap meet for about $3.00. After multiple cleanings, oilings, heatings and crock pottings I wound up having to beat the piston loose with a piece of solid brass rod. I wound up with a fairly decent running ugly duckling with a visible dimple on top of the piston. I have also ruined complete piston/cylinder sets doing similar brutish things. In any case, the head needs to come off.

rsv1cox Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:56 pm

ticomareado wrote:Do you have an Aurora glow head wrench?

No.

But I bought this Aurora Cessna "Bird Dog" because it showed a wrench in the ad, but I don't think it's the correct wrench.

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.....Should be here next week.

ticomareado Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:01 pm

I don't know about the wrenches. You may have to fabricate one by mounting a pair of protruding screws or pins in some flat steel stock.

rsv1cox Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:09 pm

A photo saga ends with no gain.

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Back in the pot.

I'm a no pliers on the drive washer guy, wouldn't do any good anyway, just strip the washer on the shaft.

Wood dowel down the cylinder maybe.

Next time, it's "me or you."

ticomareado Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:34 pm

The way the inside of that head looks you'd think somebody had run the engine on lighter fluid spiked with mothballs.

rsv1cox Sat Feb 16, 2019 3:30 pm

Turns out it's me. More boil pot time and a dowel down the cylinder. First time the crank pin has been off 11 o'clock since I have owned it.

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Tools of success.

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Cylinder clean up with lots of Remoil

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Mineral Spirits rinse. Even saved the gasket.

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21?

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Cylinder head cleaned up well. Amazing that it has about the same anodizing that it arrived with even after Simple Green, Evro-Rust, and an A/F boil.

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Now to remove the cylinder clean it up and give it a gun blue bath. Remove the crankshaft/piston and check those out too.

Happily, with only a finger tight head and some Remoil lube there is compression and even a little pop.

Bob

NEW222 Sat Feb 16, 2019 4:06 pm

I knew it. If anyone could and would do it it was you! Great to see. Very Happy

She will be a looker for sure once you get it all cleaned up and assembled. Did the mineral spirits clean up the underside of that glowhead like that? I have one or two that are very ugly on the underside but have not ever cleaned them as I was worried about damaging them. But now seeing you did it very well, I am ready to give it a try. Thanks.

GallopingGhostler Sat Feb 16, 2019 4:30 pm

Great job, Bob, you're resurrecting the un-resurrectable by most.

ticomareado wrote:The way the inside of that head looks you'd think somebody had run the engine on lighter fluid spiked with mothballs.

Perhaps a victim of low cost of the day? I don't know if Testors 39 Fuel was a possible culprit. Some in the other forums have mentioned they ruined engines on it, that it used other oils beside Castor, although I don't know if this is fact or not. Apparently there were substandard fuels sold back in the day, as Duke Fox had this to say (from http://modelenginenews.org/people/duke/dm8908.html ):

Duke Fox, 1989 M.A.N. Page 49 wrote:Commercial model fuels are sold with a variety of types and quantities of oils, and some measure nitro by weight, some by volume, and some don't seem to measure it at all. The reluctance of a fuel blender to put his ingredients on the can makes me a bit suspicious that he is trying to hide something - or, perhaps, the absence of something. I would like to see each blender fuel to voluntarily print on his container just what the ingredients are in his fuel so the modeler knows what he is getting. Also, I would like to see the quantities of each ingredient listed by volume.
....
Other oils that have been used are soybean oil, fish oil, and modified mineral oils, such as turbine oil. I am sure that there are dozens of other oils that different. I would like to point out that lubrication is not the only requirement of the oil. The rusting of the steel parts, such as crankshafts and bearings, is also a consideration. Motors that were run 30 and 40 years ago on a straight castor oil, alcohol, nitromethane mix show little rust. Some motors that have come back for repair have the bearings rusted until they are ruined. I have to believe that this was caused by some sort of a breakdown in some of the synthetic oils or additives used.

rsv1cox Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:04 pm

NEW222 wrote:I knew it. If anyone could and would do it it was you! Great to see. She will be a looker for sure once you get it all cleaned up and assembled. Did the mineral spirits clean up the underside of that glowhead like that? I have one or two that are very ugly on the underside but have not ever cleaned them as I was worried about damaging them. But now seeing you did it very well, I am ready to give it a try. Thanks.

After I got the head off I put it back in the boil pot for a half hour then cleaned it with fine steel wool. Mineral Spirits might have cleaned it too. Got continuity, but have yet to apply voltage.

This is one tough engine. It's a miracle that I did not bend that connecting rod with the amount of pressure I exerted on it. I'm just thankful the the crank did not stop at TDC with the rod in the vertical position. No way I could have doweled it out. At BDC it might not have rusted shut so badly. Either way, 11 o'clock worked out fine.

Thanks George, it's all in fun and burned fingers. Smile

Bob

NEW222 Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:33 pm

Thanks. That's good to know. I did not honestly think it was safe to put a plug in teh antifreeze, but I guess as long as it is blown off and cleaned with spirits or brake cleaner, it would be ok.

Mark Boesen Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:45 pm

well done sir!!!

Levent Suberk Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:55 am

Good work

rsv1cox Sun Feb 17, 2019 6:50 am

NEW222 wrote:Thanks. That's good to know. I did not honestly think it was safe to put a plug in teh antifreeze, but I guess as long as it is blown off and cleaned with spirits or brake cleaner, it would be ok.

I have been boiling glow plugs and heads ever since some brave soul here (maybe Rod) first mentioned it years ago. But I always rinse them well and blow out with compressed air before use.

I'm a little concerned about removing the cylinder. I think a standard Cox wrench through the exhaust ports will work. Not worried about twisting/distorting the cylinder wall, but burring the ports. A little heat and we shall see.

No one knows what the "21" on the cylinder indicates? Victor, anyone?

Bob

getback Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:06 am

Good job on cleaning up that beast , nothing like having to break out all the tools lol!

Why you want to take the cyl. off ? O yea maybe to finish cleaning the rust out Duh ! I Love This Forum!

21 no idea. Huh...

ticomareado Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:51 am

Look clsely at the 21. I believe it is on the crankcase casting, not the cylinder. Prolly a mold cavity number.

NEW222 Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:45 am

I can speak for my .049 Tornado that a Cox wrench does fit, and did not distort the cylinder. I just removed mine last night using a Cox wrench. Just to note the wrenches are different sizes, and it was the last of my three that worked. So if you have a couple, I would say give it a try and see if one fits for you.

KariFS Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:12 pm

ticomareado wrote:Look clsely at the 21. I believe it is on the crankcase casting, not the cylinder. Prolly a mold cavity number.

Good catch. I was wondering why would they cast the cylinders Huh...

But the number is indeed on the cast crankcase.

rsv1cox Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:45 pm

KariFS wrote:
ticomareado wrote:Look clsely at the 21. I believe it is on the crankcase casting, not the cylinder. Prolly a mold cavity number.

Good catch. I was wondering why would they cast the cylinders But the number is indeed on the cast crankcase.

Yes it is. Eyes are not what they used to be.