IT Runs...IT RUNS!!!!! The Rescue Bug Comes Alive !!

I love watching the old ones get some TLC and then reward the new owner by being a good runner! Great work!

Cool job and fast too! What could bend a rod like that, flooding? I damaged a piston once when the piston was frozen and I forced the prop but that pulled the rod out the piston.

Thanks Guys !!!

Yeah, I kept waiting for something to stop me---like the cylinder being cross-threaded and locked forever in the case (there was a gap between it's base and the case), but it came apart by hand after it's antifreeze bath (whoever here or over on Mark's .049 Group came up with the Crock-Pot treatment...I salute and THANK YOU!).

It could certainly use some new gaskets, but it's running fine for the moment.

Ain't got a clue on the bent rod deal, or why the piston was seized.  The engine HAD been opened up, witnessed by the messed up screws, but that was it.  Figure maybe someone just got ticked and, in the words of my brother Keith, 'Put the ocka-mocka to it' !!!

Space Bug Kim

An excellent repair. I have a few Space Bugs but never come across one with a bent con rod. It is usually the crankshaft that breaks.

The crankshafts and original heads are difficult to source and so I have done a few of this ilk by replacing the cylinder head assembly, boring and shortening the crankcase and fitting a standard Bee crankshaft

I like the shape of that crankcase - it is a really nice and light casting. That and the tank are too good looking to throw away.

I like to see an engine come back to life.

ian1954 wrote:An excellent repair. I have a few Space Bugs but never come across one with a bent con rod. It is usually the crankshaft that breaks.

The crankshafts and original heads are difficult to source and so I have done a few of this ilk by replacing the cylinder head assembly, boring and shortening the crankcase and fitting a standard Bee crankshaft

I like the shape of that crankcase - it is a really nice and light casting. That and the tank are too good looking to throw away.

I like to see an engine come back to life.

Thanks Ian,
I actually get more worked up about the busted and abused engines than the pretty ones...looking forward to getting them going. This forum has exponentially increased the fun with restoration tips and then getting to share this stuff with like-minds.