CNew

Anyone know what type of O&R engine uses these large, beefy pistons and connecting rods? I’ve never opened up a 20A, is that what this is for?

Decided to make me a little fuel can for priming after a full carburetor rebuild. This has a nice little pump on it.

Interesting, not at all what I expected that to look like.

If you’re not trying to make an exact replica I think cyclops would actually look pretty cool! It’s a little hard to see in the original photo but the red button stop switch looks very similar to the stop switches used on the Tanaka 1.2 and 3 hp outboards. I found one on eBay when I was fixing the TAS auger - perfect match. Kind of like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/TANAKA-30806-button-kill-stop-switch-Moby-Powerboard-PBSE-802-803-TPB350GX-400GX/123725842165?epid=6017773785&hash=item1ccea286f5:g:hhcAAOSwv~layqbU

David, Thanks, I didn’t actually mean fighting fire with a fan but your description For how it might be used makes a lot of sense and would be a great application for a portable, hand powered fan. Should we change the title of the post for my fan? I just indicated manhole fan because that’s what the seller claimed it was. Maybe a more generic title like Ventilation fan would be more appropriate as I’m sure people probably used these in various ways for ventilation purposes.

Is it just missing the handle? It looks like I can see a black throttle cable in the photo. My fan had a throttle handle integrated into the main handle bar that you hold on to.

Very cool. Yes, the Advanced Engine Products would have been in the 1970s after taking over Ohlsson & Rice. I’m sure Factory and Wallfish will be jumping on this thread soon. These guys are super knowledgeable and know all the history of these engines. It’s not uncommon to need to rebuild the carb if the little rubber Diaphragm has dried out and turned hard. You’ll know pretty quickly once you try to run it. Don’t forget to check the air filter to make sure there’s no old foam in there. You can replace it with the modern, green colored lawn mower filter foam. Does your fan have a throttle handle on it?

Welcome to the forum! Very nice fan, I recently rebuilt one of these but it had the earlier O&R engine. You can probably search for the thread on here, it was titled Ohlsson & Rice Manhole Fan. Do you know for certain the application as a firefighting fan? I never could figure out exactly how it was used. I’d love to learn more about the application of you have any info. I think the general consensus for oil is a 32:1 ratio. I’ve been using Stihl HP oil (mineral based and not the synthetic version) mixed with a high quality non ethanol fuel, and not the standard pump gas. You should be able to find a good high octane non ethanol fuel at a lawn equipment shop. I’ve stayed away from TruFuel stuff at the big home and garden centers. I’ve always been a little concerned it may be too “engineered” with all kinds of additives that may be harmful to these older engines with older seals and gaskets. One other good piece of advice I got from the great folks on here when I was first getting into this is to clean out the old air filter foam before starting the engine. If you don’t and it crumbles it’ll get sucked into the engine through the carb.

Interesting exhaust, you don’t see those tube extensions very often. I’m assuming it’s just hollow or are there baffles inside?

Wow- that’s a really nice find, Comet or Drillgine! You lucked into a nice one!

What are your plans for the headlights?

Yep, the foil worked great! The manifold is the original. It has a few little spots that are permanent but overall it cleaned up pretty well. Had to put heat shrink on all the coil wires since they were so stiff and brittle and cracked at the bends.

Got it all back together after a complete tear down and rebuild. This thing has some serious compression now. Maybe I’ll have some time this week to fire it up for a few minutes.

Wow John, that is really nice! I thought that might what you’ve been up to lately and I’ve been anxious to see the progress. Very impressive, especially for just a bunch of eye-balling! Cant wait to see the final post with a video of you riding it around!

I’m definitely getting faster with these unless there’s something a little unusual or tedious like the re-wire job on the Tiny Tiger. You’re absolutely right though, I got just enough stuff removed that it was better just to go all the way. Plus, it’s always nice to know what condition everything is in everything and to know it’s all put back together correctly. I may try to run it for a couple minutes when I’m done. Now that I’ve got it all apart I don’t think this one has seen a whole lot of use, insides look actually look pretty nice with very little carbonization. Probably ran just long enough and without water to ruin the pump and then off to the shelf...

And just like David and John are always cautioning - this is exactly why it’s so important to remove all the old crumbly air filter...

It started as just a surface cleaning and then all the sudden there’s this big pile of parts The unit had a really strong smell of cigarette smoke, it’s amazing that even metal soaks that in. I should have this all apart today and will give everything a good clean and lube. Not sure if I’ll try to start the engine when I’m done, probably not. This one has the plastic bearings so no need to risk it. There’s just something satisfying about knowing the engine will run though, even though it’s mainly eye candy for display. It also looks like it was exposed to something slightly corrosive so the paint is’t going to clean up to pristine when it’s done but it’ll still look nice.

I tried reaching out to this seller a few times as well, it’s too bad really - it look so like a decent unit to start from for a conversion to O&R powered. There is another one on there now but it has the cart and everything. Shipping is crazy... https://www.ebay.com/itm/174286225983?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11051.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3D66c1eb155ec340a6871f7abf21156df2%26bu%3D43151388737%26segname%3D11051%26crd%3D20200524073215%26osub%3D-1%7E1%26ch%3Dosgood%26loc%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com%252Fulk%252Fitm%252F174286225983%26sojTags%3Dbu%3Dbu%2Cch%3Dch%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Curl%3Dloc%2Cosub%3Dosub%26srcrot%3De11051.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3D473905761720ad319b2526aafffc5710&ul_noapp=true

Found one of these compressors for sale here locally. It has the original electric motor but I’m debating on maybe getting it and doing a similar O&R conversion.

Nice progress David! I like the use of the terminal block as a vice spacer for the tube... glad the cylinder finally screwed back on.

That’s awesome, just about fell out of my chair laughing!

Im in a similar boat with the Drillgine. I have an early model in red but I don’t know if it was technically part of the Comet group.

Cant wait to see more pics of the Nichols and hear how it runs!

I realized after it was too late that I forgot to take a picture of the wiring before it went back together, just got carried away in the moment trying to get it all done.

I’ve only seen photos on this forum of the Power Pole that has the outboard, tiller and snowblower attachments, unfortunately I don’t have one...