CNew

I bought this drill thinking it was a Drillgine, but after looking at the Comet pump thread this morning, I'm now thinking it is a Comet.  I'm wondering if it is complete, as it has no throttle or governor speed selector on it.  It appears near new, and was found in the attic of an old hardware store that was liquidated.  This is the condition as I received it.   Looking for some expert opinions!

What are your plans for the headlights?

Since these little bikes are so rare and don't come up for sale very often, I decided to build a repop. Doubtful I would spend the money these things get even when they do show up for sale, so this is most likely the only way to add one to the collection.
 Bending the pipe looked pretty easy to begin with but I had to do quite a few just to get twins of each. Making a template and making a better bender would be much easier to reproduce exact copies but since I don't have exact dimensions except for some basic height and length, making templates is too difficult to scale the size from pics. Once I get exact dimensions of certain points from an original maybe I can make a bender and a template to achieve a more accurate reproduction. So for now it was lots of back and forth referencing pics and lots of guessing, this came out fairly close but think the seat needs to move forward. It took a few tries to get a tool made for doing the flat ends of the pipe where the wheels mount too so they look right.
 It's was being worked on for the last few weeks here and there and I stop whenever I hit a road block but get back to it later with fresh eyes and typically a new approach will work out. Got to this point today which is enough to post some pics. Think the handle bars are a bit too wide as they are but intentionally left them long since they can always be cut.
 
Banana seat caused some headaches with bending twins. The original flat seat would be much easier.

 
 
Getting ready to weld the engine support.
 

 
 
 
Threw on a recoil so it looks more O&R and set a tank on there. The O&R tank will probably stay instead of a larger original type tank
 

 
And here's what it's supposed to represent

 
 

That's what I thought you meant, just wanted to clarify for others that may read this thread in the future and start searching for a non-existent attachment.
 
 
Here are some pictures of the inside of the clutch unit for the O&R Tarpen Mini Engine power-head, the rear housing & clutch drum are the OEM parts for this...

 
... and the rest of the clutch & engine mounting are standard O&R parts.

 
This threaded adaptor fits in the end on the clutch unit, if you have one of these and it's not seized, add some fresh grease to it to prevent this.

 
David

Very cool!   That specific model of Bolens is one of my all time favorites. I missed out on a nice one while I was in Minnesota. Great to see it running so well and getting out to use!

I've had one of those days where you go one step forward & two or three back.
 
Here are most of the parts I had found for building this engine, the new parts are outside the trays on the right.

 
The crankcase was assembled with the crankshaft, con-rod, piston & magneto coil plate, then came the first problem, I would normally hold the crankcase in the vice when screwing the cylinder down, unfortunately the port tube in the crankcase mounting flange prevented me from using the pieces of wood I usually fit to prevent damage from the vice jaws.
A lot of searching for something else I could use found a brass earth terminal strip, removing one of the screws allowed the tube to be protected.

 
Here's where things went a bit wrong, I found I couldn't get the cylinder to screw down fully, I tried several times but it kept getting stuck part way. I then thought either the crankcase or cylinder might have damaged threads, I first tried the cylinder on another crankcase and it fitted fine. 
The part built engine got stripped down again & I went through the other used cylinders I had, eventually I found one that fitted, ironically it was the one that originally came with the crankcase, I had picked another because the top fin had a piece broken off.
 
After this I needed to clean some of the parts again, it got reassembled to the point I was at before and this time thankfully the cylinder screwed all the way down with no problems. The exhaust collector was positioned at 90 degrees and I checked a starter would fit, this is as far as I've got today.


 
David

Added some nitro to it and went to town on this Ash tree. Probably cut that stump down another 4-6 inches before the stump grinder.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just thought it would be funny to show how small these little saws really are.
Should have seen the look on the guys face when I walked up with it an asked if he needed any help. Just a completely blank stare until he realized it was a joke.

I thought that would be simply to figure out.  ( some people are left handed)
 
We went through this before we are birds of prey

I see you can get things done if you want to. ( look great) I think I know what's next but I wont let the cat out of the bag.

Finally got it all back together. I haven’t tried to run it yet but compression feels good and it has spark.
 

Finally got it all back together. I haven’t tried to run it yet but compression feels good and it has spark.
 

Thank you everyone for helping me out with my project. 1975 Drillgine. Received the diaphragm today. It runs. Just need to make some final adjustments. 

Finally got it all back together. I haven’t tried to run it yet but compression feels good and it has spark.
 

My mum and sister wanted some raised beds made for the garden. As we are still in lockdown we had to use materials we already had. We created a video of building them which features lots of Bolens action with the 1962 Bolens Ride-a-matic
 
 

Very nice, love the way you’re displaying all these great O&Rs!

With the recent arrivals (2 Tiny Tigers, aero engines, boat engine, Tarpen Mini engine no 3, etc), the display has been further updated in recent times.
 
Here's a few photos from this evening...
 
 
 








 

The Comet pump arrived today. Unfortunately it’s missing the ignition coil cover and the actual pump mechanism but it’s still great to be able to add this to the collection and round out the Comet tools.
 

That's the second O&R pump Cnew has that's missing the pump section, I don't think mine has an intact impeller either, being made of rubber they dry out & crack up with age, as well as fail if run dry. I do have at least one pump with a good impeller here somewhere.
 
The handle is attached on the other side of mine, it's also one of the few older engines I have with the Model letter printed on the decal, I had to fit a new set of feet as the originals were falling apart;


 
David

It was on the old forum when it was changed. 10 years? My memory SUCKS now and it's getting worse everyday but I do remember changing it.
You vultures might end up with a good score when I soon forget that I even collect O&R stuff, and then the O'lady puts it all up for sale.

Well I think I've found why that O&R double diaphragm pump assembly isn't seen, it's part no. #400016 which is shown on some parts list dating from Jan 1970.

 
It looks to have been quietly dropped from use, as the master price list supplement from Apr 1971 says to use part no. #400175 (no description of the part), but I found a picture of this part I saved from the web and surprise surprise it's a standard diaphragm pump assembly.

 
David

David,
   I really like the technique, thank you for sharing the details.  I finally got the wires prepped with shrink tubing.
 
 

I found this stray on ebay and got it running and cutting again.  I didn't have much hope for the bar and chain, but I tried soaking it in vinegar for 48 hrs. and was very happy with the results.  Here are a couple of pics of the new addition.




I'd like to paint the right side cover like the other parts, but have to figure out a way to save the decals.  I also need to make or buy the exhaust extension to mount the muffler.  It's very loud without it,  to say the least!

Here is how I made the join for the wiring in my TT, demonstrated with wire from a scrap wiring loom, the technique used for the wire loops dates back a very long time, I first saw it used in a pre-war radio for joining multiple wires & components together (before printed circuit boards existed).
 
The wires before & after tinning with fresh tin/lead solder (note: do not tin wires if using crimp or wire-nut connections).

 
To make the loops I use standard tinned copper wire (aka fuse wire), I have a few different wire gauges for joining different thickness cables, choose a drill bit or something else that is a bit larger than the cables to be joined, wrap a few turns of the tinned copper wire around & cut to length.

 
I've shown a couple of sizes I made and if you leave a length a wire as shown they can be used in other things for extending component leads. Slide the loop over the tinned wires to be joined (for a continuous length of wire slide the sleeving on before soldering).

 
The whole lot soldered together with tin/lead solder and here are some finished joins ready for sleeving.

 
Hopefully this will be useful to others.
 
David

Another recent addition to my collection is this Orline Dyna-Mite 300 generator set.
Usually the carb top on this late model 13B engine has no primer button, also the fuel tank filler is extended to the top of the frame.
 
David
 





 

Followed the guide above but used a piece of feeler gauge instead of floss. Everything slides right in. Held my breathe when the spring dropped down and hit the arm. Might attempt to make a spare spring out of the 0.003" feeler. Happy days!