Regina Champ generator Model No. 110

[factory 487]

I've had this for some time, it was seized & a previous owner had removed the cylinder without freeing up the piston resulting in a snapped con-rod. I dissembled it a few years ago & managed to remove the piston intact, unfortunately the rings are stuck for good, I suspect it got run without any oil.

 

The engine has been in bits in this biscuit tin for far too long, it's time to clean & rebuild it.

 

David

[factory 487]

Something else I noticed when I took it apart further, the wire for the coil primary to the points/condenser had been incorrectly routed & had got crushed between the magneto plate & cylinder, this will need sleeving. The HT lead also has damage to the insulation.

 

Most of the parts got cleaned outside earlier, apart from the rusty exhaust it's all cleaned up nicely.

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

Yeah, you're like me and have stuff sitting around waiting far too long to be the next project.

One project I haven't seen yet is that hedge trimmer. Took me long enough to send it so thought you would've been excited to get that one going.

[CNew 404]

3 hours ago, factory said:

 

 

 

 

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

[factory 487]

11 hours ago, Wallfish said:

Yeah, you're like me and have stuff sitting around waiting far too long to be the next project.

One project I haven't seen yet is that hedge trimmer. Took me long enough to send it so thought you would've been excited to get that one going.

 

I forgot to mention that this had been apart in that tin for at least 4 years, the last time when my health was poor & I couldn't work on anything, that very nice trimmer you sent will be one of the next projects once this one is back together (which hopefully should be more straight forward than some of the other projects). Still got to sort out one of these generators for you too.

 

9 hours ago, CNew said:

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

 

The extension contains a mix of what is probably asbestos with steel wire mesh, will try a get a picture with the end removed, but will be leaving the core inside the tube when it gets the chrome cleaned. Fairly certain it's only found on some UK tools.

 

David

[Fishnuts2 22]

16 hours ago, factory said:

Something else I noticed when I took it apart further, the wire for the coil primary to the points/condenser had been incorrectly routed & had got crushed between the magneto plate & cylinder, this will need sleeving. The HT lead also has damage to the insulation.

 

Most of the parts got cleaned outside earlier, apart from the rusty exhaust it's all cleaned up nicely.

 

David

My first O & R chainsaw project had the same wire pinch with corresponding results.  I used liquid tape and routed it properly.

[factory 487]

I don't have liquid tape but as I also collect & repair vintage electronics I have a box full of various different sized heat-shrink tubing, I used a piece of 3:1 or 4:1 ratio heat-shrink tubing that just fits over the crimp terminal, thinking about it I could have removed the terminal & used smaller diameter heat-shrink, got to remind myself I have a good supply of ring crimp terminals I could have used.

 

David

[factory 487]

20 hours ago, CNew said:

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

 

Here's a picture of the inside, looks like Hazmat to me, lots of chucks of rust fell out too.

 

I'm not sure why all the plated steel parts have rusted so badly on this engine (see the threads on the end of the exhaust fixing rod for example), as the paintwork is in excellent condition and the engine looks to have had very little use before it seized.

 

David

[CNew 404]

4 hours ago, factory said:

 

 

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

[factory 487]

If you wanted a similar looking exhaust it probably wouldn't be too hard to make, if you can find the correct size chrome tubing, just don't go filling it with that stuff though.

 

David

[factory 487]

The engine is now mostly back together apart from the carb & starter.

 

This exhaust collector was a bit too far gone for the aluminium foil cleaning method, it was so rusty I had to use the big wire wheel to start with, followed by lots of sanding with the Dremel to get the gasket surfaces smoother (as best I could), forgot to take a before picture.

 

I had to make a few more gaskets for the induction & feather valve assemblies.

 

Here is the coupling used on these UK Champ generators, this one has two three thin washers as the coupling doesn't quite fit level with the PTO shaft.

 

David

Edited June 2, 2020 by factory
Error with number of washers for coupling.

[Wallfish 698]

1 hour ago, factory said:

exhaust collector was a bit too far gone for the aluminium foil cleaning method, it was so rusty I had to use the big wire wheel to start with,

Have had plenty of those over the years and there's a collection of them out there.

[factory 487]

I do have a couple of new & used ones, but don't want to use them unless really needed, I had one a while back that had been badly bent & the flanges would never have sealed against the gaskets (that got replaced). This one wasn't rusted through, just badly pitted, the Dremel has smoothed it enough that it should seal fine.

 

David

[factory 487]

Today's progress, the starter was in very good condition apart from a broken screw for the cylinder baffle plate, which soon got removed with the help of the Dremel cutting disc to add a slot.

 

Also rebuilt the carb & cleaned out the air cleaner today, I still need to order some smaller HT lead to repair the coil & find a tank, but hopefully I'll get the rest of this one finished tomorrow.

 

 

David

[CNew 404]

That’s coming along very nicely!

[factory 487]

All done apart from the HT lead & tank.

 

The exhaust fixing rod was found to be too short, it had snapped off where the nut was fitted.

Using one borrowed from another of these generators as a template I made a new one from some salvaged rod, the thread for both was #5x40, I also cut a new thread on the old one and added it to the spares box (it could be used for a different engine with a shorter exhaust).

 

 

 

Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow & I can take some pictures of the generator outside.

 

David

[CNew 404]

On 5/29/2020 at 2:59 PM, factory said:

I had to make a few more gaskets for the induction & feather valve assemblies.

 

David,

  I’m curious, what type of gasket paper and thickness did you end up sourcing for the induction and feather vane gaskets?

[Daren89 18]

2 hours ago, CNew said:

 

David,

  I’m curious, what type of gasket paper and thickness did you end up sourcing for the induction and feather vane gaskets?

how do you cut perfect circles Ta Daren

[CNew 404]

I use one of these Olfa circle cutters. For a couple gaskets here and there it actually does quite well, especially for the price.

https://olfa.com/craft/product/compass-circle-cutter-cmp-1/

 

[factory 487]

20 hours ago, CNew said:

David,

  I’m curious, what type of gasket paper and thickness did you end up sourcing for the induction and feather vane gaskets?

 

The same Klinger Statite* gasket paper (cellulose fibre based) I've had for a long time, I bought a selection of small sheets in six sizes from 6 thou to 63 thou years ago. The size I used for the induction & feather valve assemblies for this engine was 6 thou, some later engines use a thicker size and towards the end they changed to using an 'O' ring seal (no paper gaskets).

 

*The smaller sizes of Statite seem to have been discontinued, Flexoid also have the same type of gasket paper in the UK, similar gasket paper should be available from other companies depending where you are.

 

17 hours ago, Daren89 said:

how do you cut perfect circles Ta Daren

 

I have an industrial punch kit that also has a compass based cutter, it came from a business clearance company on ePay years ago for a third of the usual price, I suspect a lot more clearance stuff will appear later in the year from companies that are struggling at the moment.

It got used again the other day to cut some more air filter foam, there is a point that can be fitted to the centre for locating the punches if you use two sizes that fit in the same place on the tool.

 

The Olfa cutter looks a better choice if you only have a few engines.

 

David

[factory 487]

Here are some pictures of the Champ generator now the engine has been reattached, taken in-between the rain today.

 

 

 

 

David

[CNew 404]

David,

   That turned out really nice, almost looks brand new!

[Wallfish 698]

 NICE! Much better than a bunch of parts sitting in a box

Glad to see you back in the restoration game

 

[pmackellow 2,738]

Nice job David ! 

 

[JUST O&R 237]

That looks great keep up the good work