Ohlsson & Rice: Tiny Tiger of the Desert

[CNew 404]

Not exactly what I thought I would be working on next but I picked this up yesterday from a guy out in the desert. It has such a great sweaty patina and I’m going to try to preserve it as much as possible. I plan to go through it and hopefully get all the internals fixed up and in good working condition but only do minimal cleaning to the rest of the unit. Something about this one just has a great look to me the way the age and color have changed over time.

 

I started dismantling in and ran into my first problem. I can’t seem to free the generator rotor shaft from the crankshaft. I’ve tried the usual things like smacking the mounting bolt, etc. but nothing is working.  Does anyone else have any ideas?  At first I thought I was going to get lucky with the wiring because it looked intact but after closer inspection several wires are cracked entirely in half and I can see the expected corrosion. So I’ll have to re-do that too. I’m going to have to find another bearing as well

 

 

[CNew 404]

Finally got it free and now have the rest of the engine fully apart.  This thing has had a long hard life.  I think the induction vane unit is shot, looks like the little plastic arms have deformed (probably due to the 120 summers here in AZ) and don’t seal anymore.  Hopefully I have one in the used spares that will work. Will this one work or is it too bad to put back in?

Ended up having to open up this gas tank too, it is full of nasty crud. After heating It with a torch to get the bottom off it basically melts the rubber boot with brass filter screen that’s on the end of the fuel pickup tube. What do you all generally do for making a new filter screen?  I was going to just use some 100 micron brass mesh to make a little boot to slide over the end of the tube unless anyone has a better idea.

[Bobby 0]

Please forgive me as this is not a response to your topic but instead a selfish one. I was recently given a tiny tiger by my neighbor and would love to put it on the back burner. However I have a multitude of back burner projects & feel it would be a terrible shame if this little fellow wasn't given the attention it deserves. I have a model 300 that has spark & terrific compression. I'm certain the carb needs worked as the tank is pretty gummed up at the bottom. Everything appears to be intact (no parts missing) as far as I can tell. Will someone please make me a good offer on this so it can be brought back to life? Again I'm sorry for interrupting. Thanks all.

[Wallfish 698]

The condition makes a big difference as well as your location so posting some pics would certainly help

[JUST O&R 237]

Looks great Clint your on a roll. I may send you a half dozen of mine so you will have something to do

[Bobby 0]

Yes of course it does. But I have no idea how to post any on here. I click on the add image thing & it says something about a url. I am embarrassed to say I don't know what that is.

On 7/14/2020 at 2:47 AM, Wallfish said:

The condition makes a big difference as well as your location so posting some pics would certainly help

By the way, I'm just outside Phoenix. Someone said something about location.

[factory 487]

On 7/13/2020 at 12:08 AM, CNew said:

I think the induction vane unit is shot, looks like the little plastic arms have deformed (probably due to the 120 summers here in AZ) and don’t seal anymore.  Hopefully I have one in the used spares that will work. Will this one work or is it too bad to put back in?

 

At least try cleaning it first, I've had some where dirt was keeping those plastic reeds open and some that never seem to want to sit flat no matter what I do.

Sometimes a parts engine can provide a replacement, note that there are differences depending on the bearing/shaft size fitted (you probably know this by now).

 

David

[factory 487]

3 hours ago, Bobby said:

Yes of course it does. But I have no idea how to post any on here. I click on the add image thing & it says something about a url. I am embarrassed to say I don't know what that is.

 

 

If you are using a PC with Windows then this thread may help:

Not sure about adding pictures using Android devices as I don't like using the small screen for the web and I can't help with Apple "I" thingies as I don't have any.

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

3 hours ago, Bobby said:

Yes of course it does. But I have no idea how to post any on here. I click on the add image thing & it says something about a url. I am embarrassed to say I don't know what that is.

By the way, I'm just outside Phoenix. Someone said something about location.

@CNew Clint is right in your neck of the woods so maybe he is interested in it.

[Bobby 0]

Thanks to everybody for your help. I am in touch with Clint & hope to be receiving an offer soon. I appreciate the warm welcome & look forward to seeing all the cool old stuff people post on the site.

[CNew 404]

5 hours ago, factory said:

At least try cleaning it first, I've had some where dirt was keeping those plastic reeds open and some that never seem to want to sit flat no matter what I do.

I cleaned it up really well but those plastic reeds are not going to sit flat. Will it still work with the reeds partially distorted or should I use one from a parts engine? I have another one from a rusted engine that I think I can clean up but the bearings were pretty corroded. The shaft looks identical but the bearing style is slightly different. 

[Wallfish 698]

Those reeds need to seal. I'll take a look around to see if I have one for ya.

Think they have numbers on them. #2 and think the ones for the bigger shaft are #1. Could be wrong though

[CNew 404]

That’s what I figured. I messed with it a little last night and was hopeful that with some gentle heat I might be able to reshape it to sit flat but that didn’t really work out. I’ll see if I can make this other one work once I get all the rust cleaned off.  This particular unit uses a #1.  I’ll keep you posted if I hit a dead end with this spare.

[CNew 404]

The test stand worked great to try out the TT engine before reassembly.