Vintage Tractor Engineer

Paul has twin Standard 23C engines in the boat he is restoring.  Here is what Paul says about ‘Betsie Jane’, how he overcame some problems and how things are progressing…

Hi Steve,
I’ve finally fitted the 23cs to my boat and both engines fired up first
time!!

Fantastic I’m really chuffed.

My background is in carpentry, although I now teach English in the local prison, and so your dvd is the only tuition I’ve had on
mechanics/engineering.

When working on the engines I had the dvd on the laptop and so repeatedly replayed each stage of the rebuild etc. There is no way I could have done the engines before and so a great thank you for the dvd and excellent advice.

Cheers Paul.

and some photos of the engines…

I’ve spent the past 30 months restoring her 3-4 days a week and should be launched early May. Betsie Jane is on the National Historic Ships Register.

I’ve also attached some photos of how I worked out TDC and 16 deg before. Basically sealed a clear pipe into the injector hole and stuck the end into a jam jar of engine oil. As I turned the engine over I watched the oil rise and fall, checked with the valve openings what stroke it was on and as the oil started to fall knew it was on the compression stroke. I marked the oil level on the clear pipe and repeated several times just to be sure. I then punched a small mark on the shaft which was 180 deg from the machined slot.

The white card was marked with a horizontal line which I lined up with a horizontal break on the engine and marked on the card 18 btdc. I then spill timed the pump on the bench and fitted it to the engine. This took several attempts, but perseverance payed off.

I’ve attached photos.
Cheers again.

And if you want to see the completed restoration.  Here is Betsie Jane.

Related posts:

1. DVD Not Just For Tractors
2. FE35 Tractor Standard 23C, Enlarging Entrance to Pre-Combustion Chamber
3. Enlarging Pre-Combustion Chamber Aids Starting, Standard 23C Engine
4. MF35, FE35, TO35 4 Cylinder Standard 23C Starting Problems