The Old Machinery Magazine Forum

Forum Categories => Stationary Engines => Topic started by: cobbadog on 19 January, 2020, 03:14:36 pm

Title: MacDonald Super Imperial Diesel
Post by: cobbadog on 19 January, 2020, 03:14:36 pm
Well after years of them sitting under the house keeping the spiders company I am going to start on getting  a MacDonald Super Imperial Diesel back to running again. I have 2 of them and should have enough parts now to make one engine out of them both. Some parts missing from both and I think with the box of bits I have that he Hivid/bonz system is complete. So today I started squirting diesel all over the engines to start penetrating into the nuts and bolts as well as the gib keys. These are both hopper cooled engines and the numbers are close to one another. From memory they were sold to an Oyster factory near to us which was on the Manning River. Have no idea if they drove a winch or pump or what but local history is a good thing.
To start with I want to select the engine to get running then build a transporter to sit it on so I can move it around as I work on it. One engine lookss if the nuts and bolts have rusted badly and have eroded away and the other seems ok so just the initial thoughts is go with the least rusty one and the rusty one can supply parts, maybe. I think they are SE or CE MacDonals but they are 5hp rated, I will dig out the details later.
What I would also like to see is some photos of a basic transporter to mount this great lump onto. I have some very heavy new hardwood fence posts for the main rails and will pick up some extra bits to use as cross braces and for the axle mounts. Wheels are going to from an industrial dumpster bin I bought years ago just for this project and are about 4"/100mm OD.
Title: Re: MacDonald Super Imperial Diesel
Post by: Grasshopper on 21 January, 2020, 12:10:50 am
Gooday Cobbadog,
Glad to hear you are going to make a start on your McDonald engines with the thought of building a transporter.
I am also looking at various designs for a transporter for my SPI McDonald. First I have got to find some decent steel wheels then decide to build the frame out of timber or steel.
I am leaning towards timber for a more traditional look.
I have acquired another SPI engine missing a oil pump and a Gib key on the flywheel, however will probably steal the head off it to complete mine with the rusted out diesel injector sleeve that wont budge in its thread.
At present using devcon to seal it but will put the other head on and deal with the other engine later.
To all our readers the Allora Heritage Weekend is on this weekend 25th & 26th January.
Allora is near Warwick in Queensland and has a massive turn out of old vintage engines operating, cars, tractors, trucks and dozers plus a big swap meet or parts for sale running at the showgrounds in Allora.
Highly recommended for anyone able to get there.  Hoping to get some steel wheels at swap meet.
Regards Grasshopper Max
Title: Re: MacDonald Super Imperial Diesel
Post by: Cockie on 21 January, 2020, 09:46:04 am
One of our club members said he wished he had standardised on a transporter design, one that took into account the width and length of his ute tray, just to make loading and unloading easier. I haven't made a transporter yet, but I'm keeping that in mind, along with built in tie down points, e.g. eye bolts or similar. To me timber will be my choice, although I'm no woodworker.

Cockie
Title: Re: MacDonald Super Imperial Diesel
Post by: cobbadog on 21 January, 2020, 10:07:51 pm
Yes Allora should be another great weekend to take the toys out to play so make sure you enjoy it. My transporter will be timber too and I already have some heavy duty hardwood rails from off cuts of a pair of new paling fence posts about 6" x 4" size so they wont break. Possibly tomorrow if not Friday I will have a look for some more timber while in town to make the cross braces and start to knock something up. I will quite possibly use the small caster wheels jsut for the moment while I try to strip and rebuild and in the mean time I will look for some bigger wheels. A long time back I was looking for a set of small cast iron wheels for my cannon and found that Bunnings sold caster wheels so I took notice of the company that supplied them and sent them an email. The guy was keen to see what it looked like and in no time suggested some wheels which dont look too bad and so I bought them. I will have another look at the company again and see if they make some bigger wheels to be more suitable and with a bit of width too.
As for the design and overall sizes, yes it is important that it all works in with your prefferred mode of transport. The BuzzaCox and FLow happily fit across  the front of our box trailer and can be strapped down so they don't move. However there are no floor mounts in the trailer and it would be a huge benefit to have some. But most of the time when we go to a rally it is with a tractor and possibly with a carry all with an engine strapped to that and then some mowers on the floor of Lorry. I have already fitted some eye bolts through the floor and are load rated to keep the RMS guys happy. I have also looked at those load rings that are recessed into the floor and the "D" ring lays flat when not being used which is a huge benefit. So this transporter will be my first timber one but with some nice turntable and steel axles possibly recessed into the timber to hide the steel, early days and thoughts.