channel lock pliers a big no no on our engines!!

I just received another engine with plier marks on engine cylinder fins!!
How else can you explain all the pliered engines I have run across through the years? Half A engines
seem to come in with this affliction more than the larger ones probably due to their small size and construction.
Some manufacturers sent wrenches in the box with the engine and who knows what happened
to them. Then there was the Cox fiasco early on where you slipped the slotted end of the
wrench the factory supplied across the two exhaust ports and tried to loosen the cylinder. Upon doing
so you promptly ruined the piston/cylinder fit, and the engine. The soft 12L14 steel cylinder that nearly
all engines are made of, would deform into the thin intake port nearby. For as smart a man as Leroy
Cox was, I never understood how this got into production.Later on they thickened up the cylinder wall
which helped to some extent, but did not completely solve the problem. Finally in the eighties Cox machined
two flats across the top cylinder fin and provided a wrench to fit it. Lets see, that only took from
1952 to 1984 to figure out. Wasps, Atwoods, Baby Spitfires, Wen Macs, et al, suffer the problem of the
notorious pliers man. I`ve got the solution lads, try this little trick next time. Take a firm piece of wood stock
about as thick as the cylinder is tall and 4 to 6 inches long andas wide as 3 times the cylinder dia. I like the
hardwood handle of an old steel brush myself. Now drill or jig saw a round hole in the middle of it that matches
the O. D. of the cylinder. Saw the piece lengthwise cutting through the middle of the hole from end to end.
Place the engine upside down in the hole with the piston at bottom dead center and place it in a vise.
Tighten the vise just enough to keep the engine from turning in the wood when you try to unscrew it.
If the thing won't come loose then remove it from the vise and with jersey gloves on, heat up the aluminum crankcase
where the cylinder is threaded into it. I use a Bernz-o-matic propane torch and find it works very well. The amount of
heat to be applied varies, and one should start out gently and apply increments of heat until the cylinder breaks loose. A
rag over the engine also helps the process in tough cases. It saves bruises on the hands from sharp projections of the engine. After it breaks loose If it is difficult to unscrew then immediately get somelacquer thinner into the threads as this
will remedy the problem. Afterwards clean up the gum and varnish in the engine with thinner and an acid brush. Give this easy tool a try and put the pliers away.
Lastly, a noted engine expert in the leading model magazine states to use Marvel Mystery Oilas the premier after run oil in
model engines. I myself and a few others strongly disagree with this practice. I tried MMO, Singer, 3 in I and others and
found that in my engine collection that sets on the shelf for years at a time, they all varnished up and had to be taken apart and cleaned and re-oiled. I am not alone in stating that Shaler Rislone oil additive from the auto supply is the very best followed by ATF and pneumatic tool oil. This fellow also states that Coleman lantern fuel, 60 octane naphtha, is thebest fuel for your old ignition engine. I don't hold with that either after reading an article by Petroleum engineers. Best, Wen Mac Bill Best, Bill Schmidt

coxxoc

"Petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines are the worst form of vehicle propulsion...except for all the other forms"