Recent engine acquisitions

The series 21 is a Dykes ringed engine. What that means is the ring is a L shaped ring on the very crown of the piston. The ring fit on some of these examples were hit and miss from brand new. These engines usually didn't provide enough compression when hand flipping to start them if the ring gap or fit was excessive. However, starting with a electric starter will quickly start them. This is due to the ring design, the faster the engine rotates the more the ring expands because of it's design.

The redhead versions were about 1.5 ounces lighter. I personally was never satisfied by the series 21 but I'm fond of the redhead aside of it's shortcomings. This past year at the New Jersey Circle Burners Vintage Combat, a few of us were making the hybrid examples of both engines. Ringed engines use fenced or gated cylinder liners. This just means rather than a continuous exhaust or intake cutout, it's separated by small windows so the ring doesn't come out. The Series 21 piston is a direct fit to the gated Lightning bolt case series redheads. Therefore, you can use the Dykes ringed piston in the redhead but you have to ream the hole in the piston for the wrist pin and make your own wrist pin with end pads. These examples run extremely well and make some pretty good power for what they are.