Russell Williams of Bellevue, WA is in the middle of an overhaul of his Warner 165 radial and shared some photos:
Upon returning from Blakesburg back home to Seattle I got an unexpected surprise in my Ryan's Warner 165 engine - the engine was making metal and the generator drive gear was chewed up. No failure yet, but it was on its way. So this winter I'm doing a full overhaul, since the engine is a very old calendar time engine. It makes me feel better to think I'd be doing it anyway! The first step is disassembly and cleanup, lots of cleanup, followed by inspections and the start of reworking. Many thanks to Fly-Mart Chairman and The Source for Warner parts, Harman Dickerson, for the assistance and advice, and Tom Downey for loan of some Special Tools.
I pulled the cylinders on the airplane as I don't have a good radial engine stand (yet). A rotating stand is something I plan to look at before reassembly.
Another unpleasant surprise - several jugs had broken top piston rings with significant wear in the top ring groove. The engine showed good compressions but these rings have obviously been broken for some time. No damage observed to the cylinder barrels beyond normal wear.
Thrust nut wrench.
Where does all this oil keep coming from? Helpers got blessed with some oil drips even after 2 residual quarts had previously dumped into the pan.
Induction housing cover removed showing the magneto, cam, generator and accessory drive bushings.
Paint stripping cases. The only brand of paint stripper that touches this baked-on 40 year old engine enamel is "Aircraft Remover". Very appropriate.
Dimensional checks prior to magnetic particle inspection of the rod assembly. The steel is now clean enough to eat off of, and my wife Tam is being a very good sport about the dining room table.
