"Bob" wrote in message
...
On Aug 6, 3:23 pm, "RST Engineering - JIm" wrote:

Didn't you see the smiley face? Don'cha think those BBs would rattle
around
a bit when you fired the engine up?

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Ah! I missed it, being a couple of lines down and not the usual :-)

I took it as a valid question/procedure since it doesn't HAVE to be
marbles, ball-bearings and so forth. If caught without any marbles
( I am frequently accused of having lost mine ) you may use virtually
anything else so long as it will not absorb the fluid, and will 'wet-
out' properly. For example, if using nuts, bolts or other hardware
that will fit under the sealing plate, you have to scrub them good in
lacquer thinner, MEK, etc., to get rid of any trace of oil.

Since I've built more than a few engines, I've provided myself with a
100cc burette that reads to a fraction of a cc, so I don't have to use
the marble procedure. But there have been times when I had to build an
engine using only the tools I had with me. Having to determine the
chamber volume -- as for setting the compression ratio -- is
always a bit of a chore in that it must be measured, whereas the other
factors -- swept volume and deck volume -- can be calculated. If
you're careful you can do this with a turkey baster, which is usually
marked for cubic centimeters or cubic inches. You can also use a
small syringe, such as used for hypodermic injections. This is where
you fill the syringe, bring it to the mark -- hopefully 10cc or larger
-- and empty it into the chamber, repeating this procedure as many
times as necessary until the chamber is full. And yes, this method
works perfectly well with a 50cc syringe and no marbles.

-R.S.Hoover

PS -- I'll have to keep an eye out for the smilies :-)

Serious question- Why do you have to see how much the marbles displace?
If you use the same marbles every time it shouldn't matter. I.E., the
two marbles + 35cc is two marbles +35cc in all cylinder heads.

--
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge,
or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a
whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other." --John Adams, October 11, 1798

Anyolmouse