DIY Gascolator

wrote in message
...
To All:

The Gascolator dates from the days of the Model T Ford. Back in those
days the fuel tank was located in the cowl, just forward of the
windscreen -- which was plate glass. The filler was located on the
cowl. The float-type quantity gauge was located in the instrument
cluster. The system did not have a pump; it relied on gravity to feed
fuel to the carburetor. There was a strainer inside of the tank which
prevented LARGE particles of debris from reaching the carb, whilst the
Gascolator served to trap any WATER that happened to get into the
tank. The Gascolator's bowl was made of glass, allowing you to SEE
any water that may have been trapped. Your job was to loosen the
clamp securing the glass bowl and empty it, thus ridding the system of
water.

When I was a kid every junk yard worthy of the name had a windrow of
early Fords -- T's as well as A's -- which managed to survive the lust
for scrap iron generated by World War II. These junked Fords provided
a host of parts for anyone crazy enough to build their own airplane.
One of those parts was the Gascolator.

Alas, Gascolators have become rather rare birds in today's world.
Fortunately, they are relatively easy to make.

The first thing you'll need is the receiver; the glass or metal
'sediment bowl' through which all of the engine's fuel must pass.
Back then, it was always glass. Nowadays it's usually metal but
either one will work. (If you want to stick with Ford parts for some
reason, give a call to Mike's "A" Ford-able Parts in Maysville,
Georgia. Good people. See their on-line catalog at
www.mikes-afordable.com

The receiver needs a mouth 1-3/4" to 2" in diameter. This could be a
baby food jar or similar. It could also be a section of chromed drain
pipe from under the bathroom sink. Or kitchen sink. (But don't get
caught!) The tricky bit here is to close the open end of the pipe,
which you can do by spinning or by hammering or whatever. If you
chose to hammer the end closed you'll have to anneal the brass pipe
several times during the process so keep in mind that quenching non-
ferrous metals SOFTENS the metal, whereas quenching ferrous metals
hardens them. To anneal your brass pipe simply raise it to a red heat
then swirl it around in a bucket of water. That makes it good to go
for another round of hammering.

Once you've hammered or spun the brass pipe to a single point, you may
seal it with a dot of hard solder.

Whatever you settle upon as your receiver, the next step is to find an
O-ring that matches its diameter. This is pretty easy since most real
auto-parts stores (as opposed to un-real, chain-store type FLAPS) will
have TRAYS of O-rings in every size imaginable. Simply find one that
fits.

The body of your Gascolator needs to be about 3/4" thick (ie, 19mm).
You need that much depth because the body will receive several
fittings that use NPT -- pipe threads. (I'm assuming you have
suitable pipe-thread reamers and taps.)

Although NPT is pretty strong you do NOT want to depend upon a pipe-
threaded fitting to SUPPORT the Gascolator, which will be mounted on
your firewall -- and which must be the LOWEST point in your fuel
system. (Why lowest? So that the water will go there.)

A circular groove is cut into the Gascolator body to accept the O-
ring. The receiver then presses against the O-ring with sufficient
pressure to form a gasoline-tight seal. The pressure comes from a
simple screw affair and a pair of straps that connect to the body of
the Gascolator then pass under the receiver. At the point where the
straps pass under the receiver you must fabricate a plate or other
fixture that is threaded 1/4-20, the bolt provided with some means of
safety-wiring. The head of the bolt is usually fitted with a cross-
bar or wheel to make it easy to unscrew by hand.

On the body of the Gascolator you must provide for one inlet (ie, from
the fuel tank) and two outlets. One of the outlets is to the carb and
is fitted with a sintered bronze muffler from a pneumatic-tool. The
other outlet goes to the primer. All of the drillings in the body of
the Gascolator are 3/16" or larger in diameter and are tapped 1/8"
NPT.

You must also provide some means of attaching and supporting the
Gascolator to the firewall.

The body of the Gascolator may be made from a billet of aluminum or
frm a casting..

I will post an illustrated version of this message to my blog as soon
as I am able to do so.

There is a thingummy available from Briggs and Stratton called a "glass bowl
cutoff".
It sits directly under the fuel tank, and has a glass sediment bowl of
approximately the size you describe. It has one input, one output, and a
shutoff valve on... I think it's the input.

The glass bowl cutoff, the replacement glass bowls, and a picture of both of
them can be seen at:
http://www.briggs.learnsmallenginere...BScarbkits.htm
The assembly is $10.75, the glass bowl replacement is $5.75.

On the one on my rototiller, the glass bowl is about 1 1/2" in diameter, and
the gasket, instead of an O-ring, is flat, and molded onto fine brass
screen.
The lip on the glass bowl is flat enough that using an O-ring instead
shouldn't be a problem, though.

Tim Ward

On Nov 16, 5:07*pm, "Tim Ward" wrote:
wrote in message

...

To All:
Dear Tim,
This sounds like the sediment/strainer I got from Northern Hydraulic
and tested for maximum flow rate. It was a little bit shy.
-Bob Hoover
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is a thingummy available from Briggs and Stratton called a "glass bowl
cu toff".
It sits directly under the fuel tank, and has a glass sediment bowl of
approximately the size you describe. *It has one input, one output, and a
shutoff valve on... I think it's the input.

The glass bowl cutoff, the replacement glass bowls, and a picture of both of
them can be seen at:http://www.briggs.learnsmallenginere...BScarbkits.htm
The assembly is $10.75, the glass bowl replacement is $5.75.

On the one on my rototiller, the glass bowl is about 1 1/2" in diameter, and
the gasket, instead of an O-ring, is flat, and molded onto fine brass
screen.
The lip on the glass bowl is flat enough that using an O-ring instead
shouldn't be a problem, though.

Tim Ward

wrote

Dear Tim,
This sounds like the sediment/strainer I got from Northern Hydraulic
and tested for maximum flow rate. It was a little bit shy.

I would think so. g

I have a 1942 Gibson tractor that has a (book rated) 9 HP Wisconsin engine,
and it has one like that. Not enough for a VW engine, I would not think.

The reason I said it was book rated at 9 HP, was because it has a 3 inch
piston, with a 3 1/4" stroke.

What a striker. I love that engine. A modern one with that displacement in
the typical over square configuration is rated at around 20 HP, I think. I
would be very surprised if a modern would come close to working as hard, for
pushing dirt and pulling stuff, as that tractor.

I gotta get that thing back in good running condition. I have a sneaking
feeling that we might get some snow, this year.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote

What a striker. I love that engine.

*****************************
Damn. Sometimes I hate spell checker. I thought I told it to leave that
word alone.

"Striker" was supposed to read "stroker." What a stroker. It can really
chug away in the lower RPM's.

Oh, it also has an impulse Fairbanks-Morse magneto. It will crank on the
first or second pull, every time.
--
Jim in NC

Tim Ward wrote:

There is a thingummy available from Briggs and Stratton called a "glass bowl
cutoff".
It sits directly under the fuel tank, and has a glass sediment bowl of
approximately the size you describe. It has one input, one output, and a
shutoff valve on... I think it's the input.

The glass bowl cutoff, the replacement glass bowls, and a picture of both of
them can be seen at:
http://www.briggs.learnsmallenginere...BScarbkits.htm
The assembly is $10.75, the glass bowl replacement is $5.75.

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?

Tony

Anthony W wrote:
Tim Ward wrote:
http://www.briggs.learnsmallenginere...BScarbkits.htm
The assembly is $10.75, the glass bowl replacement is $5.75.

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?

Tony

It'll cost ya' $11 to find out.

Tim Ward wrote:
There is a thingummy available from Briggs and Stratton called a "glass bowl
cutoff".
It sits directly under the fuel tank, and has a glass sediment bowl of
approximately the size you describe. *It has one input, one output, and a
shutoff valve on... I think it's the input.

The glass bowl cutoff, the replacement glass bowls, and a picture of both of
them can be seen at:
http://www.briggs.learnsmallenginere...BScarbkits.htm
The assembly is $10.75, the glass bowl replacement is $5.75.

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YES! The one in the photo is larger than the one I tested. On the
one I had the bowl came to more of a point and the doohicky holding it
on was made up of four wires and a screw rather than the straps as
shown in the picture.
-Bob

On Nov 16, 6:36*pm, Anthony W wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Tony,

Probably so, but I believe we still need to include such things in the
archive of drawings. Some people don't have access to the retailers
as we have here in the States and there's always the possibility that
WE may not be able to buy such things in the future.

-Bob

wrote:
On Nov 16, 6:36 pm, Anthony W wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Tony,

Probably so, but I believe we still need to include such things in the
archive of drawings. Some people don't have access to the retailers
as we have here in the States and there's always the possibility that
WE may not be able to buy such things in the future.

-Bob

True, I didn't know these things still existed at all.

Tony

On Nov 16, 11:32*pm, " wrote:
On Nov 16, 6:36*pm, Anthony W wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to drill out one of these for better flow rather
than making one from scratch?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------*-----------------

Dear Tony,

Probably so, but I believe we still need to include such things in the
archive of drawings. *Some people don't have access to the retailers
as we have here in the States and there's always the possibility that
WE may not be able to buy such things in the future.

-Bob

All right! Finally a topic I have extensive first hand experience with
instead of my usual neophyte airplane builder syndrome, i.e. just
plain ignorant! One of the best sources of a gascolator is found on
the sides of used farm tractors from the 1980’s marketed by Ford but
built in Japan. Mine is a 1310 20 HP diesel engine model but other
models are extensively available in a variety of sizes and HP. Yes,
most other tractor’s have them to. What you have is a small gravity
fed fuel collector bowl in front of the fuel injectors with an equally
small internal filter in place. The fuel bowl is generally plastic but
a simple home made adapter will allow you to put a variety of small
mouthed bottles on it. Even better is these assemblies are available
in either used or new configurations, or as Bob H. would say how good
of a scrounger you are.