The Militaire shows back up at the University today. I will post some battle scar pictures of the bike on the original thread started by my students. We will list our findings pertaining to the Militaire also on that thread. As for Westfall's engine, we will list findings as well.
Pete, as far as your Pierce goes, you are going back one generation further than the Henderson and the Militaire in terms of frailty. I'll bet if you look at the big end bores of the connecting rods you'll find crude tooling marks where the original boring equipment was pushed through with no regard to finish. I also think, if you push your Pierce, rod dippers won't be enough. I built two Detroit engines with the Cannonball rods in them. The rods were designed after the only non-presssurized lubrication system in severe duty conditions today. As hard as it seems to believe, Briggs and Stratton 5 hp race cart engines are non-pressurized and have journal diameters extremely close in size to that of the Henderson and Militaire, both around .900 inch. I went to cart racing tracks and talked with builders and dads and came away with the best racing cart rod for longevity. That became the foundation for designing and building the rods we ran in the Cannonball. So if you're repouring shells and adding dippers, I would question the fit of the shell in the big end of the rod. This is very important to shed the heat. Of course, all this boils down to how hard you are going to ride your Pierce. The Cannonball rod dippers are hollow and not only pump oil to the rod journal but also pump oil in an annular ring on the outside of the bearing between the bearing shell and the rod bore and exit two drilled holes at the base of the rod beam that spray the cylinder walls and the bottom of the piston crown. You will be able to veiw shots of our rods on this thread when the Westfall bike gets to the school. Good luck with your Pierce I have never built one but did have a friend who was going through one and got to look inside a few years back.
Mike thanks for the Kind words for all of the support people it means alot.
Mark
Pete, as far as your Pierce goes, you are going back one generation further than the Henderson and the Militaire in terms of frailty. I'll bet if you look at the big end bores of the connecting rods you'll find crude tooling marks where the original boring equipment was pushed through with no regard to finish. I also think, if you push your Pierce, rod dippers won't be enough. I built two Detroit engines with the Cannonball rods in them. The rods were designed after the only non-presssurized lubrication system in severe duty conditions today. As hard as it seems to believe, Briggs and Stratton 5 hp race cart engines are non-pressurized and have journal diameters extremely close in size to that of the Henderson and Militaire, both around .900 inch. I went to cart racing tracks and talked with builders and dads and came away with the best racing cart rod for longevity. That became the foundation for designing and building the rods we ran in the Cannonball. So if you're repouring shells and adding dippers, I would question the fit of the shell in the big end of the rod. This is very important to shed the heat. Of course, all this boils down to how hard you are going to ride your Pierce. The Cannonball rod dippers are hollow and not only pump oil to the rod journal but also pump oil in an annular ring on the outside of the bearing between the bearing shell and the rod bore and exit two drilled holes at the base of the rod beam that spray the cylinder walls and the bottom of the piston crown. You will be able to veiw shots of our rods on this thread when the Westfall bike gets to the school. Good luck with your Pierce I have never built one but did have a friend who was going through one and got to look inside a few years back.
Mike thanks for the Kind words for all of the support people it means alot.
Mark
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