Photo Post

Here are the pictures of the damage from the engine work I've done.

Clicky thumbnails to photobucket for larger pictures.

Bad News

Well after enlisting the help of my father last night we decided that the best course of action was to pull the oil pan off and take a look into the lower end of the engine. After draining what oil was in the engine and fiddling with the oil pan bolts for 45 minutes (alot of them are in tight spots) we were able to get the pan down and take a look inside.

Remember when I was talking about the bits of metal in the bottom of the pan....well I found out what they were....and there were alot of them. They were piston parts....never a good sign in the bottom of an oil pan in a broken engine. Looking into the bottom of the engine, most of the cylinders looked like they were in good shape....all except one. The one that had the crooked piston...there was quite a bit of rust runs down the side and into the crankcase!

My dad and I decided that we should remove the piston and see if the cylinder was damaged. We took the cap bolts off the I popped the piston out (which I thought was WAY too easy), and as soon as I climbed out from underneath and got to the offening cylinder I knew I was done for....the piston had nothing left except for the head and connecting pin...the sides/skirt was ALL gone. And I found where the coolant came into the engine....when the piston had broke (or if it was previously broken it had been rubbing), it wore two giant cracks into the sides of the cylinders...guess the water pressure was finally enough to do it in when I was climbing that hill back in October!

So here it stands....the old engine is pretty much trash for now (well, at least the block)and unless I can find some way to have it fixed (maybe a new bore and a sleeve)it will never power another vehicle....it'll probably become a coffee table in my house someday :).

So now I'm gonna take the rest of the engine apart down to the block alone, and take the thing out. Gotta grab a bunch of parts for the spare engine off the old one, and hopefully slap it right in...we'll see how that goes and when I can get it done.

Take care!
Josh
70-C1

Wow been quite a while!

Well it's been a while since I've been here....life has been way too busy to do much of anything other than work! I've been trying to make some extra money to pay for college (I'm off to nursing school this fall!) so I've been spending the majority of my time at work, and the truck has fallen out of the picture for the most part. I've still got that spare engine, and as of last week the only thing that's changed since it broke was that I took the majority of the front end apart. I've got the hood, grille, and radiator off, and they've been sitting there for the last month with nothing done.

Soooooooo....yesterday my partner at work somehow motivated me to do some work on the truck that evening. I don't know how she did, but she did and I went right home, grabbed the tools, and started getting greasy. I figured last night I'd would try and get the driver's side cylinder head off and check the gasket....I figured that was more than likely the location of the problem I had because I had alot of coolant in those cylinders. I got the carb off, took off the intake manifold, and the exhaust manifold without a problem.....thank god for the Manchester Fire Department as every bolt on that engine was slopping wet with anti-sieze....I didn't even snap an exhaust bolt which I was afraid of doing! Got all that cleared out, and took off the tappet cover to see if there may have been an issue in there.....and of course there wasn't...it was clean. Got the valve train off and pulled the lifter rods (set aside in a box in order and labeled, of course) without a problem. Then the head.....got all 10 bolts off no problem, and broke the seal on the head.....I pulled the head off and carried over to the tarp to do a quick inspection. I peeled the old gasket off and looked at it....and found nothing wrong with it. So I ruled out that problem...I still have to pull the passenger side, which is this evening's project, so maybe that one is blown..we'll see.

But then while I was looking at the head I noticed the second cylinder in from the front......the head was different right there...it was black, oily, and the exhaust valve was black unlike the rest which were red and clean. "Huh" I said to myself. Looking at the piston in that cylinder, I noticed there was a clean spot on the very top....something that shouldn't be there in a cylinder like that. I grabbed my breaker bar and large socket and put it onto the crank....and turned....and when that piston was comming up it went off kilter and jammed...I swore up and down so much my mom would have beat my A$$ and washed my mouth with soap and pepper!!

I guess that explains alot though....the truck always smoked, and it always had a tap at idle. I thought it was just a valve issue, or that the cams were going...but I guess not....I was a piston! And all that crap in the bottom of the pan....I'm guessing that's parts of the piston...not parts of the cams like I first thought.

Tonight will be the determining factor in where things go from here....I'm gonna pull that other head and see what those cylinders look like....we'll see what I find. I'm hoping that once I get the other head off and I pull the oil pan I'll figure out what that stuff in the bottom is, and shine and light up into the engine with the bad piston and see what the damage is....hopefully the rod didn't go through the block and it really is just a bad head gasket on the passenger's side! I don't think the rod would have gone through because the piston still goes through it's full travel with no problem except that sometimes it goes crooked....and when the engine was turned over during the winter a few times I didn't hear any funky noises.....I guess only taking it apart will tell!!

Somehow all that coolant got into the engine......and I need to find out why!

(I'll try and put some pictures up tonight!)

Josh
70-C1

Been a little bit since the last post!

Hi to all the readers out there! Sorry about the lack of updates lately, there has been alot going on in the real world that has caused me to not be around to update the blog. Hopefully I'll be able to pop a post in there before Friday morning (because I get alot of downtime at work!).

Take Care and keep checking back!
Josh
70-C1

Now serving as Hose 4

Engine 6 on Rimmon Street (the good 'ol West Side) was originally known as "Fulton Engine Company 6" after Mr. Walton M. Fulton, the financier who paid for the station to be built in 1892 on the corners of Rimmon and Amory Streets (the bays face Rimmon Street).




Hose 4 was assigned here for only a few years with Engine 6 from 1971 to 1976. According to the MFD, Hose 4 would have run with a Mack Pumper and a 75ft Seagrave Ladder truck (Engine 6 and Ladder 6 respectively).

In 1976, Hose 4 was moved to Weston Street with Engine 10 and Truck 3. Weston Street was built in 1902 on the corners of Weston and Concord Streets which is located on top of the hill in the northeast corner of Manchester. Originally, Weston Street was the quarters of "Hose 4" back in the old horse drawn cart days from 1908 to 1932 when old Hose 4 was replaced with a motorized truck and renamed Engine 10. Pictured at the left is the original Hose 4 circa 1910. Below is a view of the Weston Street Station in 2004. Sadly, this station was torn down in 2007 and is now an empty lot.


Now this is when the history gets a little confusing. According to the history provided by the MFD website, Hose 4 was reincorporated on June 12, 1967 which would not match up with the history of the IHC BC-160. The history provided by one of the MFD officers I have spoken with states that Hose 4 came back into service in 1962 when the two trucks were purchased as Hose 4 and Hose 1. Curious discrepency I think! The MFD online history does state that Hose 4 was equipped with hose and a deck gun, which does match up with the actual truck (as my truck has hose and a deck gun). It would be interesting to see who is worng with the history, or if the original IHC 1962 Hose 4 is really what is being described in the online history which can be read here: http://www.manchesternh.gov/CityGov/MFD/History.html. I don't know, it really is slightly confusing actually! Hose 4 would stay at Weston Street until the station closed in 1982.

At this point the truck was in poor condition and was in need of some TLC. In May of 1982 the truck returned to Merrimack Street for a few weeks where it was rehabed and cleaned up. There was some body work performed and the truck recieved a much needed coat of paint.

Hose 4 returned to service later that month and was assigned to Engine 9 on Calef Road where it remained until 1987.

In 1987 Hose 4 was offically retired from service as the MFD purchased three new engines which had more capabilities in terms of the amount of equipment they could carry. There was no need to have a seperate truck just to carry hose as the new engines were large enough to carry all they needed to any scene they went to. Hose 4 was then sold for scrap and taken to a junkyard on Bodwell Road in Manchester where she would stay until it was rescued. . . .

Change of Plans

Sorry folks there seems to be a little change of plans in the direction of this blog! Instead of running posts with the history of each station, I've decided to just focus on the truck itself and the locations it served in. Hope this doesn't bother anyone....maybe when I have more time I can get more in depth like that!

Josh

The Beginning of Engine 1's Service.....as Hose 1

Sometime in 1962 the Manchester, NH Fire Department placed two new and identical trucks in service, one as "Hose 1" and one as "Hose 4" (I have no idea where Hose 2 and Hose 3 are, if the even existed). Hose 1 is the truck that I own and is obviously the subject of this blog. These trucks were in service as hose carrying trucks only...they were to see no "frontline" service as engines. Most of the time, the hose wagon would be driven to the fire scene, offloaded, and then parked until it was time to pick the hose back up. Not much of a dignified job if you ask me, but an important one none the less. Hose 1 was equipped with two booster reels carrying 1" solid rubber hose, a 300 GPM rotary gear pump, 1- 1 1/2" discharge on the passenger side, 1- 2 1/2" pump intake on the passenger side, 4- 2 1/2" and 2- 1 1/2" intakes for the deck gun, a full complement of hose and tools, and a single SCBA (air tank) for the firefighters. There were orignally no ladders on the truck as the MFD's ladders took care of that function.

Upon arrival in the City of Manchester, Hose 1 was assigned to MFD Engine 1 (which at the time was a 1943 Mack) in the Vine Street Central Station until the station was torn down in 1971 when the new Merrimack Street Central Station was opened in January. Hose 1 was not to be Hose 1 for much longer after that date. In February 1971 Hose 1 was replaced by a '71 IHC/Howe and renamed Hose 4 (whatever happened to Hose 4 remains a mystery. Was it in an accident and destroyed?).

After being reassigned as Hose 4, the truck left the Central Station and was moved into quarters with Engine 6. Engine 6 was located on the West Side of Manchester at the corners of Amory and Rimmon Street. Below is a map of all the stations the truck served in.

View Larger Map

More to Follow! Next post we'll cover the history of the Vine Street, Merrimack Street, and Amory Street stations.

Josh

Good News Today!

Well I have good news for everyone! After the engine in the truck went I had it towed home where it has been parked ever since (going on 4 months now!). Of course, I drained the oil/antifreeze from the engine and put new oil in, plus cleared the cylinders of any fluid and oiled them all before storage. My intent was to go out once a week and just turn the engine over to keep it from rusting up or anything. Of course, life happens and I haven't been out to do that since it was parked! I was worried about the engine seizing up on me, but I went out today, uncovered it, and put the battery jumpers on. I think I gave it about 10 minutes, popped in the key, and could ya guess what happened? It turned over (the coil was disconnected so it couldn't fire) a few times until the battery ran out of juice! So the engine didn't seize up over the course of the last four months, which breathes new life into my hope that the truck will run again this year!

Josh

The BC-160 by IHC

The BC-160 was introduced as an offshoot of the "B" line trucks in the late 50's to early 60's. Why you may ask? I have no idea at all. I could only venture to guess that it's got a more powerful engine and other upgrades than the standard "B" line truck. Only International knows why I suppose! Here is the actual spec sheet/sales flyer for the BC-160 series truck (linked to photobucket) front and back respectively:

I love old sales flyers about stuff! You can see how different times were back then. These days power heated seats, automatic door locks and windows, and the super powerful premium sound system are considered standard items. Hell, when this flyer was made they actually advertised that the truck came with a "right door lock", "left-side sun visor", and a "padded coil spring seat"! Real luxury with those items! If you read the back of the spec sheet, it lists things such as a front bumper and a horn as standard stuff!! The funny thing is that those were the "new" thing on cars back then too!

Sadly pictures of the BC-160 seem to be very hard to come by and information regarding them seem to be just as difficult to find. If anyone has more information please let me know I would love to learn more!

Stay tuned! More history comming as I scan in the picures and put things together!
Josh

Welcome!

Welcome everybody! This blog is going to chronicle the rebuild that I am performing on my fire truck's engine from start to finish (exactly from the first bolt on the hood being taken out to it being put back in!). I'm planning on starting the actual project as soon as the majority of the snow melts and it warms up enough to do outside work (after all, the truck is outside, and I have to pull the engine to take it to the shop!!). For now, I'll be posting information about the history of Engine 1 and there will be plenty of pictures to go along with it. Sit back, enjoy the reading material, and when it comes time for the dirty work I hope everybody offers comments, opinions, and suggestions that will make this easier. I've never rebuilt an engine before (except for that time I took an old lawnmower engine apart to see how it worked!) so I have the complete teardown and build-up manual from International.

My plan is to do the majority of the work myself, as I can pull the engine, disassemble it, and put it back together with all the right gaskets by my lonesome (although my friend Jeff will be helping me, he already said he doesn't have any experience either!). Other work, such as replacing the main bearings, cam bearings, any piston work, and the pressure test of the heads will be sourced out to mechanics and machine shops.

I'm hoping the only damage I find is a blown head gasket, afterall that's why the engine blew....dumped all the antifreeze into the engine and out the tailpipe while on the road one day. But I know I have a bad cam bearing as there are chunks of them in the bottom of the oil pan....hopefully this was a preexisting condition and not related to the oiling and cooling systems becomming one that day.

Of course....I always plan for the worst in everything I do! So just in case, I do have a spare engine that is in running condition sitting on my trailer right now. It would need a good cleaning, maybe some new head gaskets and seals or whatever, but it's my insurance policy (which only cost me $200 to boot!! The guy had to get rid of it since it was sitting on an engine crane in the basement.....it was either sell it cheap or trash it! Good thing I got the engine when I did!!)

Alrighty! Like I said, sit back and enjoy the next few weeks as we talk about the history of Engine 1, it's service in Manchester, NH as a hose wagon, the restoration that it got in 2002, and a little history of the "joke fire department" aka the East Candia Volunteer Fire Department.

Josh