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Shoulda Used Oak


scannon

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I recall reading a letter in an English classic car magazine many years ago from a guy who overhauled his engine (i believe it was an early Morris Minor) and found one of its pistons was made of oak!!! Apparently some impecunious previous owner turned a piston and the end grain charred to a point where it would mot burn any more and the car ran for who knows how many years before this guy rebuilt it. I have no idea how ( or if ) he dealt with rings and compression. Strains credulity, but having owned a few in my youth they are like an English VW Bug and thrive on abuse and neglect.

This was before the urban myths were so trendy. Go figure.

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Gotta love the idea that someone actually did that! (probably home schooled on a farm because I actually had neighbor's as a kid who did s--t like that and were proud of it) I'll bet his butt cheeks puckered ever time he faced oncoming traffic and thought about the "temporary fix" he probably drove on till it cracked.

In the same vein, my high school best friend bought (from a farmer) a '55 ford with a 272 CuIn motor when he turned 16. It was a typical smog monster burning oil at a quart a tankfull, but as teens in the 60's we were used to that. When he saved up enough money to pull the motor for a rebuild we found that one of the main bearings had spun sometime in the past and the bearing shell had been replaced with a stiff thick piece of leather. The pan was the only thing on the motor that had ever been off and since it's gasket looked to have been in place for quite a while I guess the leather worked long enough to get some use out of the car and then sell it off to some dumb kid. Sure cheaper than a crank turn and new bearings so I guess that farmer was the smart one after all.

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