Atlas Imperial Diesel

[Dave C]

The club got a donation a few years back and were getting around to restoring it... thought u guys might like to see
4 cylinder Atlas Imperial common rail 4 cycle diesel from aprox 1925
Engine was stuck solid from sitting and water getting in. tool 80 ton press to get just one piston to move within its own cylinder
here are some pics

[Tom Scott]

Dave - That's really cool. What was it originally used to power? Displacement, horsepower? And what will it be used to power once operational, farm implements at shows? Thanks for giving us a peek. Maybe update this along the way, will be an interesting thread.

[JMotuzick]

Dave thanks for the update! Keep them coming for those of us working in Stamford in the cold!

Tom
The engine was the sole power plant at a button factory. It powered a line shaft that ran the entire place. It took over once the water wheel became obsolete. I'm not sure HP and displacement. Dave's father is getting it going with the help of our own engine mike! Once at the farm I'm guessing it's going to have a easy life. We are working on a engine barn, we have a 4 cyl Fairbanks and some smaller engines that will all live together. With all that power I'm not sure we will working anything hard!

[dag1450]

Wow

[Dave C]

Yea as Joe said it was stationary power in a button factory that made buttons from real alabaster coral from the islands. It replaced the water wheel... somewhere around 1925 ish... and at some point it was replaced with Power from the grid... and then sometime after the War plastic buttons came out and put them out of business instantly.

This engine is a 4 cylinder Atlas Imperial Diesel Model 4HS464

bore is 7.5 and stroke is 10.5 inches

4 Cylinders

H for heavy duty independent cylinder jugs

S for staionary.... this is still up in the air... it might be N for industrial

and .... 464 for

464 cubic inches of displacement PER CYLINDER!!!

that means this engine has 1856 Cubic inches of displacement total.... for a whopping 70 HP at 400 RPMS

The piston weighs aprox 80 lbs.... almost as much as an entire 12 HP kohler

[Dave C]

Few more pics... first one is a picture of the piston sitting on the counter with a farmall Cub piston next to it... note the farmall piston will fit in the wrist pin hole
next is a picture of the buttons this place used to make before they got the holes punched in them. we have one of the button machines that does that

[Dave C]

and a picture of the flywheel comming off.... weighs prob around 2000 lbs id say

[Dave C]

and here is the engines final destination. We so far have the foundation for the building 36' by 48' all set and the form work for the Atlas and its pto setup are done... wont be pouring concrete till spring

[Jeff in Pa]

Nice save As an old iron nut who volunteers at Rough & Tumble in Kinzers Pa, thanks for the save.

It may only be 70 hp but how much torque?

[BigMike]

Glad you guys are saving that!

What type of building did you pull it from, it looks kind of like someones home shop.

[Dave C]

The first 3 picture show where it came from... it was in a wood shed that was attached to the main industrial building.... a wooden structure built on rocks and bricks if i recall. right next to a pond with a damn and the damn runover runs under and through the building. when the waterwheel powered the line shafting. being close to a water source was key. ill see if i can find some pics of the building

[Dave C]

here is the building it came from... u can see the exhaust pipes in the foreground and the main building is in the back, the brick building

[Dave C]

here is a pic from the other side... the small overhand on the left is where the water would have exited the building when the waterwheel was running.... water still was kinda trickling through

[SWilliams]

Did you get one of the hole punch presses? Old buttons like that bring big $$ these days.

[Dave C]

we did get one of the machines that punches the holes.... not sure if it works or not

[BigMike]

A sad guess is that the buildings are going to be torn down?

[Dave C]

Not right away... the old lady that owned it was fixing it up... but i imagine once she dies and the daughter ends up selling the whole thing off to a developer im sure it will be the first to go. Although i dont think there is a ton of land there so maybe a private sale and someone would have a pretty nice shop!

[BigMike]

It looks to be rural and the building looks to be in pretty good shape.....maybe if we all think clean thoughts someone will buy it when it's for sale and make it into a cool shop......or even a house.

Congrats to your club for the luck of the aqusition and the effort put into securing the engine, getting it running and operable