Need info on Stover DV2

[John Newman, Jr.]

A friend of mine just got a Stover DV2. Previous owner says it came out of a boat. Unit appears complete and turns over. One exhaust valve seems to be leaking a little, but might just be carbon on the seat. Can anyone tell me what HP these were rated at and the approximate date based on the serial number - VE232682
Before pulling the head, I would like to know if a head gasket is available for these motors.
Pictures are not the best, but show it in the condition it is in as it came in the door.
Thanks,

[ar2stp48]

From Wendel's book on Stover, DV2 began production in 1934 and 2142 units were built. Retail was $125 and radiator cooling was standard. Your serial number is a 1936 model.

As to a gasket, you will probably have to make one.

Good luck and happy cranking

Paul

[Elden DuRand]

John:

I'm not a Stover DV-2 expert but I did restore one a few years ago. Have a look at the article on my web page. Click on "Cute As A Speckled Pup".

Take care - Elden
http://www.oldengine.org/members/durand

[ar2stp48]

Elden, that is a nice resto.

Had a little more time to look at the pictures you posted; that flattened pipe muffler is original. Love the tabs to short the plugs and kill the engine.

Happy cranking
Paul

[John Newman, Jr.]

Don't know if the flattened pipe was an attempt to quiet it down or if it simply got that way by being bashed around over the years.
The metal tabs on top aren't for shorting out the plugs - Too heavy to be flexible. I think they may have been make-shift radiator brackets at one time. I had a chance to look a little deeper into it today. Mag should work if I can get the points cleaned up. Impulse snaps nicely. Carb seems to be OK at first glance. Clump of mud (mud dauber nest) filled the elbow from the carb to the manifold. Does not appear to ever have had a fuel pump like Elden's has. Missing the fan assy. Has a chain sprocket on the flywheel end of the shaft. Don't know what that would have driven. Maybe it was used in a boat at one time, but it probably started out on something else....

[Bill Geyer]

Hi John,
Nice engine. There were some engines that used a flattened pipe for a muffler, the only one I can think of right now is Allis Chalmers.

[KidDynamo]

If it really was in a boat, it would have been pretty easy to raw water cool it with a belt driven pump through a sea suction and valve. Maybe even a strainer too. You're pretty far from salt water so that's okay!

[John Newman, Jr.]

In my original post I asked about a head gasket for these engines. The gasket on this engine definately needs to be replaced. I am planning to get a quote from Gaskets To Go (a Stak sponsor) for copper sandwich type. A very similar gasket that they have made for old Onan W2C series generators run about $25 + shipping. Hopefully these would be in that same price range. While the price per gasket would probably stay the same, a small savings would be likely by having several shipped at once. If anybody would want to 'Get in on the action' send me a PM. This is not going to happen overnight, so a bit of patience will be required......

[John Newman, Jr.]

I received a quote from Gaskets To Go for head gaskets for the Stover DV2. Got prices for steel-reinforced composite with steel fire rings ($12.95) and copper sandwich with copper fire rings ($18.95). Both of these prices are + shipping. These prices are very reasonable in my opinion, but which gasket is better for this application? The one that came off seems to be the steel-reinforced composite type, but does not appear to have any fire rings.
Personally, I am leaning towards the copper sandwich type....
Let me know if there is any interest in these and I will order several.

[OTTO-Sawyer]

I think those are Excellent price quotes for the head gaskets. Either variety should work ok for you or they wouldn't be making and selling them. If there's enough of the original left to gauge the thickness of it, you might want to contact them again and see which is closer to the original once it's compressed. I'm guessing the copper would be a little thinner which would raise your compression ratio a little which is fine and dandy if you're going to hook the engine up to something that would give it a good workout, but if you're just going to run it at shows, then the lower compression (thicker gasket) will run better for you at low speeds & no load.

I'm guessing your "spark plug kill switch tabs" are the remains of the gas tank straps... Not heavy enough to support a radiator, and unless there's a fuel pump that I didn't notice, then it would be gravity feed with the tank mounted above the engine like that.

I also doubt that it was a boat motor with that exhaust arrangement.... Pipe's too short to go out anywhere, and I don't think you want all of the exhaust fumes in the boat with you, let alone risk it burning a hole in the bottom of the boat in that position....

[Andrew Mackey]

The original head gasket is a carbon/asbestos gasket. One with a metal seal ring should work well, and probably would stand up better than the original! Blown original gaskets seem to be a buggaboo with the DVs I have seen 3 with the same problem, including one I bought several years ago. A couple of thousandths will not make much difference to compression on this engine Compression ratio is about 5:1! The flattenned exhaust is seen often as well. Fairmont used it on their engines as well.
Andrew

[John Newman, Jr.]

I have ordered 4 of the copper sandwich type gaskets for this motor and will post the 3 extras on engine ads once they get here...
The flattened pipe may be correct, but I'm putting a real muffler on it. If it were MY engine, I have a NOS Nelson that would go on it - Just like the one on this generator:

But since it is not mine, it is getting an old generic 1"NPT muffler like you would see on a Kohler.
I received some pictures showing the fan & mounting parts so I can try to fabricate a reasonably close copy (Thanks Elden & Frank)
This engine is not a top priority right now, though, so it will only get worked on here & there as time permits. Once I get the 'Hot' job finished I can put more / better effort into it.

[OTTO-Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Andrew Mackey

...A couple of thousandths will not make much difference to compression on this engine Compression ratio is about 5:1! ...
Andrew

I agree a couple thousandths wouldn't make any difference at all, but .030-.050 would be the same as milling the head to raise the compression. I don't know how much difference there is between the composite gaskets and the copper sandwich ones once they're compressed, that's why I suggested checking on it.

IF there were a BIG difference between them, I would play it safe and check the clearance between the head and the valves when they're open too, to make sure they don't hit. I'm not real familiar with this engine, but flat heads in general, don't always have a lot of clearance between the valves & the head.

If you've already restored several of them, I'll take your word for it though...

At only 5:1 compression ratio though, even if it did raise it to 5.25:1 or 5.5:1 you'd hardly notice the difference