Portable may be a little bit of a stretch here, but hey, the thing is on wheels and the restorer rolls it into position. Yeah, we know. You could consider the compressors on a trailer and other as “portable” as well but we have never seen a hand roller style compressor this freaking big before. The engine sitting above the air tanks is a 1.5L single cylinder diesel and the compressor itself has three cylinders. This is a big unit and it’s really fun to see this first part of the process where the whole thing is pulled apart and the compressor end of things is brought back to life. The compressor uses a single throw crank with the three rods hanging off of it like a little version of a large radial engine.
It is rusty and crusty for sure and perhaps the thing we like most about the video is that this compressor is clearly going back to work in a factory or a shop somewhere. This is not just a can of spray paint and stick it in the corner type program. They are burning welding rod, they are re-ringing the pistons, and they are really making sure that this beast functions as good as new by the time they are done.
We’ll be back tomorrow with the engine build part of the program but you will see the motor torn apart. If you have ever wondered how beefy a one cylinder 1.5L diesel piston and rod is, you are about to find out.
