Eagle compressor repair

[Heavymetalmechanic]

I got my hands on an Eagle model PV02A wheelbarrow type gas driven compressor. The engine is a write off but I pulled the compressor heads and cylinders off and everything is serviceable. I was looking at a parts breakdown, and it did not show piston pin and connecting rod to crankshaft bearings, is this common on eagle compressors?
This is the link I was looking at:
http://www.eaglecompressor.com/Products/Compressor Pump Breakdown/TT55G-P.pdf

The con-rod and piston pins seem to have a lot of slop side to side, but does not seem to have any slap to them. I would prefer to do a full rebuild on this but do not see any point in digging into the bottom end if I can not replace those bearings. This will be going into service in my garage but will either be sold or given to a friend who needs air.

I would prefer to make my own gaskets and keep the price down on this, probably just clean everything up and hone the bores.

To summarize:
- Are the connecting rod bearings servicable?
- Do you have any stories/experiances with the contractor grade Eagle compressors that you feel like sharing?
- Would it be worth considering swapping this unit (12 cfm@100psi) for the Quincy model 214 (8 cfm@100psi) I am currently running. I have a lot more faith in the construction of the Quincy, but that extra 4 CFM would be handy.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

These are early Fu-Sheng units, and used by many different companies to build up house brand compressors. They were not bad for a cheap unit, not industrial grade, but a lot better than many other cheap compressors.

There are no con rod or small end bearings in these machines, but they do not suffer for it. It is common to run bare aluminum rods on crankshafts in compressors. Champion does this, Webster did this and so does Campbell Hausfeld.

If the big ends are out of spec, you can sand down the end caps to tighten up the clearances. They may be ok, some rods seem terrifyingly slack even when new on some machines. Get the clearance specs if you can and Plasticgauge them.
If nothing else, parts should be simple to find as these compressor pumps have turned up everywhere.

I'd pull the rod caps anyway to see if the pump had been run off-level. This can often lead to oil starvation to the big ends in a splash lube pump, which can be a problem with portable units.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

Thanks for the response. I had not considered just running bare Al on the cranks, that makes sense. I am waiting for an email quote for parts from my local supplier. If the price is reasonable I will do the rings and valve reeds, otherwise I'll just clean and hone it. Thanks again, I'll stick with my Quincy 214 for now.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

Heard back about parts, $40 a cylinder for each kit for rings and valves, so $160 right there. I was told a new complete compressor pump was only $290, so I'm just going to clean everything out and hone the bores. I sandblasted it at work during lunch on Wednesday and it won't take long to wrap up this afternoon.

Thanks again for the input, and kudo's the the folks at Eagle Compressors in Calgary, they were very helpful and I would recommend them in the future.