Howdy folks,
Thank you all very kindly for your replies. There are many good ideas coming back through this message thread, so it looks like I can solve many problems before they show up 
.
In the message below, I hope I have answered all of the good points that have been raised so far.
Right now, the project is in pieces all over the workshop. There are parts of it in my lathes, and other bits in the lounge. Hmmm, you guessed it - no carpets to worry about hehehehe.
Tomorrow, I will be making up the parts for the motorised clutch assembly. This will have a lateral travel of only a couple of millimetres, just enough to separate or unite the clutch plates.
The gear motor turns very slowly, so as to allow for gentle operation of the clutch.
Now, to answer the points raised by the good folks here:
Howdy Hiker:
The engine's oil pump may still be operational but the pressure can't rise, as I have removed the rocker gear from the cylinder head - without plugging the oil passages. Presently, I am relying upon the oil being splashed onto the bores by the pistons as they hit the oil's surface at BDC.
To protect the airlines from oil and water, I have made a separator. This is the first part of the air receiver circuit - and it collects unwanted liquids before they can enter the main tanks. The separator has a drain tap at the bottom, so I can manually discharge it.
The separator is just a 1 Metre length of heavy steel pipe with a much smaller one inside. Air enters the internal pipe and escapes into the bigger one through small holes near its end. The small pipe is 900mm long, so clears the floor of the bigger pipe by 100mm. Perhaps this could be of a better design, but it seems to work well as lots of water can be seen spraying out during discharges.
Howdy Henry:
Electrical generation occurs above the compressor machine bed. There is a F&P smart drive motor in the ceiling of the machine room. This is driven by a pulley on the final bearing of the downshaft, just where it passes through the roof. The F&P motor generates up to 400VAC in star mode. The 3 phase output is fed directly to my house, some 70 metres away. At present, the output voltage is not regulated, so I have had a few 230V appliances blow up!!
Talking of blowing up, I went to check the machine a couple of weeks ago. There was smoke coming out of the machine room vents, and no power being sent to the house. I found that the motor had 'cooked' 3 of its 42 coils. These had become so hot that they burnt their formers to a crisp.
It turns out that the 400VAC was a little too much for the insulation on the copper windings. Lesson learned .
I plan to use a much heavier flywheel on the engine, and perhaps another on the clutch assembly. These should help to reduce those kickbacks, I hope.
The pullies on the output diff are being used for the compressor at present. Eventually, they will be driving a large generator on the other half of the machine bed. Right now, I am getting so much power from the F&P genny, that I often need to shut the turbine down .
Howdy Norm:
The idea of a variable transmission seems like a good one, This could be handy where the pressure in the tanks dictates the rate of engine speed. Faster for low pressure levels, and slower for high levels of tank pressure. Doing this, should make life easier for the turbine. In consideration of this idea, I pulled an automatic gearbox to bits. I found lots of really neat parts, but they aren't really suitable for this application.
I had hoped I might find a planetary gear system in there. This would have been easie to user, and would have allowed me to alter the ratios between compressor and drive system. Another idea came to mind though - as the pressure rises, simply isolate some of the cylinders from the system.
This would make it easier for the turbine to keep turning the engine, errr - compressor 
, as the pressure neared maximum levels.
Right now, cylinders 2 and 3 are in use. These are in phase, and are working together through a single pair of check valves.
I hope to balance the load a lot better soon. By using all 4 cylinders, I ought to get a smoother running system.
A couple of days ago, I measured the displacement of a single cylinder - it works out to be just a little over one imperial mouthful .
All up, I should get 1300cc of displacement per revolution at atmospheric pressure.
Howdy Electrondady1:
The engine is essentially complete, except for the timing parts in the cylinder head. All 4 pistons are working, but only #2 and #3 are being used for air compression. Having all pistons in service seems like a good way to go, as this should smooth out the engine's motion and provide greater air quantities per revolution.
The oil paths in the engine, are still open. Oil pressure is likely to be zero. Hopefully, the bores will be protected by oil that is splashed onto them from below by the motion of the crankshaft.
I could probably test this by running the compressor for a long time with its cylinder head removed. If the bores remain oily, then all is okee donkee. If they dry up, it's back to the drawing board.
Howdy Wooferhound:
I have just been out with the camera, and taken a few shots of the tower and turbine. This is my biggest and most ambitious wind machine, so far. The view from the top, is really quite nice too .
These pics show the rotor, tower top diff, downshaft and bearings, machine room, generator, liquid separator tank, air pressure gauge - and a nasty oil stain on the machine room floor - - oops!
You'll see that the working direction is fixed. It doesn't follow the wind, as the wind here is directed by the shape of the valley I live in. That's kind of lucky for me, as it makes things a bit easier.
The 20 foot dia turbine uses sails. They are of a triangular shape and are sleeved over the spars of the rotor. These sails are quite experimental, so are likely to change with time. It will be clear to the observer that these could be made to deliver far more power than they presently do, by simply altering their basic shape.
That will come later, once my greed for power gets the better of me .
A reasonably cool thing about the sails is that the turbine always spins in the same direction, regardless of the wind direction. Due to the shape of the valley, the wind hits either the back or the front of the rotor. The sails deform forward or backward, and deliver the same level of thrust to the rotor.
The sails have been is service for 3 months, in some severe storms, and are not showing any signs of failure. Yippee .
Having windmills on my mind, I find myself looking at cars and other mechanised transporters as potential supplies of windmill parts. Hehehe, just ask my little collection of dead cars, they'll tell the story .
Howdy Gordy:
Not having electricity here, I haven't had the chance to try a smaller version of the project with a B&S engine. I would like to have tried making one with an induction motor to spin a 3 to 5 HP engine. Altering the workings of the valves would have been a grand idea for improving the volume of air production, that's fer sure.
The idea of light springs on the valves in my present compressor project came to mind, but I discovered that they were not in very good order so I opted for external valving at the spark plug port. Perhaps I could have repaired the ones in the engine, but I was kind of impatient to see if it worked. External valves do have a useful advantage over internal ones, they are easier to replace when they fall over .
Howdy Nothingtolose:
The check valves that I have been using are a little pricey, but I like them because they are of good quality. The 'peace of mind' value of the project comes to the fore here. These valves are rated for 90 degrees C, which is important - as heating is going to be greater at higher speeds.
The jolts that are coming from the engine, are due to the small amount of high pressure air that remains in the short lines that lead to the valves. As opposed to the air in the tanks, it's actually the little bit of air between the engine and the check valve that's causing the problem.
This small volume of air is pushing the engine forward, just after passing TDC. The movement is only 1/4 rev, but is enough to generate a considerable shock wave.
I have a potential solution for this, one that is based on a set of rotary shock absorbers that ride along a length of the coupling chain.
Oil flow in the engine is likely to be non existent, as I have pulled numerous parts out. I'm presently pinning my hopes on 'splishy splashy technology', like that of standard air compressors. Only time will tell if that was a good idea.
Howdy Terry5732:
I have happy memories of those emergency tire filler valves. What a clever idea they were. Yup, these days, folks would be wondering where to stick it. "What's a spark plug?", "Don't you mean Sparklet Bulb?" hehehe. I guess it's a lucky thing that little 12V air compressors are so cheap .
A little 12V compressor pump attached to a speedy little turbine could be quite a good little runner. Being a little leaky, the turbine shouldn't have too much trouble getting it started, so it could be quite easy to build.
having a supply of compressed air is such a handy thing. LP tanks are a great storage method too. I have often filled mine up, and used it in awkward places on the farm to get a job done.
For air valves, I seem to feel that the spring loaded ones are my favourite. They are quick acting and seem to last a long time.
Now, if I gut the old Johnson outboard, I'll have to walk across the water. It works, but only when the water is frozen hehe.
Howdy Dudevato:
I just love messing with mechanical and electrical / electronic thingies. They are endless fun, and you can make all sorts of really neat stuff of the things that other folks throw away. Ahhh, the Wombles, they had the right idea .
The 2 cylinders that I am using are 2 and 3. They are in phase, and I am using the double volume of air to charge the tanks. I could have used 1 and 4, but these are so far apart that I would become exausted by the repeated trips between them hehe.
Eventually, I want to use all 4 cylinders. This will provide greater volumes of air, and charge the tanks faster. Ohhhh, I just love power .
I'm just a little more than 100 miles away from your location. If you turn towards the South, once you get to Australia, you'll get to New Zealand. That's where this mad scientist / mechanic calls home .
I hope to be putting some more pics up soon. Once I get familiar with the method of picture posting.
Each pic will have a short description with it, so as to fill in where the pic falls short.
Righto - I'm off to get the pics out of the camera. Wish me luck, this could get messy hehehehe.
Howdy Russp:
Dead air volume in the compressor is my worst enemy at the moment. Perhaps I could modify the pistons, so as they take up almost all of the space in the cylinder head. This would surely raise the compression ratio and reduce the severity of those kickbacks that are plaguing this project.
I like the idea of turning the compressor into a two stage one. It should be quite easy to try out also. Hmmmmm, just imagine the deafening bang as my air tanks explode. Ahhh, I better add a pressure relief valve to my shopping list .
Howdy Allan:
There is a little bit of offset in the sections of the driveshaft. It's not great, but is hopefully enough to keep the needles in motion.
The oil pump is probably not working any more, as I have pulled parts out of the engine - such as the rods that the rockers run on. I'm hoping that the pistons will lubricate the bores by picking up oil from the sump. I added lots of oil, so they tend to splash into it at BDC.
Hmmm, the idea of turning the engine on its end is an interesting one. Presently, I have it in the horizontal position, to make everything easier to do. The extra diff is there to feed future machinery, as yet un decided.
My initial idea was to use weak springs on the valves, so the engine could suck them open. Sadly, the valves are a bit too rough to be trusted for that purpose 
.
Those air injection devices sound pretty neat. It's just a pity that great stuff like that gets thrown away. Oh, if only people could realise that we are all driving 'perfectly good air compressors' that are disguised as cars .
Howdy Wind4reg:
The air compressor project has been rummaging around in my mind for a long time. Finally, it has had a chance to come out of my head . Since I don't have electricity here, my diesel generator has to provide the power for the compressor. It's heavy work, and the compressor gets hot when used for extended periods.
Now that I have a way of storing wind in a bottle, my diesel genny can have a well earned rest .
