Cel

Thats a very nice lathe Andy, and an even nicer cabinet you made for it! I know that site, there are pictures of my treadle lathe in the Karger section. Just love belt driven machinery, one of our ongoing projects is a small workshop with a lineshaft. The guarding on the bandsaw was fitted by the previous owner, it is quite simple but it feels indeed a lot safer to work with!

Steve, we actually have no space left in the shed but somehow we always manage to find an empty spot when we find another item we cannot resist:-D

This evening I made new bushings for one cardan joint of the propshaft, the old ones were badly worn. These run inside a bowl that is partially filled with oil.

reaming to size and inline

ready to fit!

Marcel

Hello Marcel,

 

Just found this picture on Delcampe. Don't know if it's useful for your rebuild... )

 

Cheers,

Jan

That picture certainly contains some interesting details, thanks for posting it here!

We have started working on the body. A few months ago we made an offer on several woodworking machines. Last week the call came that our offer was accepted and last Saturday we went to remove them from the shop they were in for 50+ years. Today we used the planer and the band saw. We first cut holes in the long beams, then split them in two halves on the bandsaw and made the openings. We have enough old bolts with square nuts that were given to us by a good friend. More pictures will follow as we make progress!

Marcel

Having also reread the whole thread, there seems to be a comment about cutting down some oaks to use as material to build the body? Did I read that right, because I though oak was quite corrosive, in terms of timber?

 

Trevor

We had several nice oaks that we cut with our sawmill. Is it the wood itself that is corrosive to the steel? I am not that good in wood things, better with metal!

As for the impeller: I also think it might have something to do with too much cooling, and the thermo-siphon which works good. However, as they kept turning the grease cap on the water pump housing, it was full of grease so there was not much water that could circulate. Maybe just enough? I guess we will never know the details, if only these old things could tell their stories...

Regards

Marcel

David, see post 19 and 46 of this thread, that should make it clear.

Regards

Marcel

Got the engine running today!

It appears to be heavy enough on its own, so no extra support needed. I did not take a peak under the bonnet, there were so many things to see and time was limited. But it should look like this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]91263[/ATTACH]

Marcel

Spotted this fantastic Renault last tuesday. It was fitted after the war with a double winch for cable ploughing.

Marcel

We have made good progress, it won't be long before the engine is running. I had to make two new brackets in aluminium as one was broken and the other replaced by a steel shell. These keep the water pump in place and also have some kind of system to prevent the gland nuts from rotating. I still have to figure out what this looks like. The gland nuts were hand made as you can still see the scribing marks on them. Bottom end is nearly done as well, the oil pan will be fitted next. We are cleaning the radiator with a mixture of vinegar and salt, it works nice. While working on the radiator we found a small tag that was apperently fitted in 1928, probably after a repair?

Regards

Marcel

Thanks Andy, will probably do that. I am looking for long reach plugs although the old ones are short.

The valves are installed. I did not have to shorten the stems after grinding the valves and milling the seats as you can adjust the play with buttons in the follower. There is also a spring integrated so it will not knock on the valve stem. I also made the impeller for the water pump. The original one was probably bronze but I decided to make a steel one. Also the diff is in and the half shafts.

One of the next parts to tackle is the radiator. It does not leak but the cooling fins are rusted. Any ideas on how to clean and protect it? I was thinking of carefully pressure washing and then apply a coat of owatrol. Also, what would be the best procedure to clean up the brass?

Thanks, Marcel

Things are coming together slowly. The pistons and conrods are assembled and in the bores. These were honed to remove the glazing and are very clean now. We will put the block on the bed tomorrow so I can install the valves.

I have mentioned that the original flywheel and clutch were missing, they were probably removed because of the broken crankshaft and got lost. I hope I will find those missing parts sometime, and have decided to install a flywheel with disc clutch. I have machined an adapter to take the flywheel, and a shaft that screws into the adapter. A splined bushing will go on this shaft and from there on I'll have to make a short propshaft to the gearbox. Again, not original but it will have to do the job.

It is time to start looking at the spark plugs as well. These are of the type with the mica isolator. I have never looked at them very well, and have discovered yesterday that 3 of them are Renault plugs, the 4th is a Gurtner. Will see if I can get them to spark again which shouldn't be a problem but as they have M18 x 1,5 thread I can always install a set of modern long reach plugs. Here are the pictures.

Regards

Marcel

The adapter for the new flywheel

Splined bushing

This will be fitted to the clutch disc

I don't see a problem in fitting slighty larger gears as long as they match correctly at the same center distance. Also check on displacement volume, more teeth means usually a smaller tooth depth thus smaller displacement but a few percents should not matter. I like Tom's idea, you could also check on hydraulic pumps and maybe find a pair of gears that can be modified. The brass strip is probably an earlier fix?

Marcel

They come off a traction engine, the owner installed new sections.

Marcel

Roughly what did it cost to put these new 'tyres' on the rims - labour aside?

 

Nice job... Robert

Other than the crate of beer and a few bolts it cost us about 8 hrs of labour. The rims were pressed on the wheels by a friend who has a press that is heavy enough to do the job.

I have no idea why there is a hole in the letter G. The gearbox cover has the same logo in it (picture earlier in this thread) with the filler cap in the hole. The ones in France I have seen have the hole so I just copied it.

Marcel

if you can't find a bearing to suit exactly it might be possible to machine a modern bearing to size.

I haven't tried machining a bearing race, but I have had good results machining ballscrews (similarly hard) with CBN tips and a very high cutting speed.

(hard turning is more like single-point grinding)

 

We have used modern bearing althought we didn't need to machine them to size. We made an adapter to fit two bearings with the same ID.

The valve cover was missing. From a few pictures and dimensions taken at the Sochaux museum I made a drawing and had the cover and letters laser cut. It was then soldered together and the excess tin scraped away. It certainly will look good on the engine!

Marcel

Front wheel rims pressed on

Marcel

 

How did you get the sections to butt-up so closely - can't see a join anywhere?

 

I'm partial to Belgian beer. Shall have to see if I can acquire a crate and make new friends!

 

Cheers (sic)

 

Robert

The edges of the rims are a bit higher, when tightening up with the nuts in the center of the rim (and doing that in the right order) the gap between section and rim disappears almost completely. Whe chose for bolts and nuts because we did not want to ruin the thread when tightening things down with the countersunk bolts.

The tank wheels are a good source indeed. You could also split and open them up for the larger diameters.

Marcel

Hi Robert

To answer your questions: the sections came off a traction engine, but there are other sources like forklift trucks. They consist of steel bands with the rubber vulcanized on. The sections are bolted to the rims with countersunk M10 bolts. We first drilled the holes in the rims and started drilling and tapping the holes in the sections one by one. We used hexagon bolts and nuts to tighten them up as you can see in the picture above and replaced these again one by one with the countersunk bolts. We then cut the excess away with an angle grinder for the steel band and a sharp knife for the rubber. Next step was to put them on the lathe. We are fortunate to have this pre-1920 Bullard that once served at the Minerva factory. This was about the maximum diameter that it could take! As for the cost difference, we had quotes ranging from £ 500 to £ 900 (per wheel that is!) only for the vulcanization, lathe finishing work not included. The sections cost me a crate of beer. I must add that it was belgian beer

Marcel

after cutting the excess:

The front wheels needed new solid rubber as the original was loose on the rim. The rears still originall and in relatively good shape. After getting different quotes and prices from expensive to very expensive we found the solution when we picked up some solid rubber tyre sections last december. We broke down with the tractor unit and low loader on the trip, and we only got the equipment across the channel a few weeks ago. We rolled the sections to size and bolted them to the rims. As they were too wide we had to cut off the excess and put them on the lathe to machine the rubber. It turned out quite nice. They will be pressed on next week so we can fit the wheels.

Marcel

Never seen one like that, but the ones that were mounted on the car or truck do still come up once in a while. Many were produced by local blacksmiths, if you really want one I think it is not too difficult to make one yourself. Have you been looking in France already?

Marcel

The plastigauge sounds interesting, especially when you start with a bearing that 'fits' already. As you have seen I am machining the bearings of the Peugeot to the approximate size prior to scrape them in, so I have to measure them before I can start to scrape. From what I have heard a rule of thumb is 0.001" per inch diameter, or 0,01mm per 10mm diameter.

Merry Christmas!

Marcel

They are for sale since may of this year. I enquired about them but at that time he said he had an offer of 1900 €.

I have a trailer but haven't been able to find any info about it yet.

Marcel

A while back we wanted to take the steering wheel off but destroyed the brass nut that it was fixed with. With a hole saw we removed all the remaining brass and were able to pull the wheel off, it is a conical fit.

I ordered a piece of bronze last week and machined a new nut this evening. The thread is metric, M38 x 1,5.

Machining and threading

As my 'big' milling machine is still set up for machining the bearings, the little Gorton did the job

Parting off on the bandsaw

Finishing the convex/concave surface

A bit more polishing will be needed before it will be ready to fit

This is the one at the museum

Marcel

The single long broach is still common practice. I have an old Butler slotting machine, made in Halifax. With the right broach and a dividing head it would be no problem to make the splines. Will have to do that in the near future and let you know how I get on with it! Marcel

I have been busy machining the bearings and fitting them to size. One is about ready, two machined and the last one needs to be repoured. We took apart the steering box and it is in very nice shape. The leadscrew and the bronze nut virtually show no wear. Same for the sliding dovetails which connect the nut to the steering arm. Regards, Marcel

I would say the roller is a french Laffly with a two cylinder vertical engine. Marcel

This was the first time for me to pour babbitt, so I did what I thought was right. The core is made with a flange on the underside and turned at a 1° angle. I put a layer of soot on it and blocked the oil holes in the bearings. Then all the bits were heated to a temperature that you could not touch them anymore: the bearings for a good adherence of the babbitt and the core to prevent the babbitt from solidify too fast. When I removed the old babbitt from the shells, a thin layer remained so I did not need to 'tin' them. In a perfect world the cooling should be controlled so the babbitt can crystallize in an optimal way. The procedure with the soldering iron is not that difficult. Prior to doing this I had casted some babbitt bars from some old bearings that I saved. The bearing shell was thoroughly cleaned and slightly heated before adding the babbitt with the soldering iron. I am quite happy with the result after the scraping, although it has costed me a lot of elbow grease! Will post pictures in the weekend. Regards, Marcel