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Tomo.T

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Everything posted by Tomo.T

  1. Mike kindly turned up the missing plug while I waited and suddenly we were clear to fit the sump. I had recently obtained some old stock automotive 3/8" Whit nuts from Australia and these were put to good use along with slightly less authentic locking washers. The engine has grown considerably with this latest addition and is now sealed apart from the locking bolts for the exhaust valves, the timing covers and the priming cocks.... oh, and the mag drive shaft which is making progress.
  2. Dunc has been keeping me busy of late, so there is not much to report on the J type, however work did commence on the ht tube before I left. This is an unlikely survivor, although the Oz climate has been kind to it, other problems were apparent. The poor old thing had been subjected to a a good beating with a blunt instrument at some time in its past life. This had left a number of 'dinks' in the tubing and bent one of the cast brass brackets out of shape. I first tackled the 'dinks' by inserting a suitably sized lucky off cut into the tube end and tapping it gently through. It was not possible to anneal the tube due to the soldered joint but luckily for me the tube was very soft and went back to its previous shape with no problems. Flushed with success, I then approached Stan about straightening the bent brass arm, which he was reluctant to attempt as it would probably break. He did give it a go, after annealing it twice, but he was right and it did crack, so he silver soldered the bits together and it's now very hard to see the join. Excellent work from Stan. A little more paint followed and that's another original bit saved for further service. Elsewhere, the oil filter tube had another clean by Stewart and is awaiting its plug, before the sump can be fitted and nutted up.
  3. All left hand shaded as original ( I hope ! )
  4. Thanks for the kind words, we're not quite finished yet as the design calls for a black outline to the lettering. We have therefore applied a precautionary coat of varnish to protect the gold leaf, before I attempt this.
  5. A little more progress on Dunc' s bus 24
  6. Further excitement arrived in the form of manifold gaskets from Dobsons (as recommended by Doc.) They are beautiful copies of the originals with a modern graphite /glass fibre filling to replace the dreaded asbestos. They were fitted and manifolds fastened, we will have to wait to see if they have successfully taken up the slight irregularities. The sump had broken out in a rash of blisters during its time in storage, maybe due to the variety of chemicals involved in its restoration. More rubbing down, filler and paint later, the sump is now ready to fit.
  7. There has been a fair bit of progress behind the scenes in the last month. Mike Lewendon has been keeping the CNC busy and has produced a lovely batch of top covers for the exhaust valves. These are now fitted in their respective pockets, after a bit of a struggle! It remains to sort out some reduced head locking bolts to finish the job. Mike also milled out a top cap for the steering arm ball joint, which is the missing link in the steering 'chain' and should mean functioning steering once fitted. Another milestone. received_491374015524027.mp4 I mentioned to Rosso in Australia that I was short of an oil pipe connector for the pump and he must have turned one up straight away, as it arrived on my doorstep in record time all the way from Oz ! Rosso also spotted a correct Simms magneto drive gear, which will replace the repro version I had. He also kindly sent this and I have spent some time on it already. Unfortunately the locking/ adjusting screw had more or less rotted away, but I had a replacement from the original........ which sadly didn't fit ! Engineering will be necessary!
  8. I have one for painting in the winter. Very effective, wouldn't be without it.
  9. Hi Toby, Infra red heaters are the way to go in a paint booth. They heat the objects not the air, so do not circulate dust.
  10. Thanks Dave, I had to source a cap, mine (typically) had a broken tower. I picked up two on eBay, one of which fitted ! Incidentally they clean up best with an application of brown boot polish !
  11. The opportunity was grasped to fit the mighty Simms.( Pics by Shaun.) Regular readers may remember this magneto came with the engine from Australia and was paired up with the lucky find of an impulse coupling or 'clicker'. This clever bit of kit holds the mag still against a spring whilst the engine is turned, then releases it just before ignition is due. The armature then spins round creating a much bigger spark than would otherwise occur, with the feeble efforts of the decrepit old fool on the starting handle. The SR4 X is really a product of the late 20's, but has the benefit of progress in development, and it fits ! However, some work will have to be done to match up the drive couplings, which don't. The mag had a thorough strip down and clean and is now a 'belter' in every sense of the word, producing a big fat blue spark at the slightest provocation.
  12. Thanks guys, I have one already which is much the same, and even has Thornycroft on it, but they are both next generation items and not quite right for a J. Having said that, I will probably use it unless I find a proper one.
  13. The oil pump has been reinstated after a last minute rescue by Mike and Stan. I won't go into details, it is far too distressing. Suffice to say it is back in place and working well. Also fitted up the primer tank for extra bling. The mag platform appears to support only the outer fixing holes, which I find rather odd, but it must have worked ok like that ? Next step is to get the sump and timing cover fitted , which will require some more nuts and bolts, usable originals are running low. Also have been running on vapour financially and need to get some work underway, so progress is at a halt for the moment.
  14. Here are some further hi def pics from Stan. The spark plug towers are the originals, except one, which was replaced by Mike Lewendon. The three originals were cleaned up by hand and young Ben Lewendon took on the locking rings and made a good job of them ! Cheers Ben. The exhaust valve caps are beyond repair and Mike is on the case with some replacements. Oil level gauge and breather are back on. Plus Rosso's oil pressure regulator. Looking good Dave ! T.B.C.
  15. Another burst of progress has occured and the engine is looking ever more lovely, as various trinkets have been replaced. I was warned to nip up the inlet and exhaust manifolds with the cylinder base nuts loosened, to insure alignment between the separate blocks . This was done, but no movement was detected and all the bits have cosied up nicely. I need to find some old style gaskets for these which I hope will take up any slight discrepancies. The originals were asbestos, with thin brass foil each side, so I need to find suitable replacements, in more socially acceptable material. Anyone have any suggestions please ? Stan has pinged me some fine detail shots which I will post separately as I am unable to get my different photo albums to play nicely together !
  16. Thanks, yes it's really coming together now.👍
  17. It's been a long time coming, but build up day finaly arrived and we had a pile of bits waiting to go. Fitting the pistons was straight forward enough, remembering to stick the base gaskets down first, also the Gudgeon pin retaining clips needed to be poised in position underneath their slots. With Stan on the fork lift the cylinders were gently lowered and the rings individually compressed by hand. There is a substantial lead chamfer, which helped considerably with this. The upper piston of the two was supported on wooden slats to start with and these were removed once the rings had engaged in the bore. Stan took some very fine engine pics and here's a selection to drool over ! Happy Easter !
  18. I arrived at the workshop to find Mike busy slotting the built up camshaft on his newly acquired CNC mill. The mill was enjoying it's breakfast and quickly produced the required slot. I replaced the gear (and the cam followers,) before refitting the camshaft into the crankcase, being sure to match up the timing marks again. This is an awkward procedure and the two bushes must be aligned to fit the locking screws as well. In the absence of a trained octopus, this took a while, but eventually everything was lined up and locked down. We celebrated with a trial run, with man power replacing internal combustion. This is a rather difficult instrument to play, so forgive the clonking about, but the proof is in the turning ! received_139140581406638.mp4 received_468684620999378.mp4 received_468684620999378.mp4
  19. No. 4 con rod has arrived back from his holidays and has rejoined the team on the crankshaft. Some problems were encountered settling in parts new and old and Stan took over the job for a bit of engine whispering. Stan discovered various problems, including mis placed shims, which had been individually fitted, but not marked to their original positions. This created a good puzzle, which was further complicated by slightly oversized big end bolts, causing pressure on the bearing cups and shims. Some 'easing' was carried out and one by one the big ends were made to revolve smoothly again. Once I had drilled and fitted the split pins, it was time to turn over the block ready for the long awaited engine build up. One of the camshafts is wanting attention to the oil pump drive socket. It has been welded up by Stan and is awaiting a good slotting by Mike Lewendon. As soon as this is done and fitted, we are on with the build up.
  20. The last batch of Miller acetylene lamps was supplied to the War Dept. in 1924, they are easy to identify as the year was embossed into the top vent, along with the WD and arrow. Unlike electric lamps the brightness could be adjusted by Turning up the gas.
  21. A lot of uncharted territory here and considerable differences from the 'Subsidy' model, which was in full production not long after this was supposedly built ? I wonder if it was an experimental model, (J 04) later sold off to the colonies ? Engine mountings are straight forward enough on later J types, all you need is some heavy 3 inch angle iron as shown here. The other side is just a 1" whit diameter pivot, which supports a bushed rocking bar between the two engine mountings, thus providing a bit of 'give' when the chassis flexed. If you have a 1 inch hole at this point in the chassis, that will confirm the engine mounting was the same. Otherwise it might have just had four angle plates, which have been replaced by lengths of wood for greater flexibility ? You are no doubt aware that your chassis has been cut short, presumably for 'timber jinking' Good luck with the restoration.
  22. On further reflection, The worm drive diff looks more like an early J type.
  23. I'm already in over my head tbh. I have seen pics of one other chassis with raised cross members in NZ, which is also unidentified. It's certainly pre war and quite rare I would think.
  24. I looked it up and the good book says L4 (30 hp) engines were fitted to H, early J and K models. The M4 was a longer stroke ( 6 inch instead of 5 ) which boosted output to a massive 40 bhp !
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