Doc

Austinlite generator, Drummond lathe, Peerless chassis. Unless I'm mistaken. Looking for a 4-cylinder Austinlite generator like the one in these pictures for our Leyland workshop. Andy Thanks for sharing!

Hi Doug. We have the magneto (Thomson Bennett). Yes, the engine does turn and has bucket loads of compression so ought to run. I had a rummage on my carburetor shelf but haven't anything that will fit.

Not all workshops were fitted with Austinlite generators. Some had sets from the Standard Motor Company, others by Douglas of Kingswood. So what do you suppose has recently surfaced on our favourite online auction site? WW1 Douglas generator engine. Bearing a date - 18th March 1918 and an Army Service Corps requisition number - 3340 The quick-witted amongst you will have peered through the gaps under the cylinders and spotted the curiously-foreshortened base. Unfortunately the rest of the base casting has been cut off. So we are missing the dynamo, fuel tank, radiator, carburetor. Going back to the first image, there's some metal-loaded epoxy filler been skimmed onto the sump to the right of the oil pump. This lines up with a long vertical drilling to the right of the timing case. Any ideas? There's evidence of a magneto stop switch having once been fitted; alas that's gone too. So... if anyone has drawings, photographs, any further details, please post. Doc

A quick Austinlite update. The damaged cylinder has had a new valveguide fitted also an insert to replace the damaged valve seat. Cylinders have been honed, water jackets de-scaled and various wrung off studs drilled out and re-tapped. Oh and painted. Dobson's have made new copper-(non) asbestos gaskets and Jon kindly made four new valve caps (the originals were in a bit of a state!) I've also found time to repair the cover plate for the magneto drive. New metal was welded on where two of the mounting lugs had been broken; I turned a mandrel and mounted the plate in the lathe before skimming the face. Afterwards, the lugs were filed to shape. Get "Woolpit Steam" out of the way and hopefully we'll have time to put a few more bits back onto the engine.

Front forks, suspension, tank look similar but looking more closely I concede that the engine is not the same.

https://cybermotorcycle.com/marques/sunbeam/sunbeam-1914-1918.htm I was thinking of the 1916 model with the MAG engine.

Sunbeam?

Not sure what happened there... I was trying to type most pictures show a metal beading strip running across the top and down both sides.

The modern approach would be biscuits and glue. What might they have used? Tongue and groove? Dowels? Most pict

Steve, Please see page 11 of the Karrier WDS blog for details of orbital welding. Basically, the two work pieces are held in alignment in a jig while the welding electrode orbits the joint. I imagine this would have been done by hand in the Peerless factory. Regards, Doc.

Steve, I wonder if they were orbitally welded, with the small hole being drilled to relieve pressure. By "eye of faith" there is a ring discernable on all three parts in the 2nd photograph; this may indicate the position of the weld, or the heat affected zone. Expect corrosion rate to be different to that of the bulk material. Large drilling might be to match the wall thickness of the selector end to that of the tube. I would probably make them like this today; I'm not sure if Peerless would be in a position to do this 100 years ago. Doc.

Indeed. Fuse wire passes through the tubular tufnol body, loops round the brass screws (that also clamp the brass connectors to the fuse body) and is retained by the knurled terminal nuts. Doc.

In a break from tradition I'm not on a speeding train; I'm writing this from the comfort of my armchair. This is the culmination of many weekends work, punctuated by the need for some vital pieces of tooling and waiting for them to be delivered by our favourite online retailer. Most recent in this category were a 1/16" slitting saw and a 12.5mm reamer. Anyway, enough of this rambling... With the 4 jaw chuck fitted to the lathe it was time to start turning brass Next, transferred to the milling machine to drill the various holes After drilling and reaming the holes, it was time for the slitting saw. Next, a quick paraffin wash to remove swarf and cutting compound, then the fun bit: assembly. Now: don't they look lovely!

Elsewhere, this has been a weekend of heavy lifting. In lieu of a 4 cylinder 8kW Austinlite generator, this 2 cylinder set has been acquired and is in the process of restoration. One of the two cylinders was badly scaled up; this one has a burnt exhaust valve seat and broken valve guide so is away being fixed. With a long weekend, a break in the weather and the neighbour's forklift available, it was time to lift the set into place in the workshop. One of the two wooden pillars had to be removed first. Then the set was lifted into place, supported on blocks. Then by taking the weight first at one end, then the other, we were able to remove the blocks, lowering the set to its final position.

Another speeding train; this is getting to be an expensive habit. Two long weekends have afforded the opportunity to get all manner of jobs done. Karrier wise, the seat box has been placed in it's correct position on the chassis, as testified by the correspondence of the holes with their respective features on the petrol tank. Not sure what this little chap is doing here... After a bit of fettling the door pillars are fitting a lot better. Attention has now turned to fitting the outer rails that support the ends of the floor boards.