andypugh

You are more than welcome to use ours, the only problem is that it is in Yorkshire, and you aren't.

You are going to want one of these for machining the inner radius: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lorjlRbUi9B2VQy0Cd0KcNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink (already used for the same job on Jez) The alternative, of course, is a big lathe and a fixture on a faceplate, but the horizontal borer is a much simpler setup as you have 3 degrees of freedom rather than just the one.

It could work very nicely with my rivet squeezer: http://bodgesoc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/hydraulicrivetsqueezer.html In theory you could probably re-rivet the existing heads. (wouldn't re-swell the body though)

One of the nice things about Ben's new house is that there is scope for lineshafting. I wonder if anyone ever made a food blender for overhead belt drive?

Hmm, OK. I guess you wouldn't be wanting all the wiring loom and ancillary parts that are on the back of the panel? I will bring it home with me next time I visit the folks and look at weights and things. It's likely to be a couple of weeks.

I was hoping that the new owner would pay the postage.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cvU8_P79gZSaevJdkxRUChc7VCAtwh2s5FgFYEWXI3g?feat=directlink It's been in my dad's barn for decades, and is very dusty. I think it is OK underneath. There is quite a lot of wiring loom attached too, all braided wire and waterproof bullets. FTAGH

My friend is in Colchester, which interestingly is where the UK distributor seems to be. http://www.bolt-buster.co.uk/index.html#1 One picture shows a plug-in power supply. It is interesting how the US price of $369.99 (£232) becomes £395 on the UK web site, then £495 when added to the cart, then £594 when VAT is added.

A friend has just bought himself one of these: http://www.boltbusterinc.com And appears to be impressed. Probably of more use on newer stuff, actually, as I have never known an old Whitworth nut to not eventually unscrew, but the UNF threads on old Mini's seemed to permanently fuse the moment they left the factory.

The most problematical problem is the tyre debonding from the hoop. You then get a lot of heat and wear in the cavity formed, and the rubber slowly erodes out leaving quite a big void (something you can fit your hand into) which effectively becomes a big flat-spot when at the bottom. We have also had some problems with self-amplifying flat-spots on the outside of the tyre too.

I was a little surprised to find myself travelling behind a mobile solid tyre press the evening. It might be worth knowing that they exist. The URL on the van was http://firstindustrialtyres.co.uk

Why? It doesn't really matter exactly what the original composition was as long as you can achieve the same, or nearly the same, mechanical properties. Silver Steel is just a readily-available oil-hardening tool steel, and probably has a better balance of properties than the steel that Thornycroft used. The fact you can buy it from Cromwell on a Saturday morning is just a bonus. If one wanted to be really careful it would be possible to hardness-test the originals and temper the new ones to match. Not that there is anything much wrong with pressing a sleeve into a standard bearing to recreate the same function. I will point out for Steve's benefit that if you can get 120m/min (or more) on your lathe at the diameter in question then a CBN insert will machine bearing steel. In a rather spectacular way, and to a lovely finish. That DSG mentioned earlier would be a great candidate for that.

It's just machined and heat-treated steel. How hard can it be? A lump of Silver Steel machined and heat-treated would almost certainly last well enough for a vehicle not actually driving two shifts all week. (I could have a go if you want, but I suspect that Steve will spot the thrown gauntlet at this point :-)

With the White and Poppe engine on the N-type we normally set the crank crosswise and leave the piston skirts sat on the crank webs as we lower the blocks into place. Then push them up into the bores and engage the big ends. This only works with flat-sided crankshafts though.

Lincoln. http://www.jointineuk.com/products.php

I don't think that there is any requirement for grip in the case of a tank wheel, though? I don't think that usage as a tank wheel and as a road wheel are 100% equivalent. I don't think there are many people who have travelled as many miles as me on solid tyres (other than other members of RCSMC). We find that heat build-up in the tyres at sustained high speed (30mph) is a problem that none of the manufacturers seem to consider. Mainly because solid tyres are not legally allowed to go that fast...

I think that Flandersflyer might have been intending to joke about the Stihlsaw, but actually I have found that you can be really controlled with one. It's a bit like cooking where a big knife is more controllable than a small one, the inertia of the tool can be useful to control twitchiness. I get really quite good at cutting out stone mullion windows with a Stihl saw in a previous project. If I still had one I suspect that it would have been my go-to tool for the angle iron here.

One of these might be better at preventing the new bearing spinning: http://www.euro-bearings.com/tol1.htm Forget that, they need 2mm, not 0.2mm.

My reason is that I couldn't bear to be paying £30 a month for a set of gas bottles that got used twice a year. It was bad enough paying for the TIG argon, until I eventually decided to front up the £160 for an Albee: http://www.albeegascylinders.com

If I played your game I think I would have been unable to resist buying a plasma cutter. Even though I don't play your game, I still keep nearly buying one.

Is there any indication that it had an impulse coupling originally? Or maybe a secondary ignition system (like Jez has)? I only see one set of plugs, though, so I assume not.

If you don't already know about it: http://www.lathes.co.uk is a marvellous site. I have an old lathe as an "ornament" in my living room: http://bodgesoc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/rivett-lathe-stand.html

He's taking his life in his hands running beaded-edge tyres at such a low pressure!

I know this isn't the right place, but there have been a few updates to this, including a DIY magneto rewind.

I actually found the place without too much trouble having spotted the tiny "WWI" sign in Cold Norton. It was interesting to look at the Fiat. The quality of engineering as a level above that of Dennis, with proper pressurised engine lubrication (and feed pipes to the little ends, even) and ball bearings everywhere including the wheels. I wonder if it is worth looking at mobile induction heating equipment to straighten the rear stub axle? You might be able to heat it in-situ then pull it forward with a Tirfor. On the subject of your clutch mechanism, I do rather think that the "horns" on the otherwise-pointless brass ring are likely to be for a mechanism like this on the Dennis: https://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/rcsmotor/wp-content/uploads/clutch_puller-300x273.jpg