Thursday 22 December 2016

Timber for the body

Ash, and birch plywood to make the body.


Saturday 10 December 2016

Timing Gear

These are newly cast and machined timing gears, this particular gear goes on the crank. That's it, everything needed for balancing is ready bar a couple of studs. Full dry assembly next, then white-metalling and balancing.

Sunday 4 December 2016

Dynamo sleeve

The dynamo was in a post a few weeks ago, it's too small so a hollow cylinder has been cast which will be machined down to make a sleeve to hold the dynamo in place. It's out of sight thankfully!

Crank handle cone casting

There are three sizes of starter handle cone. I have two starter handles, but sod's law intervened so this is a new cone casting ready for machining. just behind it is a new radiator trunnion casting with the second one on the other side of the cross-shaft. Apologies for the blurry photo!


Rear hub

First rear hub complete.

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Bottom end bits

All the bits and bobs for the bottom end, for two engines. Getting closer and closer to balancing / white metalling / line boring...


Thursday 29 September 2016

Crankcase cleaning complete


The crankcase is now properly cleaned. New studs have been made and installed. Work is moving on to the flywheel and everything else that needs to be sorted before sending the whole lot off for white metalling.


Crank damper cleaning






Getting some vintage goop out of the crank damper. Once cleaned it worked perfectly.


Wednesday 21 September 2016

Assembling the mains for the first time.

Assembling the main bearings on a much cleaner crankcase.


Thursday 15 September 2016

Dynamo conversion, before and after

Dynamo conversion, before and after. Both cars (Riley 12/4 and Sunbeam 3-litre) have inline dynamos so the dynamo is in between the starter handle and the crankshaft.


Wednesday 14 September 2016

New dynamo

A dynamo made from a pair of Riley 12/4 dynamos bought for £35 years ago! It now needs to be sleeved to fit the housing. An actual twincam dynamo was never going to turn up. There was a design flaw and the water pump, if allowed to leak, would dump water into the dynamo housing.


Tuesday 13 September 2016

Sump casting date

Casting date from the cleaned sump.


Saturday 10 September 2016

More Auto Kleans





Two new Auto Kleans. A nice petrol one with (importantly) an unchipped, uncracked glass. And another which I have no idea about. I assumed it would be much larger, but now I have to try to find out what it's from. It's definitely an oil filter and it has the ratchet mounting on it. That is usually attached to the clutch linkage, so every time you press the clutch, it turns the handle a bit and keeps the oil filter clean. Small car or maybe a motorbike?


Friday 9 September 2016

Cleaning the crank case

Of course it isn't all exciting. Sometimes it's gently getting off years of accumulated baked-on Castrol R and filth without damaging anything!


Perot shafts finished

A finished perot shaft on a very dusty chassis. Also visible are a stainless steel hubnut, the dynamo housing casting and an unmachined block in the bottom right. It's great to see parts bought at different times from different people starting to come together.


New dynamo housing

This is the first new dynamo housing to be fitted since the 1920s. Nobody has ever managed to cast one since then. It took eighteen months to get the patterns and the casting process right, but they finally figured out how to do it. The first picture shows it clamped to the sump and crankcase after machining it to fit.

 

then drilling the first datum hole through from the sump


then after a certain amount of paper pattern making, then aluminium pattern making, then marking and drilling and measuring and checking and double checking and programming coordinates and centering....



Saturday 23 July 2016

Not mine, but the first new crank installed.

This is the first of the new cranks installed in a crankcase, not mine sadly, but my time will come!


New flywheel & rods

New flywheel & rods


Friday 22 July 2016

Silencer repair

Annabel is going to need a new silencer, but in the meantime... A "proper" vintage repair, done according to long-standing tradition, in Halfords car park, popping in and out of the shop to get extra bits as required!


Friday 15 July 2016

Rotax fusebox

A Rotax fusebox, I've never seen one before, not even on a car. It could be from the 20s but may be later. If anyone has another I have a good home waiting for it!!

Sunday 22 May 2016

Beaulieu Autojumble Spring 2016

Not much to be found, but I did manage to get a glass for a fuel filter to replace the 'orrid metal one. It will fit once it's ground down a couple of centimeters - it's nice thick glass!


More patterns ready for casting...

Patterns for the dynamo housing ready for casting.


Friday 5 February 2016

First backplate and rear hub

The first rear backplate and hub.