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We were caught out by the snow last year and had to rush around getting the snow blade out of storage. Joseph wanted us to be prepared this year just in case we get snow. He had made a video of the preparation

Well, perhaps just a subdued British 1920s refurb ! I'm hoping I'm not tempting fate here by starting this before I am confident it can be saved and bring back to working order, but I have reached a point where I am reasonably confident. The intention is not just to keep this a mystery 'til near the end, but to document the challenges of working on what can only be described as an old garden sculpture that used to be a machine. I reckon that this machine had a useful life of about 7- 10 years from early 1922. Thereafter, it was abandoned and left outside for at least 20 years with only the oil laden dirt to protect it. It had later (in the mid 50s) been moved to inside an old van and stored there until it saw the light of day back in Sept 18. Always been in the original purchaser's family possession until then. Being of the ilk that likes a challenge, this may be harder than I've been used to in the past. The engine is obsolete and I have no parts information for it, or the machine's frame. I have acquired some excellent info on the engine and carburettor and has allowed me to progress with checking wear tolerances and set up. I make no apologies for all the detail in the thread, as I hope it may be of use to anyone who also attempts to tackle an old Villiers engine etc. Work began on the engine to see if it was salvageable. This is the Villiers MkV 269cc 2 stroke of 1922. It is the engine version that was first to use the flywheel magneto patented around 1920 by Villiers. Very simple and effective at that time- Known as the large flywheel type Magneto (8 1/2" dia or 216mm), the engine had undergone several revisions since it's inception in 1913. Designed originally for motor bicycles, this one has a variable timing Armature back plate, but has no use for this machine's application, as the ignition timing is for TDC!. Flywheel is matched to this Armature Plate having identical numbers stamped on them. Condition of the engine externally was badly corroded Fins etc on most upper parts, as you will see in various pics. Internally was pretty dirty and no evidence of ever having been de-carbonised as it had a very thick layer inside the piston. Obviously the rings were seized after about 80 years- This engine, being very early 1922 was still fitted with 3 Rings. Later 1922 engines appear to have only 2 at the top?. Production of this engine ceased in September of '22' . I had suspected the wear in this engine to be quite bad, as it was designed to be upright and not horiziontally mounted, but was surprised that it was reasonably good as cleaning progressed. Years of oily dirt helped to keep the corrosion down in certain areas which can be seen in this pic- Note:- the chain was fitted to provide restraint while undoing the Crankshaft nut to remove the Fan. Once the engine was liberated from the frame, the internals were dismantled. Piston gudgeon (wrist pin) pin is the 'Drive In/Out' type and locked with Cotter/Spit pins. With this removed I found serious wear to the pin and con rod 'Small End' bushing. The cause being no oil hole visible to allow lubrication!. Having been blessed with access to a donor engine of the later type (2 piston rings), I obtained a good and little worn gudgeon pin, but had no option other than to make a new 'small end' bushing. I put that to one side while further evaluation was made. Cylinder and it's bore was cleaned and looked quite good considering and maybe just a hone required. Despite virtually no scoring in the bore or the ring faces, the wear limit of the ring gap is excessive and really needs new ones and a hone. Piston is good. Donor engine bore etc are poor condition. Valuable information came by the way of old editions of 2 different books by motor cycle enthusiasts of the 30s onwards, namely Cyril Grange & B.E Browning. Between the two books, I was able to extract all the max wear tolerances and most procedures. I did have a problem finding the best way to remove the large brass retaining disc/washer that retained the Armature Plate. It also appeared distorted or cup shaped - I was also concerned about the wear marks from the Flywheel on the armature plate's face, just visible top L/R of pic above. Disc/washer was a press fit onto the Crankshaft, so I went carefully and used 2 small levers to evenly prize it away with the expectation of finding an oil seal of some type behind it, only to find nothing!. Never had any oil seal fitted and no sign of leaks etc!!, all metal running fits. I reckon the cup shaped look of the washer was from strain of some kind and should be flat?. At the same time, I had fears of the Lock Screw at the back of the Plate being totally seized, as it only has a screwdriver slot, or what was left of it- I found the heftiest flat bladed lever I could use and to my surprise after a little of my releasing fluid, it unscrewed smoothly and the plate could be removed exposing the corrosion and rot- The list of jobs was gradually increasing the more I delved, and the damage from it's last runs was appearing. I tested the HT Coil using ohms resistance just to endorse it was dead, found there was still continuity in the 2nd winding, but only had half of the normal resistance. Going new anyway. modern version of this pre WW2 HT Coil is available, as well as the HT Lead, but not cheap. So by this point, I knew what was needed, what could be done and obtained to get this running again. ......soon to be cont'd.

Despite the weather I still nearly finished this project at the weekend

This is a XL-102 Automatic, its a 1970 saw weighing 11 pounds and has 57cc with auto oiler and manual over ride. These were only made in 1970 and 1971 I have one from both years. I couldn't get NOS decals so I had to do the best I could. Still need to install the carb and find a appropriate spot on the shelf. Last picture is what the saw looked like before

Well, I hope it provides some reading entertainment for you Gents. Afraid a simple 'Oily Rag' refurb has escaped me again Norm. The cylinder had to have the various bits removed from it. Luckily, the completely blocked Decompression Valve relented ok and the bypass tube plug in the head undid, but the eroded exhaust flange nuts had to be cut and split- While still dealing with the Cylinder bits, I had to start searching for somewhere to have new Rings made. A few hours interweb searching later, I'd found reference to a restoration of a 1922 CWS Federal Motor bicycle. It had the same engine as this one and reference was made to an engineering firm that did all the work including making new Rings!. So I fired off an enquiry and received a good reply with price estimates for each item of work, i.e, a cylinder hone and 3 piston rings to fit. Long story short, I built a strong protective box to transport the parts and to return them in it- Disappointed to say the least after receiving an email saying 'all done' and sorry for the cost/charge as was more difficult than he expected!. When it arrived, all they had done was to make one piston ring!. They left the 2 old rings on which I sent for their pattern reference, did not hone the bore and charged double for one ring. So with fingers burnt again (as some here will know) from remote commission work, despite endorsements, my faith in British engineering firms has diminished completely and will now only deal with 'face to face' arrangements. No option but to proceed and have faith that the wear, although greater than stated limits, will be ok for it to run ok. The point being that it has been fully de carbonised and so loses some assistance the carbon can offer in compression retention. Onward's we go, and started the servicing of the De-Comp valve. Solid with carbon and parts rusted away. Cleaned up and made new clamping screw for the lever pivot collar and pivot pin- Valve seat and face cleaned up ok and only needed lapping with scrapings from p600 emery and 'T' cut. New valve nut, 1/16" cotter/split pin and will have new copper washer. Lever pivot hole egg shaped, so bored it out larger and fitted a bronze bush (not in pic). Next job was to obtain the correct type of bronze rod for the small end bushing................................... T B Cont'd

Just in case anyone is wondering, progress came to a halt after Christmas, due too a refurbishment of the kitchen. This meant the workshop became a storage/assembly shop. And as stuff went into the house, things came out and into the workshop. Hopefully all will change, in the workshop at least, this weekend and I can get back to the tractor and normality.

Think I am near the end of this project now, apart from sorting teething problems out. During runs at last years shows, the clutch to gearbox drive chain kept locking up. The original chain tensioner wasn't up to the job. This has now been changed but not yet tested. Fingers crossed. There is still too much free play in some of the steering joints. Still working on how to overcome this. Mark ( meadowfield ) made up the decals. Thanks Mark. Couldn't get good photo's in my garage. Too many reflections etc with or without flash which also shows up dust specs. Need to retake in daylight, as and when. Dummy light and ignition switches were fitted but think the key could be slightly larger. A few more taken at the shows. And the almost finished trailer. Finally, the tractor needed someone to drive it while I just sat and enjoyed the scenery while being dragged behind. Hours of searching for a suitable size person resulted in nothing. As I wasn't allowed to borrow my 15 month old great grandson, ( he would have been cable tied on to stop him falling off ), the next best thing was to make something up. A head was obtained from China. Cheap as usual but a bit pink looking. His face was weathered, well he is a farm boy, using some of my old modelling paints which were well past the sell by date Some people say he is a little too brown, but he doe's get out in the sun a lot. An ice cream tub, wood, foam and tape were used to bring him to life. My great grandson donated some of his clothes. Calvin, that's his name, was knocked up in a hurry just before the shows, and had to make do with rough and ready gloves and hat until something better comes along. Here he is having fun and being followed by a Doc Brown ( from Back to the Future ) look a like. Don't all laugh at once. As said above, I think this just about wraps this project up, apart from a few modifications and better photo's of the decals. What next ? Watch this space. PS. Calvin had to wear sunglasses when looking at his passenger.

We replaced the battery and make up some new battery leads for the Estate Keeper. Joseph did the work, it took him a long time but he got it done

We did some work to get the tyre changer working and it is proving to be a very useful tool. When time allows it will have a full rebuild and I think I may be able to make an adaptor so I can use it with small front tyres. Iain

Yet another good one Joseph. Forgot to say that I spotted a familiar looking tire changing machine in one of your other video's. Nice to see it has been brought back to life.

We have just completed a LED light upgrade on our Bolens HT20 using sealed units similar to the originals, it makes a huge difference. We created a video of the project

He should ask for his money back.

Now we know who has been making the mysterious crop circles. It was Joseph And everyone thought it was Aliens.

I have a friend who was a journalist on a local paper. He'd no time for the tabloid journalists. He said they weren't interested in the truth, just a good story.

Thanks for your kind comments lads, it’s a tough time for me as I miss her so much.

Thanks Norm Morning all, more progress has been made which is a good thing.. A pile of cleaned and primered parts stashed under the bench waiting for a top coat.. The rest of the suspension components were buried under a bench behind the engine, so of course the engine had to come out.. Might as well plonk it on the bench and have a look.. After cleaning the engine didn't look too bad, only a small bit of paint has come off.. Unsure it needs repainting at this point.. Will have to think on it. I also made a start sorting the radiator out.. As you can see a lot of fins need straightening out.. it's one of those jobs that gets done a bit at a time sitting at my desk with the heater blowing at me The exhaust system has been cleaned up and any pin holes found (each section was pressurised to find any leaks) and welded up.. Just for a laugh I thought I'd bolt the exhaust on to the engine to have a look... It looks rather mad

Probably about 1948

Built in Wales as a means of employing injured ex miners. They made the J40 cars on the film and also a single seater racer known as the Pathfinder these are very rare and make £4-5000 when restored.

Great video Joseph. The Westie come up very well; only another 50 or so garden tractors to clean ...... Just a bit concerned about the tramp who muscled in on the video. I guess you gave him a brown paper bag with a cheap bottle of whiskey to quench his thirst to make him go away?

Under restoration my Alllen of Oxford low pressure orchard sprayer with original load carrier where the water tank fits it is sitting on an Allen Scythe TS fitted with the larger Villiers engine more photos to follow when machine is under restoration

Hi Gareth, Nice little project. I suggest you look to use a Plater that is local to you first. Always an advantage taking/collecting the parts in person and dealing face to face with your needs. Consider these people- -Electroplating- I have learned and been burned too often now from using remote contact commissions for work. The one I've linked to here appear promising at least. The project I'm on may also need some Plating, but it won't be chrome, as that had not been invented then. Good luck with it and look forward to seeing your progress

Reckon there'll be a good few on the day. Early days yet.

Joseph made a quick video of cleaning the paint on the Westwood. Not sure who the scruffy old git is

Yup, they are a rare item plus one of the coolest O&R tools out there. Got mine from Webhead, a friend and fellow collector who didn't beat me up too bad but it's still one of my expensive items. I am glad to have it! Here are the pics of mine and what sold me immediately on it