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Following a recent offer of a free Westwood Gemini, I've stripped it down to it's bare bones and managed to get it back to a reasonable condition. I needed to purchase some new parts like ignition coil, HT lead and new NGK spark plug. Starter recoil assembly with rope and handle and new engine gaskets of course (in particular the correct thickness head gasket). The cylinder head was de-coked, cylinder bore de-glazed, inlet and exh valves lapped in and valve clearances adjusted to spec. Ignition timing reset by finding true TDC with a dial gauge and degree disc on the crankshaft. Zenith carb cleaned inside and out with carb cleaner and jets cleaned with compressed air. Similar for the fuel tank with a new fuel pipe fitted. The 'gloop' in the chaincase was removed as far as possible and refilled with new oil. Unfortunately, the chaincase is sealed for life though I would have liked to get inside and give it a proper clean and renew the axle shaft seals. Everything torque tightened where I could find the figures and finally primed and painted in rattle can engine enamel. Stickers from Titch at Machinery Decals, which are great. It started 2nd pull and the carb adjusted once warmed-up. Looking forward to using it when I get my allotment. Photos below... Here's the completed machine...

I’ve put the carbs through the ultrasonic cleaner and assembled one and fitted to the engine so i now have one nice running engine. I can say I’m well pleased with the engine as ive owned it for about six years and its been under the bench ever since. I feel a big hurdle crossed today.

one or two new finds a Mk 1 Allen Scythe, a Gloster seed drill with a Hawker Siddlie name plate some I have had for a while Andrews lawn edger, a horticultor cultivator plus a few others

Got tanked up today, found some off cuts of metal in stock so I’ve made two fuel tank brackets Think the photos show the process.

Hi all here is my Gutbrod 1030 born in 1965 IT is a Mk1 Tractor seen here today having just had the Snowplough fitted to the front what a Quality piece of Engineering theys are I have owned this Tractor since I was 14 years old but it now needs some TLC

Found some 1/4 plate and made 2 engine plates so now both engines fitted and all pulleys and drive belts. Next job will be to make 2 fuel tank mounting brackets so the filler neck pokes through the hole in the hood.

Where do I start

Found some metal off an old washing machine casing luckily with the edge folded up, just needs cleaning up and cutting to size.

This is our local beach this morning.

Bit more done

I decided to paint the black bits instead of vinyl because I have always found you get creases when you do large areas I will put the decals on later

I’ve had a massive problem with the bonnet I can see why John Deere went to plastic, this one is fibre glass and the gel coat is none existent every time you flat it strands of fibre glass fall out and it leaves a spiderweb pattern and it looks like big grooves in it I’ve flattened and primed it 3 times now But on a brighter note all my powder coating came back and I’ve started to put the deck back together

Thanks Norm, Nigel. Soldered the 2 halves of the tank together, but left the end plates for now, as need access. Much of the work over the last 6 weeks has been doing fiddly parts. Because this project is all 'Scratch Built'', I want to keep the parts as scale size to the original. The water outlet/valve is an example and is a simple 'Bottle' style valve running in guides. The joint faces are metal to metal (no seals)- The faces that contact the inside/outside of the tank are contoured to a close fit. The weighted lever sits 'over centre' when closed, which applies pressure on the Spring Stainless rod and so on the valve face/seat to improve the water tight seal. Another view to show the valve/seat and the fabricated outlet with correctly bolted (12BA) flange. This will lead to a Sprinkler Bar as per original- Hardwood support legs finished to size. A range of steel coach bolts with square/hex nuts, and an alternative flanged outlet elbow for supply to the Traction Engine tank. The ball on the end of the pump handle is 1/16" (1.6mm) diameter- Hose hooks are 0.010" (.25mm) shim steel annealed for drilling and bending, then re hardened and tempered to spring grade. Screws are 14BA- Finally got the wheels done last night and are retained by blind 'Top Hat' caps with a cross pin, as per the full size. Pins are 3/64" (1.25mm) - Going to be a shame to cover this in paint

Well it’s in bits

Hi all, thanks for the positive responses. Certainly a different way of working when producing scale models without plans or castings etc. Everything takes longer and a lot of thinking. Managed to reach a point of trial fitting the spray bar parts today which I've been working on for a while- I stripped the chrome off of a 60s car aerial section which was the right size in hard straight brass (5/32" or <4mm). I failed with reproducing the flanged connecting pipe, as it should be straight and I had to 'dog leg' it to line up. Probably as a result from having to work from a basic drawing for sizes of a similar make of cart. Still, it's a reasonable representation until I can get to M.E.R.L to inspect the company's original drawings. The retaining brackets were an excercise in miniature milling and retained with 12ba coach bolts/nuts- Time to start drilling loads of tiny holes............I may be some time !. Regards

Got both of the fuel tank brackets finished and in primer today only thing left to do is flush the rust out of the tanks. Had a look at the two bonnets , I’ve kept moving them down the list as i new they were bad but getting to the point where I need to do something with them, not sure what yet I don’t think I’ll sand blast them yet.

Just some final pics before it goes back out to the shed. This one is pretty much all done too except for the little rubber feet. Just need to pick up the hardware and attach them.

Well it’s going back together very very slowly

Spent some time on the K141 engine ( in the photo above ). It had stuck valves and a broken carb. Ive removed the head and cleaned everything up, the bore looks good with no wear. Found some bits to build another carb and cleaned the points. Another engine now running with no smoke or rattles so have a choice which one’s to use. Happy bunny and can move on to the next challenge.

Had a few hours on the green engine today, it proved a problem to start after cleaning the carb so after fitting new points and plug cap and cranking it with an electric drill petrol started running out the carb. Another strip down revealed a hole in the float so with that changed it finally fired up. Had it running for about an hour with no smoke or rattles so the engine sounds good but still having trouble with the idle so I'm going to fit another carb tomorrow and see if it improve's.

Finally worked out why my pictures wouldn't upload, stupid phone now takes photos in an unsupported format (by this website), managed to change it so here we are. new sump gasket made Once stripped down, it was time to give the whole tractor a bit of a clean up ready to put back together. The crankshaft bearings were jiggered so the engine was stripped down. Back together and already sounding better. Back on 4 wheels, i'm yet to clean the wheels up but i'll get round to it one day. There was no way I was going to put this mess of cable back on so a new wiring loom was made later on. Someone had tried to fix the coil bracket at some point so I fixed that. New idler bearing. I gave the tin work a light sand then used some wax and buffed it up, looks great and will prevent rust. Focus turned to the seat which was rusty, with some wire wool and water I managed to clean it up nicely.

Added these to the O&R literature collection... The manual came from Alan Rogers at the Tractor World show last weekend, the advert from ebay.

Did some looking around in my shop and located the other O&R engine I have. This came off a Groomer trimmer. See the pics. It runs wide open all the time. It was built with a Tillotson HU that has no throttle shaft. Never had one. No choke either, just the primer button. The only thing to impede air flow into the engine is a screw that holds the base and reed plate in place. Installed a new diaphragms in the carb. I had this hooked up to a remote tank to run it. It sounds like an irritated bumblebee!

They're bad. Especially the red one. Looks like they need the bad areas cut out and new material welded in. Or fibre glassing.

Trying to keep up with JUST O&R is a real pain! This just so happened to be the closest box on the shelf but have been intending to get to this one. I have the correct recoil cover with the label and the chrome could use some cleaning. I'll dis-assemble the entire engine and unit to clean and freshen everything up. These are cool little insecticide spraying fans from across the pond.

Tried using Simple Green. It removed some debris but not all. Then on to vinegar. Nope, no results. Next was 2 psi of air pressure. Nope. Figured it was a lost cause. It got the drill. Back together and it's running. Started quite easily, maybe 6 pulls after pushing the primer button. Thanks to all for the help on this. My friend's eyes lit up when he saw it running. On to the next project...I think I've got a mid 60s vintage O&R around here somewhere...

They go quick when there's a nice new engine available for it. Just need to finish the recoil but I'll do 3 or 4 at a time because once you get go'n on them it just seems to go smoother. The chrome on this cleaned up nice. (probably get cancer from the crap that was inside from the chemicals run through it.) Here's a close up pic of those carb adapters

Just had a really nice visit with an engineer buddy of mine from MN and he dropped off the 3D printed vent for the Little Wonder Trimmer. This is awesome!

Well....David, that is amazing! I am away from at the moment but have removed the tank and will measure it as soon as I get back and let you know directly. Re the pump, mine is almost brass coloured but I have only paid scant attention to it in the initial clean so I am more than likely completely off base. Will be back to you in a few days. Cheers and thanks to you all Rich. PS have come up with a small potential modification to allow me to use engine to power one of my Honda’s....

Never had a big problem myself I only have three hands two normal one and a big belly to help hold something down.

Thanks mate, it will look better once it's finished.. but i do like the mish mash of different bit's of cladding inside Thanks Paul.. It did survive the wind and rain last month... as for the Sunday just gone......... Nah... The coffee's help warm our hands thus making them work better As always progress has been slow, but it's getting there and I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel... Or should that be "light through the window" that's getting fitted tomorrow The wall in the last photo in my last update has been finished.... The curve in the wall adds character. The next wall on the "To be clad" hit list was the big wall in the shed section... I think the random not matching planks look great.. The dark planks were my old garden gate! Yep, I like to recycle.. Another one of thos milestone has been reached... You know your getting somewhere when the white paint goes on I also painted as much of the "shed end" as I could with all the bit's piled up against the wall. The next day even more stuff got piled up on the pile as I had to clear a lot of space for.... More cladding... Having finally run out of wood to recyle as cladding I got 5 8x4 sheets of OSB to finish the cladding and put the wall up between the shed and workshop.... Well, that was the plan..... Until the strong winds removed a large part of my felt roof!! So two (and a bit) of the sheets have been used as tempoary rather large roof tiles until I can get some heavy duty felt..... And then hope there will be a nice wind and rain free day! In other workshack news the bench has been taken down, the corner cleared of bit's and a frame has been built to fit the window in the back wall... Here it is wedged in the frame to check for fit.. Ok, the view isn't great, but it will be a lot better when the wood has been removed so you can actually see out Ok, even when the wood is removed the view is only of a couple of garage roofs.... But the light and heat that it will create in the shack will make it more than worth it And that is the build up to date, but for those of you who need a video fix... here it is.... Enjoy..

I had a member walk in to my shop today. I have been talking on line for quit some time now . I didn't think it would happen but there he was its not often you meet someone that you talk to on line. It was great Clint was passing threw on his way to a meeting in Knoxville and came rite by here glad he could stop for a while. ( once in a lifetime) .

It was the highlight of my trip! Fun to meet a fellow enthusiast and addict I wish I would have had more time to hang out and not so rushed to get to Knoxville. Looking forward to another opportunity to meet up. Thank you for welcoming me into your shop- I’m glad all the logistics worked out! That was awesome!

Finally found the last item I'm aware of for the collection. These Lewis winches were made for Homelite and these blue ones seem to be super rare. It's the same winch as the common orange units but the blue Homelite paint makes it a better fit for the collection. Just need the small drive belt which the seller forgot to add in the box but is sending. Probably find a nicer power head to switch this on to as well.

Making progress... Still have some more sections of paint to remove before I can start prepping it for paint. I’m also going need to fabricate a bracket for the tank I’m going to use. I’m also going to need to do some repair work on the bracket that mounts the engine to the boat. It was broken in half. Cast aluminum is always fun to try to mend...

Thanks to all for looking but as time was moving on I got the welding gear out, made shaped paper templates , cut the sheet steel and stitched it in . A bit of a faff but got there eventually. 09CB57EA-B035-408E-A74F-0592215D7A02.MOV

Been looking at the other front wheel with a dodgey valve hole and decided that as i have a spare half of a wheel I might as well use it. The second one was easier as I’ve done one before, all i have to do is drill a hole for the valve, or fit a tubeless tyre,

I found one and got all excited but the owner wasn’t interested in selling it.

Sorry for your loss Nigel.

fantastic looking blade ! great tractor

Got it all together with Terry's mount, which will get painted silver hammer tone once it warms up a bit. The belt on there fits but a shorter wider belt will look better.

I have made an offer for the 2 saws & he seems ok with that, but I think he wants collection in person & he is about 3 hours drive from me. I only want the other saw so the Chug a saw would be available. The pull start cover is missing but the engine is free & did run when he first bought the saw.

I’m just going to stand back and watch this one...

Are you stating the word "squish" isn't the right term?

Ha!😝 by the sound of it you guys can’t resist yourselves. Makes interesting reading regardless..... have started to gently remove the years of grime and while I still have lots more to do, it is already looking a little healthier....o

Didn’t expect to see this chap looking over my fence at 11.30 am

You should have grabbed it, wrung it's neck and popped it in the chimera.

Trans flush and refilled. Also engine oil changed. When I came to adjust the governor, I found the arm was loose on the spindle. That was because the pinch bolt was not tight. When I came to tighten it, the nut fell off. Along with that end of the bolt. New bolt fitted and the governor works as it should. The tractor is already now to go to it's new home. Being collected some time next week. I'd like to thank those who have given me advice and support. Much appreciated.

I should have a soup can tank bracket if you need one. I still owe ya! IMO they look better without the plastic cover. But if it does have one, it's good to keep it original. Only the early covers have the threads on the covers. The majority will have the threads on the plates and the screw heads facing the recoil. Mustang style chainsaws have the threads on the tank and the cover and plate don't have threads.

This tractor has got to be one of the hardest I’ve every tried to take to bits, it’s a bastard most nuts arnt captive and you just can’t get at them, you unbolt something try to pull it off and then find it’s welded as well, this is going to be very interesting. 🙄 Can’t even get the engine out without dismantling all the body