Leaderboard

What to do with a 'free' weekend, a pile of Villiers MK12 bits and a can of paint? Having restored several machines using Villiers engines over the last couple of years I have managed to collect 3 almost complete donor engines..... So as I was at loose end this weekend I set about sorting them out with a view to making one good engine out of all the bits! It's suprising what you can do in just a day, engines stripped, parts cleaned, degreased, old paint removed, de-rusted, etch primed, painted, gaskets made, parts reassembled...... I have a carb and exhaust, the only parts I haven't got is a working coil, 3 dud ones, tank brackets and an exhaust gasket! The coil is probably the most expensive part to buy for one of these engines, might have to wait a few weeks! I'm probably going to make a stationary engine out of this one, mount it on a trolley and have it powering some sort of lighting.........

Best I can take at minute will empty garage soon and get some proper snaps. One appears in reasonable condition but has been stood a long time the other not as good! Hoping between the two I will get one looking top notch. Both have split tires so moving them is hard work

Iv just finished mine. These later became known as nicholson turfmaster. Iv not come across a a place to buy parts... I was lucky to.have most bits with mine. I done a full strip down and rebuild with some changes i.e larger rear wheels.

I got a new unstamped name plate for one of these Darren It would look the dogs on the cowl

Nice work Darren. Like you, I've done the same with the surplus Villiers Midget Mk2 parts. Hoping to get back to doing things with it in the workshop soon.

Must keep my eye out at the show for some front lights...

By the look of the image your machine has points ignition, no trigger module between the left leg of the coil armature and the coil itself. Plug caps. Comments have been made about these being the likely cause of failure. This is only likely to be the case if the original BS connector has been removed and replaced with an aftermarket cap. Again, from your image you appear to have the original connector and there's not a lot that can go wrong with those. Sometimes they have a simple rubber boot. The only exterior things left to check is the kill switch on the throttle plate or the kill wire that goes to it. If all is OK there, you have a choice, either remove the flywheel and examine the points etc , or find a later BS Magnetron coil ( with suitable leg spacing) and fit that in place of yours - a ten minute job and a direct replacement using your existing flywheel without the need to remove it. Personally I would do the latter as they are 99.9% reliable and obviate the need to ever remove the flywheel again.

A quick visit this morning, not much of interest, The only Wheelhorses were a pretty sad looking Commando 800 and a later Toro badged rear engined rider, Here's some photos...