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Morning all, well Project Wheel-Vo has taken a big step forward this week as the new running gear has been found... You might say it's been safely kept in this big metal box A "can't quite get he's head around my thinking" Nigel gives the Volvo 940 2.3 SE Turbo a That's quite a big 4 pot! A Volvo B230FK if your into engine numbers. Here's the important bit... The turbo Size wise a manual gearbox would be smaller, but an auto does make life easier... Also I kinda like the idea of being able to keep both hands on the steering wheel during launch as well I dug out the WH 312-8 bonnet/hood to have a look size wise...... This pic makes me look totally nuts for even thinking of this project! However, lift the bonnet/hood up and plonk the said WH item on and suddenly the engine does not look that big.. A certain amount of errr... "Scaling up" is going to be needed on the WH panels but not as much as I had 1st thought as the actual auto box isn't as long as I had 1st thought. Of course I have to fit a radiator and intercooler under the hood as well. I will be using the Volvo rear axle, they are known to be strong and (quite handy for me) easy to narrow As of yesterday here's where I have got to.. Just need to disconnect the shifter linkage, speedo cable (I think the speedo is driven from the 'box), unplug any electrical bits, unbolt the propshaft, unbolt the 'box crossmember and then the engine and trans can be removed as one.. Glad I have the use of a forklift No idea why the forum software want to put this duplicate pic in at the end, but I can't seem to get rid of it!

in mid September there is an Agricultural Show where we display a selection of horticultural exhibits. The work on their major project, 1950,s Town is well underway, to be fair you can not properly digest all you see in one day

Came home the other week with a free box full of bits to sort out and to keep any of them I felt would be handy. Lot of work cleaning years of storage dirt and some rust to reveal many items never used and mostly very good serviceable condition. Top row- 4inch dia tin full of assorted sized steel round head rivets. Stainless precision ground reference Angle Plate. Bronze/Copper Gauze and below that is a superb 0-3/8" Jacobs Chuck with a strong detent wheel for up to 30 degree indexing at the other end in a precision ground steel body. The PS Stubbs files, Machine Reamers (H6/7 grade) are mostly unused. The Slocombe Bits (Centre Drills) are the retained good ones, I junked a lot of them. As for the 2 Tins in the centre they were completely blackened with age. I resisted opening them until I had carefully cleaned them to find the printed images underneath. The Meggezones one dates from the 1930s and contained finely ground HSS Lathe tools and Tool Blanks. The other tin has shakeproof, Single Coil, Double Coil Spring Washers and 1/8" Roll pins- Final challenge was to try and rescue a Plunger type Dial Indicator from around early 1950s made by British indicators Ltd. It's had a hard life and is quite heavy (plated Brass) It was a mess and took a long time to carefully clean and polish the Clear bezel lense as it was so badly scratched and opaque, I could not see the Dial. All very loose parts and a flickering needle. dismantled and adjusted as much as poss and reassembled to find it working smoothly, although the small hand needle is still out of sync with the Dial markings, but is irrelevant to my use as it counts the 4 main needle rotation limit (0.040"). It measures in 1/10,000 ths of an inch and I've since checked it against my Lathe dials, Digital readout on the Mill and the Victor Lever type D.I. , so it's as good as I'll ever need, real pleased as I needed one. Dial is 1 5/8" (41.3-ish mm) - Got to make a soft storage box for it now and reduce the slack in the Bezel rotation. Only too glad to give these bits a good home after knowing they once belonged to someone with similar interests.

The plastic part that you point to in the Steering Boss is likely to be the spigot that the original Centre Boss Cap fitted onto. Look's like it's been missing longtime what with the dust/dirt. So not essential, unless you plan to find one and fit in the future. Now that you have drilled out all or most of the Spirol Pin, a common procedure used to loosen the S/Wheel was to lock the steering linkage (not by the Tie Rods) and apply a hard alternating turning/twisting force to loosen the bond between the upper column and the S/Wheel Boss. I also take advantage of temperature differentials where I allowed the S/Wheel to warm up in the sun and then using a Freezing Spray, Chill the Column. It's important to use a proper graphite based Penetrating Oil, rather than something like WD40 . As for the Collar and sheared Bolt issue, just cut/grind it off, avoiding damage if poss. Replacements are available from here for example - 3/4"Shaft Collar Last resort - If you can weld, or know someone- if you still can't get the S/Wheel off (while still in the Tractor), cut the Upper steering Column through at the middle point of your first Topic picture (having marked it above and below so it can be realigned). You can then work on separating the S/Wheel at the Bench as Nigel suggested. All that's needed to repair the column is a piece of 3/4" bore thick (3 mm) walled Steel Tube about 2.1/2" (50-60 mm) long pressed onto the cut Column ends after lining up the marks to act as a strengthening sleeve and welded up. You can also pin it if required. It won't affect installation or operation. The tube must be a good fit and not loose. One thing to note is that not all Wheel Horse Upper Steering Columns are the same length, should you have to find a replacement, shorter versions were fitted mid 60s-early 70s compared to longer ones fitted from about 73 onwards. This was to allow for higher (sprung) seat position, but they can be extended or shortened to fit if required. Keep at it.

Madder than Mad Jack McMad, winner of last years Mr Mad competition! We like mad, go for it Ian !

Lots of useful stuff there Richard. I'm still gradually sorting John's machine tools which he passed on to me. Made use of a lot of them already.

I've got a D.T.I like that. Belonged to my father. I'll check the make tomorrow if I've chance. I've never seen a Jacobs chuck set up like that before.

Sid the Fisherman has returned. Brought his pal K9 with him this time.

Sorry Ray, I may have misunderstood. I didn't know you had ordered a Screw/Bolt for the Arm/Clamp, thought you were looking for one. Just needed clarity on the Clamp width, as I suspected yours was horizontal shaft engine. As for the measurement, 0.312" is near as damn it 5/16" (0.3125"), so it depends if your dial shows in 0.0005" graduations, but as you've ordered one, I'll cancel the search. Regards.

No! Just inventive. Loopy but inventive.