Leaderboard

After looking round the house this morning I noticed the mail box lid had broken, lucky I had another one in the shed that just happened to be red, after fitting and a couple of decals I wandered if its a bit over the top. at least it matches the van

So be it, and here it will stay. Well I've made some progress on a couple of iffy bits and incurred some more (predicted) expense. Wanted to get the old Cylinder Shaft bearing out of it's carrier housing that was shown in an earlier pic. Didn't want to damage or distort the housing, so having soaked it a few times with the cellulose thinner and Redex mix, I applied only progressive hand tightening pressure to shift the old bearing- Went off with usual satisfying BANG when it finally relented and then a few more and it was out- I'll clean the housing up in the Lathe and make a new Dust Excluding/Spacer Washer to fit the larger diameter. I'll also be making a different lubrication system on this using a 'Screw Down' Greaser later. Second challenge was to get most of the Carb issues and deep clean dealt with, mainly get the broken screw out and replace all the important bits- Postman had arrived with Carb O/haul Kit, new Top Plate screw and I had to replace the Oil Bath Filter Body, as the old one was covered in cracks and leaked. Got one of the last few NOS ones in the country and not cheap . The operation began with the usual trepidation wondering if my smallest 'Easy Out' stud extractor would do the job. Set it all up on the Vert Mill and commenced the surgery with a 1/16" diameter Ball Nosed Slot Drill- Followed up with 5/64" drill for 1/4" and then ran a 3/32" Ball Nosed Slot drill for 1/8". Bearing in mind that the core diameter of the screw I am/was trying to remove has a core diameter of about 1/8" (3.2mm), I had to be sure I didn't touch the threads in the Carb body !. In with the 'Easy Out' and out it came with ease (mopped brow)- I will change the 'Strangler' (choke) Lifting rod by making a Stainless Steel one as the old one is badly rusted and as all the old Bakelite type plastic button grip has disintegrated off the threaded brass fitting long ago, I'll mould a new one around it. Just the 2 Filter Body screws to make and all Carb bits are done. Turned my attention to the Drive Sprocket and Pawl Plates where they had suffered from damage when past attempts were made to undo them with Chisels etc (usually undoing the wrong way due Left Hand Threads or tightening them up). All the red lines in the pic show where the damage repair is required has been done, chains now run smooth and virtually no wear on the rest of the bits (no pic)- Engine will be next, then the Framework.

Some pics of 'metal sculptures' made from worn/broken parts from some of the machines we build. These were made for 'retiring' colleagues in the group I work for. All the parts have a 'history'

A few more 'sculptures' and my assistant 'Charlotte' ( Charlie )

looks like my toolbox that went missing

Indeed it was good to see him, that Clifford is a beast of a machine !!

Nice to see Spider again and catch-up

A big thankyou to all who came today and made it all happen, a grand lineup.

I was just looking at the Environmental Agency's "flood risk" map and decided to have a close look at my area.. And was shocked to see these strange patterns in the field! A close up!! I wonder how they got there!!!!!!!