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Due to my exhibits for Tractor World being all but ready, I thought I'd turn my attention to some of my backlogged projects. The one I've allways wanted to get finished is a very early type howard gem, with cycle type handlebars. Some of you may remember me starting it on tractorbox, however due to having a child, ongoing bad health( arthritis and shingles amongst others), plus quite a few issues in my day to day life, it ended up getting left under a tarpaulin. When I extracted it the other day, time had not been kind to it( I hold my hands up, guilty as charged) so I will have to basically start from scratch again. My original early gem had an even lower serial number(g367 1942)however what ever way you look at it the old girl is beyond saving. To rebuild it would mean replacing about 95% of its parts so therefore it will sadly be a doner for this project. This project was supplied new on 20/12/1943 to an A.J.Burgess in Cambridgeshire ( it would of been a very nice Christmas gift). I acquired it in October 2012, but unfortunately don't know anything about its history in its intervening period. When arrived the engine was still the original J.A.P but in a shocking state. The wheels, mag and exhaust had all gone AWOL, and the rear end was very rotten. I will upload the photos to date later tonight when I'm by the PC as the iPad always makes it too hard.

Been making a bit of progress with my exhibit, am on course to have 9 machines to take.

Been monitoring the speed on and off all weekend and it's staying at just under 4 meg download speed and 0.4 upload. This may sound slow to a lot of you but to me its super fast, particuarly as the villiage is only supposed to be able to get up to 1.5. Here's hoping it stays working.

Just been looking at the October tractorworld, however the cheapest I can book a hotel room for two nights is £138, plus the £80 odd of diesel the cabstar would guts going there and back means that I'll have to only do the malvern show unless anyone knows of any better deals on hotels/b&b's.

Well the second engineer has just been out( had to threaten bt with legal action to pull out of my contract to get them to agree to this) and he says it's all fixed, time will tell... On a plus note I've just found out that the first engineer knocked out the house next doors internet when he was messing with mine on the last visit,( my landlords parents live there and keep grassing me up every time I do something they feel I shouldn't and cause an absolute nightmare with parking because of their lack of consideration and thought) ha ha.

It depends how painful my arthritis is between now and then as to how many machines I get finished.

Just realised that the show is only 3 weeks away and I've still got about half a dozen machines for my exhibit to get ready. I'm going to be busy!

Just a word of warning never consider going back to bt. I've had orange(EE) provide me with broadband etc for about 6 years. In early November my internet started working even slower than normal( where I live I'm lucky to get1 meg) after a month of orange refusing to sort it I spoke to bt about moving to them if the could undertake to provide me with working broadband. They delivered the modem on the 6th of January, and after getting cross with them they originally promised to have it working on the 15 th of January. Next they finally sent an engineer out last Friday, who after saying it was definatley the line disappeared. Next promise was it was definatley working by 2nd of February, guess what? Nope! They have call centres that don't answer the phone even after half an hour! When you finally speak to someone in India theirEnglish is so poor that you can't speak to them properly and to top it all they say that they will call you back and don't! I'm at my wits end with them! I just did a speed check at it came back at 0.09 meg!!!

Is it really neccasarry to remove it? I've been doing small engines scince I was about 12 but I very rarely remove the crankcase half, so if everything else is alright I'd personally leave well alone.

I remember your photographed gem being on ebay. It was discussed on tractorbox, the conclusion was reached that it was a homemade conversion as there's no reduction hubs fitted as in the sale sheet.

I'm always a bit cautious when ordering cheap things, however at the moment until the little un goes to school in September and Keri can go back to work pennies are a bit tight so it is neccasarry to be careful. In this instance though it's proving to be a very good machine.I will probably rig up a better dust extraction system to improve visibility like wrist pin said, ( using an old vacuum cleaner).The only other issue was I had to make up a gasket for the loose fitting inlet filter, apart from that it seems to be perfect. One of the few times I've been 100% satisfied with an ebay purchase.

Just purchased a small grit blasting cabinet off ebay, item number 200472037005, couldn't believe the price - £54.90 and now it's arrived ( only about 12 hours after I ordered it) I'm delighted with the job it does. Definatley worth considering for those small parts.

It's definatley an aspera/ Tecumseh

Just been sorting through my brochures and rediscovered this sales sheet on a Wet Paddy Howard Gem. Did any actually get made and if so do any survive? The photo looks heavily retouched so im unsure if even a prototype was actually made.

Looking good, nice to see somebody else using petrol to thin, I don't have a choice as am allergic to thinners.

I'd give either l&s engineers a call in Walsall or Midland Power and Machinery Distributors(MPMD) in Worcester. Otherwise I'd of thought any briggs dealer should be able to get one.

Looks a great find Paul.

The original silencer was a circular box that exited through the hole in the deck. As far as I'm aware these are no longer avaliable but as Anglo traction says the std briggs one will fit and work.

Hi can anybody help with a set of original type tyres in good condition for a gem ( diamond type pattern). Please call 07967 803 833.

I am really please with it, perhaps not the tool if you're welding all day every day ( the reels of wire that it takes are too small for starters) but more than sufficient for the use that I'll give it.

I used it this morning for the first time properly,putting some patches on my bosses caddy pickup's shock absorbor towers, not the prettiest but considering there was almost no metal left to weld to it did ok. Got a feeling it may be the pickup's last mot, but then again it is allmost 20 years old and the clock stopped at 212k about 8 years ago so has probably done well over 300k.

That's exactly like this one, it's main use is going to be on metal like car bodies but sometimes it will be handy for bollocking the heat into hammer nose cones to pull the tool bushes in so the will come out. We had a look round and this one seemed to be the best price at the top end of domestic ones, it will probably only get used a couple of times a month so should be ideal. Certainly will be better than my old sealey one that was less power yet 3 times the size and weight.

Yes it's an invertor mig.

After struggling to weld thin stuff with the arc welder scince my Mig packed up, my boss said he'd buy me a new one if I was willing to do the odd welding job for him aswell. Here it is, got to say that it welds absolutely amazingly, even someone who is as bad at welding as I am can get a nice run down, its nearly as good as the 3phz ones I used at college a few years ago.

yes I've entered some of my plant machinery in this time, the idea is to have a selection of machines from the 1960's through to the late 1980's