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Just trying to get the bad jobs out the way first. I want to get on with stripping the paint off the main gearbox/frame assembly but needs to be done outside and it hasn't stopped raining for nearly a week with us. Being realistic I can see the budget hitting £150 but this will still be cheap for a diesel Gem.

Had a bit of luck today, whilst rummaging through my one shed for some car shampoo, I came across 6 brand new blades for a gem that I didn't even know was in there. Hopefully with what ive got at my work I should now be able to make a complete new set for no money. Should help offset the cost of having the injector done.

Yesterday I had my contact come back to me. Apparently this Gem was built on 10/03/1962 and dispatched to W.Wood Ltd in Horsham on 16/03/1962. The pleasing thing is the engine is still the original factory fitted one.

Managed to make a bit more progress. The front of the bonnet has been beaten back into shape, the crack and the grille welded up. Then after stripping all the paint off I started on my most hated job, - filling! The air filter has started to take shape as well. It will just need a skim of stopper, which I will apply when I do the bonnet. When checking images on google to make sure I got the profile right I discovered that there is two types of bonnets fitted to Sachs Gems. I also received my refurbished injector back this morning, apparently the nozzle and spindle was shot. Came in at £56 with the carriage so not too bad. When it stops raining, it will get a coat of paint to prevent it from rusting.

The shot blasting unfortunately is likely to remove the circle. When I first got interested in Villiers engines you could write to Ron Valentine at the factory and he would write back with the age of your engine. Unfortunately when they ceased trading around 2000 all the records went in a skip which I only found out about a few years later. A great shame.

The other places that Villiers engines have dates is stamped very faintly into the air shroud near the spark plug hole and on the underneath of the fuel tank. Again it's a circle with the letters A.J.H be warned though these stamps are very faint and corrosion or damage can easily remove them. Carefully removing the paint with stripper or sanding will often show them up. J.a.p s before Villiers bought them out also had this stamp on them, maybe the same factory pressed up the shrouds for both companies?

If it's a brass flywheel look by the puller nut and you should see a circle with the letters A.J.H and the year.

The strip down continues. Nothing too major to report. The chain case as usual was devoid of oil, and full of soil. One wheel hub is a little loose, ive found one of the gear selector bushes to be badly worn, and the rotor shaft dog is seized.

Thanks, the cooling fins in places were a bit battered, I've straightened them the best I can. I did consider a new core, however decided against it firstly on the grounds of cost, but mainly because it was still the original one after 56 years. The rear end is actually in a better state than the last gem i rebuilt. This was still being used till fairly recently by a landscaping firm but good old health and safety meant the boss decided to discontinue using it.

Started stripping the rear end tonight. Once off I could see just how bad the rear covers had deteriorated. Only fit for the bin! After taking advise Ive found a firm to rebuild the injector so I had the pleasure of trying to persuade it to part company with the head. Eventually it gave up the fight. I was going to clean and repaint the radiator cap, but when I saw a new chrome finish one was about a fiver on ebay I purchased one, and today it arrived.

I'm guessing that the pulley is like that to alter the gearing, as the belt grips in a different place it technically makes the pulley bigger or smaller. I'm sure the one I worked on just had a standard centifugal clutch but it was nearly 20 years ago.

Hi Pat, im quite familiar with the light plant that was floating about in the mid/late 1990's. A good source of Robin Spares is Meetens, but from memory the carbs are quite expensive. About two years ago when we moved a lot of these Robin engines were skipped sorry, otherwise you could of had a s/h carb.

Even though it was hovering around freezing most of the day, Ive managed to get the paint on the radiator. Just waiting for the paint to fully dry before I take a photo. I have also started straightening out the air filter. I normally get a contact to date my gems for me but ive been having a bit of trouble getting hold of him. Going by the serial number I deducted that it was made between 1960 and 1962. Well today I found May 1961 on the radiator's brass plate, and Febuary 1961 stamped into the air filter, so looks like I wasn't to far out on my estimate.

Found this reference to them on line http://www.publicprocurementonline.co.uk/profiles/b/bitmen/

Hi Pat, I worked on a later version of that many years ago. I seem to recall that it may of been made by Stothert & Pitt?

Hi Pat, I worked on one of these many years ago. I seem to recall that it may of been made by Stothert & Pitt? Had a lot of trouble stopping the carb leakin due to the angle of the engine, in the end I had o resort to a new carb for the customer.

After seeing Chris's recommendation, i'm looking at having the diesel injector overhauled. Can anybody recommend a good firm, please?

Started to clean up the radiator today. After unbolting it, the under engine guard and cooling fan I put it through our industrial parts washer a couple of times. I was amazed how good its come up for nearly a 60 year old rad. Just needs rubbing down and painting now. With all these bits removed, it suprises me how compact the engine is for a 9hp, I guess having no valves etc helps.

Well that would blow the budget, but it will probably be worth it. Still come in a lot cheaper than G206 did!

Got to work early this morning and popped the bonnet, air filter and exhaust off. The bonnet on the whole is very good, its just going to need a bit of panel beating on the front edge and a small crack welding up. The hinge is quite worn, probably caused by the extra vibration of the diesel engine. The fuel tank looks in exceptional condition, probably spillages of diesel have helped preserve it over the years. The air filter is going to require quite a bit of straightening and the spring clips sorting out.

Ok,thanks. Can you remember if it was expensive, as the last one I had done was mates rates at about £25 , but the firm has now long closed down.

Been having a dig around my sheds this morning for parts. As the tyres on this gem were quite reasonable I was going to leave them with just a clean up, however I found these set of rims with a pair of brand new vedestrain tyres fitted that I purchased a few years ago at my local plant sale for the bargin price of £20, which I had almost forgotten about, so it would be a shame not to fit them. In a box I found out my last two new fuel caps that I was given for free by our now retiered Diesel fitter. They should polish up nice. The final photo shows a set of decals that I had made years ago for £15 a set.

This one doesn't start to bad but I've got arthritis in my body so when I caught it wrong the other day going over compression it hurt. Where did you have the injector rebuilt as I've been told in the past that these couldn't be done and would like to seeing how much a Hatz was improved years ago.

One of the worst parts on this Gem is the condition of the rear rotor covers. The fold where the two main covers meet is missing as is the rear soil flap. They could be repaired but to get looking real right would probably take me weeks. Another option is to purchase a new set off Standen's however these come in at nearly £300 a set! In-keeping with my strict budget for this project, Ive dug out a second hand set off a Dowdeswell 650 that I broke up a few years ago. (this machine had a knackered gearbox so I sold the engine for more than I paid for the whole machine so these covers don't owe me a penny). Tonight Ive started the laborious task of stripping the paint off them. I also treated the rust with some prep and ready that I purchased off Frost a few years back, its the best rust killer that ive ever found.

Cant blame youfor going with those tyres at the price difference, I know I would do the same. Do you think it will alter the traveling speed being a bigger diameter?