Darmic1

The fridge/freezer is still buggered! Hotpoint wont come out until 13th July! It's only 4 1/2 years old and still has parts warranty on it! They also want £175 to come look at the bloody thing with 'free' parts! And only warranty the work for 90 days. Or I can pay them the princely sum of £246 to come and fix it with a years warranty! To say I'm not impressed is a big understatement!!! Oh and it took almost 4 hours to get through to them as well!!! Hence why I remained quiet until you poked me lol!!!

More messing around with this project today..... Had some 6mm plywood lying around, thought i'd make a 'battery box' to go with the exhibit....... Only had to buy the hinges, catch and 15x18mm timber..... Even the battery is a 'freebie'

Cheers!

Thanks Chris! New bits arrived at 10.30 this morning....... The list of 'to do's' was.... 1.Hone bore. 2.Scrape ring grooves. 3.Fit new rings. 4.Refit piston. 5.Refit oil dipper/conrod end cap. 6.Make new sump gasket. 7.Refit sump. 8.Refit cylinder head. 9.Refit air shroud and tank. 10.Bolt engine back onto trolley. 11.Add oil and fuel. 12.Refit belt and tension. 13.Start.......... All done by 12 noon! 😁 Am very pleased to say it started 1st pull and NO more smoke from the breather! Here's a short video and a piccie of an old ring(silver ring)against a new(black)....

You may have noticed in the videos that the Villiers is smoking from the breather......? I was suspicious of the condition of the piston rings? The restoration was purely a cursory check of the bore and that the rings weren't broken. Everything else seemed fine, no excessive play elseshere........ Well, initial checks to see if i'd overfilled the oil or put the wrong stuff in proved I hadn't, so yesterday I decided to investigate things a bit further...... I pulled the shroud and cylinder head off and found oil on the piston crown and inside cylinder head. The plug was also black and oily! Rings it is then..... After stripping the sump and removing the oil dipper/end cap, I removed the piston to get to the rings. Once the rings were removed I compared them with some +20 I have spare? I'm pretty sure +40 rings should be bigger than +20s??? These weren't...... Either someone has put standard rings on the +40 piston or these rings are worn excessively? I checked one in the bore too and it was so loose, it doesn't even close the gap!!! New rings ordered, should be here today!

Cured the belt whip with a salvaged tensioner from a Daewoo Matiz! (I don't own one, just asked my mechanic friend if he had any old ones) I looked at several from different cars, most were way too big. But this one proved perfect once I had made a bracket to mount it on...... Also tidied up the wiring and fitted the 'no charge' light in the panel.

Bars fitted........

Me too Norm!

A quick 'trial fit' this evening....... I think they'll do??? (Ignore my sons choice of attire...... was just before I took him to football) Ordered these few bits, ammeter, switch and charge/warning lamp, all for under a tenner! Will be mounted in the flat panel.........

Welded the handlebars together this morning, then primed and painted them. The paint dried totally in about 30 minutes in the sunshine, so I fitted the grips!

Yep!

Like your tattoo, but not sure about your choice of footwear and trousers. The wife has her uses sometimes! Even if it was just add a little weight to stop the bounce!!! Lol😂😂😂😂

Was a little concerned about hot exhaust gases being directed onto the plastic of the voltage regulator..... So the simple fix was to drill 2 new holes in the exhaust flange and rotate it by about 20°........ My next task was to 'tinker' with the wiring part of this project....... I am pleased to say that it all works! I will probably change to a larger pulley on the engine to improve alternator speed slightly..... but it charges my car battery very well at 14.20 volts on a little more than tickover!😁😁😁 Whilst running the overall trolley is heavier engine end, leading it to bounce a little alternator end. A solution could be to add some weight? The idea I had was to make some handlebars from 3/4 steel tubing...... with a central support brace and a plate to mount a 'charge' light and switch...... Here is the bars cut, bent and ready for welding tomorrow.

Now have something for it to drive! A Lucas A127 alternator, 70amp version. Made the brackets and adjuster today and fitted it all on to the trolley. Next job will be to paint the brackets and reassemble for the final time. I will then sort the wiring, get a leisure battery and some LED lights!

Thanks! I did wonder if this one would be savable when I started blowing holes with the welder turned right down! It depends how bad the Kohler ones are? Lol

That sounds like a good plan, i'll have a look around when I get back from my holiday! But today I thought I would address my concerns about the exhaust sticking out too far forward and above the rope pull...... I had an old Villiers exhaust which had at some point been snapped and brazed back together using 22mm copper plumbing pipe? This had of course been severely flattened and bent! So I cut away the copper and removed 95% off the braze! Only to find the can of the pepperpot was seriously holed with rust!. I spent an hour spot welding the holes and chasing them around!!! Eventually I managed to repair the can satisfactory and then set to welding a new tube and flange back on. Next was to figure out how to mount the front of the exhaust as the inside and threaded mount had corroded away. For this I used another short piece of tube, in which I drilled 8mm holes all around to allow exhaust gases out into the can. I then welded a captive bolt in the end to secure the pepperpot cover. I then splayed the other end and welded that into the can. Once fully welded up I cleaned off the remaining rust and weld splatter before painting with VHT exhaust paint...... After the paint had dried, I bolted it on an ran the engine to 'cure' the exhaust paint...... It sounds fine and heres just a short video.....

I could, but was thinking welding would be better, and some sort of adjuster to tension the belt???

Bit more progress today, found some suitable u-shaped brackets to secure the axles into place. I then fitted the wheels and greased them up. Next job was to find some suitable material for mounting everything on......Couldn't find any 4mm steel sheet local, but was offered some 4mm Aluminium...... It looks very nice etc..... But not convinced it will stay that way and it will make it more difficult mounting the alternator brackets on......... as i'm unable to tig weld...... Also fitted the ID plate kindly donated by Chris, etched with the engine numbers too!

Ta Chris!

Hi Norm! I plan to buy a Lucas A127 alternator and have it power a leisure battery with some LED lighting?

Have been busy the last couple of weeks but have been making some progress with this project. I had some off cuts of timber left over from a job, ideal to make into the trolley for the Villiers...... Also found a company selling small cast wheels for a few pounds each....... Wheels and trolley are almost ready for the engine to be bolted on!

It's Orange!

From 10am both days at Highbridge Farm, Highbridge Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 6HN. A mixture of Steam, Vintage Tractors, Machinery, Horticultural, Classic Cars and Bikes and more......

Erm.... I think I might be able to make it???

Gareth, S1G kindly donated a carb to this project after I had turned my garage upside down trying to find the spare I know I have somewhere??? After dismantling and cleaning in my newly purchased Ultrasonic Tank, I reassembled it, bolted it to the manifold, added fuel and crossed my fingers! https://youtu.be/Okqj5qyXMfg