expeatfarmer

I have an MG5 which was stolen from an enthusiast, it was more than 3 years before it turned up on E Bay and was spotted by a number of people, the police recovered it immediately and returned it to the original owner. So don't give up hope and keep an eye open on Auction sites and Gumtree.

Screwfix and most DIY stores have them. Mine is a Black and Decker I think they cost about £35 may be less. There are also air drive versions.

Today I have been restoring the carburettor which is a brass cast Amal nickel plated. Over the years it has been bruised and bashed and had a number of nasty vice marks. I polished these out with my Dremel but did not like the shiny finish as the original would have been peat flour sand cast. After a bit of thought I dug out some brass plumbing fittings and polished them up with the Dremel and then shot blasted them with glass beads to see what effect it produced. Very pleasing effect and by a strange coincidence the carb is stamped "JC 648" must be an omen! Next job is to Nickel plate it .

For a number of years my elder son has used a power file for all sorts of clean up jobs and swears by how useful it is, this year he bought me one for my birthday and now I wish I had had one years ago it really is the most useful tool particularly when cleaning up and restoring parts. Once you get used to it you can refresh even the smallest delicate parts, clean crud out of awkward corners, tidy up welds, or get brutal and use it for removing large amounts of material. Also ideal for sharpening SWMO's secateurs and garden shears for brownie points. If you have not got one I would definitely write Santa a note!

It would seem that I was wrong, Anthony has sent me a photo of a plate off an ITW which is numbered 350 indicating that 311 and 310 are right. Apologies to the stamping man at Ransomes.

Chris at Vintage Brass Plates now has the originals of the i.d. plates off both skimmers and 137, he has identified that the numbers of the sand skimming tractors are 310 and 311 not 1311 as I thought. This means that either Ransomes started a new numbering sequence for the sand skimming tractors or the bloke that stamped them was half asleep and forgot the first 1!!! Whilst I suspect it may be the latter scenario I will stick with what I have and use 310 and 311 even if only as a discussion point.

This week so far I have rebuilt the track load rollers with new bearings and seals,, final drive output shafts and hubs new bearings and seals, rebuilt the cooling fan, rubbed down filled and painted all the red bits, finished all the bolt on blue bits, made up some new track tensioners and generally made a mess of my workshop. Gradually sorting through the pile of rusty nuts and bolts that came with 137 matching what I need to the parts list, where practical I am re using clean existing nuts and bolts but any that are badly damaged by rust or past abuse I am replacing with new. Chris at vintage brass plates is making up a new set of id plates for the body and a new plate for the Sturmey Archer engine, Titch is making up a set of decals for the body. 137 had scroll decals on either side which I guess are from lawnmowers and sadly no decal on the tank front so tempting though it is to add a few more for looks I am currently sticking with what is shown in the period photos. The same goes for things like mudguards over the track rollers and wear plates protecting the final drive casings, both of which were added to the 1937 models.

I have been using cans of Simoniz spray putty and High build primer both of which are very good for surface preparation.

Reached a milestone today finally managed to complete the rebuild and paint of the drive wheels I seem to have been on with them for months. Having to be careful that I dont get carried away with finish I keep looking at other original machines to see what level of marks/gouges etc were sent out from the factory I do not want it to be better than original I just want original and that means defects. Skimming with filler to reduce the pitting is a chore but the effects are very pleasing.

I have both but choose small batches down on a bench to keep the spray drift under control, I have sprayed many parts outside but now it is too cold. As I tend to work on a couple of components at a time repairing or restoring I take each one to primer stage and then put it away for later re assembly if I use a gun I would be forever cleaning it up.

Just working my way through each and every component with final primer coats. I wish I had kept count of just how many individual components there are!

Do you sand it back after it has dried?

Got myself all excited today, looking at the MG2 parts book significant changes were made after the building of 252 suddenly thought that number is familiar as I have another T engined 2 ,went to have a check ,my other machine is 225 and not 252, never mind it is still special!

I have done that myself a few times with 6ft wide tracks but the air tools make a huge difference. Started on filling all the rust pits with Upol today not sure why but the filler goes off but retains a sticky surface which clogs the sandpaper.

Checked it for run out with dial guage, less than 3 thou and that seems to be in the shaft.

No it's Hammerite spray silver.

Drummond Model B lathe 1902. Could do with a good clean up !

Thank you Richard . Todays job has been assembling one of the tracks, if you tighten the nuts to the correct track pitch it makes it too stiff to fit and handle so it will be another laborious job once fitted to the machine. 28 pads per track 58 bolts 2 tracks 116 bolts to tighten a couple of flats at a time as you can't get in with sockets or power tools.

Apologies Richard ( Anglo Traction) I have just read your response from April. You are right about the Whitworth Thread, I managed to find a back plate, Rhys found me a chuck and the lathe is now up and running and in use making a new set of head studs for 137. I recently came across another Model B which is treadle powered. I bought mine about 35 years ago as a present for my father, it used to belong to a vicar in Lockerbie who was a keen model steam engine builder. When my father died I brought it home and set it up. I have managed to buy a few later attachments for it, a compound cross slide and a milling attachment and very fortunately an original brass plate that gives you the gear configurations for the lead screw drive. None of which I have yet had a play with. I will post a picture later.

I have thank you, looks as if it could get expensive. I currently have a 1937 version of the same book and it is interesting how the machine has changed, but not fully evolved into the TB engined model. The engine in this is Sturmey Archer derived but Ransomes branded, the starter mechanism has changed to the end of the crank instead of the chain and ratchet 137 has, the logos and decals are different and now has Royal Warrant so guess this brochure must be 1938/39. I hope I manage to win the auction.

Wrong kind of fridge unfortunately.

At last I am getting near to the end of de rusting, cleaned off the drawbar and lift mechanism today just a couple of wheels and the load roller frames to go. Studying the manual for the Nickel plating kit I bought ready to set to with the carb, disappointingly the first thing the kit says is to mix the chemicals with distilled or de ionised water but then they don't send you any! Fun job today was to start re assembling the tracks now that they are cleaned off and painted.

Very smart Norman

Usually I write the blurb and then upload the photos which land where they land! I don't seem to be able to move them around. Had a go at editing the last two posts and that seems to be better. Thanks Norman.

quite satisfying restoring an eighty year old machine using a tool that is 114 years old.