Alan

Hello all 
Some of you will  remember my Huttenwerk Tractor which i had on here,  well I have been busy overhauling the Tracks starting with the track plates then new rubbers and bolts , And today the track cover plates were fitted 50 off factory made from 1.6 mm mild steel  then drilled and painted  Matt black .
and to finish 200 coach bolts washers and m8 nuts all to be tightened up.  Then over to the wash and clean corner this now runs so well now i can hardly believe it hope you like i think it great 

Sorry for the resurrection of this one, but thought those who watch Gardener's World (BBC uk) may see this mower (briefly) on this Friday's programme
It's included in Clive Gravett's (of the Budding Foundation Museum of Gardening) 2nd instalment on the programme covering the history of the mower.
It is also in the Atco Centenary Video on their website:- LINK  within the 1950s period. So at least it's still earning it's keep with the Charity.
 
Regards.
Richard
 

I think you should have supplied Carol with seat belts, a parachute, and an eject mechanism Norm.  Especially with you driving.    Mods look good though.  

Just after Christmas the log store was getting a bit depleted. So I reluctantly order a load of logs that where duly delivered. A week later, talking to a farmer neighbour I mentioned this. "You needn't have ordered any", he said. "There's a tree I want down and you can have it". Typical!
   This was a fair sized sycamour. Maybe 2-3 ton. What surprised me when I started to cut into it, the amount of water that came out of it. Anyway a few hours work and a few trips with the Sears/Roper and Saxon trailer and log splitter at home, the 2' x 4' x 8' wood cage is nicely full. Due to it being so green, it's being left to dry out for next winter.
 
 
 

 

 

  I've had a bit of a trim since that photo was taken. And Carol is just posing.
 

 

 

 
   Not long after that, my mate Dunc landed down from over the border in Scotland. 10' x 5' trailer in tow. Full of seasoned timber. And all for me. Some of that is now cut and logged and stored ready to use.
  About three weeks ago, the same farmer's son was felling dykes/hedges down the side of a field. I could go and get as much wood that I liked. Oh! I liked alright. I can't remember just how many loads I brought home. Maybe 8-9. Decent sized stuff as well.
 
   Problem now is, my little wood yard is full and nowhere else to store more.

 
And there's another stack for me waiting over the border.
 

I've been making a couple of attachments for the Sears/Roper recently.
 
First was a front tow hitch out of some scrap lying around. May not look pretty, but functual and cheap.
 

 
  Secondly a rack for the rear of it. I did make a tote box for the front to carry my chainsaw etc, but on really rough ground it would hit large bumps or ground out on deep holes. So I decided to make a rack to carry it behind the seat.
  Again made from scrap and an old scrap gate.
 

 
Box trial fitted.

 
 Finally some paint thrown on with a brush.

 
 Later I had an idea. I was bored BTW. A seat was lying on the shelf, so let's fit it to the rack.

 
Not ideal but good for a laugh.

 
Certainly strong but best not pull any wheelies.  
  

Hi Norm/All,
                      Well I made the pins from a larger size. I had to reduce them and 'draw down' the eye part to under 1/16"dia, which is still out of scale, but much closer and still manageable to fit/remove.
Well over the last few days, I've made a bit of progress with painting and assembly.
Got past the difficult bit of fitting the horn plates, shafts and the Backhead fittings with minimal need for paint touch ups. Bit difficult to get enough light into the dark areas of black painted bits-
 
   
 
The fitting of the Tender to the horn plates went ok and has 8 x 8ba bolts/nuts on each side, plus 4 x 7ba for the axle bearings.
Original design was just the 4 bearing bolts and a single bolt/nut at the top each side.
Quite pleased with the colour and should look plain, but smart when finished.
I even made the steps with a 'raised' pattern chequer plate, rather than just saw cuts. The bright handle fitting serves to bolt the coal bunker plate to the tender side -
 
 
 
The oil boxes all have filter screens inside to keep the moving bits clean.
I think I will dull off the duck boarding a bit, as it looks a bit 'orange boxy' yellow to me.
Regards.

Many thanks guys. Hope all are well and upbeat on the anticipation of getting back to normal. I'll try and make greater progress on this before I post more pics after this post.
Along with other parts, I have managed to get the last top coat on the Tender/Manstand part of the engine which was giving me a challenge trying to keep it free of contaminates while spraying.
Completed the assembly of the front axle with the addition of the 'Spud' ring and pan design to the model-
 

 
 
The 'Pan' part was fabricated with a lid from a Duraglit tin. The design was copied from  photos of a full size T Engine.
 Fitted the finished wheels that have smaller hub caps and correct style 'Oilers'-
 

 
The colour is a dark royal blue over black primer which is close to Prussian blue.
There will be no fancy fairground colours or coach lines, as this is to be representative of a 'bog standard' utility general purpose engine.
 
While it is mainly still in bits, I take the opportunity of fettling the 'motion' parts to ensure they are all clean, close fitting, but smooth.
The con rod is a redesign to full size spec, which was a bit of a challenge when I made it 30 years ago with little experience of working metal or machines-
 

 
The all important Reversing lever and quadrant are also redesigned as per full size versions. For size comparison, the 3 tapered pins in the weigh shaft (bottom) are 3/64" dia (1.2mm)-
 

 
The finish on the lifting linkage below is after it has been dulled off with sulphuric acid, which makes the appearance more in scale.
The tiny split pin in view is 1/32" dia (0.8mm). I had to reduce the size a bit and make 10 of them-
 

 
I hope to make more progress in a week or two and hopefully start to look like an engine.
Regards.
  
 

Can’t believe its  been 18 years ago this  month that I bought my first Wheelhorse, have got some good memories and I’ve still got it.

As you say Richard, very quiet on here just now.  As to your latest photo's and detail work.  .

Hi Alan, I was allowed to have a little go but not much Iain

Thanks gents. 
                        Hope all are dodging the virus and keeping sane.
 
Hi Norm, yeah, long wait ,  I've decided not to go down that route. To get a decent 1/12th example, it's about a £100.
It will be stand alone with all the fittings options, or attached to the Engine, which would make the shafts redundant and were only really an exercise for me initially.
                       
Not much to show for in over a month what with the cold temps.
Geared up ready the moment the temp gets above 10c and low humidity to carry on painting this and the Engine.
Sorted the issue of dulling off the steel rim faces, well it will do-
 
9
 
As I had already painted the wheels, I used a homemade type of 'Q' tip loaded with 37% Sulphuric acid and continually rotated the wheel to keep the applied acid even.
Took 5 mins each wheel, then clean off and neutralised. Did not affect the paint and will get a coat of matt lacquer over the whole wheel(s).
I should really paint the shafts and props the same as the body, but will leave them for now.
 

 
Spray bar and connections to finish.  Hoses to make next when the materials arrive. 
 

Once again Richard. 

Our project to make a replica Bolens HT snow plough finished last week but it was a long session and we did not have the chance to talk about the project. In this video we talk about the project, the challenging parts and the bits we enjoyed most and what we would like to do next.
 
This project would not have been possible without help from some great people. Thanks Chris Stoneman for letting us copy his blade, Rick (Bolens parts supplier) for supplying a hydraulic cylinder and Mark Smith (Restorationdecals.co.uk) for making and supplying the decals.
 
 
 

Nice job Joseph, and Dad.   Just need enough of the white stuff now for a proper test.   Another project crossed off the list, so what next. 

Very busy day today on the Bolens large frame snow plough replica as the aim was to get all the remaining parts made and all the existing parts repaired and cleaned ready for paint
 
 

Some more progress on the Bolens HT snow plough replica. In this video we start the repairs to the blade
 
 

You know the saying Norm.  No photo's, it didn't happen.  Any damage when the tote box came off. ?  Better luck next trip. 

Things didn't go quite as planned yesterday. First of all I will say I did take my camera this time. Unfortunately I didn't check the battery was fully charged.
   Though the snow, such as it was, had thawed, there was a slight touch of drizzle in the air. Water on frozen ground can be interesting. Didn't set off to the field till after lunch.
   Where the bridleway joins the farm track, there is a bit of a drop. Normally not a problem but it had been rutted by a tractor at some time and some lumps off earth left sticking up. Now frozen solid.  Trying to pick the best way down, as the front wheels dropped off the lane, the tote box on the front dug in and came off.
   Next the rear axle got high sided on righthand side. Front wheels in the gully, one rear wheel in the air spinning merrily, nothing was going anywhere. Unhitched the trailer and put the tractor in 1st high box. By lifting the tractor rear end and pushing best I could, managed get the tractor on to the farm track. Trailer back on and tote box, chainsaw etc in the trailer proceeded to the field. 
   The tree I was going to fell, was at one side of a gateway between two fields. The ground had been nicely paddled by cattle and sheep and now frozen and starting to thaw, made walking rather dodgy. The tree had grow from out the side of the bank. The only way I could get to cut it was off the bank. Also I couldn't get to it to cut a notch out the side I wanted it to fall. Though with it leaning into the field anyway, that was where it was going to drop.
   It wasn't the best of jobs, or safest I've done due to the trees position, but by being very careful it dropped right where I expected and wanted.
   I was cutting some of the limbs up, trailer length, and loading them and twiggy stuff into the trailer, when Carol arrived and assisted with the loading.
   With the tote box etc balanced on top of the load of wood, the slow journey home down the rough track was made. 
  Depending on the weather, rain forecast for tomorrow, it could be the end of the week before the jobs finished. If it doesn't kill me first.

The finished article



It looks alright outside a new barn conversion where the local builder allowed me to use the concrete drive to make final adjustments to the engine and brakes before taking it out on the road.
What started as a mechanical makeover turned into something a lot bigger and I wish I could have kept more of its originality (I have all the interior trim in a box for the next custodian) but it still has all the dings, dents, scratched and chipped paintwork that it collected over the last 83 years and the chrome is showing its age. On the other hand I can take it out on the road and go to rallies and galas without worrying about people touching it or kids with sticky fingers making a mess on it.
In August 2019 I entered the Garioch Vehicle Restoration Society rally where it attracted quite a lot of attention although 'his lordship' sitting in the back seat may have been part of the reason



Sam isn't in to car rallies, ' I'm bored, can we go home now?'



I'm hoping that we do get to some rallies this year as the car is less than 20 miles from where it was first registered in 1937 and when we got the car it had yellow bulbs in the headlights and fog lights, a GB plate on the back and a transfer of French road signs on the windscreen so someone had taken it to France at some point. I'm sure that someone in the area has old photographs hiding in the loft as you wouldn't take a car like this to France without taking photographs.
That's it then and I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings.
 

Spoke to a farmer neighbour on Friday, at a distance naturally, and mentioned I'd had to order some firewood. First time for 4yrs. "Needn't have done that", said he. "There's a tree you can take down in a field". Typical! 
 
 Yesterday I gave my chainsaw a check over and ran it briefly. Checked over the Sears/Roper and fuelled it up. Attached the tote box, then loaded that with all I'll need.
  This afternoon it'll be "TIMBER!"

The engine is a 4 cylinder 10.8 HP (1232 cc) overhead inlet, side exhaust Coventry Climax made under licence by Triumph and during the late 1980's would overheat and boil after about 8 miles.
It was either rubbish around the exhaust ports in the block or a blocked radiator so radiator was removed followed by the engine which was partially dismantled short block status.
Over the years I had read in the club magazine about the amount of rust and debris that had been found in similar engines along with aluminium corrosion - the water inlet confirmed this when removed, the rear port was completely blocked and the top flange broke off in the process




The cylinder head and studs were removed as were the sump and its studs before all the core plugs were knocked out.
The amount of rust and rubbish was horrendous which explained the overheating problem, the block was probed and poked with a variety of screwdrivers chisels and lengths of bar and power washed until all the areas around the cylinders and exhaust ports were clear.
The radiator had always had a greasy film around the filler which I think was due to pumping water pump grease into the pump bearings to stop it leaking so much but what to use to try cleaning it. I was wary of using some of the chemical cleaners on an 80 year old brass cored radiator and after some research found that a lot of people in the US used their equivalent of Fairy Liquid to clean out oil contaminated radiators on old trucks. An old zinc bath, my submersible pump and warm water with plenty Fairy Liquid was connected to the radiator and I reverse flushed it several times and then left it overnight full of the mixture and then flushed it a few times next day. There was no restriction to flow and the greasy film had disappeared so it was back to the engine,
I don't think the engine had done more than 1,000 miles since being bored and having new bearings in 1963 and after checking the bores and a couple of the big ends didn't think it was necessary to strip it down any further. A couple of the cylinder head stud threads in the block were a bit suspect so I retapped as far as I could and sourced some new studs, fitted new exhaust valve guides, ground in the valves, treated it to a new timing chain, selected the best cam follower housings and followers from spares that had been removed from a scrap 6 cylinder engine from a 2 door Gloria Coupe that my father had broken for spares in the 1950's (wish we still had that one) and fitted a set of new brass core plugs.
The engine was re-assembled with new water inlet and new water pump 




The clutch had some surface rust on the flywheel and pressure plate and was easily cleaned up with emery cloth before being bolted back on and the engine was installed with new rubber engine mounts - the old ones were past their best



The carburettors were then fitted - there is a small side draught and a larger down draught working on the same principle as the progressive twin choke weber where the small one opens to half throttle and then opens the large one until they are both fully open as this is a Gloria Vitesse engine.



New oil, plugs, plug wires, points, condenser filled with water and some petrol in the tank it fired up and ran with good oil pressure, it did require a bit of tweaking of the jets to get it running reasonably well and that is how it ran last year but the more miles it did the smokier the exhaust became until it was becoming really bad when hot. The last thing I needed was some tree-hugging do-gooder phoning the police complaining about an old car belching out smoke - I had already a run in with Police Scotland about carrying a shotgun on the roadside a couple of years ago. I also had water leaking up the cylinder head studs and when tightening them a little further felt a couple of them let go in the block
This year I took the engine out again thinking that the piston rings were rusted and allowing oil up the bores but when all stripped down they were in perfect condition and discovered that the inlet valve guides were badly worn. They had felt quite good last year and I think they had been gummed up with oily carbon that hadn't come off when I power washed it but as it ran more the new oil had slowly washed it away - 4 new inlet guides duly sourced and fitted.
The cylinder head studs were a different story as the threads in the block were stripped on two of them and another three were suspect. A club member had repaired his by making some 1/2" UNF OD inserts and tapping them 3/8" BSF for the studs but he had the benefit of access to a milling machine and I don't so I needed a different solution. By chance I had some Jaguar 3.8 waisted cylinder head studs with 7/16" UNF threads and 3/8" dia waist section.
I made a steel block with 3 different ID sized inserts that I could clamp on to the block face - a 3/8" one to line it up using original stud, second one for 7/16" tapping drill and a third one to line up the 7/16" UNF tap as the hole was threaded. The Jaguar studs were cut and a 3/8" BSF thread cut on the waisted section



The engine was assembled once again with a thread sealant applied to the cylinder head studs this time to stop any water coming up the studs.
Another change I made was to fit a single downdraught Zenith carb as the throttle spindles on the SU's are very worn and I couldn't get the engine to run properly, it is now a lot more driveable with just a slight hesitation on take off but isn't a problem on the road.



I may try to refurbish the SU's at some point to return it to Vitesse specification.
 
 

A bit more progress on the snow plough. In this video we finish making the clevis forks and get the hydraulic cylinder cleaned up and painted with primer. I was very pleased with how the clevis forks turned out.
 
 

Got a drill sharpener myself, though I doubt I would get away with using it in the house. Workshop is a bit chilly for working in.
 With the lockdown restrictions, my farm work and trips over to Scotland are curtailed. Jigsaws have been rooted out. More books read and a daily 2-1/2 approx. mile walk round the block. I'm even doing the washing up. Sometimes!

I bought a basic Martek Drill Sharpener back in 1986, attaches to an electric drill and fixed into a drill holder back in that period. Only covered bits from 1/8" upwards. Still have it, but not used much.
I tend to dispose of, or sharpen by hand, any bits under 1/8" and use only for wood after. Although I was successful in hand sharpening 2 off 1/32" drill bits after I broke them while working on my latest project.
To be on the safe side, I started the hole with a good one, then followed up with the sharpened one and went fine with no issues.
Winter 'clips my wings' with projects due cold workshop and other priorities. Like you're having to do, I do much of small work on the table in the warmer conditions. 
The other thing keeping me busy is learning the secrets of a different OS from Windows to MacBook Pro after 15 years using Microsoft.    

I'm always grateful Alan and thanks. If the Topic/thread provides interest and something to read/look at being produced, then it has served it's purpose.
Interests vary and is always good to see them all in material forms such as on this Forum, irrespective of varying skill levels and subjects.
 
 
Reckon you're right Norm. They are obscured by the wheels. Only needed a few thousands of an inch variation on the flatness of the retaining plate while heating up for the lettering to be able to shift.
 
 
Humbled John. Thanks. Learned to love the qualities of metals and lucky to have lots of patience. Things take me a long time to do, what with learning as I go.
A project to me is loads of smaller projects which combine to make a finished one,  hence the slow pace. Happy with the progress and the finished item is in sight
Regards
 
Well I somehow endured the low temperatures and managed to get some colour on this Water Cart. Matt finish is important as it seems to improve the appearance of a model this size.
I had to use 2 different primers, one on the metal parts and another on the wood. Top coat went on fine with only a few undesirable bits in it which were easy to remove after.
I used my 45 year old Badger 200 Airbrush, which had done many Murals on Car and Van panels back in the 1970s and still going strong-
 
 
 
Once dry, I was able to pick out the raised lettering in yellow, a challenge with a tiny 6 bristled sable brush and an Eye Glass, while holding my breath to keep my hand steady-
 

 
Currently a partial assembly to keep the bits together and dust free-
 

 
Colour variations are due to available light, but the last image is what the colour is by eye. Valve internal parts now fitted. Matt varnish for top coat is on order.
Currently dulling off the shiny wheel rims using acid to etch the finish.
Regards