Anglo Traction

Hi Nigel, Good to hear from you and hope all's well. Quite enjoy doing the beating of copper. Just about ready to stitch the cowl/plates together with rivets now that I've nearly sorted the Plug access hole- Meanwhile, I had to come up with a fixing point I'd mentioned to secure the lower part of the cowl. Decided on a split housing so that it can be easily assembled/removed. Machined 2 blocks of Duralumin to identical size, then drilled/tapped to bolt them together. Excellent machining qualities of this metal made it a rather enjoyable job- I was then able to machine the inner diameters to fit the flange it clamps to and clears the crank bearing and shaft by a few thousands of an inch (0.05mm). It will also have a greased felt wiper washer inside to prevent dirt/water ingress- This now gives me a platform to fix the cowl and hold it securely- Have lots of swarf to clean off the machines now!. Regards

Bashing copper seems to be going ok so far. Part way through doming the top to fit the cylinder head. This is to utilise the 1/4"bsf threaded hole in the top to secure it- There will also be a fixing that uses the flange of the crankcase at the shaft bearing output side - Fuel tank caps will be more difficult to form

Yes Norm, very handy and will have a fair bit of work for them on this. Not made great progress, but have machine cut/threads on several short rods and finshed the 8 brass nuts from the 1inch A/F (25.4mm) Hex stubs which are shown in the very first image on this. Threaded 1/2" BSF and single chamfer . These represent pre-war A/F (across flats) dimension of the 9/16' Whitworth fixings- Starting on the copper beating now the cushion is filled with sand. Regards

Thanks Alan, Trying to make progress while I have a reprieve from the dreaded R/Arthritis in the wrists. Just to give you an idea of this setup, here is a pic of the rough plan/layout of the working bits- So left - right there is the water pump - speed reduction unit, then the engine. A 1954 Villiers Midget Mk2 98cc. Fully overhauled with a rebore +0.030" and new rings etc. Being static, the engine will need additional cooling, which will require a cowling and cooling fan. The Mk3 Midget has this built in, but blows the air from the flywheel side. I want it the other way, so have to make the shrouds , fan and drive etc. Keeping the sort of Victorian 'Jules Verne' style, I'm using copper sheet from an old hot water cylinder for the shrouds, riveting where necessary and maybe some embelishment? The first pattern from my drawings marked out/cut from the sheet and began rolling to the diameter of 4.5 inches (114mm approx) - Fortunately, I have a piece of thick steel tube of the same diameter which allowed me to tightly form the intake area and rivet/solder the joint- This is now ready for shaping (bossing) to fit the contours of the cylinder etc. A first time challenge for me. I obtained an old Lignum Vitae Bossing Hammer in need of some considerable attention, so I refurbished it back to good condition and purchased a large 15" dia H/duty leather cushion- Will have several jobs for these tools on this project and the washed Silver Sand is currently being dried, ready for filling the cushion.....meanwhile- I had to redesign the engine mounting plates to position the engine inline so I can use direct couplings. I spent the last 3 days marking out, hacksawing and filing the 4 plates after drilling/reaming the holes. Also made the reduction unit mounts ready for welding up, along with the engine ones at the same time- With these parts all assembled in place, the shafts will line up and I can make the direct drive couplings with an allowance for any small misalignment, rather than use chains and sprockets etc. Regards

Pitting or pips on the points faces indicate either over, or under capacitance. Depends which side of the circuit they are. Check for any possible short to earth/ground point in the circuit. Is your Spark plug good?. Check for spark with the lead wire end. Suggest you obtain a copy of a parts list for your specific Techy engine version. Once you have the correct part numbers for the Coil, Points and Condenser, you can search places like this. -LINK- . Maybe check the Tecumseh Manual listed in the 'Downloads' tab on the header line on Home page here for a start. if no good, search online for your engine version. Provided the Magnets in the flywheel can attract a large screwdriver flat end from about 19mm away, it should be ok to produce a good spark. Replace the points and condenser with new ones together.

Tidy machine Norm!. Good find. The steering wheel is a WH Belgium Factory fit (made in Britain). Yours is missing the Centre Boss and had a chrome self adhesive WH decal in the centre. I gave Roly the spare original S/Wheel & Boss from my C-120 project when I sold him the Tractor. I have a spare decal still if you can/want to find a centre Boss to fit that one. My 72 Raider 12 when I first found it in 2008 shows the same S/wheel you have- Regards

Drawn up engine mounting plate design and need to obtain steel sheet to make 4. The 2 stanchions from 60 x 40 mild steel box are taking shape ready for welding up - Had been searching for a genuine Villiers vintage exhaust, but realised they want too much money for not much style. I decided to make my own to suit the design I wanted An empty disposable propane cylinder became the victim after getting the picture in my mind of how I want it. Constituent parts after much searching of materials, measuring, cutting & machining- Ready to weld the 3 tubes for the outlet to the body and the test fit of the brass banding which seals and registers the butt joint end cap prior to riveting up- The brass banding was cut from sheet, rolled and silver soldered the ends to form a close fitting ring. The brass outlet pipe is from a 1954 mower front wooden roller insert, and the fishtail outlet is from a redundant 1960s Ronson Blow torch kit. All finished and a coat of VHT paint cooked at Gas Mk6 for an hour- I've got a finned exhaust clamp from a Triumph T120 which fits perfectly to fix it onto the engine. Regards.

I finally decided that this project will be a 2 stroke powered Water Pump. I rescued this old slurry pump with pickup strainer after laying derelict outside for 30 years- I fully rebuilt this back to new internally and improved the appearance with a bit of cleaning etc. Early 1960s 1" BSP Jabsco model of considerable durability- Still being manufactured and this version/size will set anyone back £250 + without fittings !. Low running speed of about 500 rpm will shift 80 ltrs per min and can pump/self prime comfortably from 5 metres head of water. All this pump work was done several years ago. Not wanting to use belting for drive(s), my options are :- inline flexible coupling, chain drive, or combination of both. Will be mounting this on a wheeled truck of some kind to tie in with the general style theme. Just starting on the engine mounts. Regards.

It's been a long time since I was able to spend time on this. Only now just starting to revisit the project. Plan to make this a priority and finish this year while I still can. I've been putting details down on paper for it's design and progress, so hopefully will be posting updates soon. Regards.

Best Wishes Norm/all. I've 'Pulled the Drawbridge up' for the duration after an early shopping run today.

Hello Steve, Your engine is a 1987 model. A bit past my B&S workshop manual date of 1982, but I've added a link here- B&S 132922 (and hope it works ok) It provides you with a Parts List for that model. Can't see a spring amongst the relevant items. Hopefully,, Wristpin will be along at some point and enlighten us. Rgds Edit - Sorry can't get link to work to your engine, but suggest you follow B&S site directions to your model number

Checked my stock, only have a good Inlet Valve left. Must've pased the exhaust one on?. Another suggestion is to grind down an inlet to the exh spec. I presume you still have the old one?. Would need to be done by a good engineering shop person though!.

Ok Norm. Looks like your habit is no longer in remission ! . Still , it will keep you occupied getting it the way you want it. Regards

I sympathise with your resignation to part with these items. I also have had to change direction and stick to small, light stuff. I hope it all finds a good home . Regards, Richard.

Thanks for the pics Norm. Well laid out garden with interesting implements. Imagine a 'Forth Bridge Painting' regime to keep them all fresh looking like that.