Anglo Traction

Oh all right,...... 3 weeks! .... Don't do deadlines anymore since I retired. Correct Michael!. Still a lot to sort out, but ordered the copper fuel pipe today. The Carb was mentioned in this topic a while back- Senspray

Not long now Norm. Ailments have now delayed my progress. Only managed a few bits to date. Cooling Fan was distorted, damaged and pretty corroded (see pic 3 of my very first Topic post). After cleaning and straightening, I balanced it up by filing the outer edges. Then coats of primer, rubbing down in between them. After the first coat- The Throttle controls (and cables) on the machine were beyond saving and scrapped. I had to find a replacement. Not the best of condition, but initial clean up found it and the damage repairable- Plating was long gone, so had a coat of paint applied. The black bakelite type plastic lever ends were repaired using original Araldite mixed with lamp black. Final coat of Cellulose lacquer. Other parts were either original plating, or polished lacquered steel and body correctly painted black enamel- Machine had a 7/16" whitworth square nut fitted where it should have a hex nut, so I had to find and machine/file one down to similar shape and size- The finished article and painted fan will show up in the first pics of the refurbed machine in a week or two ............tbc

Hi Michael, I've passed your mower details on via the 'bush telegraph' to someone who can spread the word. Prices are all important, as are any pics of condition. Regards. Richard.

Hi Ray, Afraid I never heard of it . A bit ignorant of the various products floating around these days. I'm rather suspicious of the old 'Snake Oil' type claims for them, but in reality they turn out to be basic compounds or chemicals that you can buy and apply for very little. That stuff is not cheap. I tend to be content with processes that may take longer, but cost very little. Electrolysis for example. A good example Ewan. just a few other different ingredients so they can claim it's their own unique concoction, as you say a bag of citric is obtainable from places like Wilko's . I admit to using a rust converter (trustan and kurust) if I can't get it all off. The Exhaust is done. Surprised myself after patiently tacking and building weld bridges and joining up using 1.6mm rods. Very few spots made it through the thin wall of the neck- Had to break the old spring washer from the captive end cover and replace it with a wide thick copper washer cut and opened to fit onto the rod, then silver soldered the joint. Didn't need to add a seam of weld on the riveted joint, it's good and gas tight. finished it with several coats of BBQ paint. Rubbed it down in between coats and then finally burning it clean with a gas torch to dull red heat- It will do and should last long time !. Not much progress, as still making odd bits not worth mentioning and prepping for paint. The all important original seat actually cleaned up well. I was unsure how it would turn out with the level of corrosion. It still had traces of paint and or primer which could be grey primer and white top coat. Plan is for a light grey top coat until it can be confirmed what colour it was. Very few of these machines still around- Hopefully will make significant assembly progress over the next week.

You will need to have the Model and serial numbers of your engine before you can know what parts you need to obtain. Presume you are in the UK?. Post the numbers here and with a picture of it if you are able.

2nd Shaft was/is a headache. Lots of problems and have had to do the best I can. The boss that the 52t Sprocket is riveted to is fixed to the shaft by a pin. This was sheared in 2 places, so I had to remove the old pieces and make a new one. Strangely, it was nearer to 6mm than 1/4, so I reamed it to 6mm and made a new pin from silver steel and partly hardened. Bearings were a mess inside as with the other ones- This one has a cracked inner race, maybe even from when it was first fitted? - Took an age to clean and flush these out until clean, but when packed with LM grease, they ran quite smoothly considering and they will have to do. Rpm for this shaft is about 750 max. Had quite a wobble in the sprocket, so I tried to straighten it out and got it down to about 1mm deflection. Clamped it to a 1 inch thick steel plate and used gentle leverage- Finished shaft with just a bit of painting to do- Final job on the Villiers Clutch was to replace the worn felt seal shown in 6th image bottom left in post #16. Thought I'd have trouble, but got the old one out. Found an identical sized vintage seal in my spares bits, but was too thick, so I had to slice it. Shown fitted with the old one and cut off remnant- The seal protects the outer cup ball race, which after cleaning and greasing, runs real smoothly . So clutch is ready for assembly now, when I've sorted the cable and routing. The Exhaust silencer/muffler was next. Surprisingly, I managed to undo the remnants of the nut that holds the end plates on and dismantled it- Wanted to to check it over before putting it near any media blasting. Shame one end cap is captive, as I wanted to remove it. This end cap was nickel plated originally and suffered more from the elements than the other. After an initial clean up, loads of little perforations appeared in the neck between the flange and cannister, but the welded areas are strong. I reckoned I could repair this with a new plate wrapped around the neck and weld around the strong points. I've cut and fitted the plate clamped tight with a Jubilee Clip initially for tacking it down. further joint cleaning to do first. Got to practice with thin plate, as I'm not skilled in general arc/stick welding practices - The cannister part is still sound with no holes or thin areas. It's a rolled sheet and riveted with a seam plate inside. In addition to sealing the inside, I'm also going to run a seam along the end joint to avoid it blowing.... can be seen to the right of this image- After this, it will be time for frame cleaning and repairs, before I can fit the engine and see if it will start/run..................tbc

Good haul there Norm.

It's tiring enough shaking it about without prancing around with as well Norm. ............Maracas! . Yes, I do tend to understate. I admit I don't seem to learn when to give up either ............onwards I go............ Finished one of the Shafts. Bearings etc were a mess inside- Combination of dirt and dried grease. Good thing was no rust. Cleaned up all the bits and had a need to bond them into their housings using loctite 638 while fitted to a 1 inch dummy shaft (25.4mm). The makers must have drilled one of the Housings (left) in error as 3 of the holes are not tapped. Helped with I.D ing though. Oil seal plates that carry the felt seals are matched to the housings. Seals are still good ! - It was good that the bearings are still usable. 97 year old SKF RL8 double row self aligning cleaned out after a lot of work. Packed them out with some Graphite based CV Joint grease I had laying around. Quality of the housing castings are not that great, one on the right is full of blow holes After cleaning up the sprocket and making 2 new Keys, parts were painted and assembled when dry. Finished this one now- Next shaft will not be so easy......tbc

As Wristpin says, there is much of what you are looking for already here. If you use the 'Search' box (top left), you will find many. Just using the word 'Osprey' throws up this number of posts- If you use 'more search options', you can select Topic titles only search to give you a list of Topics on the same issues with this machine. The Opsrey is a self powered machine, so most topics on it are in the 'Other Garden Machines. Some links to manuals in threads are broken, so if you need any more help just ask. No problem using an old thread to post/ask a question, as it prevents the same questions/Topics being asked over and over again.

Good project there. Did a quick search for it and throws up several restoration builds of the same unit on 'U' bend toob

Behind schedule with the Plummer Block (pillow) bearings, lots of cleaning out. Meanwhile, I looked at the frame items etc that were borderline scrap or broken. Well , when you're presented with these examples, you wonder how you're going to replace them?, then try and repair- The Eye Bolts look handmade or Smithy'd and what I would call Agricultural engineering, as opposed to Precision engineering. The bolts were saved with careful work loosening off and straightening, plus, I was able to cut off the overlong rotted sections. The channel formed washers on the small eye bolts were virtually rotted away, so I had to think about making replacements. The problem with broken brass Butterfly wingnuts was solved by finding a stronger 1/4" whitworth steel one . Making the special washers mentioned were shaped more or less using an old toolmaker's clamp and shown with a partially formed washer bottom right- A bit of normalising heat and manipulating them to shape produced these washers that should pass as identical to original when fitted/painted- Another job of saving scrap was the Clutch Lever. I'll post an image of what it was like later when the identity of the machine is revealed. New pivot pin and cable pinch screw had to be made. The two clamp screws were rotten, and so I replaced them with nickel plated ones of the same age that came from the drive unit of an old wind up gramophone. Presumed the lever was nickel plated originally, but just coated with Caliper Paint now- Should make better progress now and media blasting parts now available. Should be done with one of the shafts and bearings over the weekend......tbc

+1 for skinny rims. I'm lucky as I have both wide and narrow WH wheels for the 72 Raider now. The track width on the front with the 6.50's fitted is 2 inches (51mm -ish) less than post 75 WHs. Nice work Norm look's tidy . Are you going to 'Sticker' it up , or leave it naked ?.

Brief update. Wasn't happy that the outlet bushing in the tank would solder properly, so I removed it to clean it up and re solder it- Prepped and painted a few parts, tank and straps finished. A lot of work involved to reach this stage. Also one of the control levers finished, where I had to make a new limit strap and rivets, as it was too rusted (see 3rd pic in post #13) - . Tank and straps have had a coat of fuel proof lacquer to protect it and I'll give it a final 'shake up' with stones, kerosene/redex to swill the residues out. I've got 2 tank lids, one original and one a few years younger with it's own measure for the correct oil to petrol ratio !. Fuel line will be done near the frame completion stage. Shaft bearings next and look's like I'll have to make several fixings including 'Butterfly' Wingnuts as several of the originals have had the wings broken off, now unobtainable. tbc

Thanks Norm. I won't keep the mystery for too long now, as I will need to start on the frame etc soon. I'm sure some visitors/Members will know what it is. Cyril Grange's book was a significant reference for many years. first published in 1929 and the ninth edition in 1954 (mine's the latter). I have the 2nd edition (I think) as an 'E' book which revealed the clutch info. Brief update- Working through the power unit and associated parts, I started checking out the Fuel Tank. An irreplaceable item for this machine, so I was pleased to find it bone dry inside. A thin layer of dried up petrified fuel/oil was able to be scratched away from the inner surface. I went to my 'Scope on a Rope' to check it out. Images are not great quality as copies, but gave me a good view- So I started to check the outside soldered joints and the level of rust penetration to ensure no perforations- Nothing that can't be put right cosmetically and with only 2 small/shallow dents in one end and the dents/marks where it is fixed to the frame. Only thing to repair is the outlet boss, where the Tap/filter must have been hit at some time and bent/cracked the old lead soldered joint- Tinned Steel plate is not very thick, but certainly the plating helped keep the bad rust at bay and happy with the initial external clean up- So started on inside using pea sized shingle dry to start with and does it well - Will do several more 'shakes' with this, then when I've sealed and repaired the external bits, I'll change to fluids with the shingle and a final washout. The tank is 1/2 imperial gallon (2.27 ltrs). Fuel pipe is 1/4" copper pipe which I will need to replace (to save repairs and cleaning)......tbc

I was surprised it is still a significantly popular material, primarily due to it's durable stability. Having shoved the engine to the back of the bench with a lightly cleaned Flywheel cover fitted after tapping out a few dents- I moved on to tackling the Clutch. This is the very first Villiers version of a unit that fitted directly onto the output side of the crankshaft. It was called the 'Villiers Free Engine Clutch' designed to allow Motor bicycles to be push started (no kick starts then) and then draw in the clutch to allow the rider to bring the machine to a halt and mount before pulling away smoothly/coming to a halt with the engine still running. I had a real challenge finding anything on this unit until I found a sectional image of it, but with no nomenclature- It was a start, but I had much trepidation about attempting to dismantle it without at least some info. I found only a brief reference to it in the books I had. After much searching, I actually found where the above pic was taken from. Some guy had taken it from an earlier publication (1st or 2nd edition) of 'The book of the Villiers Engine' by Cyril Grange . It described the whole thing, operation, dismantling and assembly in detail . Obsolete since the early 30s, I was on a 'no hoper' with spares. So I set to and began stripping it out. Major job trying apply forces to undo the Bell cover (N) despite having Knurling to show it was only hand tightened. Tried to release spring pressure on the plates by adjusting the cable tension, but overdid it and the cable pulled out of the aged nipple inside. Succeeded with same process as the Flywheel removal and used 'Sisal rope' with a tourniquet and injected some oil where upon all came apart. Multi layers of alternate steel and Bronze plates transfer the drive loads (7 of each) some are damaged and broken (not clear how?) - All removed and retained in their respective positions for cleaning and inspection, so they all go back the same way. A broken and bent plate was clearly put back and used like it, as wear is visible. Lot of work to make new ones, so will flatten and repair them as needed- Bronze plates are the 'Drivers' and steel ones are 'Driven'. I had dearly wanted to strip the Counter shaft completely, but it is impossible to release the Clutch body and it's retaining nut from the tapered end of the shaft- So I am having to work around the assembled shaft parts in situ for now. Maybe when/if it has been run for a while, it may ease up?. Cleaned all the constituent parts and quite impressed with the design. Felt Oil seal is rotted where the cable lead out exits, but will try and insert a new one- Cable adjuster spanner flats are rusted to nearly round, so made a new one with lock nut- Aged it by oil staining and roughing it up with a few burrs Confident I can get this bit working as it should, so onto the next bits

Good work Ian. Like the Tank finish

Nice job. Looks too nice now to sling mud and turn dirt.

Sorry Alain, I missed this one. Good looking machine after what you have done to it. The decal orientation does not affect it's appearance. Will it see/make some sawdust?.

JimStDavids, If you click (or hover the cursor) on Paul's name on the left of his post, it will open another window and give you the opportunity to send him a personal message. If he has enabled this in his settings, it will give him a notice of your mssge in his Email inbox and prompt him to visit this forum again .

Nice work you're doing here. Should be good for long service when you're done. Did you ever source the Air Filter Bowl you mentioned at the start of this topic?. Are you planning to have this engine powering something, or just to run it as is?.

Only too aware Ray that running clearances in engines need to be as recommended to avoid nasty noises and disintegration. Just a matter of cleaning the old dry oily dirt off with scrapers and soft wire brushes, then finishing with a bit of soft scouring pad. It's not super polished, as I don't want it looking new. Starting handle in the previous post is reassembled, greased the tubing/handle before pressing back on. ready for painting. Returned to checking out the ignition bits to see what was needed. Having obtained the HT Coil and Lead, I started on the Points Box and when I opened it up, I found it surprisingly tidy- Clearly, towards the end of it's working life, it was opened up quite a lot judging by the scratches on the bright, heavy nickel plated lid. Repairs had been attempted by the use of hard (red) sealing wax to act as insulation under the screw head. The small insulating bushings were originally made of 'Ebonite', a hard vulcanised rubber shaped under high pressures. These had broken and cracked under the screws, but the spacer bushings underneath the plate were ok. I set about making new flanged bushings that would fit with the engine's age, and I remembered I had a rod of 'Tufnol' from the 50s that was my Father's. Good stuff this, but never machined it, so did some checking up first. Also found this Ad from the mid 1930s- This stuff was being made before the company was formed and is used on the 'Heel' of the breaker points on this engine (which may need replacing). The rod is surprisingly close tolerance in diameter ( 0.001" under 1/2") and dead straight. This version is known as 'Carp'. Fine woven cotton fabric tightly rolled, soaked in resin and pressed until set. Cut a piece off, set it in the Baby lathe and turned down to outer diameter- Clearance drilled for 4BA Screws, then turned down each one to 1/4" (6.35mm) and parted off. I used white spirit as a lubricant and helped reduce the dust level (mask and vacuum used). Cleaned up the part machined cast brass Points box. The wires are all still good. Finished bushes seen here and re-using the original spacers- The worn breaker heel (circled in the above) on the original points arm can be fabricated from this tufnol if I find the wear is too great for points adjustment. The arm and both contacts have so little wear, that I only had to lightly mirror polish the Platinum faces. Virtually no pitting, which tells me that the condenser was working as it should when last run. I plan to get this running with all these parts initially. Will attempt some repairs to the enamelled badge that fits in the Flywheel cover. Also need to repair the worn slots in the lightly cleaned up cover-

Good luck Ewan, I'll be following your progress .

Called a deflector piston. Pretty heavy as well. weighs in at 520 grams without the Pin. Villiers used them a lot up to about 1934. then went flat top on most 2 stroke motorcycle engines when they modified the size and layout of the porting. Still used deflectors on the 79 Mk1 & 98cc Midget Mk's 2 & 3 engines which ended up in mowers etc like in my Yellow Mower challenge Atco- The Skirt ring must have been discontinued in this 269cc MkV during 1922, as the donor engine later of the same year had the same piston, but unmachined for the fitting of that ring. Thanks Ewan, It's making a pleasant change trying to save something that just under a hundred years old. Main parts of the power unit are back together now and feels nice with the movement- Working on the ignition bits now, but broke off to play with the all important starting handle. Pretty badly rusted up, but was able to dismantle into it's constituent parts. The top 3 parts in this pic, where the free turning hand grip tube was seized (frozen) onto the handle. The lower part is one of the control arms which needs attention- I had to carefully cut the old piece of tubing off, as it was solid and beyond saving. Searched for a substitute and found some stainless tubing that would just about fit. Being sold in 100mm lengths, I asked if I could have a piece 101.6mm (4 inches) and it arrived within 24hrs exactly 4 " long !!. Impressed. Went for stainless, as I reckoned the original was bright nickel plated steel. This will look ok. Initial clean up and prep required me to machine about 3 thousands of an inch off the 2 faces for the tube to fit on smoothly. Parts to finish and assemble. Even the Cotter Pin was nickel plated, but needed a new nut- Got some more machining to do before I finish the igntion bits.......tbc.

Yep!, What Iain says. Superior job start to finish. and a novel subject which posed many challenges for you. Well done Alan.

Having done some swatting up on machining this version of Phosphor Bronze (PB104) and looking for more endorsements that it is the correct stuff for the job, I went ahead. The Gudgeon Pin obtained from the donor engine was a god send, as I had visions of having to make one and pay for the cylindrical grinding and polishing to size. I went all over it with a micrometer, noting and marking sizes. I found a slight taper of 0.0002"(0.0051mm) end to end. The most wear I found was 0.0006" (0.0152mm), so I aimed for closest fit possible to that. Strangely, the pin diameter is neither metric, or imperial and so worked to 0.4915" - Started with 3/4" (19.05mm) dia stock rod. I knew the stuff was a bit 'sticky' when machining. Using 1 part cutting oil and 10 parts White spirit (mineral spirits I believe in U.S) I followed a set process of repeated shallow depth drilling, followed up by boring and progressively enlarging the bore to keep the friction heat down. Stayed only warm to the touch throughout, so was happy with that. Got to 31/64" (0.4843") leaving me about 0.0072" to finish. Moved the part still in the chuck over to the Mill and fitted to the rotary table for marking out and drilling the oil way- You may see on the old bushing, a circle just below the oil way. Well I scribed the circle while it was still in the con rod due no hole visible. It was not until I removed the bushing that I found the oil way there. So either it was originally fitted like that, or it moved round ?. Anyway. after drilling the hole, it was back to the lathe with it to finish the bore to size and turn the outer diameter to a press fit- Put shallow helical groove in the bore for oil distribution, then parted off and finished ready for fitting- A bit of relief to get that part out of the way, so continued to chip away at various bits. Tank Cap was plugged, fuel tap was seized up and clogged. Also has a filter in the lower section. All cleaned ready. The back of the Armature Plate lightly cleaned to keep the age look and proceeded to make the rusted, rotted parts. Spring wire HT cap retainer and the armature plate lever. Both Oil blackened and heat treated. New HT Lead and ready now to fit the piston- You may also notice the Lock Screw for the armature plate looks a bit better now. The black markings on the piston are not wear or damage. I believe they are fine grinding marks from when it was either being prepped as a casting ready for machining, or after machining to allow for some skirt clearance and oil retention. Carefully checked and marked the parts for correct orientation and order of assembly, starting with the small end bushing and avoiding any strain on the con rod and bearings- That bushing should not move in a hurry now!. And with another 'pre fit' check, the ceremonial oiling and fitting of the piston - ....................tbc