G621 Very early Rote Ho Gem 1943

[S1g 579]

Don't know if these shots will come out the right way up, but heres the 2 brass plates that im having reproduced.

Ive been digging through my notes on these early spec gems today, and have come to the conclusion that its probably

the second oldest Gem left. G358 is the lowest that ive ever heard of. I own what is left of G367, but as its too far gone

it will only ever be a doner so doesn't really count as its not a survivour. This one is G621 which is next. Then comes

G667, after which ive seen 2 in the 900's (one is G927). I would love to hear of any more with a number below G951

(when the more common type handlebars were introduced.)

[Stormin 4,458]

Modern technology.  

[S1g 579]

Modern technology.

Hopefully these taken with my proper camera will come out the right way up.

Dug these 2 Carbs out my shed today to make one good one out of them as the

tattier one has a lot of wear on the butterfly spindle, and the one on this machine

was missing.

[nigel 1,876]

thats better Gareth, ime to fat now to do handstands every time you put a photo up

[expeatfarmer 591]

I repair worn butterfly spindles by drilling oversize and using a sleeve of silicone pipe over the spindle it gives a good seal and moves freely.

[S1g 579]

I repair worn butterfly spindles by drilling oversize and using a sleeve of silicone pipe over the spindle it gives a good seal and moves freely.

Thanks for the suggestion, in the past I've had a mate drill the hole over size and fit a brass bush. However I like the idea of a silicone pipe, should be a lot easier to do.

[S1g 579]

Todays job was to clean up the flywheel and fan shroud. Ive noticed in the past that

war time Gems often had poor qualityfan shroud castings, probably due to shortages

of good quality materials. As i'm aiming for a factory finish, I resisted the temptation to

fill in the flaws.

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Been having a bit more of a dig through my archives today. This photo is the only period image I've got of these early type gems ( I guess with the war on there was more important things to photograph than rotavators). I believe this is probably of the prototype as there is no support for the rotor shaft on this side, in which case this photo will date from 1942. Due to shortages it's unusual to see a set of tyres fitted.

[nigel 1,876]

Gareth did they do a v twin rotorvater

[S1g 579]

Gareth did they do a v twin rotorvater

Yes, prior to the gem there was a v twin, I sure there was a jap and a British junior version. Attached is a photo of one in the 2013 tractor world auction were sadly I was the under bidder- but the I did purchase the 5 and 6 in the background.

The really gutting thing was this twin had the engined removed for a motorbike and the remains sold on ebay later in the year.

[nigel 1,876]

Cori like that is there still any around or have they all gone now, and why is it not orange and what age would it be

[S1g 579]

Cori like that is there still any around or have they all gone now, and why is it not orange and what age would it be

I know to a couple of examples but not many. The age is probably mid to late 30's. The colour of early Howard's is a bit of a controversy. The chap who restored these had been in contact with me for a few years prior to the auction trying to sell them( they cost x amount of thousands to restore so therefore they were worth this price in his opion) and he said that he found grey as the base coat. I've heard from a couple of sources that grey was used and even green before howard settled on orange. The far end one is a howard junior 5 imported from Australia ( I've still got this example) and the 6 is from the uk but I have scince moved it on as I needed the space and the money.

[nigel 1,876]

Thanks for the info Gareth very interesting I would like to know where that engine is now, it looks the dogs dodars

[S1g 579]

Ever had one of those mornings when you wish you hadn't bothered? Even though I'm suffering from exhaustion I got to work at first light after checking the forecast to top coat the fan shroud. Guess what?, the forecast lied. I was just putting the final coat on when it started to pee down, then in my rush to get it back inside quick it fell off the forklift. Using every trick I know I think I've managed to salvage it. Photos to follow tonight as otherwise if I upload now with the iPad Nigel will have to do another hand stand, lol.

[S1g 579]

Heres a few shots. I also repainted the spacer plate.

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Next stage is to redrop the gearbox out of the frame.

[S1g 579]

Here's some of when I stripped and checked the box when I was working on it a couple of years ago.

New seals and a gasket was fitted as a precaution, apart from that it was in very good condition.

[S1g 579]

When I arrived home today, these brass plates were waiting for me. Am absolutely delighted with them.

[pmackellow 2,738]

Very nice, the finishing touch(es) !!

[nigel 1,876]

very nice gareth can i ask the cost

[S1g 579]

very nice gareth can i ask the cost

Single plates usually come out at £45-£50 each. Chris did me the 3 for £120.

Very nice, the finishing touch(es) !!

As overall the spend on this machine is on track to be quite low( just an awful lot of time needed) I felt it was worth while spending a bit on taking it back to as close to new as I can get, the originals as can be seen earlier on in this project were badly damaged. The second roteho plate is for another project that I hope to reveal at some point in the next few months.

[S1g 579]

Here's a sneak peak at my 1946 series 1 gem that the other plate is for. It's hardly ever been used scince new, but was suffering the ravashes of time from living outside in a open ended shed that wasn't big enough to properly house it.

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Tonight I painted the wheels in etch primer. As tempting as it was to fill in all the flaws

in the castings, I again left it as factory finish.

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Due to a number of reasons including on going health issues I haven't done much to this project for a while, but last night I dropped the main frame off at my local boasters. Just depends how often he goes to the pub as to how long it takes him to do it. Will update the photos when it comes back.

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Whilst im waiting for a puller to arrive to set the timming on my other gem and with a view that the

blaster may get round to doing the top frame sometime soon ( its only a week after he said it would

definatley be ready at the moment) I wire brushed and etch primed the gearbox.