Rebuild of NTS 204

[pk]

HI guys
I started a full renovation of my barn find from 25 years ago at last? It is NTS 204 which you can now add to the found list.
Well into it and thought I might ask the question about the head from the Norton as from research I think the cooling fins are running the wrong way so have deducted that the head is from a bike on this?
Have you guys got any cooling tips from the ally fan blades in side the cowl as the air flow will be blowing directly into apposed fins.
A new head would be great but more chance of finding Rocking horse droppings I think.
As stated it’s a nut and bolt full strip down so any tips are welcome on assembly mistakes made by others ( obviously not many as we are all back street engineers ha ha)
thanks Paul

[trusty220]

The NTS stands for New Trusty Steed, so I’m assuming you have what we now call the Mk2 Steed.

The Norton Big Four engine fitted is the same as the motorcycle engine- it has a short, tapered crankshaft extension and the cooling fins on the head run from front to back; don’t confuse it with the Norton Big Four engine which was fitted to the 2-wheel Trusty as they are different. The easiest way to identify them is to look at the valve chest cover; the engine fitted to the Steed should have an oval valve chest, the one on the 2-wheel tractor has an oblong one.

The cooling ducts on the Steed take the air blast from the fins on the crankshaft and blow it around the back of the engine then through the fins and out through the front. On the 2-wheel tractor the airflow is simpler and goes from the fans through the cooling fins from the right hand side and exits on the left.

Before you embark on the rebuild why not have a look at my step-by-step engine rebuild in the “projects” section? It was some time back now but the way I tackled it is still relevant today.

Good luck with it and I will add it to the Trusty Register. How about some photo’s and a separate topic in the Projects section?

[trusty220]

I have just looked up your tractor’s history in my records and found it was sold through the official Trusty dealer in Huddersfield, a company by the name of Tractors (Yorkshire) Ltd. It was invoiced to them on the 10th October 1951.

[pk]

Thanks keymaster… Brilliant as I can continue as planned and will post some project pics on a rainy day for you.
Glad you found the dealer that is fantastic as ifound it in a barn at Huddersfield and live in the district at Holmfirth.
Glad I found the club and will surely have some more questions if unsure
Cheers Paul

[will-haggle]

I’ve got a book on the Big 4 Norton Engine I’ll try and upload a page or two.

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[will-haggle]

IT worked so here are a few more….

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[will-haggle]

More Norton….

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[will-haggle]

…and how do I know about Nortons – I own a few of them!

[pk]

Thanks will haggle I’ll take a read and keep my fingers crossed.
Luckily I have a friend who knows old bike engines so hopefully it goes to plan.
I’ll put some project pics on if you are interested in project section if I can work out how to do it… Ha ha
Cheers

[charlie]

There is a topic in the Help and Information section of the forum with advice about how to resize and add photos.

[pk]

Happy New year all you guys
Im after some help sourcing some rubber shift handles for the Mk2 trusty as ive had no luck on the old internet
They need to be half inch bore and 2.25 inch long or there abouts
also ive finished the full engine rebuild but missing the sizes of the governor paddle that fits in the cowling so if anyone knows the size it would be mighty helpfull as it would be a trial and error job.
ill try post some pictures
Thanks

[pk]

Phew !!
Managed to send some pics as to were im at with the project
Looking forward to test starting the engine next week still plenty to do yet before she ploughs the first furrow .

[pk]

sorry tried to resize hope it works !!!!

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[john-e-w]

Ref the rubber handles – you could use my bodge and try your local motor-parts shop and ask for some car heater hoses which are aprox 1/2″ dia and cut them to the correct length.

John E-W

[trusty220]

I have looked out an old Steed parts list which shows the governor parts in exploded view. I had the same problem with my Steed in that the aluminium air vane on the governor arm was broken off. My pet theory is that it is held in the airstream by a spring and when this weakens the vane touches the fans and it snaps off. You can see from the photo that it is virtually square with an upturned end.

The rubber grips that you are looking for are not made any more and so far I have been unsuccessful in locating a decent looking replacement. They are used on just about every Trusty product from the Earthquake to the Road Roller so there’s an opening for somebody to start re-manufacturing them (hint, hint!). I the meantime I have been making some in wood for my machines and they do look quite realistic when painted black; don’t just use one coat of black paint, use blackboard matt black then three or four coats of semi-matt clear varnish. The resulting finish looks more like the original rubber and looks older.

The parts list that I have is a repro from B.J.Sims and is very useful for identifying parts that are missing on a project like this.

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[Author]

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