Vintage Horticultural and Garden Machinery Club

You can make your own from a suitable leather fashion belt , I did this with Father-in-laws Plowmate , glued it together with an industrial glue , a little bit of trial and error getting length right , but can assure you it will work well.

Andy.

I’ve never worked on BCS boxes , all I can say is that ANY wear or play in rotor boxes will result in worn seals , so it’s vital to replace both seals and bearings……..this advice is based on 50yrs of working on Howard rotavators.

Andy.

Very sad news indeed , I feel Weeley will be a very sombre weekend , above all our thoughts at this time are with those closest to Geoff.

Andy.

Grahame , with all due respect , when you replaced your sheared B&S key did you just hand tighten the flywheel back on , or apply the correct spec of torque , I suspect the latter. Looking at the photo of your 2A key , it seems obvious to me that it is the result of damage caused by running with an incorrectly tightened flywheel.I’m certain that…[Read more]

David , you’re correct, by Grahames admission the flywheel nut was only “hand tight” if it had been run like that it would not have lasted , the key would have shattered , resulting in untold damage very quickly indeed. JAP2A keys were never meant to shear , a steel key on a steel shaft in in steel housing is so obviously a recipe for disaster if…[Read more]

I’ll have to wait for an accurate close-up of the key before passing judgement. No felt seal present is a further indicator that your engine has been apart before and been tampered with.

Andy.

Grahame , one more question , and it may sound off topic , when you removed the flywheel , was the large thick felt seal present around the stator plate.

Andy.

H7 h6 or js6 , forgive my ignorance , but what exactly does that mean.

Andy.

Grahame , it would concern me when you said the pulley came of by hand , I can’t help but think all’s not right somewhere and would lead to flywheel/key/ crankshaft failure.All the 2As I’ve worked on the pulley tightens right up , and requires the impact gun to undo.
The points gap is usually stamped into the points inspection cover , I would…[Read more]

David , I’m not at all savvy with PCs , and haven’t yet fathomed how to blow-up photos , but the rollpin in his pics appears to me to be on the opposite end to the threaded part , but of course I could well be mistaken on that. Grahame states that he knocked the rollpin out , which to me would suggest that it went through the crankshaft ,…[Read more]

Grahame , I never said or meant you were complicating your ignition ideas , I admire you for having a go , and I really do hope it works , It appears to me a sound idea , if the situation happens whereby the original components are not available. Whilst parts are still readily available I tend to go down that route.
I have a large ammount of…[Read more]

Grahame , you do seem to have made a most simple task complicated , 2As are one of , if not THE simplest engines to work on , as you have now seen , no awkward taper flywheels , keyed timing. Every 2A that I’ve done have always had a head gasket.
I can’t see from your pics , but did the rollpin actually go through the crankshaft , or just through…[Read more]

Grahame , the starter pulley(the alloy part) and the steel inner(with the slot) are as such one unit , and upon undoing will come off as a complete unit , it’s then a simple task of drawing the flywheel off its staight shaft , in my experience they are very easy to remove.
Very recently I did a 2A on a Bulldog for a collector friend of mine ,…[Read more]

Grahame , every 2A I’ve ever worked on the flywheel is only held on by the starter pulley , you should see a large slot in the steel embossed inner part , I have a nut welded on a piece of steel that fits snugly into that slot and use an impact gun , it’s normal righthand thread, very often the flywheel will come of with a VERY SLIGHT tap from…[Read more]

A photo of your machine will help , AC made loads of different machines.

Andy.

Yes , Im all for the increase to keep this wonderful club afloat. I’ve also long thought that there should be a forsale section on here , but for CLUB MEMBERS ONLY , even more so if we have fewer magazines , perhaps we could have a membership vote on this??

Andy.

OK David , but I can assure you the first 2As were fitted with the JAP carb , the Zenith came much later.

Andy.

David , the groove you refer to was an idea/design that JAP toyed with for a short period , it was also used on 4/3 , 5 models , but was quickly dropped. So in it’s original format that engine would have been fitted with a carb with the JAP logo cast into the fuel bowl , it was a very similar looking carb to the Zenith13. Traces of yellow paint on…[Read more]

David/Grahame , it may be worth getting in touch with Panks in Norwich , they used to be Alcon agents , pumps of all types was their speciality. My Father bought a brand new Villiers/Alcon unit from them when I was a youngster.
I know neither of you will agree , but the Alcon type pumps are not meant to be used for pressure applications , my…[Read more]

The person Grahame refers to does not have a clue about 700s , his speciality is the 300 series and a few Gem parts , if you want my advice it would be to steer well clear. I run and use a pair of 700s , and they are by some considerable ditance my favourite machine to use , machine parts , along with most engine spares are long obsolete , over…[Read more]