[darmic1]

Finished painting the fuel tank this afternoon. Small dents were filled and then etch primed, before top coat was brushed on. I will be clear coating the fuel tank with a 1k lacquer, as the enamel is not fuel resistant!

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[darmic1]

Replacement Oilite bronze bushes have arrived! Also made a spacer plate from some 8mm steel plate, this should give me around 10mm of clearance for the new, larger tyres…..

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[darmic1]

Made a new gear case gasket, made from oil resistant 1mm gasket paper. I will also use some RTV sealant either side of the gasket to ensure there are no leaks!

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[darmic1]

The ploughing wheels are fitted with ratchets and pawls, unfortunately the pawl springs are shot! I was only able to salvage one complete spring, although badly corroded, it has been sent to a company who will be reproducing a batch for me, so I will have some spares!

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[darmic1]

Have been out in the garage again today…… inspecting the flywheel, looking for numbers! I have found 2 numbers. 51 is stamped into the brass next to the flywheel nut and M49 stamped onto the face about halfway between the nut and the outer edge. Anything to confuse the dating of a machine! However, I’m leaning towards 51 as the series 2 machines didn’t exist in 49. Not only that, the MK12 engine wasn’t fitted until 1951, along with other improvements available around that time. These were the offset and height adjustable handlebars, power take-off pulley and the 10′ rotovator. I’m pretty much convinced the engine is original, paint around the sump and frame mounting matched perfectly. It was in an inaccessible area, only seen once stripped down and not covered in the later, darker paint brushed over everything visible! I’m also wondering if Raven Engineering LTD continued the serial numbers on from the Series 1 machines and onto the Series 2 machines. M4694 would suggest they did if this particular machine is a 1951 model. If only the factory records still existed!!!

[darmic1]

Also removed all the old paint and gunk off the gearbox casing, found the brass ID tag and its numbered M4694…… I have no idea on the date of this machine, however the engine has a brass flywheel, but I’ve yet to find a number stamped on it…..

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[darmic1]

Have now stripped the gearbox down to investigate some excessive play in the driveshaft. The bronze bushes are worn to excess on one side and the shaft itself has some minor wear…..

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[darmic1]

Sorry, Not quite sure what’s happening with the last picture in each post? Its putting them upside down, despite being the right way up on my PC. I’ve even tried turning it through 180 degrees, it still posts it upside down!

[darmic1]

Painted the rotor cover and fitted it……

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[darmic1]

Collected the re-made rotor cover this afternoon. I am really pleased with the exact copy of my cardboard template…… It fits perfectly!

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[darmic1]

Added some oil to the sump and a squirt of fuel……

[darmic1]

Have now rebuilt the engine using governor parts from the donor engine. stripped, primed and painted it. Repaired the exhaust, rebuilt the carburettor and fitted the new air filter.

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[darmic1]

Thanks!
I did my best to keep this under my hat…… It all came about after the Tractor World Autumn event, I contacted T&M as I was under the impression there would be photo’s of the prize winners in the following magazine. However my enquiries revealed they were cut from the final edit…… I asked if it were possible to have copies sent to me? I was then put in touch with Peter who asked if I would like to write something about our hobby, how I got into it and a little bit about me??? And that is that!

[darmic1]

Made a start inspecting the MK12 engine from this machine yesterday. I wasn’t too concerned about the internals as I had previously had the head off to check the piston and valves etc. I had also had the engine running with just a squirt of fuel, enough to make it run. However, I wasn’t prepared for what I found when I pulled the sump off……. 2 rather large components sitting in the oil at the bottom! these bits were the governor gear and its shaft……. I had previously noticed the governor arm was broken where the spring connects, but didn’t associate that with anything more serious. It would appear that the governor arm has broken whilst the engine was running, the engine has then ‘run away’ ungoverned causing the counterweight gear to self destruct! Thankfully nothing more serious than a few light scratches to the crank lobes has resulted, the crank itself, con rod and piston skirt are all intact and serviceable. Thankfully I have a donor engine I can cannabalise for the required parts!

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[darmic1]

I have made a start on the rotovator attachment today. Have fitted new modern nitrile seals to the rotor shaft replacing the original rotten felt ones, also fitted a new end seal to protect the shaft end and bronze bushes. Next job was to re-make the missing rotor cover. I made a cardboard template using photo’s from a ‘youtube’ video as reference. I will get the steel cut tomorrow….

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