[expeatfarmer]

Having decided that it would be a good idea to complete and seal up the rebuilt engine before I start more grinding filling and sanding, recent jobs have been to fit a new piston and rings ( thanks to Neil) Change the oil pump ( damaged flange ) rebuild the clutch and ratchet starter mechanism. Make up a new set of cylinder head studs. Make an adapter to fit a 12 tooth sprocket on the Lucas magneto.Cut out a set of new gaskets for the timing cover, barrel,final drives, pto and magneto( heavy felt). I have also painted all the track washers and one set of pads, the other set are ready to paint. One job I have been putting off is the engine cowling which was in a very sorry state, I soaked it in the acid bath, shot blasted it and then set to brazing up all the stress cracks and rust holes before giving it a preliminary panel beating to get it back into shape. I also annealed the whole thing to make it less brittle. Today I put it all together and surprisingly it looks ok.

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[expeatfarmer]

Many thanks Geoff, I have found a front loader and dual wheels in Florida, just waiting for delivery. Missed three point linkage the week before. Is the Ventrac available in UK?

[expeatfarmer]

I wonder if Monro using the model MG3 was the reason Ransomes jumped from MG2 to MG5?

[expeatfarmer]

Apologies l tried to copy files across.

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[expeatfarmer]

[attachment=13519:IMG_1095.jpg][attachment=13520:IMG_1096.jpg][attachment=13521:IMG_1097.jpg][attachment=13522:IMG_1101.jpg][attachment=13523:IMG_1102.jpg][attachment=13524:IMG_1104.jpg]Whilst the track pads are cooking in the phosphoric acid I decided to tackle the damaged flywheel pulley which is made of cast iron. I thought about heating and welding with MIG but decided that with my luck it would be the flywheel that would crack and not the weld so I looked at the three big chunks missing where someone had tried to lever the clutch apart instead of simply using two long bolts to push it apart. The chips were rounded and I had just found some really big thick washers which were just right to fill in the missing bits. I ground out the chips to an exact fit on the washers which I held in place with a magnet flush with the outer face and then brazed them in, cut the surplus washer away with a cutting disc and then using a power file I rounded off to the o.d of the flywheel. A lathe would have been better but too big for mine. As the washers were about 6mm thick it matched in well with the vee belt groove in the flywheel, I shaped away the surplus washer with a sanding disc to match the sides of the vee. Quick smear of plastic metal to smooth them over and a coat of paint, 3 virtually invisible mends!

[expeatfarmer]

I am now in the process of re assembling the engine, what is the view on painting the engine casings body colour? I have seen restored machines with polished casings and painted, my view is that the T engined mowers were painted casings and as such I think the MG 2 would have been too.

[expeatfarmer]

The big chunk of channel iron on the left of the engine bay is embossed ” Dorman Long Middlesborough ” and is also stamped on the edge 137

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[expeatfarmer]

Finally managed to finish the idler wheels and the load rollers. The idlers were rebuilt to size using 1/2″ square bar rolled and brazed to the rims, the rollers were restored to size using 1/2″ slices of 8″ dia cast bar bored out to an interference fit located on rawl pins and then brazed, should last another 80 years. In the meantime I have sanded off the body acid treated it with phosphoric and then given it a light coat of primer putty to stop any re rust, I will now apply a light skim of filler to fill the rust pits. All the bolt on bits have been through my electrolysis tank ,been shot blasted, acid treated and primed, I am working my way through a bog box of parts and thankfully can now see the bottom of the box.
Some parts of the tractor still had original paint, which looked different to the Orwell blue and the red commonly used, I tested the colours on a spectograph and came up with a turquoise ( 102 ) and Ruby red (3003) I ordered some test aerosols and tried it out with very pleasing results. As I do not think that these machines were ever shiny gloss finish I have opted for a satin finish

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[expeatfarmer]

The body and gearboxes including pto are primed in grey then topcoated in green and then a further coat of blue has been applied, but as 137 still has traces of coach lines and decals I can only assume it left the factory blue.

[expeatfarmer]

I also found that the tractor had originally been painted lawnmower green under the blue, I wonder if they originally planned them to be green and then changed their minds, primer underneath the green is grey.

[expeatfarmer]

Finally managed to get back to 137 today, pressure washed off the body, degreased it and cleaned all the crud out of the gearbox. I had to use a chisel and a descaling gun to remove the Worcester marl from the underside but just look at the condition of the eighty year old bolts under the clay!

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[expeatfarmer]

I use Champion N9y with a thread adaptor. Rubber coupling will take up any minor alignment issues.

[expeatfarmer]

The clutch is split using a puller bolted into the two threaded holes in the outer cover. you may be able to use long threaded bolts screwed into these holes to press against the flywheel tighten evenly to get a straight push.Undo the big nut on the shaft end first.Broken engine mounts are quite common handy to have a pal welding aluminium.

[expeatfarmer]

They look like some kind of mold to me concrete spiral step mold?

[expeatfarmer]

I have a steam washer but use is limited to when my wife is out, it’s called a dishwasher does a great job though.

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