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It seems ages since I updated this post but the time goes so quickly when you’re having fun! Last week was a bit of a disaster with Mrs. Geoff’s car being the first casualty- the electric window regulator broke so I had to stop work to find another and replace it. It’s that or divorce and I know I’m not a brilliant cook!
The second disaster was that a huge (and I mean HUGE) branch fell off an Ash tree at the farm just seconds after Mrs. Geoff had walked under it. It completely covered three Trusty’s which were under a sheet and also my International 454 tractor- you couldn’t see any of them when I walked into the field. Luckily the only casualty was a slightly bent wing on the International and a broken side light, the Trusty’s were under the branch but it formed an archway over the top of them. I had a huge bonfire and now have profited about two tons of firewood for when I find that smallholding.
In the meantime…..inbetween disasters I have managed to construct a wiring loom for the Allett; I found the easiest way was to start with the voltage regulator and add each leg individually. You will notice from the pictures that I have left the wires exposed for now just in case, but once I’ve fired up the engine and tried it all out I will bind the wires together in the standard way. Baldrick came up with a battery that fits in the hole and you will see that it has those big pictograms in the worst place possible, otherwise it’s a great fit and has plenty of power. I’ve come up with a solution to make it more “period” and have found some stickers that will cover the offending marks with a large LUCAS logo; the same supplier had some of the small bulbs in stock for the warning lights and so I combined the postage and had them delivered. The bulbs are of a much older design and I was having difficulty finding any but Holden Classics at Bromyard have them- they are called 281 bulbs- so that was another problem overcome.
Cables were going to be next on the agenda and I started my search with the local bicycle dealers. Some were about as much use as a fart in a lift but one dealer had cable inner and outer sleeving on a roll together with ferrules and lots of bits and pieces. He didn’t have the same nipples to go on the ends, but I said that I could take them off the old cables and re-solder them onto the new. This is what I did and the machine now has a new throttle cable and cutter clutch cable- the choke cable was cleaned and repaired as I was keen to keep as much of the original as I could save.
For this reason I spent about a day straightening out the cutter clutch lever after de-rusting it with the patio cleaner. It would have been simpler to have replaced it with new, but I want to preserve as much of the original as I can. It was similar to a bicycle brake lever only it has a spring loaded catch that works through a slot in the top. The catch pivoted on a rivet which was peened over on the outside of the lever and so I had to drill it out to remove the catch. A piece of steel bar was inserted into the inside of the lever and used as an anvil to flatten out the creases in the sides caused by bending it. Once that was done I scratched my head to find a way of replacing that rivet- the original was a stepped rivet that gripped the central catch and rotated in the side cheeks of the lever. I opened both side cheeks out to a larger size which would just compress the sides of a roll pin, then opened out the central hole in the catch to give a clearance fit. Once assembled it all works fine so I cleaned both sides up with a file to take off the burrs; now the only quandary I have is whether to fit it underneath like it was on the original photo, or fit it over the top (which is how it came to me) so it doesn’t dig into the operator’s leg when he turns.
Next week should be the first test of the systems on the mower with it’s first firing up since the start. Wish me luck!
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I think I owe you quite a few pictures as progress has been rapid of late, mainly due to parts that I have already finished finding their permanent homes back on the machine.
Now that the upper rear crossmember has been painted and refitted the radiator could then go back on. Hoses and hose clips had to be matched up as best as I could find, but I think the result is acceptable- judge for yourselves from the photo’s. I did have some old wire hose clamps that came off a Kubota engine and, seeing as I had to saw the old Jubilee clips off when I dismantled it, I thought they would look the part. I couldn’t get hold of any more, so I had to use some modern jubilee clips on the lower hose but it won’t be visible normally- I’ll try to find replacements when time allows to make it all look “in period”. In a similar vein I wanted to try to preserve some of the mower’s history of repairs during it’s long working life, so when I put the radiator into the repair shop I asked the very nice man if he’d keep the previous repairer’s plate on the top tank; he very kindly did this and didn’t charge me any more for the extra work- top bloke!
The dynamo came back from the repairers yesterday, so this morning it was fitted back on with all spacers in the correct places. The worst one is the lower one facing the radiator and you have to put the bolt in from the radiator side, through the bottom pivot on the dynamo casting, then a steel spacer and then finally try to find the hole in the engine plate with the end of the bolt. You can’t see any of this and it has to be done by feel whilst using your other hand to take the weight of the dynamo. What happens then? The bl***y ‘phone rings, doesn’t it! Curses!
Moving on, the final (lower) rear crossmember was removed and the scraper plate pried off it’s home for many years. Luckily it all cleaned up well apart from one bolt which had to be replaced; the oil leak that had preserved the rest hadn’t quite got that far along, but at least it was an easy substitution. Once repainted it was refitted, which also allowed the front roller adjuster to be mounted again and the front roller and carriage reassembled.
Next on the agenda today will be to source a period-looking battery, then see if I can find someone who can sell me some wiring with the original trace colours to remake the wiring loom. I will also try to locate the original type of Lucas spade connectors with clear plastic insulators so that it doesn’t look out of place or too modern.
You will notice that I have removed the handlebars as well. They will be given the same treatment as they have been painted three or four times in the past and I was also fed-up having to step over them to put everything back together! Also, once I’d cleaned the oil and grease off it was apparent the the place where they met the side frames was harboring plenty of rust, so off they had to come to attend to the rust scabs.
More photo’s again soon once I’ve got a little further.
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The cunning plan for the bearings had to be modified slightly. The bearing supplier could only get bearings that were the direct equivalent to the old ones as you can see from the first photo. This meant that the outer profile was spherical and had to fit into a parallel sided hole; on the one side this wasn’t a problem as the cup was still unworn, but on the other side I dropped the bearing into the cup and, with a feeler gauge, measured the excess gap to 20 thou. I then cut two strips of 10 thou shim steel and “glued” one in the back of the cup using Wurth Thread Lock. Pushing the bearing in on top of it to spread it out so that the Wurth could get a good purchase, I then squeezed some more Thread Lock down the gap and worked the second strip of shim steel into the gap, then left it all overnight to set.
This morning I pushed and pulled both ends and could find no movement. I would stress that this mower is destined to be a display piece and so that quick fix on the roller should be OK, otherwise I may have been tempted to build up the wastage with weld and trimmed it back by hand with a die grinder and straight burr.
The roller tube was covered in a surface layer of rust and dirt, and so an hour outside with angle grinder and flap wheel saw a lovely shine return to the surface. I’m undecided how to finish the outer part of the tube as I prefer to see rollers in shiny, natural metal; I may experiment with Anchor Wax to see what it looks like and to see how hard wearing it is.
The ends of the roller were masked up and primed, then painted green and put to one side so I can get on with the rest.
The gearbox deserved some attention next and so the top cover was removed to inspect the insides. At the same time the oil was dropped out and it definitely needed changing having the colour and consistency of molasses. I left it to drain whilst cleaning up the gasket faces, then thought I’d have a go at the fuel line from the tank to the pump. The one that came off was a piece of neoprene that had hardened and so I decided to replace it with a length of copper pipe in 1/4″. The only problem with this was that the pipe had to find it’s route around the ignition coil, so the improvised wooden jig was brought out again and dog-legs made to take the pipework around the back of the coil, then up to the tank supports where a complete circle was formed to absorb vibration, then up to the Ewarts tap on the bottom of the tank.
The rear crossmember was finally relocated with it’s fresh coat of paint and a couple of cork pads for the battery to sit on so that it doesn’t wear through the paintwork. A long day, but when it’s pouring with rain the garage is probably the best place.
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Is that a New Year’s Resolution, Charlie? What happened to, “Don’t force it, get a bigger hammer!”? Only joking!
I didn’t know whether to call this piece Trials and Tribulations but I thought it would sound too much like something off Blackadder; anyway, I’ll let you judge for yourselves.
The front roller on any mower is always going to take a bit of a pounding and this one is no exception. Bearings are normally the first things to show signs of fatigue and I’d love to know how many sets this one’s had in it’s lifetime. The last person in there was quite inventive, however, which has made my job more of a challenge.
When I removed the roller originally I did spot that there was an excessive amount of play in the one end. This turned out to be not only wear in the bearing itself but also a vast amount of wear in it’s circular mounting. The bearings used were of the self-aligning type which had a spherical profile on the outer bearing. Somebody had obviously removed the outer carrier and pressed them into the circular tracks on each end of the roller. To help with lubrication- we all know that sealed bearings don’t come with much grease inside- the previous person had removed their inner seals and filled the inside of the roller with oil.
Now that both bearings are showing wear, their outer seals have worn and the oil inside the roller is now in a pool on the floor of my workshop. The local bearing supplier, Central Bearings, have found a direct equivalent with a flat profiled outer race which they are ordering, so we’ll see what they’re like when they come.
I do have a cunning plan in mind to take up the wear in the fitting when they arrive, so Baldrick isn’t the only one to have ideas; I swear that mine doesn’t include turnips though!
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I thought for this update I would start with some comparison photo’s of old and new so you can see what’s available. I’ve also included a photo of the exhaust downpipe so you can see what kind of results that you can get from using the brick cleaner method of de-rusting; the dividing line is very clear cut and you can see for yourself why I do it. It’s ideal for more delicate items that won’t stand up to rotary wire brushing and it does leave the surface clean and rust free with no brown staining.
The oil filter is only 3/8″ longer than the original and so I’m hoping it will fit under the cover when I get around to it.
Surprisingly the fuel tank is fitted with a standard Ewarts brass tap with a cork plunger. Yes, the cork was no good as you can see from the photo but the new one next to it was obtained via that online auction site and it has made it as good as new again.
Paint has been the main topic this week with lots of parts getting cleaned off and re-painted using the matched synthetic enamel paint. Well worth it and the only way to get good results is to take your time; never be afraid to reject something if it doesn’t come up to standard, just flat it down again and try again until you get an acceptable result.
One thing that I have started to do whilst waiting for paint to dry is to start to reassemble the ancillaries on the engine. Fuel pump, oil pressure switch, distributor and starter motor have all been put back on. It has been treated to a new set of HT leads and the fuel line- which was neoprene tubing when it came in- is now in the process of being replaced with copper pipe. I tried to free-form the bends using just hand pressure but the pipe started to deform and squash, so I made up a wooden jig using a piece of old stair rail with a groove filed in it with a round file; it sounds a bit Heath Robinson but it worked really well and formed accurate bends without the pipe squashing itself into an oval shape.
One thing I was kicking myself for was for wasting time matching up a pair of bolts to hold the starter motor on with. One thing that I really do hate is having odd bolts in something like this when it would have come out of the factory with a pair of matched bolts in 3/8″ UNF. Having put it back on with the new bolts I then came to re-mount the starter solenoid and ignition coil which are fitted to a common bracket- you guessed it, the bracket fitted to the top mounting bolt of the starter motor! The bolt I took off was a 3/8″ BSF which would have been used by the Allett production people, so I had to go ferreting for it again; the starter motor is now attached with one UNF bolt and one BSF bolt which I reckon is the original way it was done. Oh well, you certainly learn things doing this kind of job!
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I’ve been a bit remiss of late but here’s an update on the Allett.
The air filter housing was in quite a state but at least it was complete. At first I thought it had come apart and would need re-soldering together, but on closer inspection it was supposed to be in three parts and all held together with one 2 BA screw. Top and bottom plates fitted into the lip rolled around the edge of the wrapper plate, then the whole assembly is squeezed together and the 2 BA screw and nut fitted to tighten it all up. The photo of the red washing up bowl is the process of stripping the rust and paint off gently using brick and patio cleaner; it works really well and is ideal for delicate parts such as this. Once the acid is neutralised with a solution of bicarbonate of soda the metal can be cleaned up with a light rub with wire wool and it really does come up as a silver colour. An application of filler, gentle flatting down and re-painting completed the job, then it was fitted to the carburettor with the correct rubber grommet with a liberal coating of Vaseline to help it slide into place.
After the cleaning last weekend it was obvious that the rust had taken more of a hold than I had first thought. If I’d brushed up the rusty patches and painted them it would have looked awful so I decided to remove the large front crossmember which also incorporated two engine mountings. To keep the chassis in the correct shape I thought that if I put two wooden wedges under the engine to take the weight I could then undo the two end screws and remove it. There are two further crossmembers at the back of the engine so if I replace the front one before removing one of the rear ones it should always have two crossmembers attached at any one time.
The front crossmember is now cleaned off with a wire wheel and primed with grey primer. There are some other brackets that are undergoing the same process with the acid and soda and will also be painted with primer before having a coat of Allett green. The starter motor, fuel pump, radiator, cowling and distributor are also ready to be re-fitted once the chassis work is completed; the dynamo is with the local auto electrics expert who thinks he can resurrect it with a bit of work.
That’s about all for this update. Cosmetic work always takes time but it can either break or make this kind of job so it’s worth taking the time to flat things down, fill any blemishes then flat and fill endlessly until you’re satisfied enough to put the paint on.
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