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ENGINE
The engine was in a poor state of repair. This is really where the restoration project investigation started. I knew that I needed a cowl for this engine to have any chance of getting this project finished. Clearly it was important to determine the type of engine it was and having not undertaken anything like this before had to start researching Colebys, types of engine used and so forth. So many photos were taken of the engine initially. Thankfully the engine did turn freely. When I took the engine head off, the cylinder did look really good, but a host of other issues presented themselves.The fly wheel was very difficult to remove and I had to get some specialist assistance to help me with this.
The return spring housing for the governer was broken off and missing
The Piston rings were more than a little worn
The Magneto was not sparking and the impulse mechanism was just not doing what it should.
The carburettor was not doing what it should (the float was found to have a leak in it and the jets were also blocked.
The petrol tank had a hole in it.
I managed to strip the thread on the starter pulley wheel which subsequently needed further rework.After much head scratching I managed to get the whole thing up together. Fortunately I had another, slightly later, Coleby working and some of the head scratching was alleviated by comparing a good engine with the one I was working on. I also managed to get a spare engine with a cowl and this helped with other spares. The initial run of the engine was completed without the clutch in place. Without the clutch the Coleby wouldn’t go anywhere and the Coleby served as a really good mounting frame.
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GEARBOX
When I received the Coleby it was in a dreadful state. The engine was largely complete but the cowl was missing. The gearbox was in a dreadful state as well and this is the first port of call to start the restoration. You can just make out that the bearing housing that is normally held in with 5/16” Whit countersunk screws was held in with ¼” Whit bolts. This resulted in a huge crack in the gearbox. All the bearings were in a state of disrepair and the oil had emulsified. The whole gearbox was what is technically known as “a mess” as can be seen from the photos.
Considerable work was undertaken to weld the gearbox up (aluminium casting) with subsequent drilling and tapping of the filled in holes, the PTO was re-machined, the whole casing, gears and components was cleaned, bearing replaced reassembled and then repainted.
One interesting thing to note is that the handlebars are designed to have a central position, along with a left and right position so that the operator does not need to walk in the furrows. This was a patented idea. However, the spigot has rusted solidly but after considerable work this was freed. My other Coleby purchased from Kent, has the same issue, but having worked out how this all worked on this Coleby, I was able to free this as well and added the necessary levers to the handle bars.Attachments:
So I made a claim that 614 must have been one of the first Colebys with a JAP 4/3 engine. How can I make that claim? There are two things that lead me to this. The serial number of the JAP engine is 3|C|92080|FU which implies the engine was manufactured between September 1948 and September 1949. We also have early original photos of Coleby Juniors date stamped 17/9/48 being demonstrated by my grandfather at the Surrey Machinery Demonstration, Richmond Park. Previous photos are of a Coleby with a Villiers 25A engine being used with a Seed Drill on New Bran Farm, Swanscombe, Kent, with Mr Tickle operating the machine.
Further and more convincing evidence is associated with the gearbox and clutch arrangements. The clutch lever on the Villiers 25A machines was much higher up than the JAP 4/3 models. Each Coleby gearbox has a lug cast into the casing to mount the clutch cable adjuster. From the picture below, you can clearly see the gearbox was intended to be for a Coleby with a Villiers 25A engine and has been modified for a JAP 4/3 engine. The more cynical amongst us would suggest that the engine has been changed at some point but this would have involved a new clutch assembly which doesn’t seem credible. Furthermore the lug would have likely been tapped out to accept the clutch cable adjustment, but this is just a cast hole.
This does leave me wondering where the serial numbers started on JAP 4/3 models. It might be that they started at 600 or 601 making this the 13th or 14th off the production line with this engine. If anyone has any further information, please let me know.Attachments:
I have a Douglas SV54 engine fitted with the same model carb, so have pulled the main jet out and produced the attached drawing. I also have a Trusty with Norton Big 4 engine and Amal 225 carb. The main jet is identical to that in the Douglas carb apart from the spanner hex on the Douglas carb is 7/16″ Whitworth, where the Norton is 3/8″ Whitworth.
I think you will be very lucky to find anyone willing to make this. Even if you do, deep pockets will be required!! Expect the cost to be well into 3 figures.Anyway, hope the drawing helps and I will keep my eyes peeled for a donor carb. Autojumbles are the best place to find them (if any take place in these challenging times!!). Online auction sites are a last resort.
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