[vhgmcbuddy]

I may not have explained myself very well, Angus. The spherical part of the outer race is on the outside of the bearing, not the inside where the balls rotate, and it has been pressed into a parallel sided hole in

No, you were quite clear and that’s what I was referring to. The spherical outer allows the rigid bearing to self align in a female spherical housing, an arrangement that will be familiar to anyone who has worked on Atco Standards of the 1920s. It’s surprising that a machine designed and built in the 1970s uses that style of bearing as the self aligning bearings as we know them were, by then,in common use.

[vhgmcbuddy]

we all know that sealed bearings don’t come with much grease inside

There is a reason for that, and perhaps not the obvious! Same as for wheel bearings, if they are over packed with grease the balls skid round en masse rather than rolling round the track, and end up with flats on them.
Not sure that I quite follow what may have been done by a previous repair but bearings with a spherical outer race are readily available, from the likes of Simply Bearings.

[vhgmcbuddy]

My choice of extraction method for this job was made due to the probable fragile nature of the alloy sole plate; not to mention the comparative rarity of finding another.
When it comes to frozen bolts and bottom blade screws etc, a couple of minutes spent thinking and forming a plan can avoid half an hour of aggro, or worse. Better to avoid creating the problem than spend time and resources on rectification.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Anzani part two – bottom blade and rear roller.
The bottom blade should be lipped, but the lip was nearly gone. That combined with a well-worn cutting cylinder meant that they barely touched. A fair amount of asking around including Garfitts failed to produce a blade, but a sort through the “might come in useful” bin produced one for a Greens Zephyr which lent itself to some modification. The next issue was that the sole plate as well as being an alloy casting was a bit corroded and wasted and not likely to put up with any welly from an impact driver, so each screw had to have the welding treatment. The screws were countersunk and flush with the blade, so a washer was welded to each with a loop of mig wire underneath to prevent the cooling shrinkage pulling the washer down onto the blade. A nut on edge was then welded to the washer – safer and more effective than welding straight to the screw. The heat from the weld plus penetrating fluid and a bit of gentle wiggling resulted in 100% success, with no sheared screws or damaged threads.
Using the Anzani blade as a template, the Zephyr blade was modified accordingly, some holes being redundant and others “just not right” being welded up and redrilled.

The rear roller. This is a three section alloy rubber covered unit. The main issue there was that moisture had crept between the rubber and alloy, the consequent corrosion having blown the rubber away from the alloy. My concern was to preserve the rubber if at all possible. The extent of the separation was such that it was possible to insert a hacksaw blade between the rubber and alloy and gently remove the corrosion – blowing it out with the air line. It was then a matter of re-securing rubber to alloy. After considerable consultation, a suitable adhesive was chosen and squirted in from each end of each section one at a time, with each being left to cure clamped up with an alloy sleeve and large Jubilee clips. It seems to have worked and put up with some gentle experimental trips up the lawn!

Apologies, Had an issue with image posting and they are out of order.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Thanks Charlie, It certainly looks like a Starky Duster can you e-mail me a copy of the brochure and any history of these machines? regards Dave

[vhgmcbuddy]

bear with me

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Thank you Will, for the photo and Merry Tiller suggestion. I’m still a bit confused as to how the tool fits into the hitch? Or I’m over thinking how complicated the hitch is? Has it got two bolts to tighten it securely into position? A side photo of the hitch would be great if, you Will or anyone else, had one?

[vhgmcbuddy]

Andy

He thinks it’s repairable…..I don’t know myself…..I’ve seen a worse example of piston on here I think which was repaired. It had a large hole in the top. I’ll find a piston somewhere if all fruit fails. I know at the end of the day it will cost more than I can buy a good working machine but that’s not the aim. I want to experience the restoration of an old machine.

John

[vhgmcbuddy]

He’s going to drill them out and tap the hole for a grub screw as replacement. I suppose it’s worth a try. I’m hoping he’ll put loctite on them and if he drills right through that he’ll put a grubscrew with a lock washer on the back as well as the loctite.

John

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi Geoff now you have cut your teeth on the Allett perhaps you’d like to have a go on this one!

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi

The engine builder is finding it very difficult to remove the piston ring pegs on my piston (part numbers 5268 and 5269) Have any of you done this or are they available to buy. I seem to remember reading somewhere that there might be a fellow in Switzerland selling some parts for these Simars. I attach pics.

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Looking good. They certainly had their money’s worth from the air filter element! We used to have an excellent auto electrical firm but such as is the way of things, the partners were getting on in years and the property developers could see space on their site for several substantial houses.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Thanks Charlie

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi Charlie

It’s the RD310 I have. Could I get the drawing for that spring. I’ll do a Solidworks drawing of it if it’s not already in Solidworks and make available free.

John

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi again

Just wondering can the springs for the tines on this machine be purchased anywhere. If not I’ll draw them in Solidworks and see can I get them made.

The piston and cylinder is with engine remanufacturer at the moment.

John

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