[vhgmcbuddy]

I’m not familiar with the dimensions of the Kubota filter that you mention but Briggs use (used to use?) a very short one for certain applications of the Vanguard twin. Might not have the throughput capacity though.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I think I’ve found an air filter but everyone I ask so far has told me to re-use the old engine oil filter as they are no longer available. Help!!

Chances are that BSP threads are used on both. Would it be feasible for a man with an ology – and a lathe- to make an adaptor to fit the available filter ?

[vhgmcbuddy]

A while ago I had a 350 with an intermittent loss of spark. I found that the insulation on the wire that ran from the back of the magneto, across the back of the block, through a metal clip to the points, had hardened and cracked and was shorting out. As time was at a premium, rather than dismantling the mag to replace the whole length, I clipped the connector off at the points end, slid a length of heat shrink insulation over the entire exposed length and reconnected it to the points.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I didn’t know that either!? It’s just that I have both types of spade.i must check the exact labeling on them next time. I’m not sure if the two brand names are historically related? Or a more modern coming together, or just a coincidental marketing name they share, or have appropriated? Either way the old spades I have are fine fine tools, but I have no experience of working with the newly manufactured versions. Very interesting if it is the same company making them both all these years? Think I must take a closer look at all these old work tools when I get a chance.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Ha! Glad that someone else falls victim to predictive text. I never associated Neverbend with Spear and Jackson unto I Googled them. I wonder whether Neverbend was once a stand alone brand or have always been within the Spear and Jackson portfolio.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Never end! That’s corrective txt for you. Neverbend was what I intended. But kind of appropriate anyway, in the context. Spades that last a lifetime, or two.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I have two Never end spades, not stainless steel so they need a lick of oil to keep them clean, but very strong well made spades. Comfortable to work with. And bought for a song at a sale. Didn’t realize they might, possibly, be that old! The 30’s? I have old Spears & Jackson spades also, well worn with work, old, but they were great tools as well.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I have some Neverbend spades and forks, inherited from my parents. My guess is that they bought them in 1934 when Dad retired from the Army and they had their first permanent home where they lived until the late 80s.
Edit. The blade of the spade is not worn that short, the iPad image has distorted it a bit!!

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[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi John
The Sheffield term for the rear of your van is called a jungle! Especially travelling around the back lanes of Dorset.
All the best Big Ears

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi there it is a Beeman Garden Tractor

[vhgmcbuddy]

First off was to remove the grassbox and carrying brackets- I’ve got enough lumps on my shins from walking into Mastiff brackets so I’m determined not to add to the collection.

When it comes to the ability to inflict injury while not running and stationary I think that the prize may go to the extended axles on the Auto Certes and later Super Certes, with my Stiga/Mountfield bendy’s towing drawbar a close runner up.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Well Charlie
I can own up to breaking a shaft more than once on my old Stanley stainless steel spade, the fault was actually the shaft made from a plastic intrusion moulding, plus the fact of digging in coal measure soils of Sheffield (all heavy clay)
The remedy I have now is an old Elwell spade, which when I got it came from an auction at Shaftsbury. I took one look at it, has it has steel grips for digging (saves the soul on your boots when digging) First thing I did was get a file and sharpened the working end, you only need to do that once, then it will always stay sharp. The only other thing needed to keep the spade in tip top condition is not to allow anyone else near it!
When I first was shown how to dig in my apprenticeship days, they also issued me with clogs! Which I still have!
Kind regards
Big Ears

[vhgmcbuddy]

Certainly the Mini that reached production had the BMC A series engine; that’s not to say that other engines were not considered but I’ve never heard of the Reliant connection. The Hillman Imp had a version of a Coventry Climax lump, originally designed for portable fire pumps. In the Imp it was dry liner, I have an original Rootes workshop manual- and the original £15pa tax disc for my Imp, the second one sold by the local Rootes dealer in May 1963. Wish I still had it.
As far as working on wet liner lumps goes, it’s standard practice to fit “ keepers” that bridge across the block and edge of a liner to stop the lifting off the bottom seal, often a big O ring. Until that’s done the crank must not be rotated.

[vhgmcbuddy]

The engine is obviously OHV, so was it built for the original Mini – 750cc, low HP (27? 35?)

Are you sure ?

[vhgmcbuddy]

For anyone travelling the same path…

Tested injector out of the cylinder and achieved a good fine mist, with what appears to be a fair level of control as the rack is gently moved…a few mm make a notable difference.

I placed a tie-wrap around the governor bob weights, re-assembled and fired up. We could then play with the throttle and rack without the governor adding constant adjustment. An ‘interesting’ and somewhat risky stratergy but we managed to get a fair level of ‘manual’ control but could only get a lowest rpm of around 1100. At least we now believe the injector and pump to be functioning.

It was noted that the bushing around the ‘excess’ fuel plunger was wound a fair way in. The internal end of the plunger is tapered, the throttle rests against the plunger when it is fully home.
Due this taper, by adjusting the bushing and the plunger depth, you can adjust the maximum throttle and max fuel for normal running.
I had to wind the bushing out..or else the throttle would always be pushed to far back and the engine would stop.

There is also a link between the throttle linkage and the rack. The length of this determines the sweep of the rack in relation to the throttle. Whilst an end to end length of 72mm for the link has been tried…I finally found a much shorter length of 70mm allowed my throttle and governor assemble to sweep the fuel pumps rack across what seems to be the correct range. Through Cut-off –> low fuel –> full fuel –> excess fuel positions.
(given basic no load testing so far).

I spun the governor up with a drill and noted the inconsistant bob weight behaviour. I was fully stripped down and cleaned. It now operates far more smoothly. With the governor and housing assembled, a spring balance can be placed on the ball of the throttle arm. Pulling past the governor, a force of around 0.7Kg was needed for the slightest movement of the bob weights and 1.8 to 2 KG of force for the bob weights to be pulled fully out.
This is just a ‘hobby’ method of measuring the bob springs and setting my starting point.

In practice the springs were adjusted a turn at a time, governeor fitted and engine started. This was repeated many times to find a good overall setting to give an idle of roughly 700RPM and a fast running around 2000.

Also, there is the access plug allowing the linkage to the popped on-off the throttle arm, if this is left off during engine running. Given a constant throttle possition you can observe how much the governor is driving the fueling, its not easy to explain but worth observing as you are trying to characterise the systems behaviour during run-ups.

I doubt the settings are ideal but until I sort the clutch and get some load on it…its a good starting point.
Highly unlikley its the end of this process but its a darn good start. 🙂

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