Timber for the body

Ash, and birch plywood to make the body.

Timing Gear

These are newly cast and machined timing gears, this particular gear goes on the crank. That's it, everything needed for balancing is ready bar a couple of studs. Full dry assembly next, then white-metalling and balancing.

Dynamo sleeve

The dynamo was in a post a few weeks ago, it's too small so a hollow cylinder has been cast which will be machined down to make a sleeve to hold the dynamo in place. It's out of sight thankfully!

Crank handle cone casting

There are three sizes of starter handle cone. I have two starter handles, but sod's law intervened so this is a new cone casting ready for machining. just behind it is a new radiator trunnion casting with the second one on the other side of the cross-shaft. Apologies for the blurry photo!

Rear hub

First rear hub complete.

Bottom end bits

All the bits and bobs for the bottom end, for two engines. Getting closer and closer to balancing / white metalling / line boring...

Crankcase cleaning complete

The crankcase is now properly cleaned. New studs have been made and installed. Work is moving on to the flywheel and everything else that needs to be sorted before sending the whole lot off for white metalling.

Crank damper cleaning

Getting some vintage goop out of the crank damper. Once cleaned it worked perfectly.

Assembling the mains for the first time.

Assembling the main bearings on a much cleaner crankcase.

Dynamo conversion, before and after

Dynamo conversion, before and after. Both cars (Riley 12/4 and Sunbeam 3-litre) have inline dynamos so the dynamo is in between the starter handle and the crankshaft.

New dynamo

A dynamo made from a pair of Riley 12/4 dynamos bought for £35 years ago! It now needs to be sleeved to fit the housing. An actual twincam dynamo was never going to turn up. There was a design flaw and the water pump, if allowed to leak, would dump water into the dynamo housing.

Sump casting date

Casting date from the cleaned sump.

More Auto Kleans

Two new Auto Kleans. A nice petrol one with (importantly) an unchipped, uncracked glass. And another which I have no idea about. I assumed it would be much larger, but now I have to try to find out what it's from. It's definitely an oil filter and it has the ratchet mounting on it. That is usually attached to the clutch linkage, so every time you press the clutch, it turns the handle a bit and keeps the oil filter clean. Small car or maybe a motorbike?

Cleaning the crank case

Of course it isn't all exciting. Sometimes it's gently getting off years of accumulated baked-on Castrol R and filth without damaging anything!

Perot shafts finished

A finished perot shaft on a very dusty chassis. Also visible are a stainless steel hubnut, the dynamo housing casting and an unmachined block in the bottom right. It's great to see parts bought at different times from different people starting to come together.

New dynamo housing

This is the first new dynamo housing to be fitted since the 1920s. Nobody has ever managed to cast one since then. It took eighteen months to get the patterns and the casting process right, but they finally figured out how to do it. The first picture shows it clamped to the sump and crankcase after machining it to fit.

 

then drilling the first datum hole through from the sump

then after a certain amount of paper pattern making, then aluminium pattern making, then marking and drilling and measuring and checking and double checking and programming coordinates and centering....

Not mine, but the first new crank installed.

This is the first of the new cranks installed in a crankcase, not mine sadly, but my time will come!

New flywheel & rods

New flywheel & rods

Silencer repair

Annabel is going to need a new silencer, but in the meantime... A "proper" vintage repair, done according to long-standing tradition, in Halfords car park, popping in and out of the shop to get extra bits as required!

Rotax fusebox

A Rotax fusebox, I've never seen one before, not even on a car. It could be from the 20s but may be later. If anyone has another I have a good home waiting for it!!

Beaulieu Autojumble Spring 2016

Not much to be found, but I did manage to get a glass for a fuel filter to replace the 'orrid metal one. It will fit once it's ground down a couple of centimeters - it's nice thick glass!

More patterns ready for casting...

Patterns for the dynamo housing ready for casting.

First backplate and rear hub

The first rear backplate and hub.