Sunday 29 July 2012

A Clean Engine

...is a happy engine:-


But not this one - the crank is still refusing to turn and the metal moths have been at the underside of the cases:-


Fortunately this is the worst bit and the rest of the cases and the engine are in good order. Its off to Scotland now for a touch of TLC.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

20 Engine Strip

So I soaked the engine for a bit longer. Managed to loosen off the valve caps so I could remove the valves and springs, which need to be out of the way to get to two of the barrel base nuts.

Now this engine has sat a long while and I was a little worried that the barrel and piston would be shagged, cos finding replacements would be impossible.

The barrel came off easily, which was a relief:-


Feeling inside the bore and its nice and smooth - no scoring or rust damage. Thank fuck for that.

Removing the barrel revealed a nice cast iron piston in great nick:-


Gotta be really careful with this one cos they are pretty fragile.

The big end moves OK with no signs of wear but the crank won't turn. I reckon the main bearing is rusted to hell. Still can't get the bottom studs out so will need to point the drill again.

Nearly there...

Saturday 7 July 2012

Hairy Hole

I've been trying to get the two seized studs out of the crankcases without shagging the cases even more than they already are. I managed to get the exhaust off, which helps a bit, but the bottom two ain't budging. After breaking two more drill bits it was time to step back and put the old girl in to soak.

Diesel bathtime:-


Maybe its time I got on with my 28 instead...

Monday 2 July 2012

Dye Another Day

Heard lots from Alec about dying stuntplank wheels with RIT, and saw Trawlers blog doing the same, so I thought I'd have a go.

The wheels after scrubbing (Spitfire Trujillo Parkburners):-


I wanted to dye half of each wheel red:-


The wheels after soaking for 30 mins in very hot dye:-


Not quite what I expected but close enough. They look better back on the board :-

Think I need a small pan to suspend the wheels in so I can keep the dye hot.

Next is a set of red and green Cortechs.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Tankfest

As the name suggests, Tankfest is a festival of tanks. Access to the museum at Bovington plus a fair few stands to look round and loads and loads of tanks being driven round the parade ring.

Saw this nice Kubelwagen when we got there:-


And a belting 1917 Matchless v-twin complete with a machine gun:-



But there was plenty of tanks. Tiger 1 in the parade ground:-



Plus all the tanks in the museum. King Tiger:-

And this is a Challenger 2 heading home:-




All in all a good day out despite the WW1 mock battle being a bit tame. The sun shone and it was fun.