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Newsletter of the Cape Vintage Engine and Machinery Society. Number 16. October 2009.

Have you noticed how the stationary engine collecting hobby has many different but inextricably linked facets? Take my own collection for instance, apart from a few Lister, Petter, Fairbanks-Morse, Wolseley etc. stationary engines lying around, I also have a few little inboard and outboard motors, motorbikes, lawnmowers,

pumps, generators, grinding mills and such like. Then inside the house I keep the oil cans, spark plugs, workshop manuals and a host of other interesting collectables. Motorbikes? Lawnmowers? Are they stationary engines? Not as such but the first vehicles were powered by an adaptation of the stationary engine and lawnmowers still are. Anyway, I have genuine stationary engines produced by firms such as BSA, Norton Villiers, Norman and Sturmey Archer. That last one gave me a good laugh, at the Timour Hall show a few years ago I was chatting to the owner of a very nice Raleigh motorbike and mentioned that the Sturmey Archer engine fitted to the Raleigh was very similar to the

Sturmey Archer fitted to the Ransomes lawnmower I was displaying down by the engines. What! On a lawnmower! Well, that was the end of that conversation! Further on in this issue Ron Wiley writes about his 1960‟s Honda water pump. The early Honda engines were really nice pieces of kit. I still use a 1970‟s Honda generator that I rebuilt in 1980 to use on site, it was starting to battle a bit with the big angle grinder so about 10 years ago I replaced it with a 1980‟s Robin generator. Now I can take the Honda to rallies! Yes, us engine collectors with our large collections have a wide and varied selection of old iron. Or is it

just me? Philip.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harvest time is upon us!

Those very words conjure up visions of fields of golden wheat, curtsying in the gentle, early summer breezes. Of the muted sound of tractors and combines working in the nearby fields and the smell of the newly harvested wheat, wafting across the village on those same gentle breezes. And if you are really a romantic; of evening hay rides. Right?

Wrong! If you live in the Swartland (or the Sandveld, before our neighbours across the river complain about being left out),

harvest time means howling South Easters, the roar of un-silenced, turbocharged tractors roaring through the village from early morning until long into the night, each one intent on getting to the grain silos before their competitors and then back to the combines for yet another load. The grain silos which belch forth copious volumes of wheat dust have been strategically located up-wind in the South East corner of the village so that for weeks everything is covered in that wheat dust and we all have to live in tightly sealed

homes, venturing forth only to visit one of the nearby towns for hay fever and asthma remedies. Upon venturing outside one is assailed by clouds of stinklys (wheat lice) that have been driven out of the wheat and cram themselves into every nook and cranny. Not to forget the biting midges that arrive at this time of the year, their bites lasting for weeks and which defy any sort of medication other than a very deep look into the bottle, for which one pays heavily the next morning. Hayrides? Forget it! G.

But in spite of all that, it is a very special time! Gordon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wheels at the Vaal. Jerry Evans has compiled a fantastic report on this event which can be found on his website: <www.oldengine.org/members/evans/vow09/index.htm>. Viewing this is a must! Jerry‟s daughter Jacqui, apart from featuring in the Wheels at the Vaal report, also featured in their local rag. The story can be found at: <www.oldengine.org/members/evans/Jax2/index.htm

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Phil Gray-Taylor (editor) ptaylor@worldonline.co.za Gordon Riley gkriley@mweb.co.za Please note my new email address. Gordon.

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From the Engine Shed.

Contacts

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Jerry Evans has kindly archived all our previous issues of Cape Vintage Engine as well as Parafinalia

which was produced by Andy Selfe between August 2000 and early 2005. In all Andy produced 28

issues, but unfortunately editions 5, 6 and 8 are missing. We still have not managed to locate copies of

these. Please does anyone have a copy?

Jerry’s link for the newsletter archive is: <http://www.oldengine.org/members/evans/paraffinalia/index.htm>

Andy’s Compagnes Drift Mill Restoration articles. Andy has just completed his third year of working

on this project. To keep up to date one can find his (generally weekly) articles on the Sandstone

website:

http://www.sandstone-estates.com/interim/Compagnes_Drift_Mill_water_wheel/index.html

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Editorial. Page 1. Out in Africa. Page 9.

Contents. Page 2. Pieter Engelbreght‟s Mystery Motorcycle. Page 10.

Judging at Shows. Page 2. Zenith Carb. Throttle Shaft. Page 11.

Annual Villiersdorp Expo. Pages 3 & 4. Jenbacher Gas Engines & Iron Horse Genset. Page 12.

John Deere 70 Flywheel. Page 5. What is it? What was it? A Touch of Yesteryear. Page 13. B & L Engine Revisited. Page 6. Inbox. Pages 14 & 15.

Early Honda Stationary Engines. Page 7. Wanted. Page 15.

The Man Said. Page 8. For Sale, Forthcoming events. Page 16.

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Judging at Shows.

Recently, whilst looking through the ‘Letters’ section of the September/October 2005 issue of Antique Power, I came across the following by Wilf Mole. Wilf has kindly allowed us to publish it here. I agree whole heartedly with Wilf’s sentiments. G. The May/June issue of Antique Power was beautifully presented, as ever and I want to comment on the article, “Down with Tractor Beauty Pageants”. The comments made by Hyler Bracey and Cass Flagg are hugely relevant to our hobby. For those who doubt the wisdom of these comments, let me say that 15 years ago, judging tractors based on quality of paintwork and meticulous attention to mechanical detail became the focal point of our annual tractor show here in South Africa. It started in a little country town called Clocolan in the Eastern Free State and quickly grew as more and more entries were attracted. Tractors were brought on trailers, carefully offloaded and then guarded. Judges were appointed based on their knowledge of tractors, notwithstanding the fact that they

were collectors and restorers in their own right. Favoritism was detected and tractors that were, in the opinion of the owners, guaranteed to win the specific event were not even placed, causing the owners to leave in a huff, in many cases never to return. Most of the conversation around the campfire or the beer tent in the evening related to the numerous perceived miscarriages of justice that took place during the day. In fact, it was statistically impossible for happy people to be in the majority simply because most people were losers and they needed to find scapegoats - the show organizers, judges and others – who were in reality their comrades in iron. All of that was forgotten in the heat of the moment. Sadly, because more and more people vowed never to return, this show has declined in popularity

and has, for all practical purposes come to an end. Ironically, other events have sprung up in its place and in most cases the organizers are careful to prevent a recurrence by not allowing any judging of any sort to take place. Everyone who comes is welcome, everyone goes home a winner and everyone comes back next year, but this time they bring a few friends. I have been to a number of vintage-tractor get- togethers in the United States and I have always been struck by the fact that they were very friendly, very relaxed and that a great sense of camaraderie existed. It would be sad if the long and spiteful arm of competition were to reach out and damage that vital ingredient for success in this hobby. Wilfred E Mole, Sandstone Heritage Trust.

Contents.

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West Cape Tractor & Engine Club Annual Veteran Expo at Villiersdorp 6th & 7th August, 2009. Andy Selfe.

This article has been considerably shortened due to space constraints. G.

On the Friday morning, first person I saw on site was Leon Flynn, formerly long distance driver of Sandstone Estates, doing his thing for his new employers, Machine Moving & Engineering; great supporters of our club, particularly the Engine Section. This takes the back-ache out of showing engines! That's a 50 HP Blackstone as well as their smaller 25(?) HP model. Slick! They put the container base down, it has the exhausts built into it, water tanks, the works, and they drive the truck away! Then it was time for judging.... Yawn! Much tact, concentration, and hopefully everybody was happy. It was most pleasing that in the 'group of 3; same make of engine', a retired dominee (NGK priest) got first prize. We don't add the points as we judge, that's done in the office; we just check the exhibit, point by point on the judging form, so at the time, we don't know who will win. The Lister D at the back actually seized up while we were judging, but Derick freed it off on Saturday, so oom Erik doesn‟t have to strip it when he gets home (Beaufort West, surely he must have come the furthest?)

During this, we had to break away to go on a publicity drive around the village, (I took the Austin lorry), to the museum, where we started up the big Crossley. That gave us a big fright! The piston was stuck in the bore! A few big guys on the flywheel dislodged it, but when you've advertised the event in newspapers and radio and there are 100 people waiting..... It still didn't start easily, which added to the adrenalin! MME‟s 50 HP Blackstone was thumping away most of the time, owners Johannes Uys and Danie van Rooyen are seen in attendance.

Youngest member of our group, Rainer Wagner had his Fairbanks Morse Z Style D puttering away; he got a prize for this! As usual, one or more engine won‟t run. Then the more experienced members weigh in. Derick admitted to being perplexed by this Lister D displayed by the Drostdy Technical School, Worcester, by pupil Jaco Jakobs. It would appear to have a hole between its intake and exhaust ports. Jaco‟s own Ruston & Hornsby PB in the foreground was running nicely! Philip Gray-Taylor brought his collection of small old Outboard engines, and I was able to catch my lifelong friend Mark Stanford with the Puffin which I remember his family owned when we were children.

It is Lister‟s centenary this year and we asked everybody to bring as many Listers as they could. In the end, we counted 20, not a bad effort for a small group!

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There was much activity at the Stationary Engine enclosure on both days, Bill Hoskin had brought something not completely stationary, his home-built working scale model Allchin traction Engine.

Andy’s Austin lorry seen at Theewaterskloof dam on the way to the show.

During the morning there was much activity at the Threshing Machines. First at the International Harvester „blikbak‟ (tin-mill) driven from the belt pulley of a tractor: A spectator next to me said it would work much better if the strings were cut. This is the first time I‟ve heard that mentioned for a tin mill, although it‟s normal to do this with a wooden threshing machine. I have heard of the strings being cut and saved for stitching the bags. Later, with much excitement, Arthur was seen with a full

head of steam and a roaring fire, heading towards the

Ransomes…..

There was a delay while a belt was repaired; Arthur was worried that his safety valves could not cope with

the excess steam! Soon repaired, he could resume and make good use of the steam!

Not an everyday sight!

Arthur‟s 1923 Aveling & Porter steam tractor. Andy.

Andy was wearing his Villiersdorp Tractor and Engine Club hat on this occasion. G. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Early Small Class Locomotive of The Rhodesian (Zimbabwe) Railways.

Tractive Force at 75% B.W.P. 7160 lb. Total Weight (F. W.O.) 19 tons 1 Cwt. Manufacturers; Manning, Warole & Co. 1896.

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The John Deere 70 Flywheel. Peter Noble. Part 2.

For anyone not familiar with vintage JD‟s the engine is a two cylinder, horizontal, fore and aft with the external flywheel on the left and the clutch/pulley on the right. If you study all the JD models the layout is very similar, but everything just got bigger as the power was increased so that when by the time that the Model 70 was made the flywheel fixing was just not up to the strain. The crankshaft is splined as is the cast iron flywheel and two large pinch bolts are supposed to distort the centre sufficiently to clamp it to the shaft.

There is also a very flimsy nut made from pressed sheet steel on the end of the shaft. I needed Pete‟s help to lift off the flywheel and it was obvious that the tractor had been driven with it loose for quite a long time and that they had attempted to build up the crankshaft with weld. In doing the removal I also discovered the cause of the high pitched whine – the starter motor was in constant mesh with the ring gear as its shaft was too long for the tractor. I think that there are two possible explanations for this – that someone had fitted the wrong model of motor, or what I think is more likely, is that they tried to space the flywheel more towards the end of the crankshaft hoping that it was less worn and then purchased a motor with a longer shaft. Obviously it had not worked!

I had contacted the JD expert again and he offered to fix the problem with a unit that he purchased in America and was now making in S.A. but the cost would have been more than half as much again as I had paid for the

tractor and I decided against spending that much. This was probably the first bad decision as it would have reduced the hassle and time spent fixing the problem. Enquiries in the motor trade took me to an engineering firm who were sure that they could build up the flywheel splines with weld. They took several weeks to do this, no doubt to justify the bill! The improvement was negligible and this must rate as the second bad decision. I then purchased some key steel and made two Woodruf keys to drive into the two slots in the flywheel (see picture) as well as some L-shaped sheet metal pieces to drive into each spline space. I also had a 10mm spacer made to fit onto the shaft to keep the flywheel out and allow the starter motor to disengage. Eureka – it actually worked at the time and the engine ran very well. The only other work I carried out on the engine was to dismantle and clean the twin choke carburetor, fit new points to the distributor and adjust the tappets. A book I have on JD‟s tells me that the twin choke carb was fitted after they found that the second cylinder was being partially starved of fuel by the first cylinder. The special engine sound to which all John Deere fans are addicted is caused by the unusual firing order. Number 2 cylinder fires only half a turn after number 1 and so the engine turns another one and a half times before number 1 fires again. This means a very unusual looking crankshaft and requires a heavily biased flywheel to compensate and so it is essential to fix the flywheel in the correct place on the crank. To help you do this there is a very small dowel which fits into the flange on the crankshaft and into a hole in the back of the flywheel. Fortunately I saw this when we removed the flywheel the first time, before it could fall onto the floor and get lost.

The restoration of the tractor

was fairly routine except that when I was cleaning the front wheel rims I discovered that one was 16” and the other 18”. This had not been obvious on the tractor as the 16” rim had a truck type tyre on it. The paint was burned off both brake drums so that I knew that new linings would be required and I also had the drums skimmed. One plate in the multi-plate clutch needed replacing and the water pump needed a new shaft and bearings. I had all the tin work grit blasted and then I did the anti-rust painting followed by professional spray painting. New decals were made locally and a new number plate was fitted to cover up a cut which had been made in the front grille. I think this had been done to enable you to grease the front steering pillar without have to remove the entire front grille! The king pins and bushes were in good order and I was able to adjust the steering joints, but new bearings were required for the steering box. The starter motor required new bushes (no wonder). A few bits of welding and straightening of the drawbar and re-upholstering of the seat completed the job – or so I thought.

At some stage of the tractor‟s life quite a large piece of the centre of the flywheel had been broken and successfully welded back into place. I had purchased two fine threaded pinch bolts and I was hoping that these would help to get the flywheel tight, but they caused hairline cracks next to the welds and I had to call a mobile welding service to fix them. I drove the tractor up and down our road a few times to make sure that the flywheel was still tight. I always sell the tractor that I have worked on as I do not want, or have the room for a collection. A friend of Pete‟s, who is a farmer/businessman who I will call Brian, had seen the tractor while I was restoring it and had expressed an interest. A deal was struck, with the tractor staying in the garage for a while.

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I then purchased my next project – A JD 60 and when it was delivered by a „tilting bed‟ truck I took the opportunity to deliver the 70 to Brian‟s premises in Cape Town (with his approval). When maneuvering it for loading, all my best efforts on the flywheel were undone and it was back to square one. I then made the third bad decision and carried on with the delivery intending to remedy the

flywheel at Brian‟s premises as they are quite close to us. After removing the flywheel cover Brian could see the extent of the problem and between us we decided that we had to tackle it from a different direction. Brian was quite happy to undertake this, but I insisted that it was for me to deal with. I brought the cover and several other parts which I had removed home for safe keeping while I investigated what I

could do to really fix it. Shortly after this Brian had some space on a truck going to his farm and decided to move the tractor there - so now my problem was approximately 700km from me. P.N.

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B & L Engine Revisited. Phil Gray-Taylor.

Hennie Swanepoel has been fortunate to find a B&L engine, a make that first came to light a few years ago when Derick Kleynhans found one. These engines were sold by Batteries and Lighting (hence the name) from Bree Street, Cape Town in the early 1950‟s. Interestingly, the B&L engines have a small brass plate on one of the skids „Made in Occupied Japan‟ Andy Selfe’s comment is They must have been made just after WW2. Occupied Japan was printed on pottery, porcelain, toys, and other goods made during the American occupation of Japan after World War II, from 1945 to 1952. ... Since Derick found his, another six have been found and now Hennies‟ engine makes it seven known B&L engines, with serial numbers, 27305, 27307, 27309, 27311, 27313, 27317 and 27324. Strange that Nearly all the numbers are

odd! One of these engines owned by Uri Pella has an additional plate marked „Chikoko‟ (Not sure if that is the correct spelling) Is the B&L engine a copy of an American or European engine or is it a Japanese design? In the 1950‟s there were not many manufacturers selling small petrol open crank engines, a feature that disappeared in the 1930‟s but there was obviously still a market, (in Cape Town at least). After a bit of research I have found that there was another shop in Cape Town selling engines under their own name. In the 1930‟s, Phil Medley & Co. in Clouts Building, 30 Darling Street was advertising their Medcolite engine. The Medcolite and the B&L are of similar construction and share an interesting feature, the oil supply to the big end bearing. This is effected by a drip oiler mounted just behind the main bearing cap

dripping oil into a banjo ring mounted on the crankshaft from where it runs via a drilling through the crankshaft to the big end. I am sure this feature will identify to whom we can credit the original design.

Arthurs B&L showing oil supply to big end.

Medley & Co. seem to have disappeared after the war but who took over their PO Box 2488 number? Surprise, surprise none other than Batteries and Lighting!

Dericks B&L. Hennies B&L.

Arthurs Medcolite. The other side of Medcolite.

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Early Honda Stationary Engines. Ron Wiley.

After the devastating bush

fires in Victoria earlier this year I decided it was time to get an engine/pump unit so I could fight any spot fires. None so far but you never know as we live on 5 acres just out of town?

To this end I purchased a 5hp B & S engine/pump unit at a swap meet, I left it in the carport and came home one day to find it had had a pup. My son in law had found one with a Honda engine; it was seized but looked to be in basically good condition.

I removed the pump housing and found a buildup of dirt between the pump impeller and the housing. After the dirt was removed the engine turned over, it had a spark and compression. The only thing I had to do was replaced the petrol hose between the tank and carby because it was perished.

The oil level was ok, so after several attempts the engine started, some adjustment to the carby and governor were needed and the engine then settled down to a steady beat. Once it was warm I stopped it and drained the oil and refilled with monograde SAE 30 oil as per the information on the engine.

I mounted the engine/pump unit on a small transport, it was only going to be use occasionally so I wanted a small test tank that could be attached and removed very quickly It is done in such a way that the tank frame is held in place by one ⅜ inch bolt with a wing nut and the hoses were clamped on barb connectors on the pump inlet and outlet with hose clips.

It was displayed at the Willunga Swap Meet in August and ran for 3½ hours without any problems. There was no smoke

from the exhaust and the compression is now very good. An early Honda General Purpose Engine. I have a 132cc Honda G20 engine Type GIII20CS with water pump directly attached to the spigotted crankcase. This was the first Honda General Purpose engine built for export in 1963, on the engine it says, 3PS @ 4,000 rpm. PS is a German unit: Pferdestärke = horse strength, it is no longer a statutory unit, but is still commonly used in Europe, South America and Japan. 3PS = 2.96hp or 2.21Kw I obtained a maintenance manual and parts list for the G20 engine dated late 1965 at the Willunga swap meet. It has a 58mm bore x 50mm stroke = 132cc. Power output is given for 1 & 12 hour ratings that are as follows. 1 hour rating 3PS (2,96hp) @ 3,600 rpm, 12hour rating 2.5PS (2.47hp) @ 3,600 rpm The Numbers Game

I have been lucky in that David Pettersen of Haughton Honda in Adelaide has loaned me some material on early engines and some of the Honda products they were used on. I now have some dating information that tells me the G20 was produced between 1963 & 1969; starting with S/N 1,000,001 that was produced in April 1963. It does not give the last serial number for this particular model. My engine is S/N 1001022 looks to be No 1022 that was built in mid to late 1963?

The Water Pump. Honda did not start to make their own pumps until 1966 and my engine dates from 1963 so was the pump was made by another manufacturer? There is no

label or numbers on the pump and David has had a look at picture of it and thinks Regent made it. I found the following on the web. Regent Pumps Pty Ltd of Mordialloc, Victoria is an Australian company specialising in the manufacture of pumps for the past fifty years, I have not been able confirm that Regent actually made the pump. The first engine/pump units made by Honda were the types W20 & W30, both pumps had the G30 engine. It has a 66mm bore x 55mm stroke = 188cc, 4hp @ 4000 rpm, however it recommended that the engine run at 3,400 rpm. These pumps were manufactured from 1967 to 1970. The G25 & G28 Engines. While the Honda G20 is what I would call a normal side valve stationary engine of the 1960‟s, the G25 & G28 are far more interesting engines produced between 1966 & 1978. They are horizontal single overhead cam engines (SOHC) that rev to 6,000 rpm. G25 – SOHC, 46mm bore x 35.6mm Stroke = 59cc, 2·5hp @ 6,000 rpm. First S/N G25 -1000002 - produced 1966/69. G28 – type 844 SOHC, 49mm bore x 35.6mm Stroke = 67cc, 2·8hp @ 6,000 rpm. First S/N 844 -1000002 - produced 1969/72.

The G28 has a reduction gear driving the output shaft at half engine speed, either directly or through a centrifugal clutch.

The following gives the model types for the G28 engine and the application they were used for G28D – Basic model stationary engine G28CD – G28D with centrifugal clutch G28LCD – G28D with lighting coil & centrifugal clutch G28ED – For generators (E800) G28EG – For generator.

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G28FD – For tillers G28FG – For tiller type F28G G28WD – For water pumps

Conclusion.

I cannot remember when I first became aware of Honda stationary engines, most likely in the early 1980‟s? So I was surprised to find that they had first been imported to Australia some 20 years earlier. To my way of thinking they are more modern than say the Villiers engines of the same period and I don‟t recall ever

seeing one of these engines being displayed at a rally?

My thanks to David Pettersen of Houghton Honda for helping me with information about the early Honda General Purpose Products sold in Australia. Also to Rob Laurent for a copy of the Types W20 & W30 instruction/parts manual. Ron Wiley. ronwiley@bigpond.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Man said; Smile, things could be worse, so I smiled and things got worse. Replacing the radiator in my car was the easy part it was replacing the heater hoses that are around the piece of modern art called the inlet manifold with all its twists and turns. I got there in the end after many hours proving to myself my days as a contortionist are long gone

I put water in and started the engine that was now running as rough as guts; I then noticed red oil on the ground. I had not tightened the one of the oil cooler hoses so I fixed that and then I found a vacuum hose not attached to anything at the back of the inlet manifold. I finally found a little black thing on the firewall that the vacuum hose attached to. By then I had had enough for the day.

The next morning was when I most likely smiled, because when I tried to start the engine the battery was a dead as a dodo, it was only 6 weeks old. After charging it for few hours I was able to start the engine but it was still not running

properly. Not getting anywhere I called it a day and made a pledge not to smile the next morning.

The next morning the battery seemed to be as dead as a dodo again even though the voltmeter showed 12·3 volts. I had left the car in the drive over night and it rained very heavily until lunchtime so half a day was wasted. Took the battery to the auto electrician who tested it and he pronounced it be ok. He said the starter motor had most likely spat the dummy. Back home I called the RAA (local auto club), to cut another long story short it was found that the negative wire from battery was loose where it was attached to the crankcase by one of the engine mount bolts.

The RAA man removed the bolt holding the cable and cleaned everything, a big mistake because when he tried to put the bolt back in the threaded hole in the crankcase was not aligned with the hole in the engine mount as the other two bolts were also loose. A jack was put under the crankcase using a large piece of wood so as

not to damage to latter and with me pulling the engine toward me from the opposite side the bolt finally was screwed in.

The three engine mount bolts were tightened the jack removed and the engine started at the first turn of the key. It was the bad earth caused the engine to run rough, the alternator not to charge properly and it fixed another odd fault. For a week or so before I started the work the temp gauge needle gyrated all over the place, I was told it was most likely an earthing problem, it was as it is now rock steady.

In the morning while waiting for the rain to stop I decided to do some work on my new second hand Pentium 4 computer, it too was as dead as a dodo. The power supply had spit the dummy; it is now in being fixed. I forgot to mention, the struts that hold the bonnet up decided to call it a day and it came down and hit me on the head. I could kill the bastard who said “life is not meant to be easy”! Ron Wiley.

Ps. Last night while testing the car I filled up with LPG.It has gone down to 48 cents per litre from 56 cents. This morning I tried the car and it started without any problems. It‟s nice to win one or two! Reading through your tale of woe reminded me of a problem with bad earthing and radiators. If the radiator is not earthed it is possible for it to react with the engine block with the cooling water acting as the electrolyte. To check if all is well, put a voltmeter between earth and into the water in the mouth of the radiator. I think probably using the mV scale. Any current flow causes the radiator to waste away. Phil. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Tip from Paul Riley. (Sportronic Racing), Durban. Do Not store petrol in containers on a concrete floor – it will lower the octane value. Likewise Do Not store batteries on a concrete floor. Use timber battens or similar! On the subject of batteries; keep the top clean so as to prevent leakage from one terminal to the other. This can be considerable with a very dirty battery. G.

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The following article is an extract from the newsletter of the North West Stationary Engine Association in the UK – kindly sent to us by the editors, Sue and Fred Harvey. (We have compressed the article. G). Out in Africa. Ian Ormrod.

My grandfather Raymond Ormrod was born in 1905 and served his apprenticeship with the National Gas Engine Co. in Aston under Lyne. During the 1920‟s he travelled to Africa installing engines and associated machinery and the following pictures were taken during a trip to Uganda. I am not sure how many trips he made out there, but he returned with his wife as during one trip my father was born in Ngora, Uganda in 1929.

I remember granddad telling us that he made the cab for the Albion lorry out of the crate that it had been shipped in. It was a chain driven model, probably ex MOD stock.

It was assembled as you can see in the pictures and put to use moving various parts of the engines around the site. It was floated on a raft ferry across a lake and had a slight mishap while unloading. Raymond is pictured on the lorry with his pith helmet on. The pictures show the progress of setting out the engine base and positioning the various parts. There seems to be a lot of local help to hand and improvised lifting gear using whatever was to hand.

The big engine is a National, although the other two pictures show a Ruston. This engine was driving a generator for the hospital. There is a date of 1926 on the back of the photo. Granddad was a bit biased towards National engines, but I remember he did say that Rustons were a better quality machine.

After returning to England he started his own engineering business in 1932 and this only closed a few years ago. Some readers my remember him rallying a couple of engines on a trailer in the 1970‟s, a National and a Ruston. He passed away in 1982 and both the engines he had on his trailer are still in our collection, along with another National.

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A discussion on the remains of a motor cycle found by Pieter Engelbrecht.

Look at what I managed to salvage from Dick Venter in Rustenburg - only problem - I cannot ID it 100% - any

help that you could offer? I will be very excited to locate a photo of my future project! It is British, looks like a Villiers 125cc engine - engine No 160 A 6382. The frame has the number S 148 A on it. The closest I could get was EXCELSIOR but could not find a single photo so far that matches the frame closely and also the year. Pieter Engelbrecht.

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Hi Ron, I was sent the picture and the following words from Pieter Engelbrecht who was wondering if we could identify the machine. Any ideas. Phil.

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Hi Phil, don‟t think the frame and engine belong together; I agree it could be it could be an Excelsior frame that could date from 1938 to 1948 because it has girder folks. The original engine would have been a 122cc Mk.9D produced in the same period as the frame. The Mk.10D replaced the Mk.9D in late 1948; this is when Villiers introduced a new four-port cylinder for motorcycles with an inlet port, two transfer ports, single exhaust port and a flat-topped piston. In 1948 the new 98cc Mk.1F was also released for lightweight motorcycles.

Mk.1F – 47mm x 57mm = 98cc, 2.8hp @4,000 rpm. Lightweight motorcycle engine with lightweight type 6/0 carby and the gear change lever is on the handlebars for the two-speed gearbox, produced from 1949 to 1953. Mk.4F – 47mm x 57mm =99cc – 2.8hp @ 4000 rpm, a replacement for the mark 1F with streamlined cases enclosing magneto, internally identical to the 1F fitted with a new S.12 carby. I think Pieter has a Mk.4F that replaced the 1F in 1953. I cannot see a foot change below the kick-start so I don‟t think the engine is a later Mk.6F. The engine Spec No 160A also makes me think it is a 4F.

Pieter has a challenging project; I have only ever seen one Mk.9D for sale in the last 10 years. A 10 D would be a better engine if he can find one, I had one of the first Franny B‟s with is engine when I was an apprentice and it would reach the mind boggling speed of 50 to 55mph on the speedo under the right conditions. The 4f would be ideal for a go-kart.

I hope the above is of help to Pieter and if he has any further question he can contact me. Ron Wiley. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -

Hi Ron, Sincere thanks for the detailed info. I personally also think it is a Mk.4F when compared with the photos on the Villiers site. The frame is the one really bogging me down. After some hours on the web again yesterday, I now also doubt whether it is a FB, as some similarities refer to the Excelsior.

Will keep you informed as I go along - have also asked for ID's from The British Two-stroke Club as well as the FB Owners Club. Pieter Engelbrecht.

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GOOD NEWS: It would appear that I have resolved the mystery!! Included is a photo of what my SUN will look like once I am finished with it. It is a SUN HORNET, 1954 model with a Villiers 98cc Mk.4F engine. I am missing a few pieces, including a

headlamp but at least now I know what I am going for. Thanks to all and sundry for the assistance - I also learnt a lot

about some other makes. I will keep in touch regarding my progress - first looking for a workshop manual or the like as I will need assistance - wiring and cabling is non-existent. Pieter Engelbrecht, Welgemoed, W. Cape.

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In the interim I finished a 50cc Puch for Paul Smit and it looks beautiful.

I will in time still do the Bella story you have requested. Did I tell you that a bloke donated a Bella 150 cc to me at the show in George? It is exactly the same model as mine and in about 85% condition for restoration. Also managed to assist a Bella friend in Nylstroom (Modimole) - has 2 Bellas on his farm. Pieter Engelbrecht.

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11

Some time ago Andy and I discussed how best to go about making a new throttle shaft to replace a much worn one from the Petter I had started working on. I finally got around to doing it and sent Andy details of how I went about it. Andy suggested that I put the details in the newsletter. G.

Making a New Throttle Shaft for a Zenith

Carburettor. Gordon Riley.

A while ago, being on the mend after having been ill and not supposed to do anything too hectic, I decided to tackle a light, but tricky task that I had been putting off for ages. This was to make a new throttle shaft for the Zenith carb on the Petter AP1 that I was restoring. There was about 5mm wear between the shaft and the holes in the carb body and a total of about 4mm

in the throttle linkage. The shaft alone was worn to not much more than half its original thickness. One wonders how the engine kept running. The good news for those of us with Vaaljapie tractors is that I believe that this is the same carb; so we need not panic about a little wear here and there.

The original shaft had a slot for the butterfly, rather than a flat. I managed to find a suitable small slitting saw in one of my machine tool drawers and after having made up a thingy to hold the blade in my mill/drill chuck, managed to successfully slit the new ¼”shaft accurately. A 1/4" NF thread (yes, I know that the original was BSF) was then cut on one end and then two flats were milled out of the thread for the throttle lever and stop. I then drilled and tapped two M3 holes (couldn't find imperial taps to suit the original screws) for the butterfly and modified two brass screws to suit. The machining process sort of just evolved as things progressed. The slot was just a trial to see if slitting saw worked, but it came out so well that I just carried on from there. The two M3 holes were drilled and tapped next because that seemed to be the most difficult task to do accurately. To drill these holes I scribed a line along the shaft for centre punching and then used a small centre drill to start the holes before drilling through with the correct drill for tapping.

The flats on the end of the shaft for the throttle linkage arm are parallel to the disc when it is in the slot and I used that to line up for milling the flats with an end-mill. The problem was that I ran out of steam at that stage and didn't make a decent jig to hold it in the milling machine. It worked out very well in the end, but I was probably lucky that I didn't ruin it. Because the shaft is brass (fairly soft), a die nut was used to cut the thread on the end after doing a trial on a piece of scrap to check the tolerance. The (split) die nut was gripped in a 3-jaw chuck on the lathe headstock; the shaft in a drill chuck in the tailstock and the chuck was turned by hand to cut the thread. The correct thread fit was achieved by wedging a washer of the required thickness, edge on in the slot in the die nut. (Before there are screams of anguish, I must point out that the end of the shaft was supported when I milled the flat).

To sort out the body, the carb was set up as accurately as possible in the mill/drill using a ¼” bar through the holes to align it. The holes in the body were then 'line-bored'. The original ¼” (6.35mm) holes needed a 9mm drill to clear most of the wear. I then made up a pair of Vesconite Hi-lube bushes and pressed these into place, re-reaming the holes in the bushes to fit the shaft accurately. The whole exercise worked out extremely well, in fact far better than I had expected. I think this was due to the fact that I had plenty of time and had to work at a slow pace. Some of the operations took an hour or more to set up in the mill. Comment from Andy: I would perhaps have filed the flats first, and then used them in the setting up process of cutting the slit. In other words, file the flats, set up the old

one with the slot North South and make a register for the flats like that, and then

replace old spindle for new. Then cut the new slot. The engine finally restored.

Note: The engine was rescued from a scrap yard in Caledon and is a Petter AP1. Serial N

o. 1538445. 3Hp @ 1500 rpm.

12

Jenbacher Gas Engines. John Menasce.

Our family of vintage engines have taken a back seat this year, what with work-loads, David‟s heavy 3

rd

year engineering studies and me gallivanting off to various places across the world from June onwards, and then finally Jeannette‟s mother‟s sudden and very unexpected passing last month. In the course of work this year I have been doing a lot with modern stationary engines. We have been working with Jenbacher gas engines [where I spent a week at the factory in Tyrol, Austria in early July]. I had forgotten how spectacular the Austrian Tyrol is, and company policy did not allow photos to be taken inside the factory so here is a view from my hotel bedroom in Jenbach.

Our particular gas engines will run on furnace gas [a mixture of carbon-monoxide, hydrogen, nitrogen and water]. The interesting part about the furnace gases is that they have a very low calorific value [about 25% of the lower heat value of methane] and so the fuel/air ratios are totally different and they run with a stochiometric

mix between 4 to 1 and 6 to 1 depending upon the percentages of CO and H2 in the fuel gas mix supplied to the engine. One of the challenges of using furnace gas which is generally fully saturated with water vapour is to prevent the water from condensing out in the supply pipes and the intake manifold system as trace chlorides and sulphides combine with water condensate to cause corrosion. From Tyrol, I went off to Mozambique [this time on holiday with the Landrover Owner‟s Club of SA] and here by contrast is a tantalizing picture of a complete but abandoned Ruston Hornsby HR in a disused power station in Mozambique.

So to make up for omissions in my hobby, on a spring Saturday afternoon armed with a beer I threw off the dust covers on the 1934 DEUTZ MAH and the 1925 Fairbanks ZB and after judicious oiling of the exposed bits gave them each a good run for the remnant of the afternoon. Much to my surprise they both ran faultlessly and I think that the secret is to always let the carburettors run dry before stopping them. John.

If I cast my mind back to the days when I enthusiastically worked on motor cars, I seem to remember that the stochiometric mix for petrol engines is in the order of 14.7:1. G. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Iron Horse EG-3-300 Genset. Ron Wiley to Martin Pope. Jerry Evans in South Africa has obtained a Johnson Iron Hose generator that I wonder if you have any comments on? My reply to Jerry was as follows: Thanks for the picture of your plate, Your S/N 100712 is not shown on the list I have. The last generator serial number I have is around 2,500 lower than yours; S/N 97902 to 98151, type EG-3-300 made in 1949. It would seem your genset is most likely from a batch made in 1950; I will copy Martin Pope in Toronto on this email for his comments. The Iron horse engine was first released in 1935 and early generators were belt driven. The first direct drive 12vdc generator was the 12D30 (12v direct drive, 300w) that came out in 1937. Around that time Johnson in Canada ran a competition for a name for this generator and the name Chore Horse was chosen, hence CH1 on the military gensets. It is interesting that yours is called an Iron Horse Generator. There are still a lot of these gensets here in Australia and the odd pre-war one comes to light occasionally. Cooper Engineering made the engines and gensets in Sydney from 1942. The latter were made until 1956 and the engines until 1965/66. The engine in your genset would be an X400 with a 2⅛ inch bore, ⅝ hp @ 2200 rpm, there is also an X500 engine with a 2¼ inch bore, 1 hp @ 2200 rpm. We are lucky because Cooper parts will fit Johnson engines; the chance of finding 2⅛ inch rings is almost nil so we fit the 2¼ inch Cooper cylinder & piston. I note the EG2 – 300 & EG3 – 300 have an air vane governor instead of mechanical governor. This was fitted only to late model engines, I have Johnson X468 engine with an air vane governor. They work very well and you should not have any problems with it. If I remember correctly Martin supplied the Johnson info for the ASECC website, I will let you know what he has to say. Ron. Victor Harbour. South Australia.

13

Martin Pope to Jerry Evans. Glad to hear that you have found a Canadian made EG3-300 half a world away from where it was made. Ron was very accurate in the information that he gave you and I would like to add a little more. I know of at least 3 other EG3 generators just from memory and I have one. All three engines do not appear on the list and are over serial number 100 thousand. My serial number is 107431 I agree with Ron at dating yours as 1950. As late as 1952 (and maybe longer) a large Canadian Catalogue retailer was still selling Iron Horse generator sets here in Canada. The name change from Chore Horse to Iron Horse Generator seems to have happened at the end of the war. The EG1 generator had the early magneto and mechanical governor, EG2 also had the early mag and the air vane governor and the EG3 had new mag and air vane governor. If you have more questions I would be glad to try and answer them. Martin.Toronto. martin.pope@sympatico.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Story Behind the Basin Wrench. (The ‘What Is It’ in the last but one newsletter). Gordon Riley. Once upon a time, whilst grovelling around in one of my tool cupboards looking for a missing spanner, I came across an item that I have never used (I do a lot of grovelling - some of it looking for missing tools and sometimes in front of the GF - girlfriend not general foreman - although the job description is similar). Some years ago a guy with whom I worked came into my office proudly brandishing a fancy gadget he had just acquired. When asked if I knew what it was, I suggested that it might be an uuuuh, but he informed that it was in fact a 'basin

wrench', specially designed for tightening the nut under a tap in a washbasin.

He had seen his plumber using it and asked where he could buy one. The plumber replied that they were not available in shops in SA, but a friend of his had imported some from his home country (Portugal) and he offered to get one. He duly did this and sold it to my fellow employee at 'cost'. 'Cost', being R50, seemed to be a little on the high side (1980s), but being a good minder of my own business I kept my mouth shut. Anyway the

next day at lunchtime I happened to be browsing around a nearby hardware store when I came across a shelf full of identical wrenches marked R5. Needless to say I had to buy one and left it lying on my desk with the price tag prominently displayed. The ensuing tirade was worth all of the 5 bucks and I still had the wrench as a bonus. Gordon.

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Kosie van der Merwe called to report that

he easily recognised the tools as being of

Lister manufacture and used in the dismantling Yet another railcar. Queensland this time. Ron Wiley and adjustment of Lister sheep shearing hand

pieces. Kosie’s father bought his first Lister

shearing set, 2nd

hand in 1932. Kosie himself

worked in the shearing industry from 1964 to

1973, eventually qualifying

in wool classing.

He had his own

registration number which

was stencilled onto graded

wool bales along with the

‘springbok kop’ image. Not a very good picture but it is clear that the upper and lower scales differ.

Phil.

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A Touch of Yesteryear. What Was It?

What Is It?

14

A belated thank you to Philip and Steve Socolic for the help they gave me, both technical and physical, at the Piket Engine Day. Without their assistance I could not have got everything up and running. Steve spent virtually the whole day helping and lending much needed moral support as well.

Gordon Riley. Koringberg (where?), Western Cape.

I recently remarked to Ron Wiley that I had found a Wisconsin engine lurking in a scrap yard. When I asked the scrappy if it was for sale, his reply was; yes, but only a raving lunatic would try to restore it. Thus, feeling suitably qualified, I bought it. G. Ron replied: Ronaldson Tippet produced Wisconsin engines until they stopped engine production in 1971. Villiers purchased the R & T foundry and continued to produce Wisconsin engines until the mid 1980’s. Along with Briggs and Stratton engines they are rarely seen at rallies. Like my Honda early models are over 40 years old now.

Gordon, we met at the Swartland Plough Day recently. Thank you for my copy of your August newsletter, sent to me by Phil Gray-Taylor. I really enjoyed it and hope that he has added my name to his mailing list. It was quite interesting to see some familiar names pop up in the newsletter – obviously their interests span both old machinery and old cars. Gerhard Schonken. Editor: Early Ford Times, Early Ford Car Club of SA.

Great stuff again, well done guys. You have me beat on that special tool!! Cheers and keep up the good work!! John Menasce, Johannesburg.

Many thanks for the newsletter Sue and Fred Harvey. The North West Stationary Engine Association, UK.

Dankie vir nog 'n lekker nuusbrief. En baie geluk (by herhaling). Hennie Richter. Wes-Kaapse Veteraan Trekker-en-Engin Klub.

George Grant who edits the Ringers Review now has a website for the magazine that comes out 6 times a year. I have subscribed to it since it first started and there maybe people who are interested in sheep shearing and memorabilia on this subject? I think it is well worth looking at, http://www.theringersreview.com/ Ron Wiley.

Thank you for the newsletters, it‟s really great getting them. I need your help once again. We have been given this engine that has an Onan 3KvA alternator. Is there anyone that can give us more information on this oldy? Thank you. Cathy Grey. Cathy, I know of a couple of Onan gen-sets in the club, I have a W2C single cylinder air cooled unit and Andy has a two cylinder water cooled vertical as well as a two cylinder opposed air cooled set. As you can see there were many variations of engine type made by Onan so a picture of the set and full details of the name plate will help identify your engine and help ascertain what info you need. Philip.

Lister Q 1913. The old Lister is finally finished and I took it to the Plaasfees at the Willem Prinsloo Museum for its first outing. It behaved itself well and ran beautifully the whole day. Hennie Swanepoel.

I took this picture of my friend Eric Thiele’s truck with his John Deere and a friends Moline tractor on it at the end of the rally. He collects tractors and the pride of his collection is this 1929 John Deere that his grandfather purchased new from the dealer in that year. Ron Wiley.

To Andy and Ginty. Bruce Kirby asked if I would send you our newsletter, I have attached the latest edition. Cape Vintage Engine is the newsletter of the „Cape Vintage Engine & Machinery Society‟. We are a very informal club, no subs, no rules; Gordon Riley and I compile the newsletter and send it out free by e-mail. It is for anyone interested in old engines and such like and when you receive the newsletter you automatically become a member! So welcome to the club! Please feel free to comment on anything in the newsletter, we will also gladly receive any contributions be it a „letter to the editor‟, old photo, news about anything vintage, wanted, for sale etc. Philip.

Inbox.

15

In reply to the above, we have received an interesting e-mail from a couple of lads „oop norf‟ in Zambia, Andy Legg and Ginty Melvill. Ginty writes “A couple of us are very interested, and as said we have a couple of old steamers, winch ploughs etc, but more really of interest, the power stations here were all crude, and are still operational, great big Rustons, Cats, and the odd 500 hp RR, we are going to track some down and do an article for you guys, if you are interested, I was involved in the Cotton Industry in Uganda; we had 250 hp Ruston twins there, 125 hp per pot, 125 rpm, 11 tonne flywheel, fantastic things, lovely green and gold. Have a few pics somewhere. Must give you a story on Les Pugh, worked at Dursley ,with R.A. Lister for 50 years, till 30 years ago, still going strong, now in his mid 90`s and as bright as a new penny. Have his memoirs in book form. Old mate of mine and is the curator of the Lusaka Show Society old bits and pieces section, which as a matter of fact includes 2 steam traction engines, East German, and a massive winch drawn plough. {Bertsaght} or something similar guttural sounding, I have actually seen them running under their own steam. 1920`s kit.

Hoping to hear from Andy and Ginty soon, Thanks chaps! Phil.

Good to see Philip at the steam club's site at the Epping market. The line up of stationary engines looked good and added life to the meeting. It must be a daunting challenge when your engine weighs 35 tons, though! A few lifetimes needed to ensure those

are kept operating. Thinking of steam brings me to my little project -

the steam launch. My hull has now reached the stage where it would actually float, i.e. it is fully planked. I am busy with the deck and sheathing of the hull with glass cloth. It‟s been about a year so far, working in the evenings on my own, but it sure is a good antidote to television. It is built to Paul Fisher's design, as a Victorian steamboat, called an Indian Princess for some reason, and you can see it on his site

www.selway-fisher.com. It‟s about 19 feet long. I am ready to do the floors and the propeller shaft, but for this I need to know what steam engine will be used, so the correct angle and height of the bearers and floor can be built. The boat is designed for about 5 HP steam, but will work with even less, say about four. The boiler should be of the vertical type, fired with gas probably for the sake of convenience, or possibly coal. The boiler diameter will be about 550mm. We can build the boiler at work, as we have the help of skilled people. I must now find a suitable marine engine that has reversing gear, probably a Turner type two cylinder. If there is something available here that can be adapted so much the better, but suitable engines are available in England in varying stages of completion

from castings and up. I wonder if any of our members can advise me? Is there any other steam launch here? I know of the

converted lifeboat that was in the waterfront as a tourist boat some years ago, and I will follow up with Hannes Steyn on this. Keith Wetmore. Somerset Timbers, Somerset West, Western Cape.

Wanted.

I am looking for KLG KS 5 plugs for a French Talbot my son and I are restoring. Can you

point the way to a source?? They have three electrodes. Thank you. Ray Forsyth, USA.

Contact Andy Selfe aselfe@mweb.co.za

Wico EK magneto. Douw de Lange at 022 714 0907 or 082 296 7496.

Piston rings for a 2hp Lister DK10. 3 inch bore x 1/8 inch. Three compression rings plus one

oil ring.

Gasket set also required for the same engine. Douw de Lange at 022 714 0907 or

082 296 7496.

It Pays to Advertise. Thank you to Jerry Evans and Steve Socolic for the Lister manual and parts books that they sent me in reply to my request in the last newsletter. Gordon Riley.

16

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Forthcoming Events. The following is a preliminary list of events as given to us and we cannot guarantee the accuracy thereof. Please check with the relevant organizers before making arrangements to attend any event. If any errors are found it would be appreciated if we could be notified so that corrections can be made for the next newsletter. Note that there may have been some changes since the last newsletter! November – 22 Museum Day at Stettyn (Villiersdorp). December – 6 Veteran Harvest Day at Goudmyn (Paul Smit‟s farm, Moorreesburg). January -- The 2010 Classic Car and Bike Show. An early reminder – the 10

th Annual Timor Hall

Classic Car and Bike Show will be held on 23 and 24 January 2010.

For Sale.

Mc. Cormick Deering 3 hp Model M3 horizontal stationary engine – restored. Must be seen.

Offers. Douw de Lange at 022 714 0907 or 082 296 7496.

13 Assorted boxes of Ramco 10 UP imperial piston ring sets. Boxes 120mm x 120mm x

120mm Offers. Douw de Lange at 022 714 0907 or 082 296 7496.