ssorthiek

Thanks Andy, I saw that in the photo and wondered what it was. I can’t think of any fixing holes on mine where this could have been fitted at all. My later machine doesn’t have it on either but I haven’t looked for fixing holes on that machine but I know this had a “new” engine fitted.

As you can see from the “before” photos, if the shroud was…[Read more]

Hi Andy

Thanks for the comment.

My Coleby didn’t have a shroud around the Carb. However some JAP engines did run on paraffin and I have noticed a couple of JAP 55 engines on EBay that had some arrangement around the exhaust and carb, presumably to thin the paraffin and make it flow a bit better. Coleby didn’t exclusively use JAP engines either,…[Read more]

One final thing, if you are interested in the history of Coleby Cultivators then I have written an article which was published in the Club Newsletter April 2019 Issue 122. There were a couple of responses in subsequent newsletters which add a little to this article. Mr. Terence Seago recalls fond memories of Max Sy at J. Garrett & Sons Ltd ( See…[Read more]

FURTHER WORK

When I picked the Coleby up, it had been laying in my dad’s garden for many years in the hope that he would restore it. We couldn’t find one of the levers to engage the wheels so I made a couple based on the working Coleby I had. After nearly two years he decided to put up a shed in the same spot as where he stored to Coleby and fin…[Read more]

PAINTWORK
The paintwork was not is a good state. One of the first jobs to get me going was to powder coat as much as I reasonably could. The gearbox was still assembled so this was not a candidate and so was the engine block. Not really understanding colours and the likes, having done a little research, I thought that RAL 6005 was probably a…[Read more]

ENGINE
The engine was in a poor state of repair. This is really where the restoration project investigation started. I knew that I needed a cowl for this engine to have any chance of getting this project finished. Clearly it was important to determine the type of engine it was and having not undertaken anything like this before had to start…[Read more]

CLUTCH
In truth , there was nothing wrong with the clutch so this has been left alone. This was the only bit of the Coleby that didn’t need any work on this machine.

GEARBOX
When I received the Coleby it was in a dreadful state. The engine was largely complete but the cowl was missing. The gearbox was in a dreadful state as well and this is the first port of call to start the restoration. You can just make out that the bearing housing that is normally held in with 5/16” Whit countersunk screws was held in w…[Read more]

So I made a claim that 614 must have been one of the first Colebys with a JAP 4/3 engine. How can I make that claim? There are two things that lead me to this. The serial number of the JAP engine is 3|C|92080|FU which implies the engine was manufactured between September 1948 and September 1949. We also have early original photos of Coleby Juniors…[Read more]

Brilliant, thanks to both of you. I’ll give Meetens a shot first and see what happens.

After quite a struggle I have managed to get the Coleby Junior running. The engine has been running for a while now put there were (and still are) issues with it. The piston rings are probably worn since it uses about a gallon of oil to every half gallon of petrol and there are issues with the governor. Still the gearbox was all assembled, clutch…[Read more]

Oh, I managed to work out what was going on with the gearbox I think. Someone had tried to overhaul the thing and just left the thrust bearing off altogether. I just fitted one in and it fitted perfectly (I think). Time will tell. Thanks Charlie for the post.

The Coleby is really starting to take shape now. There have been quite of few issues on the way including gearbox cracks, cab problems, broken engine governor, sometimes a less than understanding wife (although she is understanding most of the time).

One of the biggest problems I have had with the engine is getting it started without petrol. I…[Read more]

Another great issue. Many thanks to the team

Thanks wristpin, the info is much appreciated. I didn’t have any HT kicking round but used a bit of coax instead which was connected to the spark plug as you suggested. I’m not keen on getting a belt off the HT side so decided to control where the spark ends up (ie the park plug). The coax did the trick for testing purposes only.

So SAE 30 or new…[Read more]

That’s brilliant Neil and thanks for your prompt reply. I’ll be looking at the Magento again at the weekend. Fingers crossed it will still give a spark.

OK Andy, I’ve tried another way which might take a couple of days if it works.
Thanks for your efforts to date.
Also see Coleby in The Cultivator pg 12.