Angus Shapland (Wristpin)

we all know that sealed bearings don’t come with much grease inside

There is a reason for that, and perhaps not the obvious! Same as for wheel bearings, if they are over packed with grease the balls skid round en masse rather than rolling round the track, ending up with flats on them.

My choice of extraction method for this job was made due to the probable fragile nature of the alloy sole plate; not to mention the comparative rarity of finding another.
When it comes to frozen bolts and bottom blade screws etc, a couple of minutes spent thinking and forming a plan can avoid half an hour of aggro, or worse. Better to avoid…[Read more]

Anzani part two – bottom blade and rear roller.
The bottom blade should be lipped, but the lip was nearly gone. That combined with a well-worn cutting cylinder meant that they barely touched. A fair amount of asking around including Garfitts failed to produce a blade, but a sort through the “might come in useful” bin produced one for a Greens…[Read more]

Looking good. They certainly had their money’s worth from the air filter element! We used to have an excellent auto electrical firm but such as is the way of things, the partners were getting on in years and the property developers could see space on their site for several substantial houses.

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.

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 ?

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…[Read more]

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.

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!!

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 Sup…[Read more]

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 man…[Read more]

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 man…[Read more]

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 man…[Read more]

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

Are you sure ?

The split pin is there to stop the rings turning in the groove. As a 2 stroke it is important that the ring gap does not line up with any of the ports in the cylinder bore, this could happen if the rings did not have the split pin to prevent then moving.

Seems a fairly crude way of achieving the desired result. Is the split pin an original…[Read more]

An uninformed guess, check for air leaks.

To remove gudgeon pin (wristpin) remove the clips part number 10297, see parts manual plate 2 for illustration.

If it’s an alloy piston, with clips removed, suspend it in a pan of boiling water for five minutes and it will probably expand enough to allow the pin to be just pushed out. Failing that make a tool similar to this to push it out. No a…[Read more]

To remove gudgeon pin (wristpin) remove the clips part number 10297, see parts manual plate 2 for illustration.

If it’s an alloy piston, with clips removed suspend it in a pan of boiling water for five minutes and it will probably expand enough to allow the pin to be just pushed out. Failing that make a tool similar to this to push it out. No a…[Read more]

Ah, looks like we are talking about a different product, but even so the blurb for your tin seems to be saying that it’s for “penetrating wood” preservation, not as in penetrating rusted / frozen metal components. However, if it works for you, so be it.