Mid Winter Workshop

Busy through the winter, here are some snapshots, more to follow:

Triumph Dolomite.

Chevrolet Truck:

Window wind mechanism and Waxoyl the inner doorskin.

 Wolseley Hornet, final engine modifications and details including a modification to chain guide in Tufnol material; some further attention to the beginning of a crack in the cast iron drive housing for the water pump and oil pump skew drive assembly. This demonstrates Eutectic Metalspray equipment designed for this type of work. It allows small precision deposits of material to the damage area at a relatively low temperature for a "hot" repair. The crack is then reinforced internally with a bronze sleeve machined and lightly pressed with Loctite.

Breather oil catch tank located beneath the supercharger on the side of the engine.

Final setting up work with very careful spline dressing, engineer's blue and end float adjustment.

Below picture shows the modified Tufnol chain guide, hidden and camouflaged to the right of the picture with the chain against it.

The water pump drive shaft had the end section removed for some reason? We have set and machined a suitable slot to accept a steel "tongue" to be silver soldered into position and provide the water pump drive.

Winter Wolseley Work

Early Summer at HEC

Some early summer work here at the HEC.

This work includes some small engine details on a lovely pre war Morris Minor that has spent most of it's life in the same family, covering the same roads around the family home.

We have been continuing with the Wolseley Hornet, approaching the last stages with the manufacture and fitting of the exhaust system by Dave Tyler, whose skill is always amazing, the skill isn't just with Dave as his son Liam reflects his tutor and the engineering genes (when home from university)!

The Shelsley Champion Mini is still with us, now with a new head and a little work on peripheral engine items.

We also have a Mini Marcos waiting in the wings and as mentioned in a previous post, the engine of a Peugeot 401 which has had some work completed already.

The Peugeot is very interesting, originally starting life as a Paris Taxi in the mid 30's and on into the war years. ... you wonder who might have been ferried about through those wartime years!
Following this working life it then found it's way to the country, but far from being "put out to grass", continued on for many years as a farm truck, until finally coming to the uk for preservation.
We have a little history with this type of engine albeit with two more cylinders; a 601 came to us very many years ago (very pre blogspot), this also had a complete rebuild as well as the transmission and the rear axle. The two engines are near identical apart from the differing size.

And finally a little more up to date with the completion of the second phase; the overhaul of the Mazda MX5 NA front suspension and underbody.

Wolseley Hornet Spl Progress

A few more jobs from the finishing list. Including two engine photos from a little while ago that had been missed.

The following photos show piston ring and piston fitting, the engine had been deliberately assembled without the rings and circlips to carry out a trial test for different cam timing intervals and piston to valve clearance.
 As the rods have to come up through the bores, which are too small to clear big ends; followed by assembly of the pins and pistons in situ, any repeated removal is a little tricky. The wire circlips are so tight and easy to distort that I couldn't risk removing them should I have to further machine to alter the piston, which of course would require removal of the piston and mounting into the Lathe jig.

NPR (Nippon) piston rings were supplied with these pistons, they seem very nicely engineered.

This photo shows a little "funnel" guide tool that I machined to help the fitting of the wire type circlips without distortion. The tool enters into the circlip location to register and then the clip is pushed down the progressively reducing internal bore of the guide until it exits into the groove...still a fiddly operation.

Fabricating front axle torque reaction bars to stop the axle tucking under when braking.

Exhaust fabrication by Dave Tyler, he is such a craftsman along with his son Liam. Great attention to detail for performance as well as aesthetics. Dave was particularly interested to make a "shotgun" system of dual pipes on a Hornet.