Errands in England's Green and Pleasant Land

Another nice little trip out on the faithful Bantam this weekend, over to Cromer to collect the Ariel W/NG timing case. Read about it here.

Two Old Relics

I had a nice little trip out on the faithful Bantam this weekend, over to Cromer with the Ariel W/NG timing case. Read about it here.

The pill box is at Aylmerton, and dates from the First World War.

Ariel Single Timing Cover Fix

I noticed a while back that the magneto platform flexes more than it should, and this became more apparent when I set the ignition timing recently. It's down to the fact that the bolt retaining the magneto platform to the timing cover is missing, and the reason it is missing is that the boss it screws into is also missing...

Removing the magneto chain cover revealed another problem - a missing screw, replaced with a countersunk brass screw of dubious provenance, and within the cover, a burst screw boss:

So we need a man who can TIG weld aluminium and who has experience repairing old castings...

Here's the timing case, removed and cleaned:

This is the damage to the magneto platform bolt hole:

It went to Roo at  Roadkill Customs in Cromer to be fixed. He TIG welded the holes up:

I've used a stud, rather than the original screw. The original is tapped 5/16" CEI into the alloy, with a hex screw - heaven knows why it was specified like that.

This is a 5/16" CEI x 5/16" BSW stud. At 1 1/8" its a bit long, but can easily be shortened if need be, and the BSW thread will be stronger in the alloy.

I also replaced the rocker oil feed union while I had the timing case off. The thread was a bit mangled; a self grip wrench and a blowlamp were needed to get the old one out.

Draganfly have stock of these - I put this in and tightened it with the aid of a 1/16" twist drill:

I'm using some Threebond 1215 silicone gasket to replace the timing cover. It's grey, discrete and rated at 250°C. Ample for this application.

We need the additional paper washer over the oil pump pickup pipe:

New gasket, applied over a thin bead of Threebond:

And the timing case in place. The magneto pinion is held in place with a Velcro tape, awaiting arrival of the magneto. The breather has been annealed and straightened and the magneto platform is now retained to the new stud with a 5/16" CEI nut and a shakeproof washer.

Roadkill Customs

Maybe this is the answer. A better quality oil bought from the nice people at Roadkill Customs, Cromer:

Elixir of Life

In any event, of all the changes I could make, it is low-hanging fruit.