Actually all I bought was a dynamo armature which I hoped (and in fact is) the right diameter for the frame of the 'exploder' I bought for £3 at sodbury last year. If I ever get round to uniting the two I will have a nice vintage looking open frame dynamo for next to nothing.
A few other temptations there, I hesitated over a S-T P3 but couldn't quite reconcile price and condition so gave it a miss. Martin or one of his cohort had an Enfield flat twin two-stroke - but do I really need another and there was nicely made Westbury Centaur but the £750 being asked (it eventually sold for £650) is more than a little out of my range.
I am pleased to say that all but a couple of us attended Enstone today, we all were seen carrying purchases of one sort or other, I for one got a fuel chamber cover for my Lister L and I nearly made £100 selling odds and sods, my two partners in crime didn't do so badly either. For the Roll call.
Philip Thornton Evison Roland Craven Kim Siddorn Nick H Arthur Griffin John Manders
As usual good to see you all in the flesh and a trophy to Arthur who insisted he did not speed :-)) but managed to get lost and come from deepest Wales to Enstone in a couple of hours.
Temp on arrival was 3C !!!. I think a good time was had by all. I managed to gather a rather tasty though slightly incomplete oil-strainer, severeal 3ph starters, a rather pretty (if lumpy) centrifugal pump, sundry bits and bobs and also collected the 3hp Sunshine. The latter is a very pretty two-stroke from Oz and being a stinking 2T will fit nicely with the rest of the junk here :-) I ended up with more than 7 things to collect so if Martin will give the item I left in his van into the care of FITS and also have a look for my brain I'd be grateful... John Rogers and the redoubtable Giblets were also present. John of course will be writing it up for his newsletter Arthur snaffled the best buy after I failed to spot what is was- DUH! ttfn Roland
I think I've found your brain, there is something rattling around in the back of my van now its empty. As for Arthur, Jammy or what and when he showed me it was pointed out that there were more underneath he didn't know he had.
An excellent day, and such a quick journey ;-). Took much longer on the way home, due to the world having got out of bed. I was the first in the gate at ten to eightish and still have ticket number
1 to prove it!
It must be said that the weather in Enstone was as cold as a witch's, and I take my hat off to you hardy Southerners who put up with such conditions, but I only take it off briefly to avoid frostbite of the ears.
I bought all sorts of treasures, very reasonably, a starting handle and a nice CMA Mag (round bodied one) for the Lister B, a belt pulley for the Bamford 2hp, another Bamford starting handle (thanks Roland), a rather nice set of 6 Moore and Wright micrometers (0-6") for £5. A Delapena (sounds like a chilli to me) crankshaft honing set, which I've not yet figured out fully. I also obtained some nice CI wheels, a set of
4-spoke 12 inchers, and one set considerably larger (need a big engine to put on these). What else? Oh yes, a King Dick, a dial gauge for the lathe, a boring tool, a jenny calipers, and a bacon and egg roll.
Enjoyed looking at various engines for sale, but as I only had the estate, I couldn't buy any. I'm a bit concerned that I found myself more drawn to some of the two-stroke Petters on sale more than the others. Is there help available for this? Am I inevitably on the same course as Roland and Philip (crosses himself). God between us and all harm :-).
Mr. P provided life support in the form of hot tea, thank you Martin, and thanks for the toolmaker's perspective on my buys. Was pleased to bump into John Manders for the first time, a face to add to the URES pack of cards (a la the Iraqi version). Saw Kim and was talked into buying the crank honing/truing set by him. Missed Nick, though I suspect he saw me coming and ducked behind a Stuart Turner!
Having been up before the lark, I'm now off to my bed.
Delapena like Sunnen were and maybe still are suppliers/manufacturers of hand honing and automated honing equipment to the recon engine business, are they like a large pair of nut crackers hinged at the top sometimes wooden with strips of fine grade emery paper on the radiused inside edges?
Not true, I know I'm not one of the worlds great chatterboxes but I would have at least said hi if I had seen you - besides Stuarts are far too small to hide behind ;-) In fact I only saw (or at least only recognised - I do have a pretty poor memory for faces) Kim and Martin.
It was good to see The Usual Suspects before the winter cold sets in.
I often think to myself that I ought to dig out some bits and "do" one of these sales, but the thought of carrying it all out of the garage, standing around all day turning down skinflints like me who offer you an unerring twenty quid less than you paid for it only to have the unmitigated pleasure of driving home and unloading most of it back into the garage does rather put me off. ;o))
Anyway, I bought a few bits and bobs - nothing to celebrate with wild cries of glee, but a small glow of satisfaction at the thought of a few quid spent and more Oily Treasures added to the crowded garage.
I did stare thoughtfully at Martin's mates' Enfield flat twin and if it hadn't been quite so much money, I'd probably have dickered for it, but with one in the garden already, it was more trouble than it was worth in the Hazel department.
I found yet another (number six!) compressor such as are found on B bank camshafts on Merlins that must have been sold off in their thousands post war. This one had been provided with a decent crankcase and drive shaft, complete with pulley. A quick deal was done and home it came. I'm now sizing it up to fit to the Marconi-Stanley as it will require less effort to fit this stand-alone device than the sketchily-modified one I had been eyeing up for this job.
A small JAP side valve for £12 joined it. Tucked away, I have an absolutely to-scale compressor for it to drive made by Bristol Pneumatic Tools, a place I briefly worked whilst I looked for something - anything - better in the
1960's. A bit nostalgic, I suppose, and I'll have a nice little tyre blower upper for £18 all told. A quick clean of the points brought the little JAP to staccato life last night, so that worked!
I sorted through a BIG box of old plugs and found ten for £9.00, all mica insulated with the exception of one Air Ministry shielded plug and am currently cleaning and sorting.
A box of Villiers bits, a Mk II Villiers from a lawnmower, an oiler for the Amanco from Arthur (thanks for remembering it!) and a couple of small petrol tanks completed a very pleasant day.
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