I see the thread has dropped off my Radar, so I'll start another ;o)) Having decided to take my marine engine walkies to the 1000 Engine Rally, I thought I'd better get cracking and make it look more respectable.
If ever there was an overcooled engine, it must be the Norman T300. The whopping great uncowled fan moves birds in flight, stops cyclists passing by in the road (true! they wanted to know what the wind was!) and at least at off load speeds the crankcase is still only warm after a whole days running.
Having Gunked the engine down the evening before, I took off the petrol tank, carb, exhausts and flywheel yesterday and cleaned everything within an inch of its life - stripped the carb, cleaned it inside and out, painted up the induction cover and choke arm, rubbed down the tank and marked it up for bracket brazing and gave it a quick whip over with primer. Then I ran a brass wire cup brush over the engine, removing the years of aluminium oxide that was previously hidden by the years of oily s**te. There were occasional fragments of grey paint hiding in corners and I mulled for some time over my next step. Finally, I decided that this one would be displayed in its naked aluminium splendour and having wiped it all over with a meths laden kitchen tissue, gave the now somewhat brighter surfaces three coats of clear lacquer. That should insulate both steel and ali from the vicissitudes of the British climate for the foreseeable future and subsequent owners will be able to find original paint traces under the protective acrylic.
I discovered a rather home made looking aluminium spacer twixt carb and crankcase. It's true the spacer is in the right place to be an insulating washer (if 'twernt made of ali) and perhaps it replaces one as they don't get hot and bothered. In this context, I was interested to find a venturii milled into the inlet tract that decreases the bore by about half . There is facility for the carb to be mounted at 90o to the current position. I assume this feature is actually a carb. flange option and doesn't mean you can bolt the engine to a vertical face which would make the then lower cylinder very gloopy indeed ;o))
The tank is one of those pretty little oval containers from a JAP outboard engine. It was blue when I got it and I'm inclined to repeat that colour rather than my normal "paint it deep gloss black" approach that I've inherited from years of Velocettes and Vincents!
The magneto seems OK and is an Air Ministry stamped item, producing the customary bolts of lightning that such mags provide. I'd previously faced the points off, so contented myself with just cleaning the slip ring and brush holders. A quick run over with the now thinning brass cup brush (£2.00 at my local tool shop) and a coat of lacquer & it's ready for refitting later today.
Regards,
Kim Siddorn