The quacking of a duck well & truly broken!

Jerry,

I am interested to ask about a Decom Lever on a Petter A,am I to believe this is a diesel not petrol. As regards Lister engines I collect nothing else lately so if assistance is required email me off NG.

Martin The A mk2 series 2 has a decompression lever. What's the latest on my pick ups?

regards Roland

Petter small diesel data sheets at:

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

Groan... I've just re-read my own post and I feel I must apologise or else offer it as a dictionary definition for the word 'pompous'!

Here are some corrections:

For 'workshop' please read 'half a garage which contains my tools/stuff plus anything the boss deems unsuitable for the house'.

For 'decompression lever' please read 'what I was told is a decompression lever'. Actually, having now had a 'play' it appears to make little or no difference. (The engine does turn over very nicely though with a satisfying 'phut' from the exhaust. However, given the high tension lead (? -- forgive my ignorance) from the mag has been cut there's no way to test for a spark at the mo).

If the presence of a carburettor indicates petrol (I'm chancing nothing when posting here from now on!) this is *not* a compression engine.

Put my earlier post down to natural exuberance and a joy in sharing...

Martin: I'm betting my requests for help/info will know no bounds -- be prepared (and thanks in advance).

Peter: thanks for the link to the data sheets.

Jerry

camp> Jerry,

Don't worry, Jerry, we all understand very clearly what is driving you. Many will read your post with the wry amusement of equally driven souls and thoroughly relate to your attraction to Rusty Iron.

For myself, I do like exposed crank engines, especially Ruston-Hornsby and Crossley which seem to me to do very well in the exposed bits stakes. I've an Amanco 2 1/4 somewhere & a Crossley 1075 with suitable dynamo which I have grand plans to clear a space (HA!!), build a concrete base & run regularly for my own amusement. Frankly, I'll likely keel over into my box before I get it done having rather too much else on my plate for the next thirty years or so - but there, we're all gonna live for ever, aren't we?

Yus mate.

The only ancient engine I'd actually buy if I could afford it is a Gardner Model 0 - very pretty.

But really, being a motorcycle mechanic/builder/rider for the better part of fifty years, air cooled engines call to me more & flat twins especially. Become a bit of an obsession, I suppose - I don't go much out of my way to find them, but usually buy new examples if they cross my path at reasonable prices.

I've had Lister D's, Wolseley WD's, Stuart Turner R5, P55's & sold them on without a tear. Last year, I had a bit of a clear out and sold a couple of tarted up Iron Horses & an ALCO Featherweight on eBay but I still have other, better examples lurking around the workshop.

What am I going on about? Well, I think you buy what comes up & keep what calls to you after a few weeks. A Petter A1 (I've got one of they, too!) might not be with you for ever, but they all have their niche to fill in the heart of the engine man ;o))

Finally, any old bit of wire will do to connect hole to terminal & fire it up - nothing magic about HT cable. Good plan to fit the right stuff before exhibiting though ......

Regards,

Kim Siddorn,

Absolutely Kim, and thank you. Of course we're driven, that's why we're here when 'sensible' souls probably have their feet in carpet slippers, a rug over their lap and the TV to occupy and amuse. We're in our workshops getting skinned knuckles and cursing over stubborn nuts and bolts!

I'm with you all the way on old motorcycles but I'm probably less specific. I tend to like lightweights (though an old Harley knuckle- or pan-head can get the blood up too!) but I've been leaning towards an Enfield Bullet for a while and may cave in at any time... the sound of the 500 single is especially sweet music.

Particularly agree with your comments re. acquiring what comes up and hanging on to what calls to you. I'm a bit of a gadfly with a number of interests (see m/cycles above!) and can see little wrong (purists don peril-sensitive sunglasses now) with picking up, but passing on later in favour of something which tickles the fancy even more. The Petter is an interesting lump that I will enjoy coaxing back into life but it's not as comely as the Lister D that's on its way, and both pale in the wake of, for me, the Lister A/B/Junior and the Petter 'two-wheelers' (examples of which I'm hoping I might see at Enstone).

Thanks for the HT tip. I just wasn't sure the spark plug lead is referenced 'high tension' lead on these mag-equipped engines, hence the question mark and coming as I do from old Land Rovers and bikes.

Rgds Jerry

Kim Siddorn wrote:

Speaking of new acquisitions, someone really wanted this, didn't they?

Kim Siddorn,

Looked nice but I became a little less enthusiastic when someone asked if there was a spark. Maybe it's just me but if I hadn't actually tried it and someone asked the question, I would have given it a try so that I could give a definitive answer.

Maybe it's my cynicism making itself known again.

On the other hand, you don't seem to find many in that sort of cosmetic condition.

Mark

Not as well presented but probably better value:-

- but conversely, someone got a bargain here

regards,

Kim Siddorn,

It depends on your definition of a bargain though. As it certainly needs a lot of work, and money spending on it, as finding a replacement mag, carb, exhaust and both tanks, not to mention the missing mag bracket or the bent valve isnt going to be cheap.

Mike M

miley snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

W-e-l-l, I suppose it really depends on what one hoards - erm, collects! I bought the L'Aster in just such condition except it had a carb.

I could at once find a suitable mag & certainly a carb to get it going. Tank & exhaust are just fabrication & something you'd have to do anyway, probably.

Bargain! ;o))

Regards,

Kim