Mike Macartney

Thank you for the explanation.

You need some big muscles to even lift up that huge tool for removing the wheel nuts!

I am looking forward to reading your posts again. I am surprised how good the fender is - 'Wot no rust'!

It's strange that there are no figures at all?

Again the internal threading went well. . . . . and the 5C collet threaded into the end.

After cutting the thread I bored the centre out and reduced the diameter of the end to fit into the seamless hollow tube - if it ever arrives! Still boring! That should do. I won't part the threaded part off until the tube is here. I knew there was another reason for not parting it off - I needed the threaded portion to have a 'handle so I could use it to check the thread when I cut it into the block that holds the thrust race. I forgot to take photos of cutting this internal thread. It all went better than I expected. . . . . Apart from the knurling which was a failure. I milled out four slots for the C-spanner. I had to do this by eye, as I did not have any means of holding the round material, other than in the machine vice. At first, I had tried clamping it onto a V-block on the milling table but it came loose and broke the milling cutter! The next job to do was making an end to braze into the hollow tube that will screw onto the thread on the 5C collets. I measured how long the thread had to be, added a bit and then cut a relief inside the tube about the depth of the thread.

Continuing on with the machining of the drawbar for the 5c collets for my big lathe. I bored the end out to accept the thrust race that is going to push on the end of the gearbox end of the lathe headstock spindle. Once bored out to size the release bearing pushed into place. I think I need to make it look a bit 'prettier' and still need to thread the other end to screw onto the drawbar. The steel I have used is of unknown scrap material and seemed very hard on the outside. I was hoping to knurl the outside, but that maybe rather difficult. Perhaps if I mill some slots on the outside I could use this C-spanner to tighten it up onto the drawbar. Following Joes advice I decided to make the ends of the drawbar out of EN1A steel and braze the ends into the seamless steel tube when the tube eventually arrives. When I checked the tracking number it has been at the local Hermes depot for a couple of days and not been collected by the delivery driver. Being the customer, rather than the sender, I can't seem to contact Hermes to find out what's happening. I have asked the sender to chase it up for me. I turned the bar down to the OD of the seamless tubing (1.5"). . . . . . . . and started cutting the 1.5" x 20 TPI thread.

Thanks Al. Yes, funnily enough I seem to get more done now that I am in the workshop for longer. I suppose that is no surprize really! Today, has been the hardest day for not smoking. It will be two weeks next Sunday evening. SWARF BRUSH Here is a tip I picked up on the internet that has worked well for me. The brush on the right in the photo is the one I had been using. The brush on the left I have cut the bristles down and it works much better and does not get clogged up with swarf.

They are thanking me already! I have not felt this well for over a year! I seem to be spending most of my time now in the workshop and not having enough time left to post the photos and reports! I'll try and catch up with the reports tomorrow. Here is one photo of starting to make the knob that will screw onto the drawbar for the 5c collets in the lathe. Boring out to receive the BMW 3-series clutch release bearing.

I've got a good teacher - his name is Joe!

Thanks for your posts and good wishes. I am a lot better now than I have been for a long time. I did not realise how bad I had got. The problem is that the 'loss of lungs working' creeps up on you very slowly, getting a tiny bit worse each day, you just think it is old age creeping up on you. I am pleased to say I have managed to stay off the 'roll ups'. It will be a week of NO SMOKING in 2-hours time - not that I'm counting! Spent a lot of yesterday in the workshop and again this morning. No progress on the Humberette yet, apart from what the coach trimmer has done. I hadn't chased him up because I did not need the body back yet. I hoped to have the fenders (wings) completed and a lot of the other bits finished before the coach trimming was finished - then the engine repairs got in the way! Here are the photos, taken by Paul Moore, of the progress on the interior leather seats:- The work on the lathe went well, replacing the 'bodges' that were holding the gears in place. Made the tool that replicated the thread on the lathe gears. Checked the thread was correct with the only original knurled retaining nut. The new nuts and spacers fitted. There should have been more photos, but I forgot to take the camera up to the workshop! This week the metal should arrive for making the drawbar for the 5C collets.

Had a bit of a shock on Sunday night, well actually 2am on Monday morning, I woke up having very extreme difficulty in breathing. I must admit I thought I was going to fall ‘off the perch’ and be a deceased parrot! I have been very short of breath in the past but nothing like this before. It felt like what I assume drowning feels like. Jane phoned for an ambulance. The nearest available ambulance was at Kings Lynn so they took nearly an hour to get here. I suppose that is one of the joys of living in a rural area! The ambulance guys spent over an hour checking me out and giving me an ECG and two types of nebulisers. The guys were brilliant. We got to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital at about 5am and I was taken into the new triage portable building and checked out. They had built this unit after the bed blocking problems of last winter. At about 8am I was transferred to A&E, where I was to stay on a trolley until they eventually found me a bed on a ward at 8pm! It must be very frustrating for the doctors and nurses because after they have stabilised the ‘customers’ all they seem to do is look at the computer screens waiting for spare bed places to appear on the screen. Between about 6pm and 8am the ‘drunk and drugged up’ started arriving in A&E, presumably being brought in by the Police, mayhem erupted with them being very abusive to the staff (the ‘drunk & drugged – not the Police!) On the ward during the night I had a couple of episodes of not being able to breath, the night staff sorted me out and gave me some tips on increasing my oxygen levels without having to resort to having oxygen. At least one good thing has come out of this episode – I have packed up smoking, it frightened me that much! Each time I want a roll up, I try and think back to how I felt on Sunday night. Now feeling a lot better and hope to start back in the workshop over the weekend.

That sounds fine. If the flow is too much it does not give the coolant enough time to absorb the heat and you end up with hot spots and boiling when you turn off the engine. Wow Joe, that gear puller is very ingenious.

Joe, I maybe telling my mother to suck eggs, but - you can calculate the flow by timing, in seconds, the flow from the plastic tube back into a pint, quart, litre or gallon container and work out the flow in litres per minute, gallons per hour or whatever you want. This link may help? https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/coolant-flow-rate.566125/

The aluminium welding this time looks a lot better than last time. Do the holes have to be that accurate if the holes on one side were slightly oversize? My only attempt at using my dividing head was trying to cut gears for the 1899 Perks and Birch (Singer) motor wheel tricycle. It was on that 'cheapo' bench mounted Clarke Drill/Mill, it turned out a disaster, as I ended up with the last tooth being a half a tooth! I think I was a bit ambitious attempting something like that with my very limited machining knowledge. After following your machining work over the last 15-months, putting into practise your ideas and help, I am sure I will do better next time.