Cape Vintage Engine18 - February 2010

Newsletter of the Cape Vintage Engine and Machinery Society.
Number 18. February 2010.
was able to provide information
that led to the two old school
chums, Ginty and Geof making
contact. As Hennie Swanepoel
mentioned in his Mogul restoration
article, the internet is a very useful
tool.
From the Engine Shed.
Within twenty four hours of Ginty
Melvill’s request for information on
the book „Sitimela‟ (pronounced
S‟timela), which is the history of the
Zambesi Saw Mills railway, and its‟
author Geof Calvert appearing in
the last newsletter, Andy Selfe
I‟ve received a few replies as to
the make of Don’s bike mentioned
in the last newsletter, Bruce Kirby
was able to correctly identify it as a
Sarolea 25M, circa 1922, 500cc
single cylinder. The others all
thought it was perhaps an FN, it
does bear a strong resemblance!
Tony Beckett has sent a lovely
article about his grandfathers? FN
being donated to the Transvaal
museum in 1947, has anyone seen
this bike lately? Does the
Transvaal museum still exist (under
a new name)?
Amongst our membership we
have a large and varied pool of
knowledge, be it in the form of
operators or workshop manuals
and handbooks, formal mechanical
training and often first hand
experience with many makes and
models of old engines and
machinery so if you have a need to
know something, let‟s put it in our
newsletter, it could lead to an
interesting debate. To start the ball
rolling what is the correct
procedure in setting up the spring
tension of an atmospheric inlet
valve? Phil.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ours thanks to numerous people
who have contributed the
interesting variety of articles in this
issue.
And for the next newsletter!! We
have some interesting articles up
our sleeves for the next issue as
well. Ginty Melvill and Andy Legg
in Zambia have been
enthusiastically supporting us and
have sent some very interesting
pictures and in addition Ginty has
put us in touch with Heather
Chalcroft who researched and has
published a very interesting article
on Garrett steam locos in the
Lusaka Lowdown newspaper.
Heather has generously sent us
the article and has given us
permission to use it. Ron Wiley
has sent us the second part of his
mouthwatering article on the
annual Lake Goldsmith Rally which
is held in South Australia. Gordon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contacts
Phil Gray-Taylor (editor) [email protected]
Gordon Riley [email protected]
Our Man in Australia, Ron Wiley [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Contents.
Editorial.
Page 1.
An Interesting Discovery.
Page 8.
Page 9
Commer TS3 Restoration. Part 2.
Pages 2 & 3.
Dorman Engines.
Lake Goldsmith - Part One.
Pages 4 & 5.
F N Motorcycle.
Pages 10 & 11.
Restoration of a 1916 Mogul. Part 2.
Page 6
A Touch of Yesteryear, What Is It? Page 12.
The Allan Scythe.
Pages 7.
Inbox.
Timour Classic Car Show.
Page 8.
For Sale, Forthcoming Events.
Pages 12 & 13.
Page 14.
1
3-Cylinder, 6-piston, two-stroke engined Commer TS3 (Tilling Stevens) under
Restoration!
Part Two.
Andy Selfe.
This article has been put together from various articles by Andy and from various emails sent to him. G.
On that subject, the starter motor is fitted, for space‟s sake, like a Volkswagen
Beetle, facing backwards. The motor must therefore rotate backwards. An
armature was needed in the repair of the starter, which wasn‟t easy to locate!
You can‟t just change wires over inside, the armature is wound differently!
Once the fuel injection pump has been returned and new pipework made, we will
be ready for the Grand Start-up!
In the meantime, the cab has been beautifully restored, rust removed; there were
holes in the doors you could put a fist through, and painted in Somerset Timbers
company colours:
Electrics will need to be re-done; the loom doesn‟t look good at all! We have
people close by who are excellent at refitting windows.
A wooden bed will be made on site, possibly using the example of E&N Ritchie‟s similar vehicle, featured in this
website: http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p26610958.html
But we haven‟t finished with Yuri yet! When I sent him the report on Keith’s progress on Thursday, he wrote
back: ‘What is this Commer lark hey?
Looks like the one from Karringmelk Vlei from oom Hennie Walters. If so please inform the owner the missing
badges are still in my container awaiting his address to be sent back!’ Yuri.
As Philip says, that‟s „Pure Yuri Peila!‟
Bernard Dodd, a regular reader from Cleethorpes, sent in this warning:
„Andy, those two stroke diesel Commers, God they were a nightmare! Most of my life I drove HGVs up to 44 tons
all over Europe, somewhere in the mid 1960s I drove a few of those Commers for a while. Fully loaded downhill
they would seemingly do 10,000 rpm and 100mph but the first glimpse of seeing a hill they immediately slowed to
10mph as if something had told them before hand. Just one of those wonderful machines in my life I suppose.
In full power downhill they almost sounded like a F1 car‟. Bernard Dodd.
Seen at Keith Wetmore's today (remember, Somerset Timbers, who've been so helpful at 'Mill!)
Engine neatly tucked away
between the chassis frames!
See the 'a la VW' starter stuck
in from the back, that was a
headache (missing), it has to
rotate backwards!
Keith, left and Tim with
the woolly hat.
Oh! The blower?
The Commer at the
Villiersdorp Expo.
2
Finally I got a call from Keith Wetmore at Somerset Timbers to be 'in at the Kill‟..... The Commer TS3 was
nearly ready to start! He and Tim had trouble yesterday with the starter; the auto electrician said it might work
better with 24V! Tim was worried about oil priming up, but that was easily checked by cranking the engine with
the oil pressure sender unit off; soon oil came out, and guess what? The unit still works, so he rigged a lamp.
The other job was to make up the injector pipes. Duppie had made up one end of
the pipes, with ferrules silver soldered on, we could just bend them and cut them to
length and use the quick-fit ferrules he had supplied on the injector ends:
Even with a pipe bender, it was a
fiddly job, but in the end, we made
reasonable copies of what the
workshop manual showed:
What else? Add oil to
fuel injection pump as
indicated by Dup, and
quantities checked in the
book we got from
Calvinia recently:
Bleed up, then light blue
touch paper and stand
back! Yes, ear-plugs! Why?
Red scale.... 3600 RPM, no inlet filter /
silencer, no exhaust, what do you expect?
This was always an engine I‟d heard
about, learned about at College, knew
that Lister offered it as a Stationary
Engine, knew (via Yuri) that there was
one „up the West Coast‟ in a derelict
condition, but had never seen in the flesh.
Now I can say I‟ve done a bit towards
getting one going again, after standing for
possibly 30 years!
During the afternoon, Tim was fielding calls, like, „The Fuel Tank is ready for collection‟ and „the Brakes are
overhauled‟, so he has his work cut out to have a driveable rolling chassis ready for our Show in Villiersdorp on
th
6/7 August!
Many thanks, once again, to Schalk du Plessis and Team of Dupdiesel for overhauling the fuel injection
pump, involving stripping another unclaimed NN pump to rob it of essential parts to get this one right! Also to the
lads in New Zealand for their enthusiastic support!
Andy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
I spotted this old lorry in
Kemps yard while working
near Malgas on the Breede
River recently. Still visible on
the side is written „Retreat
Hotel‟, and „R. A. Quibell‟
There has to be a story
there? Phil.
3
The Lake Goldsmith Rally.
John Humberstone and I
finally left Victor Harbor for Lake
Goldsmith about 7pm on Friday,
we drove until about 11.30pm
when we pulled into a truck stop for
the night. John‟s Ford van has two
bunk beds so I slept ok. Up early
the next morning and after stopping
for breakfast we arrived at Lake
Goldsmith by 9.30am.
We had all of Saturday to look
around the rally that did not finish
at 5pm as is normal. We went for
our evening meal about 6.30pm
and as the sun started to go down
around 8pm exhibitors started
gensets to light up the rally site. It
was great to be able to wander
around and talk to people. I went to
bed just after 9.00pm and soon
went to sleep to the beat of genset
engines
Up at 6am on Sunday morning
and had a shower, then at 7am
breakfast of sausage eggs and
bacon washed down with tea, so
we were ready for the day. The
APEC club of Beaufort cooked the
Saturday evening meal and the
breakfast on Sunday morning. The
money made from this enterprise is
going toward projects in the local
area.
We left just after midday with
the return trip home taking just over
7½ hours with three short stops. A
very enjoyable weekend for my first
visit to Lake Goldsmith and I will
definitely go again.
The origins of the rally;
To say the Lake Goldsmith
Rally is different to any other rally I
have been to would be an
understatement. The following
short history will show the origins of
The Lake Goldsmith Steam
Preservation Association Inc that
goes back to 1941.
It started when a group of local
farmers held working steam
traction engine shows for American
servicemen who were in the area
for training or R & R. The farmers
continued to meet infrequently until
the early 1960‟s when they
established the present permanent
site. The current system of rallies
started in November 1962 with
Part One – Engines and Tractors.
rallies in May and November each
year.
th
The rally I went too was the 94 ;
this must be the longest running
rally in Australia? It is different
because families or a group of
members each have their own
shed to permanently display their
engines and machinery.
Engines & Tractors
There are nearly 80 sheds that
include the clubrooms and the
Founders Building; most sheds
have living quarters where the club
members stay. There are also
visiting exhibitor‟s compounds for
engines and machinery.
Shed No 5 – “The Pioneer
Shed” is typical, it was established
in 1971, and it contains the
following;
1 – 1913 McDonald Imperial
Tractor model “EB”, S/N 133
with a 25hp engine.
2 – An 1885 Crossley “Otto” Type
No 9159 slide valve engine,
Five Man Power.
3 – A 1916 International “Mogul”
8-16 made in Chicago.
4 – A 1920 Celtrac 12-20,
S/N 19333.
5 – Early Bailor tractor S/N 1054,
built in Atchison, Kansas.
6 – 1924 Model 40R White truck
7 – 8hp Brown & May oil engine.
The town of Ballarat is only
25Km from Lake Goldsmith and
Ronaldson Bros & Tippet produced
engines there from 1903 to 1972.
Shed No 10 has some of their early
horizontal side shaft engines
ranging from a 3hp portable to a
20hp stationary version. There are
also later vertical petrol, kerosene
and diesel engines. Plus a R & T
two-stroke that looks to be based
on the 147cc Villiers Mk.VIII-C, this
engine was only made in 1934.
Ronaldson Bros & Tippet also
made water pumps, compressors,
corn crushers, tobacco planters,
shearing and wood cutting gear
and a range of different voltage
generating plants. In 2004 I went to
the Ronaldson Bros & Tippet
Centenary Rally, there were some
700 R & T engines displayed and
Ron Wiley.
that must be record for a one make
rally?
I have a 1916 Cooper
Engineering ad showing 2 & 4
cylinder Felix engines, until this
rally I had never seen one. There
was one two cylinder and four
single cylinder engines on display.
The featured product was
JELBART engines and tractors, a
name I was aware of but had never
seen one before. They made
bicycles in Horsham from 1906 and
fitted an engine to one in 1908. In
1909 they moved to Ballarat
making engines that had roller
bearing crankshaft, super charging
and fuel injection. It is now 100
years since the company started to
produce engines.
The two-stroke engine had a
stepped piston to pressurise the
fuel/air mix going into the cylinder,
some compressed air went to
pressurise the carby float chamber
to give a fuel injection effect. Oil
was not mixed with the petrol, the
bearing were manually oiled four
times an hour via access bungs.
No two Jelbart‟s are said to be
the same because each one had
modifications from the previous
one as it came off the production
line. About 1700 engines were
made, the first tractor was made in
1914 and the first roller in 1918.
Engine production was phased out
in 1930.
In Hoppy‟s shed there was a
small display of outboard motors
that included a Seagull, a 1½hp
Anzani Pilot and three unknown
Australian made outboards, one
looked to use a Victa lawn mower
engine. The Harry Ferguson
Tractor Club Inc put on an
excellent display with many Fergie
TEA 20‟s.
Fun was had by young and
old with children of the exhibitors
riding around on small motorcycles
and tractors powered by small
engines. In part two I will deal with
the steam displays.
[email protected]
4
1915 two cylinder Felix engine
S/N 597, 7½ - 8hp
The Timm‟s family shed with a
number of European made engines
Single cylinder Felix engine
S/N 776, 3½hp
A Reform Motoren Fabeil
engine, S/N 1538, 2PS @ 750
rpm, in the Timm‟s Family shed
A Jelbart stationary
engine on transport
Ronaldson Tippet
two-stroke engine
1916 International “Mogul” 8-16
Jelbart tractor
Ronaldson Tippet tractor
For Gordon & Phil - a row of
Grey Fergies
1885 Crossley “Otto” Type No 9159
slide valve engine
Early Ronaldson Tippet
side shaft engine.
1913 McDonald Imperial Tractor
Another Jelbart tractor
An Oliver crawler
5
1916 IHC 1 HP MOGUL.
Part Two.
Restored by Hennie Swanepoel.
For the sake of not being too long-winded with this
story, I will only elaborate on the magneto gear a bit
and not on the rest of the things I had to make. I had to
build a magneto to fit in the small space available
on the engine, as well as four oilers and a governor
from old Lister-A parts.
The igniter body.
With limited tools it was not easy to find a shaft and
drill size where the shaft would fit nice and tight in the
drilled hole. After a bit of experimenting I found an old
Ford Model T valve and drill that did the trick.
The four oilers.
When it was time to make the magneto gear, I
assumed that the gear ratio would be 1: 2, as in all the
4-stroke engines that I have ever worked with. The
crank shaft gear has 48 teeth, so this means that the
magneto gear should then have 24 teeth. Nothing is
ever that easy, because a 24 tooth gear on the
magneto is too small to reach the main gear. This
could only mean that my homemade magneto was too
high. After a while I realized that the magneto can‟t be
made to go any lower so the only solution to the
problem was for the gear to be bigger.
Igniter in progress.
One thing led to another and here is the completed
Igniter.
The home-built magneto.
Completed igniter.
After studying many photos, trying to count the number
of teeth on the gear obscured by the fly wheel spokes,
I decided on a ratio of 1:1⅓ (36 to 48 teeth). On this
ratio the gears fits perfectly and the best part is that
the engine runs perfectly. The explanation for this
ratio lies in the fact that a low tension magneto will
reach peak voltage at every 180 degrees, which, when
you work it out, will give peak voltage, for a good spark
from the igniter points, at the end of every
compression stroke.
And finally!!!....The completed engine!!! What to me is the most
fascinating and thrilling part……It actually
runs!!! And very nicely too.
Yes I know it should be green, but I just had to have a red
engine for a change! Hennie.
6
Re-magnetizing the Flywheel of my Villiers Engined Allen Scythe.
I have a copy of Villiers parts list
No 23 which is a post war version
of list No 22, it gives details of an
air-cooled 147cc Mk.XI-C engine,
Specification No 278. My John
Allen Scythe has this engine with a
cast alloy cowl like the prewar
engines, (the prewar engine prefix
of WZFC, was used on engines
made for John Allen).
The Mk.XI-C has plain bronze
bushes for main bearings and a 7
inch 2 pole flywheel magneto; it
differs from early 2 pole magnetos
where the armature plate clamped
on the bronze main bearing.
The armature plate now locates on
a spigot on the crankcase and is
held in place by two cheese head
screws.
The carby is a lightweight
version of the Midget carby fitting
onto a 1inch stub. The standard
Midget carby fits onto a ⅞ inch stub
and was introduced for the 98cc
Mk.1 Midget engine that came out
in 1931. It looks as if the
lightweight version was especially
made for Allen?
The engine was hard to start. It
looked to be due to a weak red
spark so I decided to have the
flywheel remagnetised and replace
the condenser. I took the flywheel
to Don Mitchell; he first checked
the pole pieces on the flywheel with
a compass to find the North and
South poles.
Picture M4 shows two large
coils and stators that are powered
by a 12-volt battery used to
remagnetise the magnets on the
flywheel. The two stators of the two
large coils are also checked for
north and south as they have some
residual magnetism. The flywheel
is then placed on the stators, „North
to South‟, remember „like poles
repel and unlike poles attract‟
Current is then applied to the coils
for about 10 seconds, the magnets
are now remagnetised.
The screws that hold the pole
pieces in place extend out of the
flywheel to hold the alloy fan and
starter pulley in place. The
magnetism in the screw will hold
the nut in place when it is
unscrewed from the stud.
The armature plate is held in
place by two cheese head screws
that I replaced by two Allen screws.
The condenser is housed under the
Ron Wiley.
points-box and is held in place by
two studs that hold the points-box
in place on the armature plate.
On the alloy fan is stamped the
magneto Spec No‟s and date, they
are R26 A19M, 7/8.
R26 – Flywheel Spec No
A19M – Armature plate Spec No,
the “M” indicates the type of pointsbox fitted that was used between
1947 & 1953
7/8 – July 1948, the manufacture
date of the magneto.
An “E” type points-box was
produced from 1953 to the early
1960‟s when the Villiers flywheel
magneto went out of production. I
have fitted an „E‟ type points-box
as shown on the armature plate in
picture M7, the two postwar pointsboxes can be retrofitted to
magnetos going back to 1921.
The flywheel has a governor
that is located in the points cam of
the flywheel. A spring-loaded arm
comes out at 2,400 rpm stopping
the points from closing, with the
throttle too far open; the governor
causes the engine to sound as if it
is four-stroking. To achieve the
correct engine speed the throttle
must be closed until the engine
fires at every stroke.
The Allen scythe with the
Villiers 147cc Mk.25C two-stroke
engine is reasonably common and
the later version with the 256cc
Mk.25 four-stroke engine also turns
up from time to time. The pre 1949
model look to be rare but it does
not matter which model you have, it
is still a practical machine for
cutting very long grass. My Allen is
61 years old and still works well,
the first model Allen scythe came
out in 1936. Ron.
7
Timour Hall Show.
Philip Gray-Taylor.
The International Police
Association Classic Car & Bike
Show was held over the weekend
rd
th
of the 23 and 24 January with
the classic and modern vehicles on
Saturday and the veteran and
vintage cars and bikes on Sunday.
As in previous years we exhibited
on both days. Saturday was a bit
quiet but Sunday saw a bumper
turn out of exhibitors and
spectators which put quite a strain
on the organisers‟ efforts in getting
people in and out, the poor access
to the lower fields is becoming a
problem. Let‟s hope it can be
improved by next year.
Engine exhibits were down this
year but thanks to stalwarts Steve,
Kurt, Horst, Darryl, Trevor and
Conrad we were able to hold our
first place as the most interesting
and approachable display.
There was a bit of „horse trading‟
again this year with two engines
changing hands, hopefully a couple
of new enthusiasts. The buyer of a
Lister has accepted the challenge
of having it restored and running
for next years show. Conrad was
displaying his log saw for the first
time and I accepted the honour of
being the first to saw wood with it.
The noise was deafening up on the
tail gate of the truck but it sure did
draw a crowd. Phil.
Horst Lau with his 1930‟s Deutz.
Steve Sokolic with his Lister 8/1.
Darryl Bailey‟s recently acquired Stuart Turner P5
marine engine/gearbox unit.
My Fairbanks-Morse coupled to a
Scott 32volt generator with lighting
board behind the little Rand Diesel
badged Yanmar TS20.
Conrad Hicks brought the family in his beautiful Dodge truck
with a Ruston powered log saw on the back.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Interesting Discovery.
I recently purchased a MasseyHarris 30K tractor to restore which
is thought to date from 1946. One
of the items on the dashboard is a
knob which looks as if it is part of a
choke control cable, except that the
remains of the cable are on a plate
under the steering wheel which is
the correct place for it. When I
Peter Noble.
removed the dash from the tractor I
saw the unit to which the knob was
connected. It has two terminals, a
clip to take the older type glass
encased fuse and a resistance.
The rod connected to the knob
operated in a slot and inside the
slot you can just see that there are
plates which used to move
between other plates, similar to an
old wireless tuner.
Although I have never seen the
unit before I am sure I know what it
was when it worked – „a manual
control of the charging rate of the
dynamo‟. Obviously it is now
seized up and as it is of riveted
8
construction, I doubt that it will ever
work again.
The M-H 21 combine of the
1940‟s was fitted with such a
device and it was recommended
that you ran the combine with that
knob pulled out a short distance
giving a charge rate of about 2-3
amps. The only indication you had
of the state of the battery charge
was the sound of the starter motor
when operating it. One day my
father thought that the battery
charge was a bit „low‟ and pulled
the knob right out to give a full
charging rate, fully intending, I am
sure, to push it back in after a while
– but he forgot and the combine
ran the whole day on the full
charging rate which unfortunately
„cooked‟ the battery.
The 30k had a 6 volt system,
but I never knew what was fitted to
the combine (I was still at school at
the time).
So there we have it. Q.E.D. unless
someone knows different! Q.E.D?
When I was at school my maths
teacher encouraged us to put
Q.E.D. at the end of any long
calculation, especially if we thought
we had done it correctly. It is the
initial letters of a Latin phrase
(which I have forgotten) and
roughly translated means „I have
demonstrated my point!‟ school boy
interpretation – QUITE EASILY
DONE.
So there we have it again –
Q.E.D. unless there are any Latin
scholars in our group who know
better! (Perhaps I should stick to
writing about tractors!). P.N.
Q.E.D – which was to be proved or demonstrated. I must confess that I am no Latin scholar and had to look this
up. Latin gave me up after my second year at high school. G.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dorman Engines.
I live in Stafford the home of W
H Dorman Ltd, hence my interest in
their products.
Dorman supplied engines to
Motor Rail Ltd of Bedford England
for many years for their Simplex
locomotives and also to E C
Lenning of Boksburg, South Africa,
who also produced the Simplex
locomotives. Many of these locos
were used underground in the S
African gold mines. Have any of
these locomotives or engines been
restored? Or were they all left
underground at the end of their
lives?
I have attached a data sheet for
the type 2DWD engine which was
used in these locomotives for very
many years, this is a direct
injection engine but the earlier
version which was indirect injection
was the 2HW. The two types look
virtually similar except for the
position of the injectors. On the HW
they were pointing upwards from
the side of the cylinder block while
the DWD ones are in the
conventional position for a DI
engine. I do not have a picture of
the 2HW engine.
Dorman supplied engines to
Motor Rail from well before WW1
and continued until the early
1970s. The pre WW1 engines were
all petrol namely 2JO and 4JO
Derek Jones.
types and these
continued in the locos
until the early 1930s
when Dorman started
producing the 2HW
engine. I do not know if
any petrol powered
locomotives were
supplied to the gold
mines where I
anticipate there was no
methane present and
therefore not an
explosive atmosphere.
Perhaps someone in S
Africa knows the
answer.
During WW1 the
company supplied 765
engines to The War
Office for locomotives
of which 590 went to
Motor Rail for their
20HP 2JO powered
fast light locomotives
and 40HP larger, mainly armoured
locomotives. 175 x 4JO engines
were supplied to other companies
for petrol/ electric locomotives.
The latter locomotives produced
by the company used the Dorman
2LB and 3LB engine and some
even had the Dorman air cooled
engines type 4DA & 6DA but for a
long time after these cheaper
engine types became available the
venerable 2DWD was still being
supplied to the operators of the
gold fields.
If any evidence is found that
petrol 2JO or 4JO engines were
supplied to S.A. in the locomotives
I do have information on these
engines. Derek Jones.
Stafford, England.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------A lottery is a tax on people who don‟t understand mathematics. George Bernard Shaw.
Or in our case, the purchase of an old piece of machinery. G.
9
My Grandfather‟s F N Motorcycle.
Tony Beckett.
Glenwood,
Durban,
th
20 March 1949.
The Director,
Transvaal Museum,
Pretoria.
Dear Sir,
I must apologise for the time I have taken in supplying you with the details regarding the old F.N.
motorcycle, but as I explained in my previous letter, certain papers were mislaid when my late Father‟s home was
broken up and without these I was thrown back entirely on what I could remember from old information and
conversation from my parents.
The original receipt, which I enclose, has now come to light as well as other information, so that the
following account should be reasonably correct and complete.
10
The machine was manufactured in Belgium by the Fabrique Nationale d‟Armes Guerre, Nerstal towards
the latter end of 1902, being imported into the Transvaal by Messrs. Delfos Bros. & Co., of Pretoria together with
one other similar machine.
th
My Father, Mr. George William Beckett purchased the machine on the 6 May for £52-10-0. It was used
by him until about the end of 1908. What happened to the other machine I do not know beyond the fact that my
Father mentioned that it was at one time used by a friend of his, I do not however remember his name.
When first purchased the motorcycle was not fitted with a throttle control, and the only means of reducing
speed was to switch off the battery current by means of a switch provided in the twist grip on the right hand
handle-bar, but shortly afterwards the factory introduced a new induction manifold containing a throttle valve and
my Father purchased this refinement and fitted it.
About 1904 Mr. Beckett purchased a tradle chair, to enable him to carry a passenger, this was quite
successful between the centre of town and Sunnyside, but the engine having no gears was not powerful enough
to tow the trailer up a moderately steep hill without considerable help from the riders‟ pedals. (There is no truth in
the generally accepted story that Mrs. Beckett was once left behind in the roadway owing to the trailer coupling
breaking and that my Father rode on without knowing what had happened because the engine made so much
noise he failed to hear his wife shouting after him).
A general description is as follows:The cylinder has a capacity of 225cc and a rated HP of 2, there are no gears and no clutch, ignition is by
coil and battery carried in the tank compartment; the battery capacity being sufficient for about 50 miles running,
and a spare was usually carried as there was no means provided for charging same from the engine. The pedals
worked through an uni-directional friction clutch in the rear wheel hub. There is no spring fork, and the lamp and
bell supplied were just the ordinary push cycle equipment.
The exhaust valve only was operated by a cam, the intake valve being opened by atmospheric pressure
against a very lightly loaded spring. This latter valve is the main cause of trouble as any slight particle of carbon
under the valve seat would prevent it from closing. Another trouble experienced was belt slip – the belt being
made of flat leather, moisture and especially mud would completely destroy the grip, it was therefore very difficult
to use the cycle in rainy weather. The machine had a top speed on the level of about 20 miles per hour and was
on the whole fairly reliable.
It is interesting to note that during the time the cycle was in use no number plates were required by law.
I have an instruction book supplied by the factory but unfortunately it deals with the 1907 model and while this
machine was very similar it did however have a number of important improvements incorporated, the book is
therefore not in keeping with the cycle, but if it is of any use to you I can let you have it.
If there are any further questions you would like to have answered please let me know when I will do my
best.
Yours Faithfully,
Courtenay George Beckett.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From Newsletter 17.
The engine on Vanuatu is a Fairbanks Morse type „Y‟ style „H‟. Phil.
Still aground – offloading 30,000 tons of coal into barges.
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Some of our members hard at work on Paul‟s boat in Hout Bay.
Sometimes I stands and thinks
and sometimes I just stands.
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Paul Riley, Dawn G and Peter Noble.
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A Touch of Yesteryear
Port Natal‟s (Durban‟s) first steam engine ran
between the „town‟ and the Point. It was
rd
commissioned on the 23 June 1860.
My maternal grandfather and his brother who
were both engineers were said to have been
involved in the assembly of this „monster‟.
----------------------------------------------------------------What Was It?
Read Peter Noble‟s
article on page 8,
entitled „An
Interesting
Discovery‟
for the answer.
What Is It?
Submitted by Andy Selfe.
Inbox
In the last newsletter: When we use our locos we have to separate the big coal pieces from the small chips.
Do you guys have use for the small chips
Rolf Ruhle. Cape Town.?
I have to break coal to pea size for my 1/8 scale Allchin tractor - I would love to get a few Kgs. Bill Hoskin.
Also in the last newsletter Ron Wiley referred to the Stewart speedometers in
his article: The Stewart No 10 Horse Clipper. In answer to which Phil
promptly produced the following pictures of an advertisement that appeared
th
in the 17 edition of „The Motor Manual‟.
The bike in your newsletter 17 is Don Harvey‟s Sarolea. I know the
machine quite well and photographed it some years ago when I first
visited Don.
Bruce Kirby.
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The Vanuatu engine: Pretty sure it's a Fairbanks Morse YH engine like those of Piet Bliksem, Herman
Geldenhuys and Julian Melck. I was struggling to see the 'hammerhead' governor weight, but I think I can
make it out.
Andy Selfe.
Thanks for the magnificent edition received today, absolutely excellent. We must try and attend one of these
magnificent shows.
I have sent it on to Les Pugh in Dursley, UK, home of Lister, he loved the last copy, my son in Stroud has it
printed for him as he does not have email etc, and can digest it at leisure. Keep up the good work, we need
blokes like you to keep history running. Ginty Melvill and Andy Legg. Lusaka, Zambia.
Many thanks for the latest edition of Cape Vintage Engine newsletter. Patrick Knight .UK.
Just a brief note to thank you for all the Cape Vintage Engine newsletters that you have produced. There is
always something of interest and so often a new bit of knowledge in the articles that it is a pleasure to look
forward to the next edition. Charles Torrance. Montagu, W Cape.
Thank you for another excellent Cape Vintage Engine Newsletter. Derek Jones. Stafford, England.
Many thanks for forwarding the Magazine; it is always very informative and a stimulating read. Best wishes to
the team. Fraser Howell. Knysna.
Great edition, thank you - well done.
Philip, Please Tell me a bit more about your Maytag - I thought that mine were the only ones in "restoration" in
S.A. I've got a 92 single (1936 I think) and 2 x '72 Twins. Jerry Evans. Near Johannesburg in Sunny South
Etched Brass Engine Plates made to order: <www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm
Africa.
I was pleased to see a beautifully restored Case tractor at the Science Centre in Canal Walk recently but was
surprised to note that the WCTEC (Western Cape Tractor and Engine Club) had changed its name to Western
Cape Tractor Exhibitors Club?? Phil.
Brilliant issue again, much enjoyed! The motorcycle appears to be a Fabrique National of about 3.5-Hp,
perhaps from about 1912. Tony Beckett, Kotzeshoop, N-Cape, S.A.
See Tony’s article on the FN elsewhere in the newsletter.
Andy Legg and I are more into Bikes, and I have attached pictures of my last `find`.
I found this 1958, ex Northern Rhodesia Police bike [500cc Triumph Speed Twin] in a chicken run in Mumbwa,
Western Zambia and bought it for Kwacha 50 [then valued at about Rand 25] and restored it.
Its original Police registration
number had been NRG 199, but it
now has a new number. I had it at a
show in Lusaka and an old chap
came up and said that he had been
in the NRP and had one of those
issued to him brand new in 1958.
He mentioned the number, NRG
199.
Under the new number plate was
still the original so we took off the new plate and blow me down, the very same bike. He was delighted, and took
it for a spin. It really made the old chaps day. Ginty Melvill. Zambia.
Phil, Gordon, Andy, Ron and all the many other contributors what a wonderful Christmas newsletter!!
13
Thank you all for the immense amount of hours that you put into this. I can‟t tell you the pleasure it give us
reading it.!! You have me stumped on the „What Is It‟ for this month. John Menasce. Johannesburg.
More from Ron Wiley about clubs in Australia. Ron is Vice President and Treasurer of FARMS (The Fleurieu
Antique Rural Machinery Society in South Australia).
‘Yesterday I received the National Historical Machinery Association (NHMA) newsletter and can now tell you
how many clubs are affiliated to the NHMA, 164 in all;
NSW – 53, Victoria – 52, South Australia – 22, Western Australia – 13, Tasmania – 3.
One of the big problems we used to have was public liability insurance, the NHMA arranges this and for
2009/10 it costs $15.50 per person. It includes $10 Million public liability cover and personal accident
insurance. Ron.
Thank you for the Newsletter. For me it will be happy reading away from the frenzy of this season.
Colin. Villiersdorp.
For Sale.
1958 Massey Ferguson 65 Mk1 tractor. Restored to a high standard including a complete engine overhaul.
New front tyres, rear 70%. R40 000-00. Peter 021 790 6452. (Cape Town)
Minneapolis-Moline tractor. I‟ve seen it, it starts first go and the engine runs well.
It‟s on a farm between Paarl and Franschoek. Contact me for more information. Gordon. [email protected]
Immaculately restored and working. Vintage Caltex hand operated petrol pump with casing – double imperial
glass measure type. POA. Contact Gordon at [email protected] for details.
I'm in the process of winding up the estate of my late gardener. Amongst his personal
effects is a digital camera in fairly good condition. His next-of-kin have no use for the
camera and have asked me to dispose of it.
So, if anyone would like to purchase a Samsung KX2000 8 megapixel camera (slightly
scratched in places) please let me know. The photo quality is outstanding.
Attached is the last pic. taken with his camera. You will see just how clear the detail is.
Jerry Evans: [email protected]
Forthcoming.
August.
6-7 WCTEC Expo – Moorreesburg.
21 Piket Club Engine Day at De Glebe, Piketberg. (This was a great event last year and is well worth attending).
September.
3-4
Aurora Show. Tractors and engines.
Please let us know about any forthcoming events!!!
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