Belgian engine trial fit

"What about ground clearance, rake and trail?"
"just put the damn thing on the ground and we'll work that out later"
"How about that concrete wheel?"
"It's just fine...."
"lets have a beer"
"now you're talking"

Blighty Battle Cry....

It's your Old Uncle Albert...Back again with a news update on happenings down at 'The Old Sidevalve Bar'.

Over the last 2 days I have been working on the exhaust system for our 'Picklington Precision'. I can't remember if I told you previously that the main body of the exhaust will be fabricated from an old brass curtain pole found in the cellars of 'Crackleport Towers'. Yes....well spotted......it is indeed the remains of the pole that donated the tubing for the intake manifold.....How thrifty is that ?

I know for sure I slipped a little clue in many months ago about our motor having L.A. tuning. I can now reveal all...... L.A. stands for Louis Armstrong. (A little known musician but jolly fine brass tube tuner none the less)

Brass tube tuning ?....No this is not another rambling Albert...this is a genuine tuning tip from Crackleports Racing Notebook...

It is a closely guarded secret that 'Briggs and Stratton' engines do not respond to conventional tuning, and an even closer guarded secret that the fitment of an open cone on the exhaust end can considerably increase power output. It just so happened that I did see such a cone on ebay many months ago and managed to purchase it at the princely sum of £2.99. The down side of this is that it was attached to a trumpet.........a minor technicality.....

Today I released the cone from it's antique fixing......The vendor did in fact point out that this very self same type of instrument had played at many of Rob Roy McGregors highland battles.

Hoch ! it will no more go a 'romin in the gloamin'...Hoch no ! It may be a 200 year old relic but the Blighty Boys have a need......a need for speed.....and this cone is the answer.....A quick waft over the solder joint and it was free....

As expected the tube and cone were of different diameters....another minor technicality....

So here's where things started to heat up......a goodly application of heat on the exhaust pipe end allowed me to swage the tube to a size not dissimilar to the cone....(unconventional tooling maybe but effective) A piece of conduit rolled around the inside gave a good result.....(I'm wondering what Lea Thermallet made of this ? Job offer maybe ?) The cone was placed over the swage and gently heated and tapped lightly to shrink the metal to match the pipe......Utterly Brilliant !!!!!!!

Silver soldered together I can now present a world first......I will play the exhaust so you can experience the Blighty Boys Battle Cry......

Hhhhooooaaaahhhhhh !...... Hhhhhhhhhhooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !

Fizzy to the wizzy

Due to the fact that Blightyboys don't really like fizzy beer we Belgians have decided to use the fizzy of our wonderfull beer for something else.....yep we're welding with it.
Will it hold our monster frame in one piece? actually don't know
.....we'll soon find out :-)

A quiet Sunday afternoon....NOT!!!!

Belgium reporting on status....euhh it's pretty obvious I think (big smile)....after several weeks/months we've got a runner jippppieeee!!!!!!......hope it keeps this way!! Big thumbs up for Mathieu "the DR-doctor", we'll give him a VIP-seat in the Arcade during the build!!!!!

euhhh......"Allmost" no wildlife was scared during the making of this movie.

Our Albion.

Whats new in Blighty ?...........Albert here....just back from 'The Old Sidevalve Bar' with a couple of bits of news.....

First off, the Albion is back together. Very posh it looks too. Thoroughly stripped and inspected, rebuilt with care and just to give it a quality look the external levers, spacers and clutch have gone through the Nickel Plating bath.

What do you think ?

The change lever still needs some attention as it works from the reverse side, (obviously suited the application from it's previous life fixed to the front of a rotavator) and is yet to be fitted.

Second bit of news ? Aahh yes,

"Ladies and Gentleman It gives me great pleasure to announce on this blog a world first. History has been made down in 'The Old Sidevalve Bar' with a unique brew. Rhubarb Cider is a reality......thoroughly tested yesterday evening by Basil K. and myself I can advise that it is very strong. (so strong in fact that I haven't heard from Basil K. since............he was last seen been pushed home by his good lady Fifi La Downdraught in a wheelbarrow......) Come to think of it, I gave a bottle to Lea Thermallet and I haven't heard anything from him either.........Whoops !

It's the Wheel Deal !

Albert back again........I did promise I'd update all you 'Oilyracer' fans on our bargain ebay buy......well I thought it was a bargain anyway !

Ok ! Guess how much Team Blighty had to pay for this back wheel ! clue.....It's off a 1980's KH250, and came complete with spindle, cush drive, brake plate and all bearings.......

Believe it or not...how does a 'quid' sound ? well to be honest it wasn't even a quid...make that £0.99. !!!!! Bargain ! Bargain ! Bargain !

We had to pay postage on top which was a pricey £15, but I 'aint complaining.

As you can see the packaging was excellent and thankfully no damage occurred in transit to our precious cargo.

On further investigation....which took a while because the brake plate wouldn't seperate from the hub...and when it did it was evident why. Our bargain wheel had suffering from the ravages of time.....the alloy had not only oxidised but was slowly turning to dust......

Fear not dear reader ! This corrosion is localised around the brake shoes.....in fact the linings have parted company with the shoe it was that bad, however, your Uncle Albert has already sourced a new pair (once again on ebay) so I'll say it again....What a bargain !

Next stop for the wheel will be Basil K.s polishing shop.........It's gonna look like a new 'un in no time.....

What about a tyre I hear you ask......I've found one in the catacombes over at Crackleport Towers, been lying there in the dark for over 30 years, it's still got plenty of tread and no sign of perish. It'll match the front...thats over 30 years old too !

You must have heard the saying 'The old ones are the best !' It applies to our tyres. None of this new fangled sticky race rubber for us, oh no !

I think it's time for a cider....and a Billy Bunter Pickled Onion.

Yorkshires Finest !

Albert Crackleport reporting in to Oilyracer with the latest news.........

Yesterday I heard from Lea Thermallet down at the Poundametalosa Ranch. He had news on the fuel tank......very, very exciting news............

The tank components had been secretly passed to a fellow craftman last week during a Darts and Dom's night at Lea's local pub 'The Yorkshire Hussar Inn'. It is in this reputable drinking establishment that Yorkshire's finest weldor can be found, and he agreed to weld our Picklington tank (after Lea had bribed him with two pints of Samuel Smiths Dark Mild and a Billy Bunter pickled onion)

What a job ! ...........I'm sure Team Linkey Soup will soon surrender....

However...until they do, the Blighty Boys continue to source parts, and purchased this week at top money..(because the tank deserves it and nothing else will do) a brand new chromed fuel cap..(ex Norton Dominator) and a brass fuel tap.

Basil K. and myself now need to spend a little time on the lathe making a fuel filler neck to fit the cap and have a rummage through the old junk chests down in 'The Old Sidevalve Bar' to see if we can find an adapter of appropriate thread to fasten tap to tank.

That's all for now folks.. but stay tuned.....in a couple of days I will have news on a bargain ebay buy that has just arrived at Picklington H.Q.