Engine Historia

Test fitting to check compatibility of some wire wheels before they go off for Jim to fettle and the have new rims and 19"flat track tyres fitted. Off with foot rests which weigh a great deal and begin to manufacture some lighter and purposeful items. We have also dropped the front forks by an inch and a half and since the photos, removed the front brakes. It is beginning to take a bit more of a flat track "attitude".

Some further preparation of the new cylinder block and running parts. There is always a lot of "prototype" work when an engine of many new parts is assembled. It is so easy for "one off" items of such complexity to have a small error and sometimes, more surreptitiously, an accumulation of small errors. We cannot take anything for granted, and that is certainly not a criticism of those involved in the manufacture. Here we have prepared and given the outside of the block a coating of Suncorite phosphating primer, a product developed for military use on gun barrels and precision items to protect, when used in conjunction with oil coatings or paint top coating it is extremely tough. The new block will go through further cylinder boring work and the primer will help to stop some oil deposits lying in the porous material surface. Internally all items have been painted with Glyptal for the same reason and the added benefit of free oil flow and to seal in the sand that migr...

The Race of Gentlemen 2014 Highlights from By & Large on Vimeo .

Cotter pins are such fiddly little devils to make as a one off.  Time just rushes away, taking dimensions, finding and base machining a suitable steel bar then swap to four jaw chuck. Dial clock to index from the pin centre line for the offset thread, cut a thread and trim and de burr every thing. That's just the first stage. Now the next part of filing and fitting to get that "just so" snug and mechanically secure fit into the pins own unique location....phew and look at that time! Now it is time to fit the pins to the brake "through" shaft in the gearbox bell housing and to prepare the historically bruised clutch fork faces to true.The shaft had been removed to clean and "free". Generally the gearbox assembly has been checked visually but little work has been required, many items had already been recovered in the 70's before being stored. As mentioned before the clutch withdrawal mechanism has been created and modified from boxes of similar parts...

I  should have been doing paperwork!

But 1 minute 58 secs into this film says all you will need to hear! https://vimeo.com/113158655    Follow this link to Stefan's films, art and news....

Racing moto cross on KTMs, enduring enduros with state of the art KTMs, long distance adventures on big V twin KTMs...the list continues. Time for Jim to get a new bike...an 80's Yamaha! Why the change?...Well perhaps Sideburn  magazine and Dirt Quake 3  UK begin to have a bit of an influence. Elbow to elbow, head forward and eyes locked on to the first bend and the starters flag, Jim  is astride his latest acquisition, hastily prepared to make the first of many transformation steps from road cruiser to flat track fugitive set in a moment to become a battle hardened, dirt oval, sideways racer in DIRTQUAKE 2014!  Now Jim's  fledgling racer sits in my workshop for the second of many evolution phases. Estimating perhaps an equivalent 1hp gain for every 10lbs in weight loss this XS is in for some weight reduction. Removal of the many unwanted road bike brackets and fixtures will start the process. Footrests will be reworked to save considerable weight and re positio...

Over the last few months parts have been gathered toward something new. Here we have the early stages of a very exciting and spectacular new project.  Based on a Mid thirties Wolseley 15hp, this car will be a typical two seat, period looking racing and road going car with a rakish open wheel slim body styling that would be totally at home in a pre war Brooklands paddock. It is expected to have a period supercharger, period racing brakes with aluminium drums and as you can see many new and uprated competition engine parts.

As you have seen on previous posts we were involved with a little C15 that has been transformed from an ordinary little workhorse to a glamorous competitor! The frame is an Otter copy by Faber, wheels, tank, mudguards, forks and airbox came from Avery products near Southampton. This project is absolutely full of "one off" items. It has been gracing the Wiltshire countryside through the summer although we do need to alter the top oil feed conversion a little through the winter.

Having arrived from an exposed Welsh location in a number of boxes, here she emerges from a cocoon of many workshop years on her way for new upholstery having had a little initial road test. A more in depth story of this project will follow as not too much has been mentioned on the blog to date.

Here are some sample Delage photos, more to follow: