Kit 3  The Wheels and Suspension

(click on image to enlarge)

The next question is what to do about painting the wheels. They are machined from castings but the spokes and counter weights just have the rough casting surfaces. I suspect they are cast iron, which I have no way of smoothing, so I just clean up some rough flash edges and file off the high points on the counter weights.  I decide to paint the wheels before assembly as I think that will be easier.  

As Hammerite doesn't need a primer, the first coat on the rough surface shreds the brush - it's a bit like painting sandpaper.  After the first coat though, it gets a lot easier as the paint fills the pitting and starts to bring the whole surface level with the high points.  After 4 (or was it 5?) coats, I've ended up with a nice smooth even coat.  This number of coats was necessary to cover the black metal showing through the paint.  One of my friends mentioned when I was painting the frames that red can be a difficult colour to cover - he wasn't kidding!

Now that I've finished painting the wheels
I'll leave them to harden off for a few days
before assembly.

(click image to enlarge)
In the meantime, I do a trial fit of the axle boxes to the horn guides. After removing some paint that's crept around the edges of the guides and smoothing out some minor burrs, I have four nice smooth-moving axle boxes. This must be what they call "fettling".  I've marked each axle box and horn guide just so that I know which one goes where.

So now it's time to put this lot together.  I've never used Loctite 603 before so I'm not quite sure what to expect, like how long have I got to fix this before it goes off?  With Andy's instruction ringing in my ears, I make sure the wheels with the long crank pins go on the axle with the dimple (for the axle pump eccentric fixing screw).  The keys tap in easily and I feel quite chuffed(!) as I leave them to go off overnight.  

Next day, I sort out the axle boxes and eccentric and put them on the correct axles with the last two wheels to make sure I've got everything in the right order - getting a bit paranoid now.  When I'm sure, I glue the wheels on, tap in the keys and then one wheel promptly slips halfway off the axle (even with the key in place!) as I turn it over to wipe off the excess glue.  Anyway, next day all is well and I lay them in the horn guides to make sure everything goes round as it should.  I try to put the coupling rods in place but they don't fit.  After some investigation, I find that both are slightly banana shaped so they're never going to fit.  A quick call to Andy and they are off to him in the post for examination.

So here we are in the final stages of kit 3.  Fitting the spring adjuster pins, I use the two lock nuts together to screw the pins into the axle boxes as there doesn't seem any other way apart from mole grips which would make a right mess.  Fit the O rings to the pump piston and push that in - very tight but there's nothing about oiling it.  Time to fix the eccentric and strap and then I hit a snag.  

This will no doubt bring a smile to the more experienced amongst you, but bear in mind I've never built anything like this before.  For some reason Andy doesn't mention anything about fixing the eccentric to the axle in the instructions.  
Now picture this:-  an eccentric cam, fitted loosely to an axle that has both wheels glued on permanently.  On the 'long' side of the cam, a grub screw protrudes and there is a dimple on the axle to take a screw. Insert allen key and twist. No movement whatever. Twist harder - nothing.  Remove grub screw and see something further down the threaded hole.  Now I assumed it was some sort of pin that was going to be pushed down by the grub screw so that it meshed with the dimple on the axle and that the pin had jammed.  Remember, I can't take the eccentric off to inspect it as the wheels are glued on. (perspiration begins to form on brow - I must be missing something here)  A light tap with a small hammer and a thin drift - nothing.  

Feeling an idiot I call Andy.  I'll send you another one, until I point out the wheels are glued on.  Andy flummoxed for a minute then - Oh I remember, I put two screws in to make sure they wouldn't come out!  What I thought was a pin is in fact another grub screw half way down the thread!  Insert allen key into hole and twist - Yes! problem solved.  Thanks and apologies to Andy who very kindly says not to worry. The moral of the story?  I should have checked that I could fix the eccentric to the axle before I glued the 2nd wheel (or Andy could have mentioned the two grub screws in his instructions).  One game all I think, Andy!

After that it's a simple matter (even for me!) to lightly oil the axle boxes, fit the springs, bolt up the axle box keeps, adjust the springs, fit the eccentric strap, and couple up the water pump.  Here's some pictures of the finished article so far. The footplate and running boards in the right hand picture are painted underneath,but I'll wait until they are finally fixed before I paint the topsides in satin black. (The red handle in the background is nothing to do with the engine, it's part of my Clarke lifting table with my Polly2 on it under a rug)