Split Pin

Short boat Elsie on the Leigh Branch in 1964 (I think) well I was only Eleven years old at the time. Steve

A proper Marine 4LW, one of the later ones as well, make somebody a nice engine if they have a few grand to spend on rebuilding it.

The ebay one a BS5 is the type fitted to most of the LW range up until production ceased in the 1974. its a 5" dia cradle mount The transit type was used on the 2LW,s that were built in the1990's and on many of the South Africa engines most I of which were I believe supplied as hand start so didn't have a motor fitted, and on many the cradle was damaged beyond economical repair, If you look at Mark99's picture you can see that the crankcase casting has been cut back out of the way and the bell housing drilled to take a flanged motor. The BS5 works out at about 5kW input power, Steve

On the original axial type of starter the end of the pinion should be 1/8" (3mm) from the ring gear this allows the pre-engage to get the gears into mesh before the main contact closes otherwise it just spins up against the ring gear. Sounds like the same problem is happening with the flanged motor fitted by Walshes, Machining the front flange as Terry has done should sort the problem and will probably be needed on any replacement as well. I doubt that taking the starter to a repairer will give you a long term solution, they will assume that the starter is fitted on the engine correctly,which appears not to be the case, probably replace the pinion which will no doubt have slightly beveled teeth, it will work okay for a bit then wear again and start to give you the same problem again. If you can work out at what travel distance from rest that the main contacts close as the pinion engages then you will have a better idea as to how far away it should be as a minimum. Obviously need to be less than the measured travel when the contacts close. Steve

The round ended balance beams are to the old S&W pattern and are I believe to be used for any replacements, don't hold your breath though, agreements and the personnel who were party to them seem to disappear before the next implementation becomes due. Both Compton and Wolverley Court should remain unaltered as they are both within conservation zones The late Alan T Smith M.B.E was active in campaigning to get the reintroduction of original features where possible and ensuring that they remain into the future Steve

In the early 1970's the northern end of the S&W was managed by the then called North West Division based in Northwich. The Southern end was in the Midlands Region managed from Birmingham. So the Northern end got Shropshire Union gear and the Southern end got BCN type gear. Original pattern S&W gear is still fitted to the top gate at Compton, also the top gate at Wolverley Court The Stourbridge suffered a similar fate as time went on, being similar in gear to the S&W Steve

Non whatsoever, there is a roller bearing fitted just behind the crankshaft pulley which will take far more load than you can apply by a pair of "V" Belts. Steve

Don't have a manual but have used this info http://www.gardnerengineforum.co.uk/Web%20PDF%20Versions/Newsletter%2014.pdf (page 15 onward s) over the years to do exactly the same as you want to do. The article continues into the next newsletter which has details of setting the solenoid correctly Have always assembled the clutches dry. Some spares are available from here.http://woodauto.com/advSearch.aspx. Type in BS5 in the top right corner search box then peruse the options until you find what you need Steve

The damper is fitted at the front end of the crankshaft, According to my spares manual the 6LW had 4 different versions over its production life.

2 & 3 LW's have bolted on balance weights on each crankshaft web 4 LW's don't have any additional balance weights 5 LW's have bolted on balance weights at each end of the crankshaft 6 LW's don't have any additional balance weights but do have a torsional vibration damper at the front end of the crankshaft. In very simple terms rotational balance and torsional vibration can be considered as two separate things Torsional vibration is caused by the power stroke of each piston twisting the crankshaft. This becomes additive unless damped out to stop it reaching a critical point Rotational balance needs to be achieved to prevent overload of the crankshaft bearings. The text books that I have take 14 pages to explain all the different parts of this conundrum Steve

Pretty much yes I believe. The new tunnel into singing cavern was funded by local authority and European money with DCT involvement, if my memory serves me correctly. Steve

If you are fitting it to an engine with a centrifugal pump, maybe you can get some idea of coolant flow at different engine speeds. When trying to work out heat transfer its one of the unknown's. Steve

"I have often pondered on the double edged sword of bringing to light on public forums interesting items on eBay" Its not something that I would usually have done, decided to on this occasion as there are generally only a few dedicated Gardner orientated posters would have been interested. At least Athy has benefited having found a copy of a book that he was unaware of. Steve

Interesting, I have Ebay set up to send me notifications of anything with Gardner or Gardner Engines in its listing but didn't get one for the book that you have secured Looks like its not always a catch all

Hope it doesn't get into a ridiculous bidding war. I paid £26.09 including postage back in 2007. If I remember correctly I was the only bidder, may have been just lucky. Besides the ebay ones I have only seen a couple of others as personal possessions. I believe that all the employees at the time were given one, so as time goes on more may surface. Graham Edges book is a much more comprehensive account of Gardner's history and i was fortunate to purchase a copy when it was first published duly signed and dated by the author. Steve

Just appeared on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOOK-GARDNERS-DEISELS-ENGINES-PATRICROFT-ECCLES-LANCASHIRE-1968-/121806802496? If you are interested in Gardner's history then this is a book which rarely appears, I have only seen 2 other copies in the last 8 years, I won the first one. I have no connection to the seller. Steve

Its not a level sight gauge, as you would have on a tank, its a flow sight gauge and is fitted in line onto the top rail outlet before a tee piece and taps which control the coolant flow on engines fitted with reciprocating piston pumps, also used with the gear pump that is also currently listed. Although that looks to be flanged for a Gardner they were used on other engines to. It has a swinging indicator so that you can be sure that the engine is being cooled, Similar ones are available for industrial use, a quick search found these I have a cast iron version on the shelf taking up space, maybe it will be worth selling. Steve

It would seem that using either of the methods that you suggest would be better, but in reality it doesn't work.I spent more hours than I care to think about trying different ways of controlling the hot water flow through the calorifier coil non actually reduced the overall warm up time. I built a electrically controlled by pass control vale which would open when the temperature got to about 10 deg below thermostat temperature, when it opened the engine temperature was pulled back down due to the heat lost in the calorifier circuit. It required a differential setting of at least 30 deg C to get it stop open. The same problem will be encountered using a second thermostat, It is of course always worst when staring up from cold, (first start up) once into daily cruising there is enough retained heat in the calorifier to assist in the initial warm up period, the biggest problem with warm up time is caused by the fact that in narrowboats the engine is not sufficiently loaded to generate the heat and there is around 1/4 ton of metal to heat up as well. Steve

Cloudinspector if you re-plumb it might be better to take the quarter tun valves out completely, no chance then of turning of the bypass accidentally. Looking back at the previous topic which started this debate you haven't said if you made the original system work again, I have always found it necessary to vent out the air from the top rail especially if the header tank is not connected directly to and above the top rail with the pipework running up from the top rail, Adding a bleed vent to the top rail would be a worthwhile addition, If your thermostat doesn't have a jiggle pin then you will need to bleed out air from the block when the system has been separated and refilled. Even with a jiggle pin it takes a long time to release all of the air. assuming it has some where to go on the other side of the thermostat Gardner's recommended that the air bleed be reduced to 1mm dia on marine applications to speed up the warm up time. Steve

As Martyn indicated the best way to connect a calorifier is to remove the bypass pipe and insert the calorifier coil circuit in its place. This ensures that water is circulated through the block and head and along the top rail to the thermostat, giving proper temperature control. By taking the hot water from the rear of the rail there is a non temperature controlled circuit being established, with the potential of water flowing in both directions from the top rail. It may be that when the thermostat opens that the flow will go round the skin tanks as they are probably the path of least resistance. To guarantee that you are heating the calorifier you could either change the thermostat for one without the top hat that blanks the bypass when open or remove the top hat from your current one. Steve

Removing the pump is as straightforward as it looks, drain the water, disconnect the pipes, remove the two nuts holding it in, then pull it out, might need a tap with to separate it. Dismantling is straight forward, remove the nuts from the front cover and remove, depending on the age of the pump plus whether it has ever had a rebuild will dictate the dismantling process, if the thin steel washer is still in at the back of the pump, prise this out, If there is a spring visible then it is the older type with a spherical carbon seal, to separate this type push the washer down that is holding the collet rings in, remove the collet rings the spring can then be removed, the only thing holding the impeller in now is the fit in the bearing, tap out the impeller If it is the later type with a ceramic seal, remove the circlip against the bearing tap out the impeller, the seal will come out with the impeller If it is the ceramic seal type then the kit that jonesthenuke has linked to is the correct one, if it is the carbon seal type then part no K72800 is also required, the bearing also changed from a self aligning to radial ball race, hence the need for the spacer ring. Additionally the earlier pumps were slightly smaller in diameter, 5" from memory, the currently available kits have a larger impeller which need to be cut down to fit. Steve

Hi Your engine appears in the G.E.F membership list presumably by its previous owner as its a lapsed member. it has a manufacture date of 1964 and was rebuilt by Walsh's in 2005. Steve

Hi My information comes from the Gardner Engine Forum membership list, the info on Burma was I presume supplied by its owner so should be correct. I remember from a conversation at a rally that the last engine to leave the Patricroft site was sold by Gardner Parts which was the company that emerged to supply parts after manufacturing ceased, So it probably wasn't the last engine to be manufactured but would have been the last 2LW . It was I believe issued with a certificate confirming its origin, so is probably the one in Burma The oldest engine with a known manufacture date in the G.E.F records is a 3HF from 1924 There is also a 1F gas engine and a couple of older early gas engines listed but no manufacturing dates. The rally at Bugsworth at last count has 45 entries including the impressive 13HF, Steve

The last 2LW no 251907 built 1998 is in Nb Burma The oldest owned by a forum member would have been owned by Andy Watson with Oslo with its 1934 3LW before he sold it. Steve

Undo the butterfly and swing the wire clamp out of the way then the bowl comes of completley