restore, leave as is, or jazz up??

I follow with interest a lot of hobbies involving old machines, I think the most overused comment is " It's only original once"...... so what?, if a machine can be brought back to life, surely that's the most important thing?....I understand the " Keep it original" aspect, but only for things that have big value.... I'm painting, polishing, jazzing up as much as I can my latest acquisition because I would like people to think it looks nice, rather than a rusty piece of junk that works ok, but looks awful........
am I on my own here?

My engines are a mixture of pretty and functional, for instance I bought a seized Lister A, the piston needed cutting out of the bore as the rings had eaten into the bore so I replacedd the piston and bore.
Because I took the engine totally to pieces it ended up stripped of all its paint and re painted, If I get an engine that's a runner it gets a full service and a clean and I rally it in its working clothes but in mechanically perfect order which I do prefer.
What I dont like is an engine with brass straps holding the tank on when they should be painted metal.

Maryalice

My own preference is to preserve the appearance if possible, warts and all, but I've no problem with other folks choosing to paint or tart things up. It's just personal preference really. I have a "little grey Fergie" tractor which is mostly not grey. I've preserved the rust with a few coats of Owatrol oil. It gives it a degree of weatherproofing and stops further rust.

The only thing I don't really like is where folks have decided to paint something then done a really bad job of it, or, as you often see on things like Fergie tractors, where they have gone crazy with the grey paint and painted stuff that was never originally painted. I've even seen cables and hoses painted grey, and in one case it looked like the owner had dipped the entire tractor in a vat of paint then put tyres on it. But I suppose if they are happy then it's OK.

I like back to original resto, just because I like doing it. Each to his own. Nice to see in various conditions at shows etc.

I can see the good points in all approaches, if it makes you happy, then do it…. There are no rules as far as I know, I’m restoring a Norman T300 atm, I’m turning some new head nuts to look nice, no other reason….

You engine - your choice.

Check this thread out  

https://ukengineforum.forumotion.com/t11121-marmite-engine

Avoid red nuts !!

Hi Bluecat, need your help again, just picked up another Norman T300, number TA 1018, this is fitted with a Wico Type A impulse mag., it seems to be painted a light pastel green colour, any information would be greatly appreciated

John wrote:Hi  Bluecat, need your help again, just picked up another Norman T300, number TA 1018, this is fitted with a Wico Type A impulse mag., it seems to be painted a light pastel green colour, any information would be greatly appreciated

Norman T300 Mk1 serial TA1018.
This engine was sold on 13th October 1945 to Arthur Lyon & Co Ltd of Acton, London. It was fitted with a wico Series A impulse magneto, no silencers supplied. End use unknown but Lyon were suppliers of generating sets to the military.

The serial number suggests that it was the 18th T300 Mk2 engine built. However, this is only partly true as it was assembled from T300 Mk1 parts left over after WW2. So it will look like a standard Mk1 engine. This practice of using up old parts continued well into 1946, with only intermittent "true Mk2" engines leaving the factory during this period despite all having the TA (Mk2) serial numbers.

It is currently the oldest TA series engine that I know of.

The light green paint could possibly be original as some engines were painted light green, and also blue, during this period (paint supplies still being difficult after WW2).

It would be good to see some photographs of the engine to see if any T300 Mk2 parts were used in its construction.

Hi Bluecat, thanks for the information, I've tried uploading some photos but it seems not to have worked, however I'm on my computer now so I might be more successful<
The engine looks really tired on the outside, but it looks hardly used when you look in the float bowl etc, I have got the Mag working!, the previous owner had wired in a coil ignition system, not needed now.