I'm at it again! Tarpen Resto No. 3

The engine all looks sound. I've re-faced the points & am waiting for some HT lead to arrive so I can get the flywheel back on.

I haven't really done much more yet today, everyone went out here so I couldn't resist pulling the Scott out & giving her a little run. Think I'm going to have to replace the timing chain on that one soon, but she started reasonably well & ran fine.

Will carry on with this Tarpen after I've had some lunch.

OK, quick update, the HT lead arrived so I finished off the engine, clamped it to the bench & gave it a quick test fire....



I also took the genny apart to check the brushes. The commutator is a bit dirty....



So I have under-cut it & polished it up (but forgot to take another pic )

Anyway, on with the chassis. I took the flanges off each end & inside I found an original Tarpen silencer....



I think I can safely say that won't be going back inside.

I de-greased & cleaned up all the bits yesterday....





I have also started painting some of it....



& I have split the wheel rims for preparation (these are different rims once again, this time they are Dunlop tyres & rims, both the others had Avon tyres on them, they still have the large caged needle roller bearings though)....



That's about it really. I just need to give all those cleaned & de-greased parts a final check over & sand down before priming & painting. The colour this time is slightly different once again. The paint left over from last time had got a skin on it, so I mixed it up with the small remaining "touch-up" pot of the bright green I had saved & thinned it all down with some white spirit, there should be plenty for the job now.

Taking shape looks like your cracking on nicely

Getting on with it very well Nuts but you said you fastened the engine down to give it a try what happened did you get it to fire or were you just checking to see if it turned over ok?

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:Getting on with it very well Nuts but you said you fastened the engine down to give it a try what happened did you get it to fire or were you just checking to see if it turned over ok?

Stu.

Oh no, she fired alright, even with no exhaust. I didn't run it for long, as no fuel connected. Fired up 2nd pull though.

That's great news mate, so it's just the genny that's causing headaches for you at present, although I know you'll have that sorted out soon.
Keep up the great work,

Stu.

Decided to pull my finger out yesterday & get on with this one, so I've cleaned up the genny parts & managed to re-grease the hidden front end bearing (with the aid of a large syringe & some flexi pipe )....



I've cracked on with the prep work, got the drill & wire brush attachment out & the primer & paint brushes, here's a few results....

here's a before & after shot of the commutator, I polished it & under-cut the segments....



Here's a few bits with primer on (finally )....











I've still got these bits which have been de-greased & cleaned up. I bought them in from outside last night to dry out a bit before the final prep (the barrel isn't off this one, that's off the Briggs)....



Today I've been painting, a bit, but I've had a couple of appointments to attend. I think I might just have enough daylight left to get out there now with a couple of buckets of hot water & some wire wool to strip the paint off these bits....



They've had paint stripper on them for days now, so just want cleaning off. I've only stripped the aluminium bits back to bare metal as originally they never used primer on these engines, & as we all know paint doesn't stick too well to aluminium, so I will give them a coat of galvanising primer (meant for aluminium, non-ferrous metals & galvanised metals) before giving them 2 top coats of the green.

I didn't bother stripping the steel & iron parts, I just de-greased them, rinsed thoroughly & scrubbed them with hot soapy water & copious amounts of Cif cream cleaner, then wire brushed & sanded down to get rid of any loose paint. I then prime on top with red oxide & follow with 2 top coats, which should achieve a good & durable finish (the paint I'm using doesn't actually require primer on ferrous metals, but will be much more durable with it).

Off I go then, last of the messy jobs for this particular project (I've had real trouble getting up any enthusiasm for this one, I'd forgotten just how much work is involved with Tarpens ) I've been kind of treating this one as a chore, a bit of a pain, rather than enjoying it. Don't think I'll do another Tarpen if I can help it.

I don't want to take any short cuts though, that's not really me. Will probably feel more enthusiastic when all the dirty jobs are done. I've treated all the nuts, bolts, washers etc to a good parts wash & wire brush, so at least that job's out the way.

I think a few of us get to a point where we want to do work on the engine not do all the cleaning up and paint stripping but once your passed that point and start with the primer it sort of gives you a kick up the ass to get it done as it gives it a big jump and makes me think it's not far of being finished (well that's how I see it )

Not take much now, and she'll be up n running Nuts,

Stu.

Cheers Stu, I think I'm getting there now. It really only took one afternoon of pushing myself to get to that point.

Now, I don't know what to do with the main engine cowl. I'm told they were sold with bare aluminium on this part, but the casting is pretty rough, so I've already given it a coat of primer. The question is; do I paint it silver, to look like aluminium, or just paint it green like the rest of the engine? have a look at these 2 pictures & see what you think 9the green is slightly different again, it's darker than the light one, but a little lighter than the dark one, I'm just asking for opinions on the engine cowl, should it be silver(aluminium colour) or green like the rest of the engine?)....

Silver engine cowl?....



Or green?....



The genny is going to have the black stripe regardless, mainly as it saves green paint, but also from what I can tell these had a black stripe round the genny as an original feature.

I should also think about local shows, as this engine will probably be sold locally, if I use the same paint scheme as mine they'll all look the same. If I paint this cowl green, then mine will be the only one with a silver cowl, should the pair end up at the same rally. Not that likely I know, & I think my one's bright green colour sets it apart from any others.

Personally I'd go for silver cowl, the darker green paint but I don't like the black strip but at the end of the day it's up to you.

Stu.

The green is closer to the darker one, not that bright green. The black stripe seems to be an original feature, although I was told it wasn't, but I have seen it on Tarpen leaflets (maybe it came in on later models?).

I have painted the cowl silver now, the aluminium was too rough, but I agree Stu, I think the cowl looks better silver.

I'm having a little trouble with paint though, really it's too cold. I second coated the front end of the genny yesterday, I thought it was Ok & had skinned over before nightfall, but when I checked it this morning it has bloomed, so obviously the dampness in the air got to it.

I've chanced the silver paint on the cowl, just hope it's OK. The rest of it I am leaving for now. Some of the bits are second coated & are fine, all the other bits I will wait until they are all ready, heat the workshop early in the day & paint them all together, leaving the heat on well into the evening.

Wish I had somewhere indoors to paint, but I don't. Just got to make the best of what I've got. I'm certainly not leaving it until spring!

Nuts I think you need to hang up your paint brushes for a while till the weather gets a bit warmer as there's nothing worse then trying to paint cold metal even if you warm the paint first.

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:Nuts I think you need to hang up your paint brushes for a while till the weather gets a bit warmer as there's nothing worse then trying to paint cold metal even if you warm the paint first.

Stu.

I certainly won't be doing anything out there today, it's bloody freezing out there! There's now a blanket of snow over the garden & I just don't see the point in even trying to heat the workshop.

Will have to wait for the weather to change a bit first.

I got barrel of a villiers 25c on the dining table at moment gonna blame my little one if caught say " but she was bored and wanted to do some painting "

Right, despite the cold weather I just couldn't sit around the house any longer, it was driving me mad! So I put the heater on, wrapped up & got on with it.

Despite the low temperatures I put another coat of black gloss on the wheels after reassembling them (polished the tyres up yesterday with some tyre & bumper restorer stuff).

I also put the genny back together, then I thought I'd piece together a few other bits.

Long story short I ended up with this....







Most of it's only finger tight, as a lot will need to come back apart to finish off the painting.

Its looking good Matt !!!!

braydh wrote: Its looking good Matt !!!!

Cheers, most of it needs a final top coat, but it's coming together nicely & I finally feel like it's nearing the end. I just went out there for a final ciggy before bed & I ended up putting the engine back on & loosely fitting the front cowl & the handle, but I forgot to take my phone with me for any pictures

The last bit which could cause me any trouble is the exhaust pipe. At some point it has been either chrome or nickel plated, a good 2/3 of it has flaked off over the years, but the rest is well stuck on there.

So far I've tried the drill wire brush attachment (which is getting towards the end of it's useful life), this took off the loosest bits to reveal the rust underneath, but it won't touch the other bits, I really want it all off & have even started attacking it with a file in places.

I dunno what to try next? Would sand paper touch it? Trouble is, in places there may be rust trapped underneath & I don't want to leave it there. These pipes get very hot on these, so the high-temp paint needs a sound base. If it had not had the plating on the surface I would have just cleaned it up & coated it with Kurust, as this converts the rust, stabilising it, & dries black. It also seems to resist heat very well, I suppose because it's not a coating, it's a converter. It stinks when you first get it hot, smells like burning plastic, but that soon dies off & leaves a good coating. Trouble is, if I put it on this plating it won't dry black, it needs to be on a ferrous metal.

So, anyone know how to remove chrome or nickel plating???

Nut,
Only way I know is to have it dipped.

That will eat the chrome and nickel plate off but doesn't attack the metal base, but where to take it?
I have no answer, regards, John.

Now this is interesting, I've never had to remove chrome or similar so I've no idea where you could even start.

I'd be very interested if you find away as I have 2 big spot lights off the car that need sorting, it's where the chrome has started to bubble rust so I was thinking about painting them black.

I think it might have to be a chemical or a grinder but that depends on how thick the metal is.

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:Now this is interesting, I've never had to remove chrome or similar so I've no idea where you could even start.

I'd be very interested if you find away as I have 2 big spot lights off the car that need sorting, it's where the chrome has started to bubble rust so I was thinking about painting them black.

I think it might have to be a chemical or a grinder but that depends on how thick the metal is.

Stu.

TBH Stu, with something like that, I would use a good acid-etch primer or a high-tack primer then just paint them (after usual wire brush & sanding preparation work of course).

I dunno what to do with this, I'm even contemplating doing something with battery acid, but it's difficult on such a large piece.

Anyway, here's that pic I should've taken last night....



Today I did a little more. I mainly concentrated on the wiring side of things, putting the plug socket back together & replacing all the output wiring for brand new....



The plug socket is black, but the top of it is kind of Mica or Bakelite or something (I forget the name of the stuff now), so I stripped the paint off that & polished it up....



I'm only delaying the inevitable job of sorting out the exhaust pipe though, I'm coming to the point where it really needs to be done.

I carried on piecing it back together last night.

I lined up the engine & genny & put the shaft coupling back together (remembered to put the fan belt on this time )....



I put the governor shelf back on & wired up the coil. Put the lid back on....



& I put the carb back on....



Not sure if the governor actually works on this one, not that important anyway, as it's easy enough to set them up for constant speed on the carb (the governor has never worked on my one).

I also dug out some new fibre washers for the petrol tank. Tarpen always put them on the tank studs for some reason....

Looking good mate you holding on to this one or selling it on

nutgone wrote:I carried on piecing it back together last night.

I lined up the engine & genny & put the shaft coupling back together (remembered to put the fan belt on this time )....



I put the governor shelf back on & wired up the coil. Put the lid back on....



& I put the carb back on....



Not sure if the governor actually works on this one, not that important anyway, as it's easy enough to set them up for constant speed on the carb (the governor has never worked on my one).

I also dug out some new fibre washers for the petrol tank. Tarpen always put them on the tank studs for some reason....

All looking good Nuts, waiting now to see the video of it running.

Stu.

Cheers lads.

Abes, I think I'm going to sell this one. My other one is out of action though (magneto coil knackered) which could be a good reason to keep this one, but I need the money for other projects & I've got the Scott to rally this season (still going well ), & the Homelite is running & showable if I want to take that to shows as well (we're also hoping to have Ian's Stuart Turner & the Briggs & Stratton running for this season, so we shouldn't be short of engines).

This snow is driving me crazy! I really need to get on with the painting on this one, but it's just too cold. I'm spending far too much time indoors & it's making me very tense. Think I should get back out to the workshop & take it all out in that chrome plating on the exhaust.

I've seen something I like for sale, so might even list this one today in the hope I can finish it before next weekend, but that's a risky strategy, & sod's law dictates that something would have to go wrong with it .

I also can't do much more until Tuesday, as I'm skint til then. I need to order the "TARPEN" transfer for the tank & get some high temp black paint, amongst other bits & bobs. But it's very close now. In fact, if it weren't still snowing out there I could temporarily piece it together & fire it up, if I wanted to (I do want to, but feel I should finish it first).

Righto, I'm back to it. Hopefully I will come back in a better mood (suffering from cabin fever right now, I think).

Aaaaahhhh, that's better....



Yes, that is 2-stroke smoke,

Yes, she runs!!!

Much happier now. I've taken a few bits back off now, to clean the petrol, oil & grease off for final coat of paint when it warms up a bit (or when I can get the workshop a bit warmer for a bit longer).

One thing I did notice, it was quieter than the other 2. I have got my original Tarpen engine back from Ian's garage & taken it apart, that one also has a cast iron piston with the wide rings. But, looking back over the "Tarpen 2" resto thread, that one definitely has an aluminium piston. Maybe this one is quieter because the rings are such a good fit in the piston (I've learned recently that piston rings are responsible for a lot of engine noise, especially in air cooled engines). Maybe some are just quieter than others, but this one seems quieter, without it's silencer insert, than my one does with it's silencer.

Mind you, IMO, mechanically this one's in better nick than either my other one or the one I just sold. the bushes & bearings are all in better condition as are the genny windings. I'm still not keeping it though, so someone will get a very good one when it goes.