engine number 4 of the VILLIERS WX11 PROJECTS

well at a steady rate ive made some great progress with one of the many bought in of late

bottom ends at different stages of rebuilding one at back is finished awaiiting the etch ,primer and finish coats

hooper and head nuts looking very sad for them selves









buffed up and ready for a wipe over then etching prime and primmer  a few days after that ,then the top coats will commence

some of the gaskets ive made at that point of pic ,and new core plugs ,nuts, studs ,bolts and more very expensive bearings arrived a few days later

looking great in my own eyes

brass work  and some detailing undertaken

fuel tank after a load of messing getting spatter and red oxide that was in need of thinning before being slapped on by tank maker

but its got a nice even shiny finish to it now

[
and this is my new invention a cloths peg dryer   

no its a fuel tank band ive made and done all the coats upto first top on out side and 2 on in side ,then the corking is being pva glued to hold in place while messing around later lining the tank to hopper and the band around both of them
then the finishing coats can be added when the marking and messing is over with

so the engine has had the nuts and threads painted in and tomorrow the tank and band will be meeting the hopper for the first time
just hope i calculated the band lengh long enough for the corking and not to short or long to look right
kev

looks really good:D 

Lewis MacRae wrote:looks really good:D 

lewis
thanks mate ,i always try to get them back to as respecable as poss without trying to go overbourd
just so there pleasing to look at in as close to original as i can
kev

well gutted
having to make another tank strap as its got a gap in the 2 ends of about 2"
it works but not to my liking so cut carved filed and etching primmed up a new one ,corks are cut and 1st topcoat has just gone on as its 24hrs min for harding the etch primmer i use ,so tomorrow afternoon /evening its back corking and final top coat ,ready to fit it late friday or saturday ish
carb has been completly stripped apart and im going to see if i can polish it up all shiny
and also have a simplite pump set to collect at some point on thursday
havent seen one on the web or rallys so thought id get one and see if it will live again
kev

her we are a week late posting but been having family issues again and just to knackered to upload the camera pics to computer and then again to forum  
but since last time any way
the new head stud nuts have arrived ,and the right thread too  
the new fuel tank band has been made ,painted ,corked and fitted
this was the first one

and this is the second one with out the 2" gap betwen ends this time

and this is were the tank will stop for my liking at least

still waiting for the special coils to arrive for it
but the back plate and all electric componants cleaned , the odd ones are painted that need to be and ready to fit when the first thing needed before all the rest can go together electrially wise anyway
then its a final clean of the carb externals and a fuel tap ,pipe ,water pipe and detailing up ,then chugger away soon after
kev

hello kevjhnsn
what im after is some help to find a original fuel tank for a villiers wx11 wet-head or hopper styled tank
were do you get your gasket sets from as one maybe needed
any help would be great
thanks vdr

vdr1983 wrote:hello kevjhnsn
what im after is some help to find a original fuel tank for a villiers wx11 wet-head or hopper styled tank
were do you get your gasket sets from as one maybe needed
any help would be great
thanks vdr

hi there
fuel tanks are hard to find to be honest, well any good, frank gelder makes them ,but its your choosing
i make the gasket sets up myself as have a very dead wx11 i use as a gasket making patern
if youd like me to make up a full set for you let me know what model you have with what type head alloy brass blind
and will do you a set at cost
kev

well kept forgeting to post the progress so heres the update

new stainless head stud nuts fitted ,not what i wanted but no one makes the blind cap brass or steel ones so these were the best i could source  

the cooled water return plumbing finished with a new diy fitting ,as oldd was paper thin and snapped off in the hooper,so its been rethreaded and a fitting made up to suite and £5 piece of rubber hose, as you can see its specialised as it folds over 90degrees and wont flatten ,but needed to get it on the fittings as close together for feeding it on

gold leafing done top and bottom ,just for the detail finish i like



carb polished up the brass ware in and out new needle ,just lever top mechanism need a polish and paint, and the flywheel magneto backplate painted and fitted ,so nearing the fire up,when i can find these stupid orkward sized pipe fittings for fuel line
kev

well at long bloody last the coils have made it trough my door
so been busy sticking the new condensor in and starting the magneto rebuild

so it will now be soon going to video over 3 weeks later than planned       
kev

Hi Kev - that's the first time I have seen a W-XII in such close detail. Many thanks for the thread and, speaking for myself, what a great looking engine - and nicely finished squire!

Looking forward to the video... No pressure

Best Hamish

Looks good, only thing I can see that will put a spanner in the works is the vent pipe inside the hopper, looks like yours comes straight up, if it boils you will get VERY hot water in your face!

Villiers wrote:Looks good, only thing I can see that will put a spanner in the works is the vent pipe inside the hopper, looks like yours comes straight up, if it boils you will get VERY hot water in your face!

rob
id thought the same a while back so it is fread off and got another one with the bend in it im soaking out another head off one
all my others spit the water towards the top lip of the hoopers

today ive got the magneto backplate all rebuilt and rewired coiled and condensered up ,just forgot theres another parcel im still waiting for with the push in type and the screw in large bakerlite of the later style ,not the modern same looking just only 1/2" thread size not 3/4" like the only of these backplates ive ever had ,think some of the early 1940s m.o.d aircooled villiers mk20-25 had them if they wernt the screened leads for radio equipment
so as soon as that lot arrives i can H/T them up and see if we have a box of sparks
expensive box of sparks at that £130 ,think most recon lucas sr rs1s are cheaper ,could of just soldered standard cheap h/t to the coils as i used to for myself its £4.50 each one for just the ht cable , as it matches the one villiers wx11 i had with the remains of the factory fitted stuff,as close as i can today ,must be going mental ,not really as there 63 yrs old if last of the productioon line and 86 yrs old fist off the line "i have one of these also for my own hell or high water keeping collection as its a yr1927-28 tank cooled watch this space next year for that one
kev

Hi Kev, just looked at the pics of your latest to come off the production line, looks absolutley brilliant, super restoration, I can't wait to see the pics of the one you had off me at Newark, think the clothes peg drier is ingenious, will have to sneak some pegs out when her indoors isn't looking, otherwise she will think that I'm getting domesticated by doing the washing, LOL, all the best mate, P.S how's the wife doing:) 

misterengine1932 wrote:Hi Kev, just looked at the pics of your latest to come off the production line, looks absolutley brilliant, super restoration, I can't wait to see the pics of the one you had off me at Newark, think the clothes peg drier is ingenious, will have to sneak some pegs out when her indoors isn't looking, otherwise she will think that I'm getting domesticated by doing the washing, LOL, all the best mate, P.S how's the wife doing:) 

doctors are concerned that he pelvis is going to snap or even become parralized from the weight and size this bump is at and still not 30 weeks till christmas week     
yeah cant wait to get the funding so i can start on the one off you mate
struggling for income and time ,as wife and kids need me so much again ,and the wife is talking about the next already   
thinking of geting the lump hammer out and then banging some nutts  
kev

Hi Kev, sounds like your'e having a right time of things at the moment mate, to think that the wife is planning the next one is amazing, brave lady. guess the workshop is a sanctuary for you for a bit of therapy, good idea about the lump hammer mate, hope the wife copes o.k with it as it must be so uncomfortable. I know the tradition is to snap the wishbone on the turkey, but the pelvis is not a good idea, keep smiling mate, by the way did the request come through o.k from p/pal, and was the cylinder usable, I think it should be, take it easy mate, Ralph.  

misterengine1932 wrote:Hi Kev, sounds like your'e having a right time of things at the moment mate, to think that the wife is planning the next one is amazing, brave lady. guess the workshop is a sanctuary for you for a bit of therapy, good idea about the lump hammer mate, hope the wife copes o.k with it as it must be so uncomfortable. I know the tradition is to snap the wishbone on the turkey, but the pelvis is not a good idea, keep smiling mate, by the way did the request come through o.k from p/pal, and was the cylinder usable, I think it should be, take it easy mate, Ralph.  

got the pp mate thanks
will be trying to dig the box table:)  out from under the decorating crap and all the other junk surrounding it, just waiting for somone able to help me move the bigstuff back to the correct rooms and then i can see whats what mate,got to get me finger out or the insurance will have expired on it ,but the box seamed ok and defo big enough for the job thanks
kev

Hi kev, thats o.k, I do try to pack things well as you never know with some of the parcel companies, pleased that the pay request went through o.k, it's been a while since i have had to do one, got it right on second attempt, sounds like you have your work cut out getting straightened out indoors mate, I have got mine to do this winter, just don't get the time as well you know, look forward to hearing from you mate, all the best to you both, Ralph.

well been stuck awaiting delivery of parts orders but theyve been drippling in bit by bit and still waiting for some   
but been busy getting stuck in to another 3 ,well as far as i can until there parts dribble in also ,
while waiting to crack on with this one again

looks fabulous would love one ,one day

that looks really good, how rare are they? i don't recall seeing many at rallies.
good job  

callum12 wrote:that looks really good, how rare are they? i don't recall seeing many at rallies.
good job  

well thats a good question ,
there maybe a couple 100 wx11s around the world, but there are so many variations lz lzh lzm lzha wat watm wah wata waha wab then theres the bigger brother wbh wbt and wbm and even more different castings , heads hoppers and tank cooled and so on ,so there all rarer than most would believe,
i have one 1927 tank cooled of 10-12 left
lzha 1930 one of 5 known
waha 1935-50 one of 24 ever made and one of 3 known
so its as you say theres not many left around less than amancos or most listers or petters and so on
but only just starting to get a look in on the rallys as the villiers brand name is tarnished by the 1000s of aircooled modern looking engines but as collectors know some designs were from the 40s and still being producted till the factory closed late 70s ,but the wx11s are a water cooled 2 stroke and to be honest there wernt so many watercooled made by many companys , and being honest the petter Ms and the stuart marine engines were more desirable at the time for there jobs
kev

well thought id better give some updates on the progress
have made some head blind nuts in brass and stripped the chrome from many more parts to turn them brass again
and also made up a frame for testing and transporting , looking like a pallet on a smaller scale but could have axles fixed to it easy but for now will do the job its needed for
heres some pics








has been running ,but float is a slow sinker so wont stop the fuel flooding in now,was fine the other day as fitted all the carbs to my wx11 for testing before fitting again ,but alls not lost as grabbed a good float from another carb and fitted all back to engine again ready for the retest tomorrow if the wind and rain goes away long enough
thanks kev

Looking the dogs danglies mate look forward to seeing it running

wow! looks Bob on! brightwork looks nice and sparkly. well done.

after many times of faffing with the gurvernoirs and linkage to carb got the revs down and the govnors governing as i like ,just need to mark the positions of all the linkage and slip the main governoir yoke round a few more degrees to allow for easy speed adjustments and faster guvernor pick up ,i would be fine for me but best make it less messy for the next man to play ,
heres a video of todays running it ran continuesly for 2hrs no problems
the rattle is the steel trolley with solid nylon wheels and loose wooden bourds ontop ,not the engine