Wednesday 25th September a dry morning with warm sun at times before a wet afternoon.

                         Greg rescued some scales in need of repair so a job for the future

This was rescued but it is an unknown item that is rusted solid including the tools seized into the bed plate so another future job.

           An easier repair a gas lamp the just needs the bowl before being displayed in a period building

Then it was outside for a few more hours  filling the gaps in the path paving blocks

                                      before                                                            after

                               Looking better and it may tempt more visitors to take a look around

 Then it was Morris time Greg has been busy with the cab and we had to try and get the distortion out of the roof where the new metal had been welded in this involved the gas torch, dollies and hammers.

The Laurel boundary hedge is starting to get in the way of the mower with  branches and suckers sticking out over the boundary line. 

Clearing around the stumps to see what needs trimming

After a good session with a reciprocating saw and  secateurs it looks a lot better

now it needs some warm dry weather so the foliage can dry and be reduced to ash.

 Doing the right thing

The Morris cab roof has suffered, originally holes had been drilled in it to accomodate indicators and it has generally suffered from 64 years of rust.

I welded up the holes but that distorted the roof somewhat , taking keith's advice I cut out the troublesome area and welded in some fresh steel plates. the result is a lot more satisfactory.

 Wednesday 18th September a nice warm sunny day so outside it is.

The Trust shop at Toddington runs with an honesty box and is where we sell donated and sourced items some from the skips on the railway other from the trusts work.

The blue brick block paving has moved over the years due to natures influence both animal and vegetation have got in between it, so time to clear the weeds clean out the gaps and fill with block paving sealing mix. We use natural sand colour first then put a thinner layer of dark grey on top to match the original work GWR would have done.

           

                            Weeds and over hanging plants have been removed or trimmed back

                                                

                                      Then a good wash down with the jet on the pressure washer

                                                   

                                 It was then fill all the joints with the natural colour mix

                                                  

After a few hours working the mix into the gaps and sweeping off the residue it looks a lot better, but there is much more to do over the next few weeks.

It was then time for some more welding on the Morris to remove pin holes and rust in the cab roof.

The cab floor is progressing well with the battery hole cut in it and a stowage bin sunk in for tools and alike when it is useable.

 GWR no8 lamp post at St Agnes station Cornwall

I have shared this with Jo Roesen, 

This lamp post is located in the Industrial estate that was the old goods yard, it seems to have been moved there in recent years as it is not in the ground as deep as it should be.

The electrical supply comes in an overhead position to the lantern rather than through the column.

It would make a great  yard lamp for the GWSR ,I have a large octagonal lantern that just needs a post, I would imagine this one would be difficult to acquire though.

I found a nice stainless steel tray at Burkes Scrapyard in Cheltenham, I had been looking for something I could for tools in the Morris Commercial under the seat, so I cut a hole and it fits a treat.

 

 Wednesday the 11th a dry sunny day but the Autumn chill makes it's self known.

Greg has been busy on theMorris and got the rivnuts fitted to the cab floor frame and bolted the floor plate in.

The AA box was completed a couple of years ago and the paint on the wood around the name plates is peeling along with some black where the wood has cracked allowing bare timber to the rain.

After a wire brush and rub down a coat of white primer was applied

It was then painted with golden yellow sign writing paint

The Moris seat frame had some rot and heavy rusting so one edge plate got trimmed off ready for a new piece of metal to be welded on.

all the faces were cleaned with a sanding disc then a wire wheel before painting with black rust preventative paint.

The welding required repair of the well used torch where the swanneck had eroded back so far the mig welding tips were not screwing in securely and the guide sleeve was suspected to be worn as the feed speed was erratic.The gun was stripped and photographed just in case parts disloged.

The 7mm allen grub screw holding the neck on was well corroded and seized the allen key set went from 6mm to 8mm so a trip to the steam engine shop resulted in a tray of assorted size keys, eventually a good 7mm was located and inserted a undo or break excessive force action resulted in the grub screw undoing rather han breaking the key.

The reassembly also found the newly brought sleeve for Clarke hobby welders was the wrong fitment it did models 152 onwards not 151 we use.

Using the new swan neck and adjusting the drive wheel tension resulted in a nice regular egg frying crackle sound although excessive tension was needed as the drive wheel is worn so a new one is being procured. This job should improve the quality of welding no end as the wire feed will be a steady speed not stopping and starting.

 Money for Nothing

I am very pleased to say that my personal scrap metal fundraiser has broken the £10,000 mark

with the last good haul.

 

 As a registered carrier of  waste , I have been raising money for the Restoration and Archiving Trust by appealing for old car batteries, brass door handles,  copper pipe, lead, wire and other non ferrous metals.

This last load netted £230 and didn't my car notice it as most of it was lead 

Many Thanks to Ian Boskett of Clive Wolford motor engineers for his constant supply of car Batteries over the years.