This engine was acquired in June 2003 from a fellow collector in the North of Scotland. The engine was found to be in a very rough condition suffering from badly worn bearings, missing the magneto and exhaust and was badly rusted in places. The engine had clearly been poorly maintained as the contents of the crankcase proved to be a thick black sludge ! The starting handle side main bearing housing had also been smashed and the carburettor was damaged beyond repair. The good news was that the engine was an early example and retained some early features such as the short crankshaft, early style bearing housings, cast iron oil filler, crankcase door and inlet manifold. It also has cast iron governor housing parts and a different style of magneto/governor gear cover. Aside from all the problems, this engine was deemed a worthwhile project. This engine can be termed a transition engine as it retains many early features but appears to be one of the first to use the Solex 26FH carburettor instead of Fowler's own cast iron version. This will make an interesting comparison engine on the rallyfield.

29/12/03 - Currently under restoration new main bearings and oil seals have been fitted and the engine is progressing well to the painting stages. A problem with the piston and bore has been identified as the original piston and rings were badly corroded and were replaced by better spares however the engine is very tight to turn over and will require some careful running in to bed the new rings in. The smashed bearing housing has been repaired and reformed with Plastic Padding 'Hard' and a new starting handle pin has been made to replace the original item. The other main item of work that has been completed is the replacement of the water jacket core plug. The original was corroded and had 'popped' and required replacement. A modern core plug of the correct size could not be found so an alternative had to be found - in the form of a new style 10p coin !! This was duly set in place with JB Weld and will look perfect once painted. Traces of the original paint colour was found in several areas and this appeared to be a burgundy red colour which I am replicating. This will make a nice change from the usual green especially as I know it to be a good likeness for the original paint.

01/12/04 - Progress is slow to say the least but we are getting towards the rebuild stage. The piston problem has been cured following further honing of the bore and re-gapping the piston rings. The engine was rebuilt but it was immediately evident that the big end shells and journal were badly worn. A replacement crankshaft with matching bearing shells was acquired. As the original engine has a short crankshaft the replacement had to be machined down in the lathe to match the original. The new bearings were pressed on and the crank and piston assembled with reasonable success. The engine had now almost been fully de-rusted and painted and will shortly be awaiting re-assembly. The fuel tank has still to be repaired and painted and we have a spare original exhaust which requires repairing which will finish the engine off nicely. The next task on the list is to construct a trolley from the kit of parts which we currently have sitting on the bench!

30/04/05 - Following a busy period of work on the engine it has finally been completed in just under two years. Over the past few months the trolley has been completed and the engine painting finished. The badly dented fuel tank has been repaired and treated with Frost's fuel tank repair kit. The spare exhaust has been straightened and repaired and is now fitted to the engine, alongside a rebuilt carburettor and a good magneto. The engine started after a few turns but immediately a couple of problems were noted. The carburettor butterfly spindle was badly worn which was causing governing problems and the engine was quite noisy, even with the new bearings. After a brief test run, the engine was stopped for further work to be carried out.

28/05/05 - The butterfly section of the carburettor has been replaced with an unworn one from a modified Solex 26FV carburettor. The engine runs much smoother now, albeit still noisy. Given that this is an early engine, with a certain amount of wear we are putting the noise down to crude tolerances and wear in the gears. With running, this should settle down in time. As the engine hasn't run in probably 35+ years we can excuse it for being a little reluctant to be revieved from its hibernation!! To finish, new transfers have been applied and varnished and the original V-belt pulley was painted and re-fitted. Having run for a couple of hours now, the engine is already quieter and starts almost first swing. Several times during this resoration I almost gave up due to so many problems, but two years down the line I am very pleased with the results and look forward to taking it to Astle Park 2005 for its rally debut!