Progress on the Ruston & Hornsby 1ZHR

[listerdiesel]

The Slideshow software is Photostage, by an Australian company called NCH Software.

http://www.nchsoftware.com/slideshow/index.html

There is a free version, we bought it as we do with all our software that we use a lot.

Works fine, converts to various formats at the end.

The other software that we use is by AVS,  AVS Video Editor, AVS Video Converter.

Basic picture editing we use Paint Shop Pro, V7 and V8.

Peter

[listerdiesel]

Spent a bit of time on Saturday, getting a couple of the jobs done, the main one was the new lashing eyes:



We also fitted an extra eye for the trailer winch:



The eyes are M12 size in Stainless Steel, because of their proximity to the trailer hooks, we are using only the doubled-up portion of the ratchet strap, which gives a useful extra bit of strength.

The eyes in the first picture are bolted through the water tank frame and the engine frame, and in the second picture they are bolted through the engine frame with some extra reinforcement inside the box section.

Peter

[listerdiesel]

As the end of the rally season has gone, we have winterised the Ruston for the long sleep.

The last outing was to the Anson Engine Museum, they hold an 'End of Season' weekend and we were up there with the engine on the Sunday.

As the engine spends all its life outside, the main things we do to protect it are greasing the crankshaft ends and fitting heavy plastic bags over them, held on with cable ties. The water is always drained after each show so there's none in there, the bare metal parts are greased or sprayed with WD-40 and the engine is turned onto the compression stroke so both valves are closed.

We have two heavy pvc/nylon truck sheets that we cover it with, keeps all water out but allows a bit of air underneath to combat any condensation. It's been stored like this since we have owned it and it keeps it in fair order.

The batteries are charged at Xmas time, although they rarely need much, and we give the engine a check over and run in the New Year, just to blow any cobwebs out. The fuel is left in, it normally has half a tank remaining and it will keep until the next trip.

First outing in 2012 will probably be to Nuenen in May.

Peter

[cgwymp]

The fuel is left in, it normally has half a tank remaining and it will keep until the next trip.

Would it not better to fill the tank so as to reduce the airspace in it and consequent condensation?

[listerdiesel]

Would it not better to fill the tank so as to reduce the airspace in it and consequent condensation?

It isn't an issue normally, there aren't big temperature swings where it is, and we have two PVC/Nylon heavy truck sheets over it to keep it dry underneath.

Since we fitted the water agglomerator, we have never seen a drop of water in there, 2 years+.

Sorry I didn't catch your reply earlier!

Peter

[listerdiesel]

Update for 2012:

Nuenen was a glorious hot weekend, good ferry trips both ways and the show was excellent.

here's a few pictures of the Ruston:

Running late on the Saturday evening, about 23.20:


Running in the daytime 1:


Running in the daytime 2:


It ran over the three days almost non-stop with no problems.

Peter

[contaucreek]

Once again that is a gorgeous setup Peter. You were lucky to find that engine and it YOU !

[rleonard]

I agree Paul.  What a masterpiece.

Bob

[LowGear]

Envy can be a cruel master.

WOW!

I'd be afraid to clean it as I might screw something up.

Casey

[listerdiesel]

Thanks, guys, it doesn't get spoilt, just a wipe over now and again, and the oil is total-loss anyway. We had fuel in from last year which we ran right out on the Saturday before putting fresh in.

It's surprising how many people don't twig how it starts up, they can't see a starter motor or hear anything whirring away, just a click from the starter solenoid and off it goes. We pull it backwards onto compression, then it has two turns to get up to speed before it fires.

We run 1kW of resistive lighting all day, that makes it nice and hot and keeps things from clogging up. The night-time picture was taken without flash, it was the load lamps that lit the engine.

Next outing is going to be at the end of the summer, we have two shows to go to, one at Barleylands in Essex, and the other is a very nice working weekend at Little Casterton, near Stamford.

Peter

[listerdiesel]

Rita got diagnosed with Cancer on our return from Nuenen, and entered hospital for a major operation just after that last post.

She is out of hospital now, and back at work but it was a scary time for us both.

We have been to Barleylands and Little Casterton shows, both nice long weekends, Thursday afternoon to Monday morning,  so we could relax a bit!

Trailer and engine here at Little Casterton:





Engine at Barleylands:



Probably the last shows we will do this year, and we have unloaded the engine for the winter.

We had a small issue of the engine moving on the chassis during a bit of repositioning, we tow the engine with the Discovery, but it put the drive pulleys out of alignment so we had to sort that out, but otherwise it was fine.

We are also running tea bags in the cooling water to stop rusting of the water jacket.

Saw this at Barleylands:




Peter

[listerdiesel]

We uncovered the engine after a fairly wet and cold winter, to have a look at everything and to check on the state of the batteries.

We didn't put any water into the engine, but cleaned up around the crankshaft ends and the cams, and gave them a good oiling.

It started first try, no messing about, just as if it hadn't been stood since mid-September 2012.

We are going to Nuenen in May, and we are booked into other shows for 2013. Rita's health is back to normal, so we shouldn't miss any shows this year.

The trailer is going to have some work done to it, the drawbar is being shortened by about 600mm, and we are fitting a new cross-piece into the chassis frame under the rear floor. The new trolley layout doesn't sit over the strengthened floor supports, and we noticed that the 21mm honeycomb was starting to sag under the weight, which isn't surprising!

It's only at the front of the trolley, the rear isn't affected.

Peter

[listerdiesel]

Fairly recent activity needs updating here:

The first thing was a second set of Bren Gun Carrier wheels that we bought in February, these got sent to Holland to be exchanged for another set with new tyres fitted on.











The set that came off will go for re-tyreing next year, but in the meantime they will go onto the Ruston Dynamometer rig, which we are just starting to get together.

Peter

[listerdiesel]

The drawbar trailer build from 2011 to 2013 has been put into a blog section on our websites, and has just been updated to bring it up to July 2013:

http://www.stationary-engine.co.uk/DBTrailer/DBTrailer1.htm

or on the USA server:

http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/DBTrailer/DBTrailer1.htm

Peter

[listerdiesel]

11/03/14

First run of 2014 today, I got the sheets off both Rustons and had a look at the wreckage.

Both survived the winter pretty well, a little bit of surface rust here and there, but the 1ZHR fired up on the button, no hesitation at all.

I took the trolley front axle off to replace the turntable screws that got sheared off last autumn when unloading the engine, Robert didn't realise that the turntable locking pin existed, and thought it just needed a hard pull, but he sheared the two M6 csk screws.

Replaced them with M8's and instructed both sons on checking that the pin was removed before they tried to steer the trolley.

The pin stops the turntable front wheels moving about in transit and allowing the straps to loosen off.

Tomorrow I have to fit the new deeper filter bowl and a new filter element.

All the electrics worked OK, just a good clean is needed then.

Peter