You're not going to believe this but...

[Max Hedges]

It's Keefy here, staying at Max's, and we had a go at starting the FGT. We filled it with water (which slowly drained out from perished hoses) checked the oil, put a flexible hose from the fuel pump into a small can of fuel, gave it a bit of a tow to circulate the oil, then with Robert Farmer's electrical hotwiring, Max's tractor giving a little push, and Ashley Wilson's encouragement, and to our collective amazement, it started in about a quarter turn of the wheels and ran almost faultlessly, with the 60 year old HT wiring giving the occasional crackle and pop from the stub of an exhaust it even idled smoothly.
Fortunately I had my video camera set up to record the attempt, and even stills will follow soon just to prove it.
And I now know the meaning of Jon's s%^t eating grin, because I had one too. Max even started it with the crank to prove it worked.
Just as well the shower was cold this morning.

[Euan McDonald]

Well done Keith, Max, Robert & Ashley.
Good to hear you have got the old girl going. One step closer to getting it back on the road. It's amazing that old engines can sit for ten years & then with 1/2 an hours work they fire up. Who has a story like Keiths?
Euan.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Max Hedges
And I now know the meaning of Jon's s%^t eating grin, because I had one too.

"I love the sound of a Flathead in the morning"


Hanno

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

ONYA, MATE!

Say hi to Max for us, alright? We'll be in touch!

[Max Hedges]

Keith reckons he will call on his way back to Melbourne to start the old ford again and take her for a good test drive pending on brakes. Your right hanno nothing like the sound of a flat head waking up after all those years resting. Good thing our hot water system was turned off when Keith went to have his shower, after that he was able to focus on his real job.

Geoff we have had some rain things have greened up we are all well and when Aaron comes in I'll get hime to post some photos of how green it is (Ican't do that yet).

Max

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
"I love the sound of a Flathead in the morning"

Ah, quite so; hugely improved by the Ballard/Notton fan mod that sees that bit of inefficient bent tin and ear splitting roar maker, replaced by a hugely efficient and near silent LR 110 viscous unit all hidden within the rad shroud on a self-made drive spigot.

For the first time in some 61 years we can actually hear the engine.

R.

[Tony Smith]

Yes, but not when it fills the cab with the smell of Napalm!!!!

Keefy has graced me with his presence on this balmy spring evening (Sorry, Max, tried to call) and told me all about starting the gun tractor. Seems S. E. Grins are contagious. Pics to follow of Four Grinners in a FGT cab from Keith.

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
Yes, but not when it fills the cab with the smell of Napalm!!!!

Keefy has graced me with his presence on this balmy spring evening (Sorry, Max, tried to call) and told me all about starting the gun tractor. Seems S. E. Grins are contagious. Pics to follow of Four Grinners in a FGT cab from Keith.

It was actually flathead in the evening.

BTW, Flathead is something we catch here. There is no known cure either.:

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
Yes, but not when it fills the cab with the smell of Napalm!!!!

10 points to Mr. Smith for knowing his classics!

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by FV623
a self-made drive spigot

So when are the engineering drawings for this going to be made available
Or is Ballard going to turn a batch to sell through this site?

H.

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
So when are the engineering drawings for this going to be made available
Or is Ballard going to turn a batch to sell through this site?

I doubt Ballard will start production, of quite some difficulty is finding a 4" billet of steel to start with and then as this is mostly turned away to form the large, flanged spigot; it falls to the Sigs Clerk to attend the lathe for hours making and clearing pre-tempered clock springs as the majority of the lump is reduced to some 22mm diameter from the original 101.6mm.

There was a rudimentary drawing, however; I wonder if we still have it.

R.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by FV623
There was a rudimentary drawing, however; I wonder if we still have it.

Allrighty then, we'll have to work from that.

Thanks,
H.

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Allrighty then, we'll have to work from that.

Thanks,
H.

Well, Ballard does have a dimensioned drawing rather than my sketch, which I see you still have, as an easy description rather than a thousand words.

Still, some/most of it was empirical by trial fit, eg:

The front face of the disc to the shoulder ~ 1/2" to allow reasonable clearance of the viscous unit mounting bolt heads to the pulley bolt heads.

The larger diameter of the shaft was made the same as the viscous bush outer diameter, whatever that was.

We used a 3/4" BSF nut (because we had one) with self made castellations and turned the shoulder to match the viscous bush.

The thread was made to be just 1/2 a turn too much and sawn off to show two threads through the nut.

The shaft was machined until a moderate press fit in the viscous bush.

The split pin hole was marked and drilled after the nut tightened.

New and longer 1/4" UNC bolts were hand tweaked for exact length in the pulley bosses to utilise the maximum thread area.

A real selective, one-off, assembly really.

R.

[Keith Webb]

Vrrroooom! Max's grin sums it up. That's Ashley Wilson with the torch and Robert Farmer on ignition duty, both of them Chev fans and owners who were amazed at how easily she started.