TE1a Rebuild

 

This old and extremely tired little Traction Engine has recently been in a dismantled state and has undergone a complete overhaul and re-paint or a "Good Fettle" as I like to call it.

Apart from the main reason for a strip and "fettle" (being the gross lack of compression due to a failing piston and cylinder), the paintwork is also in pretty poor condition with blistering to the wheels and heat damage. It looks like this little Engine is going to get quite a good tidying.

 

Stripped down to basics.

After much scrubbing with scourers and countless applications of paint stripper, a suitable "starting point" was established...........

 After a few hours with a bucket of water and plenty of 1500 grade wet and dry, here is the finished boiler with a now black piston assembly/flywheel frame.

The next steps were to give the firebox a good rubbing down so as to "key" the surface for a couple of coats of Plastikote black BBQ paint

and, after sorting the wobbly chimney with some chemical metal.......

...........the same Plastikote black paint was again used on the chimney and the smokestack.

 

Ooh, New Parts!!!.

Apart from the use of standard rivets for re-assembly of the TEs body, a quantity of copper rivets are required for the rear of the boiler for the water tight seal between the boiler end cap and the firebox.....

 

......these were purchased along with the new piston and housing as shown in the above photo.

 

 Initial Re-assembly.

The first two parts to be re-assembled were the boiler and the freshly painted firebox....

 

.....two rivets were used for securing the now black flywheel and piston assembly frame to the top of the firebox and two of the earlier shown copper rivets were used to secure the rear of the boiler to the rear of the firebox.

 

The Flywheel.

After earlier stripping the Flywheel of its original tired red paint.....

.... a fresh coat of gloss black paint was applied, this I hope will look particularly smart set against the new piston assembly and "bare" boiler.

With the black Plastikote now dry, the time came to re-fit the smokestack and chimney assembly to the front of the boiler......

..........the exhaust piping soldered to the rear of the piston housing frame was carefully re-located in the port holes on the rear of the chimney and the whole unit riveted back together with four rivets.

 

I love it when a plan comes together !!.......

Things are beginning to take shape and the pile of parts that once sat on my workbench are starting to ressemble a TE once more.

The photograph below shows the contrast between the new piston assembly, the black frame and the gloss black flywheel.

....and another shot to compliment the rich effect of the gloss black flywheel against the bare boiler.....

The paint has now been applied to the front wheels and the scuttle.......

 The rear "Driving wheels" of the Traction Engine are seen in the picture below whilst drying the most recent coat of paint.......

......I find this enamel paint tends to "flatten" nicely whilst drying.

 

The final assembly and finishing touches.....

Ok, after all the paint finishes have dried including the matt black hub caps, the time has come for the final re-assembly of this engine. A set of "Road Tyres" have been added and a nice new upper chimney ring to compliment the finished article.

Below are the three final images to accompany the past efforts offered on this smashing little Engines comeback.

Thank you.