Archive for Freesteam For collectors and enthusiasts of all steam engines
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steamgirl
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Another SE2aThis is the SE2a I acquired in February.
I fired it up a couple of times at my friend's house (I'm not allowed them in our kitchen and it was too cold in the garage!) and thought about giving it a clean. My friend noticed a bit of leakage from the steam pipe and decided to solder it for me... that was back in March! It's been living in a box in his back room ever since. A few weeks ago he had a go at the soldering, but decided it needed a good clean first. In order to get the boiler really clean, it seemed good to take it right off, but we didn't want to disturb the pipework to the cylinders, or the rivets on the engine frame,b because they were sound; so he hit on this slightly unorthodox method of removing the boiler:
Off with the firebox and strap:
Rested it back on the firebox to take the weight, unscrewed the chimney and applied the blowtorch:
Chinmey off:
Pipe off:
Will be easier to clean the base now:
Managed to get the whistle off without any damage!
Ran out of time then. I'm going to give the base a good clean in hot soapy water because I think mostly it's just grubby. The boiler is another matter, I think some Brasso or Autosol will be used.
Having seen Spokesmann's, I've got something to live up to now!
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Spokesmann
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Looking forward to the end result SG - you're certainly getting stick in there!! 
Welcome to our forum...
Mike
Admin.
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Mamod Collector
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Welcome to the forum SG 
Im looking forward to seeing the finished engine
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old_timer
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Super work, SG
... and welcome to FreeSteam!
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oldstuff
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Welcome, SG. Always good to read your posts!
Keep plugging away, SG. You'll get there!
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steamgirl
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Haven't been around for a while - life has not left much time for playing 
However - we got the Mamod box out last week and I've got problems...
What I thought was old oil and grime on the base, after some WD40 and T-Cut, turned out to be a less than great paint job. The colour is a good match but it's been done a bit thickly and I would guess in a hurry. And having seen others, I'm left wondering about the engine frame - do you think it's been stripped ready for a repaint and then just left, or is it original? (I think I've asked that before, but it was so long ago). We've already decided that the chimney must have been taken off and put back on again at some point, and Dave's brother, a clock restorer, is going to do the soldering in the next couple of weeks. But I'm beginning to think I should bite the bullet and take this completely apart, strip all the paint off and start again. Which means taking off the bits that we were so pleased not to have disturbed. *Insert Rude Words* 
This was so not going to be a complete resto, just a clean up, but every time I touch it I find more things I don't like. It's all there and sound, but now I've started I really want to get it right.
So, questions? Like I said, engine frame - green or plain metal? Where do you get the paint - both green and red? And where do you get the right size pop rivets. We have a rivetter, just nothing to put in it
The peeling paint - you can see the old stuff underneath.
The underneath of the base - presumably this is the original paint...
The engine frame:
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Spokesmann
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SG Id bite the bullet and really pullit apart. Id invest in a pop rivetter too, so you can get the engine frame off and paint it more easily!
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SillyBilly
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You can always just N&B the engine frame to the base.
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old_timer
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| steamgirl wrote: | ...
So, questions? Like I said, engine frame - green or plain metal? Where do you get the paint - both green and red? And where do you get the right size pop rivets. We have a rivetter, just nothing to put in it
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Hi SG, like others said I would pull it completely apart.
To answer your specific questions:
Engine frame - this would have been originally painted. Someone must have stripped it in the past. Getting a good paint colour is difficult. Most people seem to use Ford Highland Green available from any motor spares shop (e.g Halfords), but it isn't exactly right - at least I can always spot it a mile off.
Base plate - Here the best match appears to be Ford Radiant Red, again available from motor spares shops. It might be a little light initially, but if you bake it in the oven it'll (a) go a little darker and (b) go a little harder so hopefully it won't peel off and stick to your burner the first time you fire it.
Rivets - these are available from good hardware shops or from motor spare shops. Alternatively you can buy them from Mamod dealers such as Forest-classics or ModelEnthusiasts. However, I'd use SB idea and use nut & bolts - to me the use of break-stem (pop) rivets to secure the engine bracket to the base plate just looks wrong.
The type of rivet often used by Mamod for this is not generally available, but Mamod did use nuts & bolts sometimes. Meccano nuts & bolts are great here.
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