[SEL] Wolseley Type "R"

[Jerry Evans]

Hi Guys,
         Freezing weather here but I managed to start stripping the 
Wolseley R (1928).
<www.oldengine.org/members.evans./karoo/wolsr.htm>

         So far so good - cylinder barrel and head came off fine. 2 stuck 
rings and 1 loose - no sign of wear in the cylinder (but still dirty and 
not had a micrometer to it yet). The loose ring seems to fit fine in the 
cylinder and can be used again.
         Big ends and mains seem good.
         Stripped off the con rod and removed the piston which is now 
soaking in a bucket of paraffin - hopefully those stuck rings will be loose 
quite soon (one of them popped out halfway while I was removing the gudgeon 
pin) so all looks good.
         I broke 2 bolts on the exhaust side of the hotbox while getting it 
off and 2 others were rusted so thin that it's a wonder they did not also 
break of - small thing to just drill the studs out and retap the holes. 
Looks like an easy restoration.
         One question - the gear on the maggy is breaking up pretty badly 
(unuseable again) - was this made from leather? It is "flaking" apart like 
a really old phenolic gear but I do not think that phenolic was around in 
1928. Could it have been made from leather? Whatever it was made from was 
obviously as a safety feature (as in "shear bolt") to prevent damage to 
anything else, but why on the magneto which is a free running unit at the 
end of the "power train" ? I will study it more carefully on Wednesday ( 
and probably post some pics).

         I'm off on a trip tomorrow so will probably get back to the engine 
over the weekend - I will keep you informed.

         Thanks to all the Aussies who sent me info about this engine - it 
came in useful today as I referred to the parts manual quite often.

Keep well.

Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Tel. (016) 365-5787 or 083 283 7191
Visit our website for old engines in South Africa.
www.oldengine.org/members/evans  

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