New member

[petrol edd]

Hi to all, my name is Pete, I am from Norfolk UK, I have retired early in life
So have plenty of time on my hands, I am not a machinist but I have always had a interest in anything  to do with engineering or mechanics of any sort, even as a kid I belonged to a model engineering club running a model boat with An IC engine, and the best bit was running the live steam model railway up and down the clubs Track, you couldn't take the grin of my face for days, but as I grew up I drifted away from modeling and went into car and motorcycle mechanics ending up doing car restoration which I loved but was forced to retire early due to health, but still like to potter about, and have just finished a 1966 gt6 mk1 which has taken 7 years to build as we only did a few hours on it at weekends,  As I was at a loss as to what to do next I started to build a toylander from plans I bought  which I  totally enjoy doing just for fun, but then came up against the problem of the electric motors I had (for free) needed to be modified to fit the drive sprockets and retain the ability to disengage the drive for ease of moving it about as it is about 80 to 90 kgs, I needed the use of a lathe as the cost of  professional machine work would be to much money. so I bought a micro lathe seig c2 off a well known auction site, I have found it very addictive and cant wait to finish the toylander, whilst looking for tips n tricks and general machining info I found this site and have been glued to it since its an absolute gold mine and found it to be invaluable I would also like to say I find the workmanship you guys are producing is awesome keep it up lads, I do have a small amount of turning knowledge, and what is left of my tooling is all geared up to fix and restore cars so lots of spanners ect, I have no milling ability yet but I am looking for a vertical slide and a small pillar drill at some point, so having turned anything square in my shed to round I am open to any suggestions for a novice to build in the way of a small type of steam or air powered engine so I can start to source any materials and tools that are needed over time as I think a couple of months should finish off the toylander with a bit of luck

pete

[HS93]

Welcome hope you enjoy your stay some magic things get posted at times,
Ah GT6 a long time ago I helped re install the engine and Box in one , the engine had been did assembled while in the car as they thought it was just a head problem, but it was more so a re build was in order so the rest came out as well as the box, as it came out in bits they where heavey bits but could be lifted by a few strong blokes and a few poles, but puting it back in was differnt so we had to move it I was in it while being towed, it was so high at the front I had to hang out of the window to stear it was a ten mile trip, er never again.

Peter

[Brass_Machine]

Hiya Pete 

Welcome to the collective

Nice looking Triumph!

How big is the toylander?

Eric

[petrol edd]

hi Eric, The toylander is about 5 ft long 2ft wide, They will take 4 small people (children) with ease or 2 big kids as they are driven by twin 24 volt motors, if you google toylander you can see there are a few different models they supply plans for or kits depending on your budget, thanks for the promt reply lads.

pete

[Deko]

Hi and welcome Pete
                              My brother-in-law built one of those didy Land Rovers for his grandson a few years ago. The wheels only stop going round at bedtime, and it is long overdue for a new paint job,  So i am sure it will get plenty of use when finished.

   Cheers  Derek

[spuddevans]

Hi Pete, welcome to the cube

I have the C2 as well, and if you keep within it's limitations it can be a very good little machine


Tim

[DaveH]

Pete,

Hello and welcome

DaveH

[saw]

Hi and welcome 

[Divided he ad]

Now then Pete, Lets look into this a bit more....

Firstly, welcome to the collective  We will try to assimilate you (that's not as bad as it might sound  )

I am not a machinist but I have always had a interest in anything  to do with engineering or mechanics of any sort

Welcome to the club       I'm a mechanic turned garage door super awesome engineer (really, that's my job title    )


I need an under the bonnet shot of that most gorgeous GT6. (oh and please look at this thread...  http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=4735.0  Your pictures are HUGE!...They don't even fit on my 19" widescreen!  This will solve that issue and save us all a lot of upload/download time    )   

By far one of my most favourite classics (only preceded by the Austin Healey 100/6 or 3000. But above the MGA.    )


Your work seems very good from the photo's.... Ever thought of restoring a Cossie? 



Little engines. There are loads...   Try http://www.john-tom.com/html/ElmersEngines.html    Elmers engines are great.
They have quite a few crossover main body and some other parts, so you can make a couple of engines at the same time.

The "Tiny" would be a good one for a small lathe to start with maybe? although that said the "Baldy" isn't that big really.
If you make them to plan they shouldn't be too complicated     

You will need that vertical slide for most if not all of these though.




Got to go now, hope there was enough info to keep you going? See you around the forum.






Ralph.


P.S.  A few old build pic's of the toylander would be nice in the gallery too 

[Stilldrillin]

Hi Pete.

Welcome to the Collective. 

Just do what Ralph tells you, and you'll not be far wrong....... 

Hope you have a great time here. We do! 

David D

[andyf]

Hi Pete,

I envy you the GT6. My wife had a Spitfire back in the 70's, and I once removed its little engine s with the aid of a scaffold pole and some stepladders to act as a fulcrum. Hired an engine crane to put it back, which took 20 minutes from it sitting on the ground to installed and running. Cars were so much simpler then; when I lift the bonnet (hood) now, I'm baffled by what's under it.

There is a vertical slide sold for use on minilathes; I have one, but don't think that much of it, out of the box: http://andysmachines.weebly.com/the-vertical-milling-slide---criticisms.html . It would be more usable if holes were drilled/tapped into the cross-slide so it could be better positioned.

Some folk have utilised the topslide and its base as a vertical slide for light milling, by bolting its top to an angle plate, so the top becomes the fixed component and the base goes up and down, with some sort of vice fastened to what was its underside. Might be worth considering.

Andy

[Brass_Machine]

I need an under the bonnet shot of that most gorgeous GT6.
...

P.S.  A few old build pic's of the toylander would be nice in the gallery too 

Gotta agree with Ralph on both counts. I would love to see more pictures (some engine shots) of the GT6!

[Divided he ad]

Just do what Ralph tells you, and you'll not be far wrong....... 

Sounds like I got the whip out!   

I tried to make it sound more like a friendly suggestion!      





Hope I haven't scared Pete off?!   



Ralph.

[petrol edd]

Well thank you lads for a warm and responsive welcome, and ooopps very  sorry to all about the big photos, I didn't enter my head at all, I have now downloaded and set up fast stone and resized all the photos and will put them in the gallery under mk 1 gt6  for a more pleasant viewing experience, although I do not have to many of my toylander build, the gt6 on the other hand is well documented, but I do not have many pic’s of the engine at the moment though, I must point out that I do not own the gt6 I just did all of the work on it for a long standing friend, as it was to be the last car I did and has great sentimental value to my friend and his family so we pulled the stop's out and went town on it, as you will see it was a total nut and bolt rebuild, now back to the little engines, thank you for the link to john toms engines I had not found that site before and have now seen a few things I would like to have a go at, I think the baldy looks a good starting point, so I  am now going to get a vertical slide, I had a quick look at the one suggested by andyf  but have decided to get the proper job from axminster as it looks to have fairly good flexibility, so I am off this week to source the materials needed, then I will keep you all posted as to how I get on.

pete

[doubleboost]

Hi
Pete
Welcome to mad modders
TR6
Happy days
Served my time on them
John

[John Stevenson]

Hi Pete, Welcome.

Bookmark http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/ and look at it daily.

Surprising what turns up on that site, in fact there has just been some gear sold in Norfolk over the last couple of days.

Unlike Ebay sales and wanted are completely free, no fees apply.

John S.