Sunday 2 September 2018

Ferrari Tractor Restoration

This is what the Ferrari looked like 6 years ago...

... and this is what it looks like now...

It was quite fun taking it to Dorchester Show those years ago, so now it has been relieved of duties, it's time to give it a bii of spit and polish.

First question, what colour is it? You can get Fergie grey or Massey red anywhere, but Ferrari green not so much. I taking a guess at RAL 6001 Emerald Green.

The mesh guards over the rear lights have no trace of any original paint, and i can't see them on any of the picures I can find on the web. Perhaps they are not original fit but they were on it when I got it. I'm going to guess at black. 

So, I've started. Lets see how this goes...

Easyspin Overhaul


I recently acquired an Easyspin spinning wheel, which had been out of service for a few years. The first thing to do was to give it a good clean and lubricate, with 800 wet&dry and white grease. The spindle was easy to do by treadling while holding the abrasive paper against it - once I had fitted a new 3mm PU drive belt, as the original elastic was stretched beyond all redemption. The flyer hooks needed a little attention from a die grinder.
The next problem was a missing orifice loop. I couldn't find anything about this on the web, it it seemed fairly self evident what was needed, which could be bent up out of coat hanger wire.






Then there was the connecting rod. The leather strap connecting it to teh treadle was in dubious conditoin, and anyway, I like a double-acting treadle. This wheel has a rigid conrod but flexible liknages at both ends. I replaced teh leather strap with a small ball joint (made to be a track ord end on remote control cars)...

 ...and put a restraining clip on the keyhole slot on the other end.



Personally ]I think that makes it much more usable, although given how few wheels have properly double-acting tereadles I assume I must be in the minority.
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