Colchester Bantam Mk1 1600

[Carl Wilson]

Thanks for the reply. In the UK, government, or more likely EU, legislation has spiked the guns of off the shelf paint strippers. You can still buy Methyl Chloride though.

The techniques you are using seem good. My Harrison Mill has had silver paint of unknown composition daubed over the original grey. In places it is really thick and the plan is to strip it back completely and repaint.

The grille is interesting as I have one similar to it on the mill, which is the cover for the motor compartment. Which is also the coolant sump. What bright spark thought of that?! I think the grille is cast aluminium.

Your thread on the restoration of your Bantam is a great source of information and knowledge.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Thanks for the reply. In the UK, government, or more likely EU, legislation has spiked the guns of off the shelf paint strippers. You can still buy Methyl Chloride though.

The techniques you are using seem good. My Harrison Mill has had silver paint of unknown composition daubed over the original grey. In places it is really thick and the plan is to strip it back completely and repaint.

The grille is interesting as I have one similar to it on the mill, which is the cover for the motor compartment. Which is also the coolant sump. What bright spark thought of that?! I think the grille is cast aluminium.

Your thread on the restoration of your Bantam is a great source of information and knowledge.

Thank you for saying so - I try to deliver quality content and views which aren’t repeated elsewhere on the net. For example, I did not know that the travelling steady was not one solid cast object but instead it’s quite hollow.

I had a look for some Harrison grills and you’re right, they look dead similar. They’re deceptively heavy too, despite being ally. I sandblasted mine clean once I’d cracked and scraped off the heaviest paint. In places I counted seven layers. The last layer (whitish grey) seemed to have been applied with a fluff-covered rag.

Incidentally, the Bantam end guards were originally aluminium, not fibreglass, so this little foray into cleaning the grills has set me in good stance to clean that up. Though my machine is a 1975 (and came with the plastic guard) I found a metal guard and replaced it. There are details earlier in the thread.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Paint prep for the steady - I used the graduate to turn two wooden dowels just under the size of the bores, then wrapped them with masking tape to provide a seal. I’ve filled the threaded holes with blu-tac and masked off the faces where the bolts touch. Now it’s off to etch prime.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Here you go @Carl Wilson this is the stuff I use. Got it on my hand and it did burn a bit but it’s not that bad the drawer took two goes on account that the paint was good, hard and mainly undamaged, slight bit of rust but generally sound.

The steady is in etch primer and now filler primer. I’ll take the dowels out for final painting.

 

[Dieselman 63]

At some point, the sump overflowed and spilled all over the shelf. It is now clear it also spilled into the drawer. The base was covered in dried oil and coolant. There is rust and chipped paint on the inside. I thought I would leave this but you know, in for a penny and all that... I’m going to strip the lot and stick it into primer. The back edge is visible so will need to be painted, as will the front, obviously. I’ll leave the drawer innards as primer with the carpet tiles to line it.

There are very few instances where a job on this machine hasn’t turned into something much larger than expected!

 

[Carl Wilson]

That's the stuff - dichloromethane. In the UK (at the behest of the EU) this has been removed from over the counter paint stripper.

The picture of the grille on your Harrison Grinder is magnificent. That is the sort of finish I'm hoping for on my mill. It's going to be a long term job.

I've just finished making new levelling feet for my M250 so I'm hoping to get onto the mill soon. It's been sitting a year waiting for me to start it!

 

[Dieselman 63]

That's the stuff - dichloromethane. In the UK (at the behest of the EU) this has been removed from over the counter paint stripper.

The picture of the grille on your Harrison Grinder is magnificent. That is the sort of finish I'm hoping for on my mill. It's going to be a long term job.

I've just finished making new levelling feet for my M250 so I'm hoping to get onto the mill soon. It's been sitting a year waiting for me to start it!

This is what’s under the glossy finish - lots of filler! Then a wash of spray filler-primer over the top, ties it all together.

It is a long term job. It’s also filthy too - I’ve been putting off doing the cabinet for ages now, but at some point you just have to bite the bullet! There is so much work still to go but my mantra is that if I’m going to take it all apart, I’m best off cleaning it properly as I’ll never take it apart again.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Remarkably I’m still getting sawdust off this thing. It’s just got *everywhere*, shown on a sanding block is some of it. Machine tools and sawdust do not like one another!

I’ve finished stripping the drawer in and out. Boring stuff, so I powered ahead, whacked on some acid techno and got into a rhythm. Then afterwards I looked to my left and saw this - the sump, the last bit of sheetmetal left to strip! Grrr...

The sump looks like it should be dark grey, and the pump hammered silver. I think it will look great like that, especially once the lamp is back on.

 

[Brad93]

My sump needs doing. Not looking forward to it. Sods painted all over the motor too!

 

[Dieselman 63]

My sump needs doing. Not looking forward to it. Sods painted all over the motor too!

I’m wondering if there’s something I can paint the insides with. I did nothing originally but the water turned orange with the rust from the steel. Perhaps spray galv?

Nothing like a school technician and a paintbrush!

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I’m wondering if there’s something I can paint the insides with. I did nothing but the water turned orange with the rust from the steel. Perhaps spray galv?

What's wrong with enamel paint.
It should be oil proof

 

[Dieselman 63]

What's wrong with enamel paint.
It should be oil proof

Could do. I just wondered if there was something specific for lining tanks etc

 

[Hopefuldave]

Could do. I just wondered if there was something specific for lining tanks etc

I used garage floor epoxy (had about half a pint left over), it seems to be holding up well - but getting the cast-iron sump clean enough was a bit of a task... Decent machine enamel would do a good job too?

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[Seadog]

I used white Smoothrite for mine.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I used white Smoothrite for mine.

Why white, if I may ask?

 

[Seadog]

It was originally white, as was all of the internal surfaces, so white I painted it

 

[Carl Wilson]

There is two pack paint called Corroless. I use it at work where it stands up to immersion in sea water.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Today I painted the insides of the drawer. Loads of boring prep scraping this clean, but we got there in the end. Looks much neater in there now with the carpet tiles in too. The chrome on the handle is peeling (good old British chrome!) so I’m going to scrape it all off and wire brush it; this will match the smaller one I bought which is wire brush finished. Most of it comes off in sheets, there’s rust under there.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Final sheetmetal stripping done on the underside (there’s still that huge splashguard to go up top). The sump is now in bare metal, and will be painted when I buy primer, hopefully later in the week. The pump is a little rusted up, after being cleaned previously... this is why I thought lining the tank might be a good idea!

Bonus pic is the spring tensioned (and nail secured!) lever for the brake. It’s Heath-Robinson but it looks pretty!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

(and nail secured!)

Tsk, tsk