New Toy, Bamford tulip top

i went to collect the 1921 tulip top today and gotta say im in love with it already, it was lagged in dirt when i got it, which has all been removed now, i have not ran it yet, as want to change greese in the cups and oil in the dripper, i also wanna change the fuel, got lots of questions so will ask after ive posted the photos, the wood frame was completley rotten, but got something lined up.

1 does anyone know how many of these were made
2 what aditive do i have to add to the fuel and at what ratio
3 shall i give it a lick of paint or leave it normal
4 i have a gaurd for it but really would like a good one, anyone no were i can get one

ill have more later, forgotten the others

Hi Ryan!

Thats a lush engine!!!

Id say leave the paintwork as it seems in good condition

Id say use unleaded because leaded was not invented yet

Adam

about the aditive, is the chap who had it used a mix, as he said unleaded was to much for the engine, and old 4 star was the better in these engines, i have no idea

ryan wrote:about the aditive, is the chap who had it used a mix, as he said unleaded was to much for the engine, and old 4 star was the better in these engines, i have no idea

Old 4 start has a higher octane level then unleaded, lead was put it for engines that had soft valve seats, as that engine is that old as Statman said 4 star wasnt invented so it would have used unleaded any way.

get some good thick grease, make sure the timmings right on in, dont want it to back fire and catch on fire!

Cheers Steve

also is that a webster mag on it, i cant tell as the plate has worn away, looks like a webster

the only person i can think of for a splash guard would be frank gelder (franks tanks) as they make them for amancos and other such engines.

you can add some sdditive into the fuel, something that lubricates the upper engine could harm, though excessive quantites will cause bad firing.

if the paints original, then maybe leaving it be and wiping over with linseed oil would be a sound move, touching up isnt really an option as it will stand out if you dont get the shade right. so leave it as is, or go the whole hogg!

lovely engine regardless

Paul

i think ill leave the paint as it is clean , as for the fuel im lost , as in what mix to use

Unleaded will be fine Ryan, don't worry!

Pete.

you could try a addative but i would try without 1st so your not waisting your money.

Cheers Steve

Very nice boy!

shes a beast, I am going to do your shot blasting in a bit, you still coming down tomorrow? Please pm me as my phone network is down near here.

cheers

Ryan, that is a great find well done. I love the tulip tops

The picture is of my mates tulip top on an original bamford trolley. The flywheels are skimmed on this, but are usually painted silver. This one runs on unleaded fine.

i wasnt expecting it to be so heavy so may end up trailer mounting it

ryan wrote:i wasnt expecting it to be so heavy so may end up trailer mounting it

haha, they are extremely heavy, maybe trailer mounting may b a good idea, i'd get a leaf sprung axle tho, they cope with having weight on them constantly, much better than suspension units would.

if i get the Fergy registered sucessfully, i'm taking it to shildon vintage vehicles rally in april, will tow a trailer of stationary engines behind, but i may mount my CS on the trailer and take it to its first ever rally.

dont think the fergy will be going to the 1000 engine though! lol

Paul

its a pain in my ass really as didnt really want another trailer, but got to really now, dont look nothing to look at , then you try and lift it, good god its heavy

ryan wrote:its a pain in my ass really as didnt really want another trailer, but got to really now, dont look nothing to look at , then you try and lift it, good god its heavy

Would a turnable trolly not do the job?

Cheers Steve

Bamfords are known for it, the SD4's were hugely heavy! lead crankcase sticks in my mind, god they were always extremely heavy engines were bamfords.

Paul

but i have a combo van, its quite high and i dont wanna risk the ramps slipping out underneeth could be fatel

ryan wrote:but i have a combo van, its quite high and i dont wanna risk the ramps slipping out underneeth could be fatel

dont worry about that, the trick is to design a locking device so the ramps cant slide out from underneath, and fit a winch to the from of the load bay to haul the engine up the ramp, easy!11

Paul

ryan wrote:but i have a combo van, its quite high and i dont wanna risk the ramps slipping out underneeth could be fatel

Fair one i remember someone who had a Astramax van had two holes drilled into the floor so that the ramps could be pinned in place.

Cheers Steve

i gotta say though, my van is superb when it comes to weight, both adam and john will confirm that, but the bamford was alot for it, id like to know what they weigh

ryan wrote:i gotta say though, my van is superb when it comes to weight, both adam and john will confirm that, but the bamford was alot for it, id like to know what they weigh

your van should probably carry about 550kgs in the boot, maybe more, but that would be being a bit ott, the bamford wont weight more than 400kg at the absolute max, bear in mind my CS weights 440, and the rustons 450, and they are huge engines, so surely this cant be more than 350-400 tops

Paul

Lovely engine Ryan. I have a soft spot for the early open crank engines. The bamfords are a realy nice engine, we currently have 5 of the open crank models in our collection, with the possibility of a sixth coming in the enxt few months.

The mag has packed up, but im not fussed about that as the engine was cheap anyway, we got her fired on battery and coil, she nearly took my arm off which was quite funny, but she doesnt seem to be sucking fuel up that well, so may have to play a little more

ryan wrote:The mag has packed up, but im not fussed about that as the engine was cheap anyway, we got her fired on battery and coil, she nearly took my arm off which was quite funny, but she doesnt seem to be sucking fuel up that well, so may have to play a little more

hmmm could the fuel suction problem be not enough air getting into the tank? causing a vacuum? or is the another method of drawing the fuel up?

Paul