ISSUE 85 - MARCH 2003

Saturday 12th April is the deadline for Issue 86 of The Railcar..  Submissions to editor@railcar.co.uk.

SUPPLIERS

INFORMATION WANTED Can anyone tell me where we can get replacement throttle motor piston seals? Does anyone know who makes the various bits for overhauling cylinder mounted unloader valves? Mike Froud.

DEAN FOREST RLY DMU GROUP A reminder that the Group have the following essential DMU items for sale:-
a). Brake feed valve kits - the last few of the second batch of these are still available at £15 each plus P & P, full instructions included.
b). Multiple Unit Jumper connection springs available at £1.50 each plus P&P. These are newly manufactured and come chemically blackened for protection against the elements. ( I believe someone else does the rubbers to go with these - what a combined package)!!!
C). Seat bollards (seat base clamp rubbers) for the undersides of the seat swabs to anchor them to the metal frame - available newly made from the original mould at only £1.20 plus P&P.
Contact Chris Bull

PRESERVATION

CLASS 107 LTD 52025 has moved to Leeming Bar on the Wensleydale Railway. Handover of the line is still being delayed by the administrative process so the siding with 52025 and the WR works train is currently isolated from the branch.

DMU GROUP (WM), SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY Throughout last year apart from running weekly services, the Group contracted Stuart Mackay to paint the exteriors of cars 52064 and 51941. With no covered facilities he had a trying time fitting various stages of the job in between showers and the, for April, heat of the sun!

The lavatory compartment has been rebuilt from the floor upward. Roof ventilators have been removed, cleaned, sealed and refitted leaving only one vent open above each saloon. This was a recommendation from SVR C&W to cut down the incidence of leaks at this location. Stuart fitted new ceiling panels leaving us to complete beading and painting. We purchased new beading at £8.00 per 5-metre length, plus VAT and carriage from Klockner Aluminium Services Ltd., Unit 1, Burnt Tree Island Ind. Estate, Tipton, West Midlands DY4 7UD. Tel:- 0121-522-2722. Order code at their sales office is EXM 25.4mm x 3.18mm x 5.0mm ODFE (overall diameter featheredge).

Current work in early 2003 is to change cylinder heads on both engines on 52064. This is a stopgap until the engines can be removed for heavy overhaul. An engine ex-51941 waits rebuilding, for which parts are to hand, just lack of time prevents progress. Non-destructive testing of axles is due this year. The Severn Valley Railway Co has called up a full independent mechanical report on our Railcars. It is hoped to do this in the spring of this year.

EAST LANCS RAILWAY The owner of the Class 110 is appealing for help with the maintenance on the set. The unit is out of action until this is brought up to date. Contact Allan Scholfield.

• If you can help any of the following groups with their needs or information, please e-mail us at editor@railcar.co.uk

FOR SALE

Pressed Steel Heritage have surplus items for disposal -Four AC203 alternators - £100 each or swap for AC8s. Two ex-Class 116 vertical silencers, £50 each. Contact Mervyn Rogers 01277 623141

Injectors - New injectors for Leyland 680 engines. BR part no. 15-77004. £18 each plus postage/carriage. Contact David Aldridge (55000) 01626 879453.

Class 121 DTS 56285 - The body and running gear are in good order but the brake cylinders are missing and the inside needs the fittout completing. Contact Chris Osborne at c_osborneuk@yahoo.co.uk 

WANTED

Heater control boxes - some 'all in one' large control boxes required for the cabs of the Wickham unit. Evan Green-Hughes evangreenhughes@ic24.net 

SERVICING

The following notes about servicing of components are drawn from the experience of members of the DMU Group (WM). The remarks are only specific to Class 108 Railcars and are made available for the guidance of operators of diesel multiple units. The group is always available to offer further advice on work that has been published in Railcar Bulletin's.

Leyland Engines
Beware - During the refitting of valve rocker equipment to 680 type engines. Our fitter Neil Lloyd normally checks to ensure oil is being pumped through the rockers to lubricate the valve stems and guides. He found no oil was being delivered to four rocker arms out of twelve on No.2 engine on 52064. Hence the need to replace the valves and guides in the faulty cylinder head owing to the stems being badly worn. On investigation it was found the oilway holes in the bronze bushes of three rocker arms had not been drilled out. It is possible the rockers had been rebushed at some time, but the 'crap' fitter who did the job failed to provide an oil hole through the bush. On the strength of this revelation, the writer inspected the old 51941 engine to find a similar thing on five rockers. So far six rocker sets have been taken apart for inspection and nine of the thirty-six rocker arms needed the oilways drilled out. It was first thought that wear had caused the blockage, due to the bronze having been rolled-over the hole owing to lack of lubricant. The fair condition of the bushes does not suggest mechanical damage. A valid point to remember when refitting rocker shaft gear - make sure the rocker shaft oil inlet hole is lined up with the oilway in the central mounting block and the machined indent in the shaft. The mountings to left and right will line up with their own indents and are secured in position by the studs, which pass through the rocker mountings. One set was found to have the shaft mounted up side down; the rocker oilways were out of line by 180deg° therefore no oil delivery. The forcing of the rocker mounting onto the studs had caused damage to the threads and the shank of the studs. Machining off the burrs and running a 1/2" BSF die along the threads restored them. The valves and guides on this head were badly worn and have been replaced.

Fuel Tank Gauges
As part of a fuel tank de-sludging operation we removed the fuel gauges and the tank fillers to allow steam cleaning of the interiors, as much as the baffles will allow. At the same time the gauges were checked and the mechanism cleaned. For those who have not yet got round to cleaning the gauges the following tips may be of help. They are very simple devices and are operated by a magnetic force upon the steel tipped arrow shaped needle. After removal of the aluminium bezel the 'glass' will fall out revealing the dial face and needle. Carefully clean the dial face, plastic 'glass' and aluminium body with paraffin. Use a soft brass wire brush and buff the body casting to remove discoloration. The needle can be placed back on its central brass bearing, which is a free running fit in the bearing and is held in place by magnetism. By hand operation of the float arm, the needle will follow the movement of the magnet precisely. If the unit has a hollow copper float check for leaks by listening for any liquid trapped inside. If you can identify the point of entry drill a small hole to empty the float and clean thoroughly around the hole. With the float mounted hole upward, carefully heat the area and reseal with a blob of solder. Warning, too much heat and the float will drop into two pieces. Not much fun having to start all over again! Check for leaks by submerging in water for a short time and look for bubbles. Some units are fitted with cork floats that are less prone to wrong reading.

Radiator Fan Units
The group have stripped and rebuilt two radiator and fan units owing to worn bearings. One had been wrongly assembled and the bearings were not fitted properly in their housings causing about 1/8" of lateral play. The job is not difficult but very dirty. We separated the radiators from the fans and steam cleaned the radiator matrix of impacted rubbish. Years of accumulated grease was removed from the fan casting then finished in a power solvent bosh. Protecting each bearing is felt grease seal, which gets forced out of its housing by excessive use of a grease gun. As a consequence the seals are of no further use. The writer has had a small batch of new seals made for this purpose and will be able to supply to order. Before fitting it is essential that the running surfaces for the seals are cleaned up and polished in a centre lathe to avoid premature wear. On re-assembly bolt fan to driving shaft, drive new ball bearing into fan end of aluminium cowl and fit bearing cover; complete with new felt seal and lock-wire the four hexagon bolts. Place driving shaft with driving flange on a hard surface then lower cowl over the shaft until it bottoms out on the ball bearing inner race. With a hollow drift long enough to clear the length of the shaft, drive the fan cowl onto the roller bearing inner race. At this stage check the length of both tubular distance pieces by placing them into the cowl. The outer one will be a firm fit but not tight. Next measure precisely the distance from the top surface of the distance piece to the upper surface of the cowl. Compare this with the width of the new roller bearing. If this measurement allows the bearing to finish up level with the upper surface the rest of the build up can continue. However, in some cases it has been found that the two distance pieces are too long and need machining back to achieve the bearing position mentioned above. Put the outer distance piece in position then pump the centre casting of the unit with grease before fitting the roller bearing. This has three holes through which grease will penetrate. Ensure grease exudes through all holes by placing a tuft of rag over each hole as it fills up. When filled remove rag and place inner distance in position over driving shaft. Continue to pump more grease into cavity and ensure that it is pushed down to the roller bearing already fitted. Allow grease to rise until it reaches top of the outer distance piece. Next fit roller bearing outer race, which should be an easy interference, fit in the casting. Tap it down with a clean piece hard wood and make sure it seats onto the outer distance piece. Then fit the inner roller race onto fan driving shaft. With the correct size hollow drift tap this into place until seated onto inner distance piece. Fit bearing cover with new felt seal and lock-wire the bolts. Replace washer and 5/8" BSF castellated nut and tighten down until it lines up with the split pinhole and put new 1/8" pin and secure. Finally give about five pump strokes of the grease gum to complete filling the cavity. By the method outlined above, the operator can judge the small amount of extra grease required to be pumped through the nipple to ensure adequate lubrication of the new bearings. We recommend only three pumps from the gun per annum, which ought to be sufficient for the small mileage our heritage units cover in service. Items required for repair are one RLS9 roller bearing and one LS9 ball bearing and two felt seals as mentioned above. The bearings are standard stock items with all suppliers.

Leyland 0.680 exhaust manifold servicing
The three-piece exhaust manifold fitted to 0.680's are often troublesome with oil leaking from the centre portion. This looks very unsightly as well as a nice sticky area to catch all the brake block dust. There are two ways to overcome this dependent upon circumstances. If the engine is in service, a temporary method is to clean around the cast iron collars on the two outer portions. Obtain some thin gauge sheet aluminium and form into a cylinder to wrap around the collars. Then fill the central section with silicone exhaust cement and push as much into the joints. Close the cylinder so that the silicone will compress and secure the job with a Jubilee clip over each collar. This device has worked well on the engines of 52064 until we exchanged the cylinder heads as mentioned above. Thanks for this tip goes to ace Leyland engineer, Steve Knight who has used this method for a long time on 0.680 'bus engines.

If the manifold has been removed from the engine it is wise to dismantle into three sections. Descale the outer manifolds with a rotary wire brush and tap with a hammer to remove as much carbon as possible. If there are heavy deposits they can always be placed in a forge or large bonfire, and heated to a dull red to burn out the oily carbon. After slow cooling tap the casting until all the deposits drop out. The central section is machined to carry two piston rings at each end. These are meant to provide a gas tight joint at the outer collars. This ring joint is flexible enough to allow any misalignment and expansion of the two cylinder blocks and reduce the possibility of cracking the manifolds. Usually, the rings are corroded into the grooves and have not done their job properly for years. The writer recommends breaking up the old rings. And cleaning the ring grooves in a centre lathe. Finish by polishing both ends with emery cloth to remove old carbon. To re-assemble, hold one end of manifold in a vice and apply a good bead of silicone exhaust cement to collar, gently fit and compress new rings into grooves with the radial joints set at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Remove from vice and place other end facing upward with a bead of cement inside collar. Offer the completed end onto the lower collar and compress rings until they fall into position. This care and attention to detail has been very successful in eliminating oil leaks at this vulnerable point. Rings are available through stockists, the precise measurements are 3 1/8" dia. x 1/8" width x 1/8" radial depth. Happy ring fitting if you are doing it out in the depths of winter!

Thanks to Trevor Daw for these notes. Next month we will have his notes on servicing heaters.

And off course fell free if you want to submit anything!

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