Drilled and reamed 5mm the hole on the timing bracket where the leaf spring of the contact arm is fixed. This spring has to be insulated from the bracket. So next done were a couple of Tufnol bushes that came with the kit. Simple turning and drilling operation. This basically makes the bracket casting complete.
Decided to next work on the oil reservoir. It consists mainly of a transparent plastic tube and brass end caps and fittings. For the plastic tube I thought of using the body of a 10ml plastic syringe (photo 1). It is wider than what I need but I will adjust the dimensions of the endcaps accordingly. I managed to remove the black graduations (photo 2) with nail polish remover that I surreptitiously ‘borrowed’.
I did not want to use a hacksaw to cut the body of the syringe to a specified length, so I devised a setup using a Stanley knife blade. Using a toolmaker's clamp I clamped the blade to the toolpost of the lathe. Did a trial cut and it worked nicely.
Made the 5mm centre tube with threads on each end. There were no dimensions for the inside diameter so I made it 2.5mm. Did also the end caps. As they are the same I decided to make them together from the same bar stock. Using 18mm bar stock I marked and partially parted the end caps. Drilled and tapped 5mm and then plunged a 16mm end mill 1.5mm deep. Opened up to desired ID with a boring tool . Parted off the first end cap and did the same procedure for the second end cap.
Photos show both finished end caps and the end caps fitted to the plastic tube. Filled the reservoir with water to see if it leaks. I was surprised to find that it did not leak at all but left it like that with the water to see if it leaks in the long run.
Started work on the 90 degree oil outlet connection and used a piece of scrap brass to carve it out.
Brought it down to a rectangular 8 x 10.5 x 16mm. Ideally I would have used a 4 jaw chuck for the machining but the thing is so small and fiddly to set up in the 4 jaw chuck that I decided to use the rotary table on the milling machine. I first did the nipple on which the plastic pipe will fit. Drilled 1.5mm and then shaped the nipple with an end mill.
Rounded off the top of the nipple with a Dremel grinding stone and cut 3 grooves with a Dremel cutoff disk.
Drilled and tapped 5mm and then drilled a 1mm hole to break through the other 1.5mm hole. Then milled round to a diameter of 6.5mm.
