Gearbox and engine controls

I had originally thought to use cable controls with a 'Morse' type lever. But the practicality of trying to mate these cables to a vintage engine, coupled with the difficulty of trying to route the cables through the back cabin, made me start considering traditional, speedwheel and lever controls.

Whilst browsing Tony and Paul Redshaw's website (http://www.vintagediesels.co.uk/), I spotted their offer of a complete kit, which seemed just the job. Having collected the kit, I was presented with an interesting collection of trunions, bell cranks, rod ends and various other bits, which all looked pretty confusing. Luckily, they also supplied a very helpful diagram of how it should all go together!

Having figured out some of the basics, i.e. to go forward, the gearbox lever needs to go back, but the D-handle needs to go forward, this dictated how the bell cranks needed to be set up.

But before I could do anything, I had to install the T&G boards to the back cabin and engine room roof.

The gear lever was drilled and tapped to take the ball joint and was linked to the bell crank. The cranks were supported on two pieces of inch-thick ash.

Then the rest of the linkage was completed back to the D-handle, with a detent for neutral.

Fitting the throttle control was reasonably straightworward, after drilling and tapping the throttle bar to take the ball joint. The lever box was located directly above and was connected back via two universal joints.

Speedwheel and D-handle in place and working correctly.

Next job was to connect up the fuel lines from the main tanks to the engine. I had had the engine running from a 5-litre can; now it was time to make a proper job!

PVC-coated copper tube, brought through the bulkhead in Copex, to resist abrasion.

Fuel Guard filter in place. This removes water and contaminants from the fuel. I abandoned the idea of including the recirculating function in this location. It involved too many components and joints, with the attendant risk of leaks.

The cooling system is finally complete! It took a while to get some airlocks out of the system, but it's all working nicely now. It took 35L of anti-freeze mix to fill it. Now I was able to run the engine for an extended period and vary the speed accurately with the speedwheel.

The alternator is working well, a little too well in fact. It generates over 100A @28V on tickover, which is somewhat overloading the engine. So I may fit a larger driven pulley to reduce the load a bit.