Hymac 580BT 1969

[Jeremy Rowland]

Last Thursday the final rebuild of this lever and its refitting took place, you would not believe just how fiddly those daft spring loaded clevis pins are to get fitted back into the clevis, in my younger days the air would have turned blue
After much struggling and help from one of the lads who regularly goes to the farm, the lever was back in place and tried and tested, at least the right hand lever is easier to get off (I hope) as I'll probably tackle that next.
I had a box of grease nipples only to find that they were the wrong thread, so I checked grease would pass through the old ones before fitting the lever back in place.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

Now it was time to get to grips with the right hand lever, once again the bolt heads were cut off using an angle grinder, this lever was much worse than the left and has at sometime in the past had a clout.
Heat was needed to get certain bits apart and the bushes on this side were shot, they are an unusual size 13/16" O/D x 5/8" I/D by 1/2" Long, I have some on order although a bit longer I can cut them down easy enough.
I have bought some different fork clevis for this side after the fiasco I experienced fitted the spring loaded type in the left lever.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

It was the turn for the right hand lever control rods this week, the clevis at the end of the rod which fits onto the spool valve is slightly smaller in size so I have put a couple on order. I decided to fit brand new clevis forks with the clip type attachment to lock them after the faff I had with the other side, not many photos but a good days work, so I came away feeling happy.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

Repair work continues on the right-hand control lever, part of the lever control had been bent at some time in the past, so heat was applied and I hammered it to get it as straight as I could, new bushes were fitted this side as they were worn out. I managed to get all the components cleaned off from any rust, then painted and ready for re-assembly on my next visit which won't be for at least a couple of weeks now.

Jeremy

[Matchless?58]

You did well to get that lever control straight Jeremy. That's a thick chunk of metal. Making good progress and always an interesting read plus I pick up hints and tips and all knowledge is power.
Cheers Chris

[Jeremy Rowland]

You did well to get that lever control straight Jeremy. That's a thick chunk of metal. Making good progress and always an interesting read plus I pick up hints and tips and all knowledge is power.
Cheers Chris

Thanks Chris, it is indeed a thick chunk, I guess that at sometime in the machines past it has been slewed over something solid which has bent it, the bushes in the other part are an unusual size, 5/8" internal diameter but 13/16" O/D the old ones were in blind tight, I guess they had been slightly expanded due to the movement over the years, the new bushes were loose so I resorted to the old center punch and loctite trick, if it was good enough to hold Seddon front hub bearing races in place then it will be good enough to hold these bushes in place. I did get it all nice 'n' tight so I'm confident of a good repair.
I find it quite therapeutic fixing these old machines, I can't ever see them being worth anything but as long as I continue to enjoy the work then I will plod on, keeps the body and mind fit.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Rowland]

Well at long last I got another day off work so my priority was to get the right hand control lever fitted back together and onto the machine, the paint was well and truly dry by now so it was just a matter of assembly and refitting.
I had wanted to rub down the cab floor and get it painted but alas it was just too damp for that, so I quickly got the whole lot re-assembled, fitted new grease nipples and got the lever fitted back on, the new clevis and pins that I fitted on this side are spot on much better than the original idea with the spring loaded type threaded clevis.
So quite happy with what I managed to get done.

Jeremy

[topkit]

Loveley job Jeremy, great to see all of the grease nipples, There is something satisfying when you grease a machine up and you finally see the grease comeing out of the joints especially on a machine that has been neglected over the years,

[Jeremy Rowland]

Loveley job Jeremy, great to see all of the grease nipples, There is something satisfying when you grease a machine up and you finally see the grease comeing out of the joints especially on a machine that has been neglected over the years,

Indeed and this poor old machine has seen some action in her time, still lots I want to get done on it as and when the time permits, and that is in between working on the other machines, guess I have my work cut out.

Jeremy

[essexpete]

Where, out of interest, did you source the new rubbery gaters?