Bowman M101 Restoration

RocDoc · Bowman M101 Restoration

It's here ... the Bowman M101 that I won recently on ebay.

As you can see, the overall condition is pretty good. The piston turns freely ... bit of grim here and there etc. Needs a good clean and polish of course. The base will need repainting as the paint work is badly cracked all over the place. The logo is just about visible but also cracked.

This shot is looking towards the back of the engine and flywheel. Looks like it could be a simple soldering job to secure the steam pipe back in place. Would you recommend silver soldering for this join? Would also need to make an exhaust tube ... and a chimney.

View from the rear ...

The boiler needs the most work. The central stay bolt is missing resulting in two holes in each end cap. I will need to pick some ones brains about how to fix this. The screw 'saftey value' is easily replaced with a proper valve. The small bit just above the hole ... is that the remains of the filler plug? (do 101s have filler plugs).

The firebox is in one piece, albeit a bit rusty. Bit of rust inhibitor and some new paint will make the firebox look like new again.

Finally, the burner. Got a small dent at the top (no hole) and the burner tube and screw top is missing. Should be a fairly straight forward restoration job (he says). Some questions for fellow 101 owners ...

a) how long is the burner tube?
b) how long is the split in the tube (for the wick)?
c) what is the distance between the burner body and the split?

There you go .. not bad for £48.

Hope to start the restoration soon.

Watch this space

Pete

Dampfzauberer

Hi,
If i may add something:
Before you go on and repaint the whole base, try to save the paint!
Spill some oil on the whole paint and rub it in.
Let it cure for one hour or so and then whipe off.

I always do that on old german engine.
The effect is the paint gets a bit more "shiney" and you get all the grime off.

Please, try this before you repaint it.
From here, the paint Looks cracked but still okay (as long as it is not flaking off)

Just a thought of me

Les

That doesn't look too bad at all, I would replace the chimney and the exhaust pipe but I would only do soft soldering on the engine, it doesn't need silver soldering at all.

Here is the chimney size for you.

101 chimney, 8 1/2" long, exhaust pipe hole 2 5/8" from bottom.
101 chimney slots 3 1/4" from bottom, 3/4" long.

As for the boiler you can use a piece of tubing and push it all the way though to replace the original threaded rod, then just solder some brass thread and nut in the ends of the tubing.

Burnmafingers

I can't help you with your questions but it looks a nice engine to get to grips with!

Les

You remove the safety valve to fill it, what you can see on the end is the remains of the water level plug.

Roly Williams · Re: Bowman M101 Restoration

You got yourself a bargain there.

Some answers to your queries:

Les

You remove the safety valve to fill it, what you can see on the end is the remains of the water level plug.

MooseMan

Cracker Pete!!!

The stay rod's easy peasy - you need some 5/32 brass rod, preferably m4 threaded. Secure intoplace with a couple of nuts and solder up. Or you can fake it with a 5/32 brass tube, with a decapitated m4 machine screw in one end to make the threaded chimney stay (that's what I did).

The tube on my burner is 110mm long and 8mm od. The slot is 4mm wide. It is 80mm long and starts 12mm from the burner body.

No need to silver solder the steam tube, in fact you won't be able to as it has previously been soft soldered. The only thing you may want to silver solder is the end of the burner tube.

The only problem you'll have is getting the small gear....but I think that with determination and some sharp files you could cut one from bar stock - you'll just have to find a friendly party to borrow an original from

Les

RocDoc

Wow ... brillant suggestions ... thanks.

Dampfzauberer: Yes I will try that. The paint isn't peeling .. just cracked. I'd prefer not to paint if I can help it. What sort of oil would you recommend?

Les, Roly and Mooseman ... thanks very for the measurements. I'm just thinking ... could any one post a photo of the end of the boiler showing the water level plug and the end of the stay rod ... just so that I know what it should look like. I have some 5/32" rod somewhere ... I'll need a 'die' to make the M4 thread.

Just thinking more (always dangerous) ... if I do a brass rod through the boiler (as a new stay rod) and solder in place, will there be any problems when the boiler expands during heating?

Sorry ... when I said filler plug I meant the overflow plug. I had a Homer moment ... do-oh.

Pete

Dampfzauberer

Oh I think sewing machine oil wil be okay.
Or steam oil, if not too thick.
Or WD40 if you have

Something light, as it has to go "into the paint"

For me, it is very common to see cracked paint.
The paint on old german engine is mostly very fine cracked.

This BTW is a very sought after effect, if your engine does not have original paint anymore!
Engines on ebay with old, cracked paint on the bases etc. will mostly sell higher than repainted engines. Think of that

RocDoc

27ace27

madeinenglang

Nick

Sandman

I replaced the boiler stay with a length of stainless steel threaded rod, and two nuts soldered at each end,

I bought the threaded rod, and all that was required was cutting it to length.

Saves any bother and you don't need to worry about corrosion.

Just another suggestion, Pete.

Hope it helps.

Roly Williams

Sandman

Roly Williams

Atticman

Only to say thats a real bargain Pete, IMHO restoring/ bringing back from the dead is miles more satisfying than buying a minter that you dare not run.

The stay is a perennial problem and in a way its good its all out- it solves the descision of whether to strip down or just keep going, knowing at some point they will give out.

Les

RocDoc

Les

Les

M101 filler plug and stay.

IndianaRog

Steve_S

Wow Pete, that was an utter bargain! Looks like an early one too. I'm sure it will look stunning when you've cleaned it up.

RocDoc

Hi Steve,

Yeah, still can't believe my luck. How can you tell it is an early one ... no grove in the flywheel??

Pete

Steve_S

I think the convex boiler endcap (rather than flat) and the lack of a steam valve indicate that it's an early one.

RocDoc

Been doing a bit of spit and polishing of the 101 boiler this evening. Cleaning up a real treat. Not quite finished yet. Guess what I found inside the boiler? ... a level plug (probably Bowman?) and a long thin screw thing. They look well rusty but you can make out the level plug (see photo). What would be the best way to clean these?

There is also something else which is a bit strange in the boiler. I originally thought it was the remains of the stay rod but I think it's actually soldered in place because it appears to extend from the location of the level plug to the other end of the boiler (as far as I can tell). It's not loose and doesn't rattle. Also, the place where the level plug should go just doesn't look right (to me anyway). It looks more like a nipple rather then the remains of a level plug plus collar.

What do you think? Did some of the 101s have a second rod inside the boiler or could this boiler have been repaired at some time.

Cheers

Pete

Les

You are right about the level plug, the other part is the remains of the safety valve.

RocDoc

Now you mention it Les ... of course it is ... well spotted.

Pete

Les

It sounds as if the boiler has been repaired before but it's wrongly done, the stay should go from the hole below the level plug to the corresponding hole the other end of the boiler. You will need to take out the one in there and move it.

Steve_S

Yes, sounds like somebody has done a dodgy repair. I have a tiny light bulb on the end of a wire that I can insert into safety valve or whistle holes to let me see what's going on inside a boiler. An LED would do instead of a bulb. It's a very handy thing to make. Its surprising how often that bottom part of the SV is found rattling around in Bowman boilers. I think I've had three like that. You're lucky that the overflow plug was in there.... never had that!

RocDoc

Another day ... another development. Mooseman suggested that I should find something long and thin, slip it in and wiggle it about a bit ... and then perhaps use a screwdriver to see if the rod is just rusted into place.

I used a screwdriver, gave it a little wiggle and guess what ... out it came. Check out the photo. The rod is the bit across the boiler.

It wasn't a stay rod extending across the boiler as I originally thought (wish I had Steve's mini lights as I'm sure they would have helped). It's a rod about 6cm long that has been soldered into the collar for the level plug. When I wiggled it from the inside of the boiler, it must have cracked the solder.

I now have a clean level plug (the rusty one whch I found in the boiler) and a collar. If the one on the rod is rodgered, I have a spare on the old 135 boiler.

Phew ... bit of a relief as I don't have to crack the boiler open.

This is what I like about restoring engines. These old engines have such an interesting history. I wonder what happened ... did someone put the plug into the boiler as a joke and the owner had to do this sort of repair ... I guess we'll never know.

Pete

Steve_S

Aha! Thats great Pete.

Sandman

Looking good Pete.

Have you made up your mind on how to tackle the boiler stay problem??

Les

That's good news.

MooseMan

madeinenglang

RocDoc

Some good news ... some bad ... and a question.

Good news first ... I've successfully removed the level plug collar from the old 135 boiler. It fits the 101 ... just got to clean it, flux and solder in place.

Bad news ... I had real problems trying to remove the steam pipe from the union bit that joins onto the engine. I thought I was unscrewing the nut when in reality I was twisting the steam pipe ... I tried to twist it back into shape when ... snap ... the bugger split. I need a new steam pipe.

Question ... what do you make of this? This is the state of the paint work on the base. Not the best photo but you can see the cracking of the darker paint. I think this is a new paint job because this colour 'runs' through the holes along the edge. There is a lighter, mid green colour in the cracks and where some of the darker paint has come off. I think this could be the original paint as the underside of the base is in this colour. I wonder if it is possible to remove this second coat of paint without damaging the first ... or should I strip it down and give it a new paint job.

Hey ho ...

Pete

Sandman

I think the only course of action here is a complete strip to the bare metal and a full repaint Pete.

It will be all the better for it mate.

MooseMan

Yes, I don't think the paint can be salvaged - but if at all possible, try and preserve the decal.

RocDoc

I know the suggestion was to strip the base back to the bare metal but I thought I'd try to remove the varnish(?) first, just to see if I could get rid of the surface crud.

So ... with a bit of Nitromorse, some clean cloth ... water ... coffee ... cake ... I've ended up with a rather green coloured base. I think the green is orginal paint work. There are at least two coats, a lighter green under coat and a darker green top coat. I even managed to remove most of the crud from the decal. It's not perfect but it is miles better then it was before. At least you can see it now.

This is a huge improvement on the previous condition. Big question is ... what to do now?

Cheers

Pete

johnreid

Wow I cant believe my eyes, the other photo looked like all of the green was gone.

RocDoc

Hi John,

Yeah ... does look totally different. The green was buried beneath a layer of dark brown crud ... it was very satisfying when the crud started to come off with the help of some Nitromors and very fine grade wire wool.

Pete

Burnmafingers

That base looks much better, maybe your top coat was indeed misted lacquer,
Why not try a bit of polish on the paint, Autoglym SRP for example, be interesting to see what it will come back like before you commit to going back to bare metal.

Les

Try a heatproof varnish/clearcoat on an area under the boiler to see what it comes up like, the varnish/clearcoat may bring out the colour.

Mamodman123

Just reading through this thread.

I'm personally undecided on the base. Yes it does have it's colour back but it looks a few different colours and quite cloudy/swirled I think thats what the nitromors has done to it. It looks to me like it's had petrol spilt on it. For that reason I think I would repaint, it would kill me to do it but I would repaint.

RocDoc

Sandman

Does this help mate??

RocDoc

Yes Sandy ... indeed it does. Thanks.

Just wondering ... your 101 has a value on the steam pipe. Is this common on 101s?

Cheers

Pete

MooseMan

Pete, the 101 come both with valve and without valve. The fact that you haven't got one makes yours an early one.

A few years ago I would have answered otherwise, but now I think the base looks fantastic - a bit of turtlewax will give it a shine, and it'll look old but lovely.

Caprice

Steve_S

Sandy's picture seems to show a brass exhaust pipe that slides onto the copper pipe from the engine block. On my M101 the copper pipe runs all the way to the chimney and there's no brass extension piece. Either way looks good!

MooseMan

Mina has a brass exhaust extension like Sandy's.....

Closeup of the union:

RocDoc

Been a little busy tonight. I've made a new stay rod for the 101. It started life as a 5/32" brass rod which I then cut to size. With the aid of an M4 die I cut two threads onto the rod; long thread (1 5/8" inch long ... thanks Mooseman) at the chimney end and a shorter thread at the level plug end. The rod fits and the threads work!! Amazing really as this was my first ever attempt at using a die.

And I've done a spot of polishing as well ...

Pete

Steve_S

Well done Pete, that looks good!

RocDoc

Thanks Steve.

I'm just wondering ... is the nut at the level plug end just an ordinary brass nut or a domed nut? I've seen both types in photos of 101s on the net.

Cheers

Pete

Steve_S

On mine its an ordinary nut, but it probably isn't the original one. A domed nut would look good if you've got one that fits.

Atticman

Wow, what progress Pete on this.

Im pretty sure that the base will come up OK. Looking great so far.

Interesting how many differences the 101s have.

Les

Bowman M101 Restoration

Re: Bowman M101 Restoration