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TheOperative
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Detailing a Wilesco D18Hi Men !
Take a look at my minor make-over on the Wilesco D18. I detailed the flywheel, the crank, rods, and the piston shield. Did it all in-situ (only removed the rods). The paint was HELL to remove, even with stripper chemical…..
I know many of you find the Wilesco SEs, too common, too “tinny”, etc. hence, perhaps you think they are cheaply built and not robust. I know that Wilesco use the same cylinder on every SE from the D16 on up and just camo it with a fancy cover (two cyl D22 excepted).
Even so, I can only say from my own experience that these engines are extremely well-engineered, powerful, very durable, and a good deal more complex with more features per euro than anything else I have found being made today, short of the kit engines of course like Stuart. To me the Wilesco is the middle step between a toy, and a working scale model.
For those of you who do not have one, I would not hesitate at all to put a Wilesco in your collection. You can find old engines very cheap on ebay and they clean up well.
I would love to hear your own experience with the Wilesco.
T.O.
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James
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That looks great mate!
Got to agree about it being good value for money 
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johnreid
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I enjoy my D20, I believe the flywheel is a bit larger than the 18 but has no Dynamo attached. I found the D10 that I used to own to be rather poorly built in comparison to the D20.
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TheOperative
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| James wrote: | That looks great mate!
Got to agree about it being good value for money |
Thanks James 
The shiny metal really brings out the details of the engine, lot more fun to watch it run now, especially turning slow.
I also replaced the stainless washers with brass, you can see one on the crank bolt.
I will get a vid of her, up this weekend 
T.O.
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TheOperative
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| johnreid wrote: | | I enjoy my D20, I believe the flywheel is a bit larger than the 18 but has no Dynamo attached. I found the D10 that I used to own to be rather poorly built in comparison to the D20. |
Yes, I hear a lot of reports that Wilesco quality is not what it was. Hit n' miss depending on how much Späten the assembler drank the previous night! 
The D18, D16 and D5 I have are all well built and run excellent. But the 16 and 5 are probably 70's or early 80's.....somewhere in the late 90's, someone screwed up bad and let a quality D18 slip out 
T.O.
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Nick
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Very nice! 
Can't wait for the video.
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Les
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Very nice indeed.
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TechnicusJoe
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very nice, was it hard to paint?
and im looking forward to see a vid
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Wallace
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Great looking job
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TheOperative
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| TechnicusJoe wrote: | very nice, was it hard to paint?
and im looking forward to see a vid |
Indeed, the painting was difficult. I needed to use a very small brush to paint the depressed surfaces on the connecting rods. It took an extremely steady hand. Mind you, I had these parts off the engine 
However, the piston shield provided the greatest challenge, both to strip (took about two hours using both chemical and mechancical methods (dremel with steel brush). I put tape down on the grey base to avoid cocking it up. Keep in mind, it was still installed on the engine with the little rail in my way the whole time hampering my efforts. Painting the piston shield also required a tiny brush and extremely steady hand.
The Flyweel needed only stripping, no painting, but very difficult to get the paint off the little beast. Nothing that a bit of 80 grit sand paper couldn't remedy! Just required a lot of polishing afterwards.
In short, the job would have been far easier had I disassembled the engine so I could work on the parts individually. However, I just did not want to de-solder the steam tubes underneath.
In conclusion, the job took me at least 4 long hours. However, the result while not perfect, drasticly improved the appearance of the engine, at least in my opionon.
T.O.
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ozsteamdemon
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i think you hit the nail on the head there T.O.
Great job & keep up the good work .
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TheOperative
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| ozsteamdemon wrote: | i think you hit the nail on the head there T.O.
Great job & keep up the good work . |
Thanks Oz!
Do not hesitate to do the same on your own D18, the result is tits!
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Keith S
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The piston shield and main rod would look nice on the steam tractor. I wonder why they don't use those nice rods on all the engines.
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MooseMan
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That is beautiful work!
I have two Wilescos, both about 30 years old....my D45 I've had since I was ten, and has survived my childhood intact, and my recently bought D20, which spent 5 years rusting in a leaking shed.
Both run perfectly!
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Ah Clem
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I have a D5 (non-kit), D8, D10, D14, D21, D455, and Old Smokey). The only issue that I have with any of them is that the flywheel on the D455 does not seem to run quite true (I have to take it apart to see if it is truly the flywheel or just sloppy bearings.
D455, D14, and D21 are new (within the last four months). The others are old (gray base) from late 1960's or early 1970's). I have no complaints (other than the D455 flywheel) on any of them. They run well and look great.
D15 and T90 should arrive tomorrow. I will comment on those when they arrive).
Your detail work on the D18 is beautiful!
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Dampfmaschine
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Wilesco's are good engines and your 4 hours on that one was time very well spent.
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TheOperative
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Thanks for the compliments Gents!
I run my D18 fairly regularly and I can tell you that she is a very strong runner, seemingly in the range of my Jensen 75 but I've never tried to compare.
The gen is super because it will light many superbright LEDs along with the lamp post. I added the 70 mm pulley from Ozsteamdemon onto the crankshaft to get more out of the gen but the spring drive band slips a lot, I will need to get something elastic or rubber on there to replace it.
The detailing really does improve the looks of the engine though, too plain without the extra touches. I am considering adding some strategic pin striping, but we'll see how it goes.....
I tried the the old-style wieghted whistle safety valve from my D16 and that is a very nice addition too. The new whistle with the chain does not compare in my opinon. Plus, the old whistle will litterally ring your ears at anything over 1 bar 
Were I to add any other details it would be a cover over the cylinder, perhaps stripped to the orginal copper, but there is no hole provided to screw on an end cap....
T.O.
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logoman
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nice one T.O.
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froudy2004
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Very nice job
I have 4 wilescos, all quite old, and think they are good value for money.
If you want one, most definetly do not buy one brand new, as wilesco have upped all their prices. A D409 (showmans engine) costs around £400 now.
You can normally find reasonably priced wilescos on ebay, i bought an old D405 tractor for £54 including p+p.
Nice job.
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Ah Clem
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D15 and T90 did arrive and both have been run now.
Both were new in the box and flawlesss.
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