Mamod MM1s through the ages and a new flatbase one

Atticman · Mamod MM1s through the ages and a new flatbase one

I have suddenly developped a taste for these lovely little engines.

A few were a tad critical of the person who paid £70 for the MM1 on ebay the other week- well it were me

Heres the link

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/ftopic8655-0-asc-135.php

Well as far as I am concerned its OK ie not messed with, and I LOVE it . the disc is very much red not gold, but its more a disc than Wallaces pic low on the link page as above, and certainly more disc than my later MM1 as below and in this link

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about9679.html&highlight=.

I thought it was old from the SV which looks original to me, also the item was listed in a different section than usual, and it felt a genuine auction model somehow- guess you experts will now proove me wrong

.

As MM pointed out the copper strap is outside, but it really doesnt look too messed with.

As usual no burner- shame that. The base to my newbyish eyes looks fine, a tiny chink of red, interestingly an extra hole in each direction compared to the raised base MM1s, but I am pretty sure its original

As for the price, well all 4 in the collection cost a total of £125, the disc crank was very cheap at £23, the other 2 £12 and £20 including post

Therefore I will be happy for brickbats thrown my way re £70 for the oldest, but I believe the flatbase MM1s are rare, and this is not a bad example of it .As far as I am concerned I have 4 nice MM1s 2 rare, 1 unusual dark paint and a bogstandard later model

anyway here are the pics

The SV is a bit Bowmanesque with the nut on the bottom to tighten the spring

The base looks like its had a spray of black years ago

A line up

2 disc cranks- interesting to contrast the SVs, and the flatbase looks like its cylender is cast, the newer dusc crank has some machining to its cylinder end

The 2 newer ones, note darker paint, both on the burner as well as the mounting (needs a clean

)

I have a vap burner on its way for this one- H&S legislation coming in

Another intesting feature is the newest I have has no external holes for fixing the strap externally- looks a bit neater. Boiler plugv present as well in the later models

Finally a comparison of the 4 cylinders showing the variations through the years

Apologies for the number of pics, I think its likely that this way Les will at least see a few come through OK

Lewis

Very nice

congrats mate

thats only the second flatbase mm1 i have seen

the first being mms

Atticman

Wow cheers Lewis

Didnt realise they were that unusual

Mamodman123

Tom, nice buy

Knowing that its genuine puts it on the money for me. The last one on ebay, had the gold disk like mine, a lot more rust than yours went for £80.

Yours I would definately put post war because of the red disk. 46-whenever they got raised bases (before the others in the SE range) No exact date has been put on it.

Here's a few pictures of mine:

Ive seen a few of these roughly 4-5, they are not common by any means!

I would repaint the base on yours though, it HAS to match the red disk for me! Oh and there's no original paint left of course. SV is original, thats how they were! The chimney on mine is a lot thinner and taller than yours, also the disk is slightly thicker. I think mine is pre-war but i'm not totally sure as know one has ever confirmed that....

MamodFan

MM
The green burner and gold disk date this to the very earliest post war engine also the fact that the engine frame is painted points to post war. all pre war minors including the mm2 were unpainted. interesting to note the larger than normal base as fitted to some but not all twins.

Mamodman123

MamodFan

tis indeed a nice engine

Atticman

Thanks MM, great photos- agree the base needs a spray really, but with my things to do list it may just be done by STIA 2009

Interesting how the disc cranks are so varied in colour/ thickness size- Walaces looks slightly more curved.

The tooling changes must have cost a bit, but presume the costs were offset by the smaller amount of metal used per disc.

The chimney height is interesting as well

Will get back to the seller and see if theres any other history to date it, and see if theres a burner under the floorboards

oldstuff

Congrats, Atticman. Those old crank disks are my favorite Mamods.
Here's mine:

Wallace

Atticman, that is a fantastic buy. Well done on that.

A very cheap price too, knowing it's a flatbase MM1.

Well done and look forward to seeing it all cleaned up

flywheel61

Brilliant buy, Tom,

, How did that get past me,

. You really got a bargain there, good one.

Cheers

Chris

Atticman

Thanks guys,

took her apart this morning to reposition the copper band, amazingly the underneath of the boiler is CLEANER than the top

I have also had a nice email from the seller

Hi Tom,
Glad your please with the item, unfortunately I do not have the burner it has obviously been lost over the years.
The Mamod was brought for my son by my mother in law around about 1977. In fact she brought a number of Mamods and he never ever played with them. I tell a lie, he tried out the Roadster once and after that it was put away until the other week when they where put on ebay.

I suspect that the MM1 was polished to sell in 1977, and the strap repositioned and then lain in their loft for 30 years. I would think that the base may have been painted black then.

I am not a keen shiner/ polisher so i think I may paint the base and leave it at that. I am even wondering whether to just leave as it is- its got a history to tell that goes if its stripped

Unfortunately Sandra bought the TE1a and the SR1/ Lumbar wagon £23 and £45, they both look clean so hopefully they will suffer only polish. I have the steerer for the TE though

Will post pics later prob on Monday

Mamodman123

I would defo repaint the base, there's no paint left on it and i think over the years rust may kick in, afterall its just bare metal

Atticman

Minor1PJG

A great buy indeed.

You have to love the Minor1's

..... but you all knew that