I just finished fettling this original, short-handled "pork pie" (but with a later model X246 pump). As it was found: It was very dirty and had much corrosion on the brass hood. Three of the legs were covered with some resin compound and solder at the base where they join the tank. Pressure testing did not reveal any leaks, so I removed the resin with a Dremel wire brush. I then half-filled the tank with water and put wet chamois on the joins and pump seat and proceeded to get rid of the lumpy solder with a blow-torch: The burner was worn out: The injector tube snapped at the thread when I tried to unscrew it: The other parts of the burner were corroded and loos fitting, so will now be used for emergency spares: All the other components were in good condition so they were stripped and the metal components cleaned in 1/3 vinegar/water for three hours, then two days in "Marine Clean": The vaporiser was then heated and quenched a few times, then cleaned with carburettor cleaner. The cleaning needle was cleaned with steel wool. Putting it back together: As the hood was heavily corroded, I cleaned but did not polish it within an inch of its life, as it will go black with use anyway. The tank was painted with an acrylic metallic car paint (Renault Gold) then overcoated with VHT Wheel Clear Coat and baked at 94C for one hour. Washers, seals and leather from the Fettle Box. All I need now is an original pump: My Pork Pies are breeding!
Here it is up and running (in the middle of the day): The cap on the hood is an old one that lost 99.99% of its enamelling. I've painted it with a high temperature black which is used for engines and exhausts. It hasn't flaked or blistered. I'll keep this cap on for 'use' rather than show.
Hi Tony One of Shedmans brass repro caps would be great for showing time on your tasty pork pie 8) Stu
Excellent fettle, sir! Mechanically superb, in fact... I too when home will run a lantern or three in the "middle of the day" /all day in the north-facing shade of my shop. :-)
Stu, I used one of Shedman's brass caps here: http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/5984 The original orange cap is in good nick so I'll keep it for show. Apples, I was just testing it on its first post-fettle light up, but I did use it later that evening to lock the chooks up. It's going very well. Cheers Tony
Tony, That is one fantastic job you have done on this lamp. When you said you painted the fount with metallic auto paint, was it high heat paint? Do you use a high heat primer for parts you are going to bake?
Matty For the tank, I used a standard metal etch primer, standard auto paint, then covered with VHT-brand clear coat baked (all paints at once) at 94C. Cheers Tony
Ah, etch primer. I have tried what you do but with just normal primer, not high heat and it has peeled. I did buy some etch primer today. I also bought some white appliance paint to give it a go. Tony, the original pump you have. Would you look at the two lanterns I posted and tell me if they are original please.
Hello Tony, I'm new to this forum and to collecting lanterns. I've already acquired a couple of very tidy X246's finished in Speculum over Brass (early 1950's) and need to replace the double o'ring seal on the burner control shaft. Does the knob simply unscrew? how tight are they normally? Do in need to hold the shaft with pliers while unscrewing? any help would be appreciated!
This baffled me for awhile as the knob seemed too tight that it actually unscrewed. The knob turns anti-clockwise. They can be very tight. I often soak the unit in vinegar to help loosen it up then do what I need to do to get it to turn. If that means holding whatever you need with pliers, do it. Just be gentle.
To remove the knob Bernie told me from Sands in Melbourne. Turn knob anti clockwise by hand then protect knob grab with pliers and give it a quick twist no need to hold shaft etc . His method works really well . to reinstall just turn clockwise by hand that's it . Bob
Tony, I read where you had used Renault Gold to repaint the fount. In your opinion, how close to the Tilley colour is it? It looks very good but photos can sometimes be misleading - colour wise.
Matty What you see in the photo (at least on my screen) is about what it looks like in the flesh. In my view it looks good, but compared to original Tilly gold, it's a bit darker (more bronze-looking). VHT-brand Universal Gold is pretty good too: http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/7843 Cheers Tony
Thanks Tony, Both the fettles look outstanding. I wonder if the actual name of the Tilley colour is known?
Well, Matty, the big question is whether today's Tilley gold is the same as the Tilley gold of 1948... You could ask Tilley themselves: tilleylamp.co.uk Cheers Tony
You could, but if my experience with them is typical, sadly, you'll probably find they can't remember what they did 67 minutes ago, never mind 67 years...
The best match I have found is Plasikote Brass. Looks too bright but if you ever see a new in box early X246 then you will see they were a bright brassy gold colour. Mostly what we see is very time dulled paint which tends to make us think they were always like that but they weren't they were bright gold. ::Neil::
