A while back i had the rare opportunity to acquire a Mersey 53 GR, although it probably would have run as it was i did not test it as it needed a full strip down and refurb and that's exactly what it got.
As per usual all was disassembled and cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life, the boiler was much dirtier than the pictures show and i needed to use 320 wet and dry to remove the soot and tarnish, then 600 wet and dry to smooth it then T cut with a dremmel polisher to make it shine.
The only thing that was damaged was the burner it had a broken neck, i soldered this together easily.
The firebox was prepared and sprayed with Plastikote BBQ paint dont laugh its really very good... the piston frame and line shaft were undercoated and sprayed with Plastikote double acrylic black.
The line shaft frames have the paint removed from the leading edges to reveal the brass underneath, this is done by rubbing the whole frame edges on a flat surface on a sheet of 600 grade wet and dry until the edges gleam, make sure the paint is 100% dry before you attempt this.
The wooden base board was a real dilemma for me as i really liked the patina and colour which looked like rosewood, but it was badly marked and stained so decision made.. off it came then sanded down and recoloured light oak two coats, Why did i not stain it rosewood? answer unknown i just like oak!!
During the refurb there was a few self inflicted problems ...i dropped the firebox mid spray on a dirty garage floor... "non repeatable text"... i have a hook type thingy i made and have used it lots of times before without issues i can twist and turn the spray item anywhere..except this time i got over acrobatic and gravity took over, next after rubbing down the fire box i resprayed the fire box put it in the oven to cure only for it all to blister another stupid mistake undercoat does not like ovens ... "non repeatable text"... rubbed it all off and third time lucky minus undercoat... perfect....wasted time 4 hours!!!! its a wonder there is any metal left.
Next the piston frame i did the same again and dropped it mid spray ... "non repeatable text"... Binned hook type thingy resprayed frame...wasted time 2 hours.
The rest of the refurb was text book, i really enjoyed working on this well made machine, i think it turned out well considering how many times i dropped the bits(The trout just said you could play cricket for England) just her little joke, the base looks fresh coloured in light oak. After oiling and greasing it was tested on air and ran like a dream.
Just to bore you even more lots of pictures to follow... and a video of it running on air and powering some tools soon...Steve
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