a7 barrels - Australia

[olev]

Its like taking Fido to the vet and getting the sad news.
After living in hope for a month, I took my barrels to Serco.
They are good for an anchor.
Anyone in aus have a set of a7 small fin barrels they will sell?? I'm not worried about a broken fin or 2.
can swap a set of long stroke 1949 barrels or $$.

[LJ.]

Olev...

There are some on ebay now, dont know if the seller will ship to Oz though but you could always ask.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330281672197&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014

[olev]

thanks mate,
Do you think they are a7's??
They have 8 fins - my sad specimens have 7.
Maybe he got it wrong and they are a10's
cheers

[RichardL]

Nothing personal toward our member "Fido," I'm sure.

[LJ.]

Good observation Olev I did not count the fins... You could be very right that they may well be A10. A final check you could make is the part number which he also gives. Does that match with yours?

NUMBER IS 667029

[Brian]

OLev,

I would have a good try at finding a set here in Aus first as the postage cost on a set of barrels from overseas will be very high.

There are a few places you could try, The Vintage Swap Shop in Wangarratta, Modaks in Melbourne. Ring around a few of the dealers and see if you have any luck.

I had a look at mine and the A7 has 7 fins and the A10 has 8 so I think those ones on e-bay are A10.

Brian.

[trevinoz]

Just curious Mate, what is wrong with yours? I have seen some pretty bad barrels recovered from the scrap heap.
  Trev.

[olev]

Gday Trev,
They could be fixed, but the value isn't there.
The skirts are broken in 3 places and braized to the liner.
I could live with this but the butcher who tried to flog out the seized pistons managed to chip and mutilate the tops of the bore. He also managed to dig a 30mm hole through the top of each piston and bugger the conrods. The chipping is too bad to shave the barrel and use a spacer. A resleeve would set me back more than 500 big ones. All the fins were intact and from the outside they looked as pretty as a picture. I've had a couple of leads and with luck will have another set shortly. pics attached.
cheers

[trevinoz]

Hi Olev, they are not very good but I have seen worse. A mate had a set with no skirts at all so he made stepped sleeves and fitted them. Actually stepped sleeves are the best way to repair any of them, even when skirt is intact as re sleeved barrels , A10 anyway, have a tendency to split around the flange. This particular set was brazed top and bottom which seems to stop the tendency for the barrel to separate.
Don't throw your barrel away, at least it is good for spare fins.
    Trev.

[RichardL]

Olev,

We were jumping around, topic-wise, so I thought I would leave my reply back here.

I am looking forward to hearing Trev's and other's answers on this, based on his/their vastly (near, infinitely) greater experience on the subject, but I do have a couple of points to bring up.

It seems to me that the damage at the top of the sleeves and into the barrels may not be that big of an issue. First, regarding compression, there appears to be a continuous undamaged landing around the cylinder for the gasket. It might be a little close, looking at the upper right of the cyclinder the photo, but it still seems to be there. At worst, it would seem that a little brazing or welding would provide material that could be leveled off.

Second, the damage at the top of the sleeve does not appear to be great enough to reach down to where the first compression ring stops on the upstroke. If this is correct, a few dings in the top edge should not present a problem after rebore.

I'm no expert in how sleeves are retained in the barrels. I thought it was by press fit. I suppose the brazing was done to secure the remaining skirt in addition to securing the sleeves. If that brazing job is good, and my assumption of press fit is correct, I wouldn't think any more brazing is necessary.

Richard L.

Gday Trev,
I posted a pic of some stuffed a7 barrels a couple of days ago.
The main problem is the damage in the top of the sleeves.
your thoughts on the following would be appreciated - don't be gentle if its crap.
1. grind the brazing off the sleeve and skirt
2. heat the barrels in the oven
3. fill the cylinders with dry ice
4. press the sleeves up about 4mm
5. braze the sleeves top & bottom
6. machine the protruding sleeves level with the face
7. rebore

That should get rid of the damage at the top of the bore.
How do you braze the sleeves at the top?? do you take a slice off the cylinder to give the braze a bit of purchase ?
cheers