Lilla Update
A surprisingly impromptu working party took place yesterday! My thanks to Bill for the pictures and Bob for the text!
I had a spare day and turned up to ask Robco if I could assist with anything, and he put me onto completing the polishing of “Lilla’s” tube ends. Next Cedrick Lodge said he was expecting a firing turn but found himself spare, so joined in. Then Bill Edmonson arrived with a new man called Keith, who is a long-experienced fitter-driver at Llanfair with loads of experience of retubing boilers! So while Cedrick and I finished the polishing, the other two started sliding tubes in; this went ahead without any trouble.
![](http://insidemotion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/P1000488-1024x768.jpg)
![](http://insidemotion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/P1000471-1024x768.jpg)
By the end of the day all tubes were in the boiler and all but about 10 of the 45, initially expanded by hand at the firebox end; with a 1/8″ standout there (leaving c. 3/8″ at the smokebox.)
![](http://insidemotion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/P1000474-1024x768.jpg)
I continued Clive’s work of fitting blanking plates ready for the hydraulic, incl. making a new one and adapting another for the water gauge openings. All plates were fitted except neither works staff nor me could locate a curved plate that had been used to blank off the steam turret opening on the boiler’s first hydraulic.
![](http://insidemotion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/P1000472-1024x768.jpg)
So one will have to be made, contoured to the firebox outer wrapper’s top (5/16″ plate would do for this.) I made a rubber joint ready for this but could only find 6 of the 8 setscrews that fit the turret to the boiler. I also cleaned out with a BSP taper tap, the washout hole threads (except for the foundation ring front left one where the boiler rotating rig was in the way.)
![](http://insidemotion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/P1000480-1024x768.jpg)