Here we have an extremely tired 1981 Benford 750, arriving without a starting handle, exhaust, or working brakes.
The first thing was to make up a starting handle, by cutting and lengthening an existing handle.
The fuel line leaked, and the filter was clogged. These were replaced and the engine ran.
An exhaust from a 10 hp lawnmower was fitted, it makes the noise a little less obnoxious, but isn't really sufficient, this will be replaced at some point. A new seat was fitted, including a 3D printed TPU bumper.
It runs, and can do some work, but is a real pain to start and it gets stuck easily in mud. Time for some upgrades...
Testing showed that the brakes worked individually, just the linkage had been disconnected due to being siezed. The original brake arrangement was excessivly complicated, converting to hydrauilic and back to cover a distance of around 50 cm - presumably for comonality with the version that had disc brakes, and larger versions that articulated. Ripping out all the existing brake hardware allowed its replacement with simpler linkages, but also separating into independant left and right brakes for use on mud.
Also to improve the performance on wet ground these spacers were made up to dual the front wheels.
A foot guard was fabricated from sheet steel as when the skip is closed there is chance of pinching the driver's foot.
The engine, a Petter PH1, was available from the factory with electric start, but that requires a different (and now very rare) flywheel with a ring gear. Instead a pulley was added so that the engine can be used with a dynastarter, which will be mounted to the chassis rail by the rear left wheel rear right wheel, which has more clearance than the left for some reason. The battery will be mounted low down on the left footplate, together with the starter solenoid, and an electronic regulator for the dynamo which will be based on Manfred Mornhinweg's design. The start button will be mounted on the steering column, together with a hand throttle, and some additional switches to support future additions such as lights.
Some panel repairs:
Dynastart mounting:
Battery enclosure:
