The revival of the Armstrong Whitworth has caused a great deal of interest at Beamish and readers may well have seen it appear on the museum’s social media, as well as it being due to feature in the Spring/Summer issue of the Beamish Magazine.

The jobs that will turn it from an occasional use vehicle to something that can be extracted and driven with some level of reliability are now being tackled, including overhaul of the water pump, treatment of the canvas hood, attentiono to the seats and we’re also looking at restoring the finish on the varnished timber bulkhead that sits behind the bonnet.

Water pump

One noticeable feature of the recent trials of the AW has been the large puddle that it leaves wherever it stands.  This was attributed to the water pump, which was found to have excessive play between the pump housing and shaft.

Below: The pump housing was drilled and reamed oversized as stage 1…

Below: Drilling (above) and reaming (below).

Below: The new stainless steel shaft, made oversized to obviate bushing the pump housing.

Below: The old and new, side by side.

Below: The water pump impeller was in very poor condition

Below: So a replacement was drawn up and 3D printed by Sam, our engineering apprentice.

Below: This was then drilled and fitted to the shaft, completing the overhaul of the waterpump.

With this work carried out, the pump can now be reassembled and fitted back onto the AW, and tested for effectiveness and leaks…