Although, for RestoringMamods.com, this is the first stationary SE2 engine I have restored on here, the SE2/1 engines from Mamod have been my particular favourites for restoring because I think they look the best when restored. When I looked to restore the below engine, it felt more like a chore than a hobby unfortunately. It actually took me around four hours to restore this engine and I think from the pictures, it can be reflected. Either way, I prefer the new engine to the old one!
Here are the pictures before the restoration of this engine. As you can see, the condition was 'ok' because everything was there at least. The one thing I hate which people especially do to these engines is 'supercharge' them. This is when you change the piping so it goes under the engine, reheated by the burner, so the steam is extra hot and pressurised. This, for restorers like myself, is a pain because it makes my life much trickier when reassembling.
What I did notice about the engine was that the whistle was broken - when steamed up, it would not make a high-pitch whistle noise like it should. However, I was lazy I guess and left it as it was. If I was to fully restore it, I would have replaced it because this model had it only screwed in.
If you look closely, the paintwork is not in 'perfect' condition with there being little bumps every now and then. I also did not put a Mamod logo on the fire box (which I should have!). You might also be able to notice that the meth burner has paint on it. Do not worry though, it shouldn't normally be sprayed. However, I used extremely (extremely!) high temperature paint to make sure it won't burn off.
I think the best part of this engine is the engine bracket area with the piston and cylinder being in absolute perfect condition. This is the part I love about restoring engines. A neglected engine can always shine: it's just a matter of money and time. Stay up to date with my latest restorations - at the moment, I have three SE2/1 engine restorations going on at the moment. My next challenge, though, is to restore a SP model.
