Dennis type Z colours
Hi I'm in the process of renovating a type Z.
The engine, has in its past been painted at least twice, as there is evidence of green under silver all of which is flaking and mostly not there any more, would the engine (crankcase) have been painted originally.?
Now to the main chassis of it, here I have found at least 3 different shades of green, the newest being what I would call a Jaguar British Racing Green very rich and dark, then there are two others one lighter and the other much lighter and chalky, the lighter chalky one seems to be the oldest; would that be the original?
I don't know what year it is,there is no manufacturers plate (and no evidence of there ever being one) but it has separate handlebars (rather than single rail), the carburettor is a Binks but with Amalgamated carburettors marked on it as well, the exhaust is mounted at the same height as the port and is a short round muffler mounted on the end of a short cast manifold which exits at right angles to the port. any ideas as to how to date it?
Any help much appreciated.
Forums
Thank you very much for that,
Thank you very much for that, it did seem wrong to me that the cases would be painted, so I'll leave them natural aluminium.
Your carburettor fitted to the mower looks to be the same as my one.
I'll post some pictures when I get some of it re-assembled, and maybe you can help some more.
John.
Usually, when Dennis.Bros.
Usually, when Dennis.Bros. assembled their engines, they used a black "hermatite?" type of sealant (which set harder than modern sealants) on the casting faces.
So to avoid a messy appearance; the crankcase assembly was often sprayed in silver, to mask the sealant joints
Sounds as though that gasket
Sounds as though that gasket cement may have been Wellseal. Still available today and sticks like the proverbial. Addictive smell and a b***** to get off the hands.
Wellseal is blue and is what
Wellseal is blue and is what I have used in conjunction with new gaskets on my re-build.
John.
May be there are two
May be there are two versions or it has changed , when I used to use it back in the 50s it was a brown sticky concoction.
May be there are two
May be there are two versions or it has changed , when I used to use it back in the 50s it was a brown sticky concoction and very difficult to remove from anything , including hands.
Know what I had a senior
Know what I had a senior moment there 
, the blue is Hylomar, but I do remember Wellseal and you're right it was sticky brown.
John.
I'm no Dennis expert but I do
I'm no Dennis expert but I do own one bought new by my Dad and have also serviced a variety of Dennis machines over the years.
Although I know my way round them mechanically I'm no authority on paint work and features in relation to age but I can say that I've never seen either a pre or postwar machine with a painted engine until the relatively modern Premier and Paragon machines. My own Z is in original dark green paint (what's left of it!) with off white coach lines and an unpainted engine . The original exhaust was a flat box with a fishtail exit rather than the cylindrical one now filled . I have two carburettors, each requiring a different diameter manifold but the Binks was the original.