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NAVIGATION
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"IndianaRog" (which gives you a
clue to his location) was one of the early visitors to this website.
Roger is an avid collector of Jensen and Empire engines, of which he
has an encyclopaedical knowledge. He is also an enthusiastic restorer,
whose approach and philosophy towards restoration are very similar to
my own (could be summed up with:"These are toys, and made to be played
with - we like to make them as goodlooking as possible").
An enthusiastic exchange of emails followed,
and is still in full flow, and, as is inevitable, at some point Roger
caught the Bowman Bug. He bought two engines in rapid succession, an
M135 and an E101, which he had shipped over at great expense. Even
though they were both in reasonable condition, Roger decided to get the
101 back to the state in which it may have left the Dereham works in
the 30ies, and maybe even a little bit better (Roger also collects
firearms, and his knowledge of this field has come in very handy, as
you will see).
Before the purists start getting fits of apoplexia, it's worth pointing
out that this was not a "pristine" engine to start with - it had been
previously refinished, the badge was a reproduction one and the boiler
had several pinhole leaks in the solder of the end cap.
I take full responsibility (although with no
regrets) for getting Roger hooked on Bowman, but he's had his revenge:
after viewing pictures of his collection I now find myself lusting
after a Jensen or two! For a selection of engines from Roger's
collection, see this Yahoo Gallery
Below is a photoshoot Roger took during
final assembly of the restored engine, and I thought that it would make
essential reading/viewing for any Bowman enthusiast. If you have any
specific queries, I'll be happy to put you in touch with Roger directly.
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 Base
stripped, and painted the appropriate black and green. Note the damage
where the boiler housing goes - caused by scorching over the years.
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 Here
Roger improves on the original design: a piece of non-asbestos
insulating material is used to prevent further scorching, and four
shell casings are strategically mounted to prevent movement of the
boiler housing, and further damage to the base. Throughout this
restoration Roger used new bright metal screws and nuts; he likes the
effect of metal on brass, and I don't blame him either!
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 Simple but elegant - a rubber bung placed in the base of the chimney to prevent leaking onto the base.
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 This
I particularly like: the burner tube on Roger's burner had become
weakened through use, so Roger cut up another shell casing and used it
as a reinforcing collar - here it is actually in place, a practically
invisible repair - the other shell is just for illustration.
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 The
restored Bowman badge - details on badge restoration can be found
elsewhere on this site. Roger's preferred method is to print on photo
paper, and the to blend it into the base by pushing paint over the edge
with a dental pick, before finally varnishing.
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 The
restored assembly, minus the engine, looking dazzling. For polishing
Roger uses SimiChrome, to which I am a complete convert - it's much
loved by the Harley community, and polishes and protects in one go. It
is also much, much easier and faster to use than Brasso, which is the
next best thing IMO. The one problem is that it is hard to get in the
UK - even though it is German made it really is only available in the
USA. Still, you can readily get it on EBay, shipping's not too bad as a
little tube goes a very long way. I've now found a source in the UK as
well - email me for details.
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 Flywheel,
crank and gears sitting in the repainted mount, looking gorgeous.
Another tribute to SimiChrome. Note the new screws, and the little
Wilesco pulley on the gear shaft.
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 ...and here's the final product, looking, well, pretty breathtaking! I'm sure Mr Bowman himself would have approved.
As anyone who into this kind of thing will know, there are two restoration philosophies. The first one is:
Conserve, conserve, conserve! According to
this philosophy, Roger's broken every rule in the booked, and should
probably be locked up! Any remaining original features have been
destroyed in favour of philosophy two, which is:
Restore! Let's be reasonable here! No
self-respecting engineer in the days of steam would let the brass go
dull and the paintwork flake! Unless there is some enormously important
reason (let's not wash the Turin Shroud), I'm all for bringing these
TOYS, for that's what they are, back to a state that their
manufacturers and first owners would recognise, cosmetically and
mechanically.
Don't want to be reasonable? OK then, let's
be childish! Roger, myself and likeminded souls say "Yah boo sucks to
you! Our engines look nicer and run better than yours! So there!"
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