Old Bill

Interesting. Any date or capacity on it? Steve

Sorry. Missed you! Yes, it is heavy. Getting back off the bench once assembled was an entertaining event. It stands about 18" tall and I am guessing that it is about five ton rated. The recovery lorry drawings state that it is equipped with 'two 8 ton, two 4 ton and two 3 ton screw lifting jacks with iron crank' but we have found only this pic: This jack doesn't look like it but it is period and who is to say that it didn't pick up an alternative later on? Equipping this lorry is another challenge but interesting things do turn up. Steve 🙂

Ah yes! Sorry. Being a bit slow! Do you think they might be PoWs with the labels around the neck? The picture was taken in the middle east somewhere. Steve 🙂

Sorry, but I am afraid that one escapes me. Mind you, flat caps are becoming mandatory but I think that is an age thing! As you know, we are recreating one of the Army's first recovery or 'Ambulance' lorries as they were known. When Tim turned up the original drawings in the National Archive they included a list of the equipment to be carried and, not surprisingly, this includes a couple of jacks. We have been fortunate enough to find this one, a Charles Willets Mk1 screw jack of 1915. We think it is of about five tons capacity and will do the job admirably. 1915 dated! Generally, it is in very good order with just a couple of things to fix. After taking it apart, I sorted out the bend in the rotating ring. It was just a case of heat and a bit of tube to lean on it in the vice and it was soon fixed. The tube also provided a replacement handle. The lifting handle on the front was there but two of the screws had sheared off. I drilled them and then tried my E-Z out extractor. I am usually very wary of these things as I usually end up with a sheared stud with a hard centre! However, in this case, they worked well. Then painting. I have just this evening reassembled it all with lots of grease and am well pleased with the result. Something else to store! Steve🙂

Hi David. We try to avoid a specific date unless we are pretty certain we can hit it. The Dennis for Brighton in May 2011 was just about do-able but was pretty borderline. The last couple of months make pretty good reading, however! We don't have a date for this lorry but plan to have it on the road this year. I have been pushing on with the bodywork and have been making tailboard hinges. I reported my trial bending of the eyes and have now done the remainder with the correct section of steel. 10mm x 50 which is quite chunky to wrap around a 20mm pin. The top one, below, was my first attempt at the 50mm strip. I heated it with the propane and then had a go but still left a little too much metal to close it as tightly as I would have liked. The second one was better and the third better still. As you can see here, the three hinges differ in that one bends each way to form the retaining pin eye and the centre one is straight. I cut and drilled the centre one and that was quite straightforward. The end ones are bent on a 13" radius. I gave them some thought but felt that my blacksmithing skills were just not up to hammering them round and I felt that I might do a better job with the press. Bending the plates edgeways looked tricky with the risk of firing them out sideways if I didn't set them up carefully. I therefore came up with these slotted rollers to keep them upright and also support them over an area without damaging the edges. They worked well and I am pleased with the results. I was also pleased that the press was big enough to actually bend the bars I gave them a push before moving them along and giving another push, repeating the exercise until I had the curve I wanted. The back plates on the inside of the tailboard, I had already had laser cut to profile and they made a nice gauge to check the curve against. Old time platers would have marked out the surface plate in chalk. My plate isn't big enough so I had to use the floor. At this point, I realised that the job would have been a whole lot easier if I had put another two inches on my piece of steel. Never mind. They were both just long enough. I have drilled and finished the ends and it only remains to bore the 1" holes for the locking pins. The woodwork is all quite easy. It is the ironwork that takes the time! Steve 🙂

We seem to be slowing down a bit. It is getting harder and harder to motivate oneself to go out in the shed of an evening after work. Getting old I think! We did do a bit over Easter although it was a family weekend really. Dad has been painting endlessly and had finished the kerb rails and the underside of the floor planks. We set up the kerb rails and bolted them down, using bolts from stock. It did take a bit of a rummage to find them but we had just enough in the end. Then I started laying out the planks. They had been cut to length and width by our chippy, Mark, who was impressively accurate. Not a gap anywhere by the end! The planks are all grooved with loose tongues. We had to slacken off a kerb rail and use a sash clamp to pull them up but the final fit was perfect. Then it was a case of screwing them down. Exactly 100 screws, again taken from stock. It is lovely now that we have got to this stage and have everything around us. I had a trial fit of my new brake rods. Rather strangely there was insufficient room for the joint as I had taken it apart. I took out the 90° link and all was well. I have since found a photo of it done like this so that is OK. The rods are now out again for painting. Tim gave me exactly the right magneto switch for Christmas a couple of years ago so I made a start on cleaning it up. It wasn't bad and I didn't want to be too aggressive with it so I used a fibreglass scratch brush to move the tarnish. It came out quite well although the nickle is a bit tired. That is fine as there is no reason that it should not look old. I picked up some steel over the break and have made up the remaining shovel brackets using my nice new bending tool. That is proving to be a worthwhile investment. Riveting can be very satisfying. Heads polished off with the flap wheel. And back in the paint shop. Mine this time! Dad is still painting, the headboard planks and the body brackets, ready for our next get-together. We really are very close now. If only it wasn't so far away! Steve 🙂

Lovely! A real boost to the enthusiasm! Steve😁

We have had this done elsewhere in the past but it is nice to be self-sufficient. I always wondered how it was done and this was a good incentive to find out! Steve 🙂

I had a bit of 40x10 strip in stock here so I thought I would have a trial bend. Difficult to photograph on ones own but I got the end hot with the propane, estimated how much length I would need and had a go. It wasn't actually too bad a guess but I didn't pull it over far enough and the pin picked up in the plates and jammed. After dismantling the lot, pressing the pin out and then easing the holes, I warmed it up again and had another go. I am very pleased with the result although I left it slightly too long to close up completely. I will pick up some steel of the correct section the next time I go southwards and do the job properly. I have also been cleaning up Peerless greasers. Dad did a batch a while back but we need some more. They are of a very distinctive pattern with a central spindle which pushes a piston down, forcing the grease through the hole. Unfortunately, the leather seals had all failed or worn away and needed replacing. Rather than try to make up cup washers and rivet them between plates, I turned up some brass pistons and fitted them with O-rings. The difficult bit was the thread. One cup dismantled completely so I measured the thread as 1/4x20 UNC LH and made them all up. Unfortunately for me, all of the other examples had a different pitch of thread! Beeing Peerless, they seem to be 22tpi which is another non-standard size so I had to make up a 1/4x22 LH tap from a bit of silver steel. It wasn't very good but was just good enough the ease the 20tpi threads already cut and allow me to reassemble the things. Another Peerless googly! We want to fit the radiator tape shortly so I have made up a bifurcated rivet attachment for my mole grips. Seems to work! Dad is still painting planks and getting a bit cheesed off with it all. The next mission will be to assemble the body floor which will give us some more space and allow us to start on the side and end planks. We will be out this year! Steve 🙂

Yes, that was my first thought too!

They will have to be hot as they are 50mm x 10mm thick around a 20mm pin so hefty stuff. I found a nice clip of it on Youtube and copied it from there. Now I have to make it work! Steve

I have painted the linkage and made a couple more rod ends for the throttle linkage. Now I am thinking about the remaining body brackets. To that end, I have treated myself to a new toy: It's use is not obvious but the instructions give some very good ideas and it is quite well thought out. First brackets I have bent are parts of the pick and shovel mountings. I was quite pleased with the result. Much better than beating it in the vice and more consistent as this lorry needs three of each rather than just one. The pick bracket is shorter and more difficult to fit in. However, you can see an extra, smaller hole just behind the pin for a bit of bar. I used that and all was well. I was pleased with these and they are being painted. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up any steel for the pick handle bracket so that will have to await another visit to Devon. The tailboard hinges are more challenging. They are 50x10mm flat, rolled into an eye at one end for the hinge pin. Hand forging these is beyond my blacksmithing skills but in my trawling of Youtube, I found a hinge bending tool. I have therefore made one up. Here is a bit of 10mm strip in place. I have not yet had a chance to try it. We are going to need a bonnet soon so I may have to go back on the drawing board until I can get some more steel. Steve🙂

Thanks. There is a potential hazard there but a bit of thought mitigates it. Just need to think the job through before starting! Steve

Once the chains were on and the axle positioned, I could try my new brake rods. Pleased to say that theylook satisfactory. Then we spent some time setting up the floor planks for painting. It is a bit of a nuisance when your project is also your workbench! Dad soon had them in primer. He has also painted the underside of the wings. He will do the top in situe. In the mean time, I am thinking about fittings. Painting rope hooks is a pain so I have screwed them down to make life a bit easier. After the hand brake, I thought it time to have a look at the footbrake linkage. I have lubricated all the bits and assembled them into place. I also added a couple of greasers, You may remember us trying to dismantle the link between the pedal and the first rod. Unfortunately, we had to give up in the end and cut it to get the centre casting out. I found the bits and the ends for the main pull rod. The two bits on the right should be six feet apart! I have made up a new rod by screwing an eye onto the end and then silver soldering it as usual. I am concious that this is part of the brakes so I will give it a good pull when we fit it just for reassurance. Then of course, the problem of turning a six foot long piece of rod in the Myford. This was my solution to stop the end whirling. I also ran the lathe fairly slowly and fortunately, all went well. Then to drill out and tap the original eye. And silver solder again. The whole length of the bench! And to finish up, a few new clevis pins. The remaining originals that we have are definitely looking a bit tired now. Throttle linkage and painting next! Steve 🙂

Hi Mike. Yes, just for ease of maintenance. It is so much easier to get the pins out when you can see them and also to knock the link pins through. At the moment, they are relatively clean but it is a grim job when they are covered in greasy filth! Steve