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WW2 Coventry Climax Godiva Pump


MHillyard

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Hi All

Just picked up my latest purchase, a potential accessory for the Gipsy when it is done. It is a wartime style Coventry Climax pump. These were produced during the war for the fire service but this one has been converted for post-war military service with a repair data plate, convoy lights and military trailer sockets which all appealed more to me than a standard fire service one.

 

Don't know a lot about them especially not in military service so any details would be greatly appreciated!

I do not intend to restore it as such but preserve its original condition which still requires some work but I hope to keep most of the original paint.

 

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These pumps were intoduced by Coventry Climax in 1937. some were produced with Climax's S.M engine and others with the type "E" engine. 25.000 were made during the war years...

 

The firm was bought by Jaguar Cars in 1963. you might find the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Centre in Coventry hold records on "the Climax." as it was known in Coventry...they introduced Britians first fork lift truck ijn 1946......

 

 

 

Hi All

Just picked up my latest purchase, a potential accessory for the Gipsy when it is done. It is a wartime style Coventry Climax pump. These were produced during the war for the fire service but this one has been converted for post-war military service with a repair data plate, convoy lights and military trailer sockets which all appealed more to me than a standard fire service one.

 

Don't know a lot about them especially not in military service so any details would be greatly appreciated!

I do not intend to restore it as such but preserve its original condition which still requires some work but I hope to keep most of the original paint.

 

20140624_123328.jpg

20140624_123337.jpg

20140629_102403.jpg

$_12.JPG

20140629_161929.jpg

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These pumps were intoduced by Coventry Climax in 1937. some were produced with Climax's S.M engine and others with the type "E" engine. 25.000 were made during the war years...

 

The firm was bought by Jaguar Cars in 1963. you might find the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Centre in Coventry hold records on "the Climax." as it was known in Coventry...they introduced Britians first fork lift truck ijn 1946......

Worked on a few climax fork trucks,big old busses!!!!

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Thanks all for the info!

 

I have some 4" suction hose (two lengths) if you are interested and maybe some canvas delivery hose

 

Thanks for the offer, I may well be interested at some point. There are a couple of people locally that say they may have some but depending on price I might be interested if you were willing to part with them.

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Lovely bit of kit.

wanted to ask people on this thread if they know anything about the hub caps.

i have one of these trailers about to restore as a general purpose trailer, just bought 2 good wheels with no wheel hubs.

are they from a particular vehicle other thatn these trailers?

neil.

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  • 4 months later...

Hi All

Haven't had the chance to do any work on the pump as yet but am interested to see if there is any information that can be gained from the repair plate on it. I dont suppose any of the location are familiar to anyone. Also there is the stencilling on it that I am unsure the full meaning of. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

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  • 1 year later...
Thanks to a fellow forum member for the manual for my pump. Getting together a nice bit of Paperwork to go with it now.

 

 

Sorry to trouble but I have just joined the site.

 

I am looking for a copy of the Manual for the Coventry Climax FF 500 GPM Type Trailer Fire Pump and note you have a copy.

 

I have recently purchased one of the pumps and would like to restore it and therefore I would like a manual.

 

Would you be willing to scan a copy of the manual you have or alternatively photocopy it and I would be willing to pay the reasonable copying charges and postage.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

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Sorry to trouble but I have just joined the site.

 

I am looking for a copy of the Manual for the Coventry Climax FF 500 GPM Type Trailer Fire Pump and note you have a copy.

 

I have recently purchased one of the pumps and would like to restore it and therefore I would like a manual.

 

Would you be willing to scan a copy of the manual you have or alternatively photocopy it and I would be willing to pay the reasonable copying charges and postage.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Im sure I can sort a copy out for you if you are in no particular rush. Nice to hear of one being restored, is yours ex Army too?

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Hi Martyn, firstly happy new year, secondly my new year's resolution is to pay more attention to threads on HMVF;

In 1997 I acquired a trailer load of grey scrap that was a 1943 Coventry Climax FSM trailer pump- the baby brother to your FF500. My aim was to finish it in military colours as there was plenty of of both grey and red ones even on the Scottish circuit. To my surprise when I started going through the box of papers and photos that came with it I found it was ex army and there was a picture of it and another being removed (by the guy I bought it from ) from a Perth scrappies still bearing its Army reg plate. One of my contacts in the fire history world held a copy of a report- running to hundreds of pages and dozens of annexes, commissioned by HMG post WW2 to identify the good and bad points of our wartime fire service including our preparations in the mid to late 1930s to more operational things such as fire ground control etc etc. A chapter explained the classes of "Emergency Fire Appliances" why they were chosen, who utilised the different types and how procurement took place. So here is the crunch re your pump's original colour. The Home Office was the Ministry responsible for Emergency Fire measures and it was to be the major procurer/user of the appliances initially via the AFS and then in the National Fire Service. However they did not have a R & D or engineering organisation, did not have stores/warehouses ( beyond those that were opened for gas masks) and most importantly did not have a purchasing organisation. To this end and to save duplication, they asked the Office( later Ministry )of WORKS to act as their agents for R & D , engineering and procurement. In addition it was decided that the Home Office would be the focal point for all requirements of Emergency Appliances and consequently all such requirements would be placed by the requiring Ministry or government Dept on the Home Office who would add them to the contracts placed on their behalf via the Office of WORKS. All such appliances would be manufactured in HO emergency grey ( BS 32 now BS 632 dk ad grey). So your pump would have been delivered to the WD in grey , repaint would only normally take place as necessary . I have a couple of pictures showing RAF Trps in service in grey and one army example which unfortunately is a Dennis not a CC. So the answer to your question is grey.

How long it would have remained grey is the thousand dollar question, if allocated to a garrison or depot possibly for a good while but in many units the Camo Officer would have decreed get the paint brush out. Post WW2 Some army appliances took on the colour of the theatre it was based in eg gloss deep bronze green or Lt Stone- even the Army's first 2 batches of Green Goddess lookalikes were delivered in these colours, whilst some would have been red. Your lucky yours remained in DBG , mine was in IRR Green when it resided at the scrappies in Perth. The guy who rescued it restored it to NFS and grey but later ripped it apart again and then lost interest in it for several years.

regards TED

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Edited by ted angus
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Thanks for the info. I think there are some remains of grey in places, i assumed it was some kind of primer but what you say makes sense. Probably then repainted red and then postwar with DBG.

 

Would be interesting to see pictures of these pumps in military service, obviously in my pumps case the towing vehicle had a very high tow hitch as it has the swan neck modification.

 

Fantastic looking pump by the way!

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  • 2 years later...

Sorry to trouble you chaps but I’m converting one of these to a trailer and wondered if you knew whether he brakes (hubs, shoes, adjusters) were specific to the trailers or fitted to other vehicles, ie Austin’s etc?

The body was too far gone but I want what is left to be preserved and stay in use.

Many thanks, Neil.

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  • 5 months later...

Here's my contribution to this interesting topic - a FSM Godiva fire pump trailer planned to complement my Series Land-Rovers. Not overly fussed about the colour, but will probably leave it in rust-speckled orange-red and call it "patina you can't buy"

The Lucas magneto had to be refurbished to give the right spark, but after some fettling the engine was successfully brought to life. Need to clean up the petrol tank as it has some ugly goo at the bottom.

Does anyone have a FSM Godiva manual they would be willing to scan?

Here's a video of Godiva's return to the land of the living:

 

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