All Activity

Fascinating results and certain to cause lots of discussion. How easy is it to get the ingredients?

Hi . The post-war Commer engine ... what a excellent source of parts for the Humber guys - engine parts for vintage British vehicles are scarce enough , but even more so for those of us located outside of the U.K. No such luck with post- war Morris engines as a source of parts....at least the crank main bearings in these Morris OH engines are shells - R.B. kindly sent me a old set. I found a pre-war NOS Morris 6 head gasket at Auto Surplus but there were two types... the early ones ( like I found ) must have caused problems , the later revised gaskets have improved sealing . I have 6 of these engines .. one is out of a pre-war civilian C model truck .. the rest are from my WW2 era CS8 and PU wrecks. I recently got a price for a set of Morris rings from a UK supplier... around $600 Aust... yikes 82mm + .040" is very close to 3.25" Dodge WC size but.... the Morris rings are metric in width (2mm) compression and (2.5) mm oil control plus the ring grooves in the Morris pistons are unusually shallow. The VW beetle rings are dimensionally correct except for being far too deep for the shallow Morris piston grooves , the VW rings would have to be narrowed down somehow. I don't want to deepen the Morris grooves .. very risky as a piston top would break off. I can get a ring set custom made .. a business down in Melbourne . The rings being so narrow, are somewhat fragile and they snap easily .

very interesting experiment. A lot of discussion is often had about "the correct WW2". I can imagine in WW2 consistency was a issue.

I thought this might be of interest. I recently started making some of the paints in the 1915 artificer handbook. The service colour for artillery pieces etc proved interesting. The shade depended not only on the original of some of the pigments but also the mixing style and dampness of them. The prussian blue in particular showed itself particularly susceptible to not dispersing in the oil media producing a fairly dull brown. However if it was dampened the classic khaki drab instantly was apparent. The picture below shows the difference from the same spatula of pigment mix. It just goes to show that the variations in production could be varied even with small preparation changes. Good job it was made by the hundredweight.

Hi Mike I'm glad to see you working on the Morris. Thank goodness I defected to Humber, the engines are like a big jeep engine with lots of refinements. The wartime Humber had poured big ends, but luckily I got a post war Commer engine in pieces, and they have rods with shell bearings. Would there be any post war Morris engines with compatible rods ? Sounds like a long shot though. Mind you, I was lucky to get NOS bearings. The crank had to be ground 2 sizes to suit the bearings available. regards, Andrew

Reading through this thread for the first time, we are restoring a 1944 Commer 15cwt RAF truck, I'd be interested in a copy of the list if that were possible? I have a contract number for the truck but she is just a chassis cab so I have no idea what the RAF use was. She was sold off in France in 1946 and we've only just re-patriated her.

It's not military but deserves saving. https://www.ebay.de/itm/276430838975

Hi what are the front spring bushes mad out of, I took them out and they appear to be steel, with a M20 thread. regs rup

I thought I would update this post with another images of another 5kv trailer chassis. This particular chassis originally was fitted out with a murex welder. Now I’m not sure if this was an original build or army modification?

Little more progress from the weekend. So looking at the images of John C welder trailer restoration it seems there is an additional plate welded to the chassis to locate the front engine mount. Based of the images below I have the same alignment issues. So I planned to replicate by fitting the additional plate too. Doing this jacks the engine up meaning the fan won’t run concentrically in the radiator. in the end I removed the old engine plate and replaced with a slightly longer one. Complete with little helper!

Perfect. Thanks for the advice. I never gave the patents records a thought.

Hi Bryan, I appreciate it was some time ago, but I've been unable to find this listing elsewhere. Would it be possible to PM me a copy please? Thanks for your help. Best Regards, Adrian

Hi all, I’m looking for an exhaust manifold Y branch for an Alvis Saracen. As far as I know this is a specific B80 component for the Saracen PFA photos below. Many thanks!

Nice articles Jan! It's known that when the US entered the war, there was not enough equipment to send overseas, so it was locally procured, like the French 75mm. guns etc. etc. Cheers, Lex

Worth looking at? https://www.robush.com/metalastik-mounts/ http://www.partline.co.uk/automotive/product-filter.asp?PROD-GROUP=Mountings&COMPANY=Metalastik

Hi, @JerryjeeprichardI had the same idea as @Zuffen The patent is from 1934, Standard Motor Company, Coventry. Full patent here: GB431874A.pdf Best Regards, Adrian

You could try looking up the Patent number. it may give you a lead on who designed it.

Blockley , must be made by Michelin on original moulds ? These are original 205R16 not the 208 80/R16 - I have run them on 5.50 (LWB) rims since late 1970's. As for Classic Range Rover - to me the tread is open enough to pass. https://www.blockleytyre.com/product/205r16

Help and advice required!! Firstly. Engine mounts are knackered. Anyone recognise what other pieces of equipment these would be used on to help me track a set down. Secondary. Now that I have transplanted the trailer back into the murex chassis, the exhaust system that was in the original trailer will no longer fit. I have found another silencer that might be better suited. It’s a lot shorter and will fit width wise across the back of the trailer. Anyone any pictures on how the exhaust system should be fitted? Before I start getting creative?

The STA Super Traxion , the best I have seen in years, IIRC it did gain E Conformity - Goooogle around - some may be in UK. Another option is to search on 7.00x16 (most will be cheaper) - that you are OK with the std speedo head as for 6.00 or 6.50 tyres. Search also on MILITARY tyres - this brings up those imported for JEEP.https://pneucollection.com/en/31-military-4x4 ------------------ LR Tyres getting more of a £ rip-off in UK, France seems better but don't know about VAT etc. after Brexit. Possibly best to have a break in France , have a set fitted and just drive off RoRo (non-declare - used status). The best tubes (only ones I would use are Michelin AIRSTOP) , Kleber (farm type stockists) should be OK - just double check on valve size & offset.

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 🙂

All the cylinder blocks are now cleaned up inside and out. None of the bores are perfect, some have light surface rust like this one and there is also the score from the gudgeon pin mentioned previously. I have decided that it would be best to get a professional to perform the boring, lining and honing operations. I have decided to move away from the press fit pins, so I will make floating pins with bronze buttons at the ends.

Last one of the 3 windows in progress, if this lot will be ready we only need some better weather because I have some stuff to paint.

I have this 'problem' even though not tackling anything like you are never mind the main work being far from home. With realistically the GDSF finished and maybe other events you attended in the past too I guess less incentive to be finished for a specific date.