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datadawg

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Posts posted by datadawg

  1. In the UK the market for lubricants for vintage and classic vehicles is well catered for. If you do a search on this forum you can see that the topic has been covered in detail.

    Morris oils is a major supplier and has a wide range of products for the older vehicle.

     

    In summery play safe, use straight 90 in your gearbox and transfer case, EP90 in the axles and straight 30 with no additives in the engine.

     

    Pete

    I have searched this topic for days and I have found so many different opinions, I don't know what to think. UK does seem to offer more choices, but I'm in US. And I have to figure out what to use for gear oil inside wheel hub of a British vehicle (Alvis Saracen). The manual specs OEP 220, which is obsolete, and shop that overhauled it in England says use EP90. From what I read, EP90 has GL4 and GL5 designations and GL4 seems to be "safer". I haven't found GL4 EP 90 readily available in stores, it can be ordered via specialty petroleum vendors, but it's a hassle. So I am not sure what to do...

    Deadline (Paul) seems to say GL5 is fine, but he's talking about an American vehicle, not British armor. He's in Pennsylvania, close to me, so at least I feel like it's not some internet black hole giving out advice! Sigh... I am just terrified of making the wrong choice and then ripping my hair out later when something breaks.

  2. [ATTACH=CONFIG]109750[/ATTACH]

     

    I went to my Granddaughter's first birthday recently. They had balloons around the room, bought from a local party shop, with 1 on them or her first birthday. Can any else see a Swastika in the design or is it just me?

    I can see what you are talking about, but do you see this as an odd coincidental visual or something more, like a purposeful subliminal image? I would presume it's the former...

  3. Hi All

     

    Remember the age of average soldier, then think about the young lady. Using her to keep the troops attention is no accident.

     

    Cheers Phil

    Now, now. I am double the age of the average soldier, but she got my attention too!! Seriously, this was a great video.

  4. 4 months, dear dear, how embarrassing. I could talk about my forklift, truck, and commute car all needing repairs but really I just got in a funk about having to deal with so much rust and old paint. Luckily I had a couple friends who came over and gave me the little nudge I needed to get the project rolling again.

     

    I'm still stripping the last of the details off the hull, the turret ring came right off and was surprisingly lightweight, I think about the same weight as the loading door on the back which I think too more time to remove due to the rusted fasteners and such.

     

    I'm slowly building a clutch. I had sandblasted the shoes and they flash-rusted so heavily and quickly I decided I was going to use electrolysis to do the next pass and that's where I got hung up for months. Wanting to make some concrete progress NOW, I just put them back in the blaster cabinet and then acid pickled them, then washed, baked, and re-dipped the acid. One wash later I applied some preservative (Starrett M1 tool preservative/lube) and did a second bake to drive out any remaining moisture and harden the lube.

     

    Looks like I forgot to remove one of the several broken 2BA bolts that hold the pads on the shoes so that's up next.

    Here's what the main clutch body looks like after sandblasting, three coats of zinc paint, new studs, and clips:

     

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]109720[/ATTACH]

     

    With the shoes on and ready for garter springs:

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]109721[/ATTACH]

    Remaining broken screws removed and garter springs installed:

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]109737[/ATTACH]

     

    I set the garter springs so the ends were opposite, for what tiny difference the balance and spring expansion might make.

    It is interesting to note that the 2BA fasteners are very close to standard ASE #10-32 screws but about 33TPI, so if you are really hard up you could use a #10-32 tap to start cleaning out the hole or a screw if you just can't source BA screws.

    I did go ahead and buy some 2BA screws from a specialty manufacturer and sort of wish I hadn't as they look lovely but the heads are too tall and had to be shaved to match the original screws.

    I understood very little of what you did and the problems you faced, it's admittedly over my head, but results look good!!!

  5. EP oil is not going interfere with synchro's.

     

    The old (and it is a OLD) problem is that EP additives (sulfur and phosphorus) were used in places that generated to much heat, and in the presence of heat and water would make an acid and eat yellow metal. There are 'yellow metal' safe EP oils, but design changes also eliminated the high temps of the early gearboxes... so modern brass parts are safe.

     

    The force required to make use of the EP additives is far and above the little bit or friction generated by the synchro's meshing.

     

    Use the EP oil all around. It is not going to harm anything.

    This is very confusing. I thought EP90 was harmful to yellow metals unless it was GL4 spec, based on this 2015 article: http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

    You seem to say modern EP 90 is not a problem, but per above it might be. So who is right??

  6. Problem is, Granville seems to be a UK brand... so I am still searching for an EP90 gear oil -- again SAE 80W/90 oils are all GL-5!! I thought this might be useful to others, there are a lot of cobwebs on this topic!

     

    Success: here is a US-based petroleum supplier that stocks EP-90 gear oil with GL4 specification in various sizes. The prices seem reasonable too.

    http://www.petroleumservicecompany.com/cui-ep-90-gl-4.html

  7. From the Saracen Service Schedule:

     

    [TABLE=class: grid, width: 800]

    [TR]

    [TD]Class[/TD]

    [TD]Lubricant[/TD]

    [TD]Equivalent[/TD]

    [TD]Quantity (Total)[/TD]

    [TD]Notes[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Oil[/TD]

    [TD]OM 13[/TD]

    [TD]ISO 10 hydraulic oil[/TD]

    [TD]23.3 L[/TD]

    [TD]Compatible with yellow metals[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Oil[/TD]

    [TD]OX 8[/TD]

    [TD]DOT4 brake fluid[/TD]

    [TD]17 L[/TD]

    [TD]Older vehicles only, check placard on hydraulic tank[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Oil[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD]SAE 30 or SAE 10W30 motor oil[/TD]

    [TD]31.8 L[/TD]

    [TD][/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Oil[/TD]

    [TD]OEP 220[/TD]

    [TD]EP90 gear oil[/TD]

    [TD]28.3 L[/TD]

    [TD]Compatible with yellow metals[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Crease[/TD]

    [TD]XG 279[/TD]

    [TD]Chassis grease[/TD]

    [TD]Misc.[/TD]

    [TD][/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Protective[/TD]

    [TD]PX 7[/TD]

    [TD]Petroleum jelly[/TD]

    [TD]Misc.[/TD]

    [TD][/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]Coolant[/TD]

    [TD]Not specified[/TD]

    [TD]Antifreeze[/TD]

    [TD]34 L[/TD]

    [TD][/TD]

    [/TR]

    [/TABLE]

     

     

    [TABLE=class: grid, width: 800]

    [TR]

    [TD]Serial No[/TD]

    [TD]Assembly[/TD]

    [TD]Lubricant[/TD]

    [TD]liters[/TD]

    [TD]Pints[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]1[/TD]

    [TD]Engine[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD]16[/TD]

    [TD]28[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]2[/TD]

    [TD]Engine oil filter[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD]1[/TD]

    [TD]2[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]3[/TD]

    [TD]Engine air cleaners (two)[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD]1.5 (each)[/TD]

    [TD]2.5 (each)[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]4[/TD]

    [TD]Mechanical tyre pump[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD].3[/TD]

    [TD].5[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]5[/TD]

    [TD]Main gearbox[/TD]

    [TD]OMD 75[/TD]

    [TD]11.5[/TD]

    [TD]20[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]6[/TD]

    [TD]Transfer box[/TD]

    [TD]OEP 220[/TD]

    [TD]5.1[/TD]

    [TD]9[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]7[/TD]

    [TD]Hydraulic fluid supply tank (see page 3 para 1, sub para b, op 4c)[/TD]

    [TD]OM 13 or OX 8[/TD]

    [TD]17[/TD]

    [TD]30[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]8[/TD]

    [TD]Bevel boxes (six)[/TD]

    [TD]OEP 220[/TD]

    [TD]1.2 (each)[/TD]

    [TD]2.25 (each)[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]9[/TD]

    [TD]Steering cross-shaft bevel box[/TD]

    [TD]OEP 220[/TD]

    [TD]1[/TD]

    [TD]2[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]10[/TD]

    [TD]Fluid coupling[/TD]

    [TD]OM 13[/TD]

    [TD]6.3[/TD]

    [TD]11[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [TR]

    [TD]11[/TD]

    [TD]Hub reduction gear housings (six)[/TD]

    [TD]OEP 220[/TD]

    [TD]2.5 (each)[/TD]

    [TD]4.5 (each)[/TD]

    [/TR]

    [/TABLE]

     

    Cheers,

    Terry

    I have been grappling with oil equivalence for OEP 220 specified for bevel boxes, etc. Most internet sites show this equates to EP90 gear oil, which usually shows up as 80W/90 gear oil in internet searches. I am trying to find the correct product to buy in USA and stumbled on an interesting paper on this topic. It is available here:

    http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

    Apparently, in USA, almost all 80W/90 gear oil that is sold (Walmart, Pepboys, etc) is a GL-5 spec. This contains too much sulphur additives for yellow metals and it seems like the right oil for the Saracen must be GL-4 spec, which is the EP90 standard. Granville oil has a nice recap of the differences, and their EP90 gear oil specifically shows GL-4: http://www.granvilleoil.com/downloads/Which-Gear-Oil.pdf

    Problem is, Granville seems to be a UK brand... so I am still searching for an EP90 gear oil -- again SAE 80W/90 oils are all GL-5!! I thought this might be useful to others, there are a lot of cobwebs on this topic!

  8. My Saracen is missing its bridge plate or any markings. I have an MK6, so it would need a 12 ton plate. Does anyone have recommendations of where to source? Assuming nothing is available at reasonable price, what have people done as workaround? I've read on another forum post someone using a lid from a paint tin and then painting it, which I thought was a clever idea.

     

    Also considered getting a vinyl sticker, anyone has experience with them, do they fade or fall off? Would a sticker affixed to magnetic type backing work better?

     

    If anyone can post a photo of their bridge plate, it would help to see what I'm actually after.

  9. Forum posts can and have been used in court as evidence and there may be restrictions about discussing certain cases in "the media", which also includes the interwebs.

     

    In any case, this is a very unfortunate event and it is always a great loss to the community when we lose any member, and particularly when they are active and influential members.

     

    Cheers,

    Terry

    Terry, I wouldn't worry about how our discussions affect the case or investigation. I think discussing this is important, to educate the members and hopefully learn what to do and what not to do. I doubt anyone would be able to use forum posts as evidence in Court, simply because Rules of Civil (and especially Criminal) Procedure have very specific requirements to introduce documents as evidence: typically someone has to lay the foundation for the document and authenticate it under oath. This means that anything off the internet is inadmissible as hearsay -- the "document" can't be crossexamined, whereas if a document is properly introduced, the guy who authored it must be in Court and he CAN be crossexamined. I don't mean to make this a legal debate, but just wanted to point this out, in case anyone is concerned and this chills the discussion.

     

    For me, this incident is bad news on many fronts. First, two people who were passionate about this hobby lost their lives. Second, it reminds me how dangerous this hobby can be, even you don't act recklessly -- an inadvertent mistake or fault can kill or seriously maim. This is enough of a worry that I start to question whether having my 13 old climbing on the Saracen or helping out is too much of a risk. Third, these incidents inexorably corrode public's perception of our hobby and can only lead to regulation and legislation that will make it more difficult to enjoy.

  10. Metal fatigue is just one option. the breach end of the gun has failed but was it exposed to more pressure that it was designed for? a closer examination of damaged parts is required , any remaining ammunition needs to be broken down and assessed, fired cases examined for excessive pressure , any video footage analyzed for changes in the recoil stroke and muzzle flash from the first to the last round fired . associated equipment like the recoil mechanism may also show signs of being overstressed if it was an ammunition fault.

     

     

    could still be anything ?

    Metal fatigue

    Failure of repaired de milled parts

    Incorrect assembly of parts

    Faulty ammunition

    Incorrect ammunition

    Other stuff I haven't thought of....

     

    Unfortunately, with our legal system being what it is, I am sure the district attorney is sharpening their hatchet and will be hunting for someone's scalp. It will be a shame if someone gets charged with a crime for what looks like a pure accident, but I would not want to be the guy that put together these shells or supplied anything, including fuel, to the Hellcat. There is a famous story here of a teenage girl borrowing dad's car and driving it on rural road with friends to get breakfast. She didn't have a license, crashed and killed 3 kids. They charged her dad, who let her use the car, with multiple homicides and he got 15 years in jail. It was a tragedy, but they needed a scapegoat.

  11. I was led to believe that the smoke dischargers on the Saracen can also be used to launch grenades (60mm?) and therefore are required to be deact in the UK.

     

    Hopefully someone will confirm if this is correct, or not?

     

    Tim

    The shop restoring my Saracen told me they hooked up the electric wires, but I don't know if whatever triggers the firing mechanism was actually present.

    I had to deactivate the smoke launchers per ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms) Form 6 form, which allows conditional approval to import Saracen into USA. One of the conditions was that smoke tubes be bored with hole perpendicular to tube and equal to tube's diameter. So it's totally unusable. I was just curious if the unmolested launchers were operational and if anyone ever used them!

  12. Hi Wayne,

    If the other end is identical, then the tool is not finished yet. See attached drawing that I did from an original army tool about 20 years ago. The four radial holes on right of side view are for putting rod or pin punch in to withdraw sleeve once hub is fully home. The taper is to ease the hub seal over without damaging it, the groove face of inner end of tool is to go over the inner seal to ensure no damage to it occurs.

    Richard,

    I don't know what's more impressive, all your knowledge or the fact that you can remember and locate a drawing you made 20 years ago! Amazing, my hat off to you, sir!

  13. Adrian

     

    Very interesting - thanks.

     

    I think I'd prefer a smoke bomb which smokes on impact rather than one which leaves a smoke trail back to the tank... but then I suppose you'd hope the enemy aren't close enough to see the smoke trail!

     

    Cheers

     

    Tim

    Slightly off topic, so apologies, but I'm wondering whether anyone has tried using the smoke launchers on their armored vehicle. I had to demil them on my Saracen to ship it to USA, and I don't have any of the actual smokes anyway. But curious how they would work in the theoretical world. I guess they are all electrically activated, anyone actually fire them?? And is the "ammo" available/legal to purchase?

  14. Did it sell or fail to meet the reserve?(scorp) what are withams like to deal with on a 1-1 if i were to call in person?

    Gents,

    I know bidding history on the Scorp. Sale closed at 21K. Below 20K, it was showing as not having met reserve, when it hit 21K, reserve was met. I am not sure if this was shill bidding or a real buyer got it.

     

    As far as what it's like to deal with Withams, I only dealt with them once and it was about as pleasant as crawling over broken beer bottles. I bought a periscope and other gear at their tender. Mistakenly put in wrong lot # on bid form, so wound up overbidding for the (wrong) lot. They made me pay and buy it. OK, my mistake, I had to eat it. I paid for the other gear, including periscope, but when sent agent to collect it, they refused to release periscope. Claimed I lacked export permit (though miraculously I didn't need export permit for other parts!). Absolutely refused to listen to any logic (like periscope was going to be installed into a CVRW in England for which I had export permit so periscope would be part and parcel of CVRW & covered by permit; or periscope wasn't leaving England at pickup, so no permit was required to release it inside England; and if permit was required only for periscope, I'd get it).

     

    I finally managed to get their managing director on the phone, who shall remain nameless, and he was about as accommodating as a prison guard. Basically told me "I don't care what you say, you're not getting the periscope" Then hung up on me. I had a lawyer write them letter demanding periscope (I paid for it in full, but they just issued refund a week later to my credit card). I even got the export permit for the periscope just to see if they would then release it to me. I never got it.

     

    So, if you deal with Withams, expect the worst. Unfortunately, they are a monopoly and we collectors are forced to live under their oppressive regime. You may have different experience, but I cringe every time I recall mine.

  15. Based on these high prices, I am surprised some enterprising purveyor has not gone to China and had a container's worth of gear drummed up as replicas. How would you know the year and genuine thing?

     

    I only ask b/c I would like to buy some English military garb to look the part when I drive my Saracen and Fox (when they get here to USA). I have absolutely no idea what would be authentic for the period, but it seems crazy to pay $100+ for a shirt, since the entire outfit would run hundreds of dollars. And only one person in 10,000 would know what you are wearing is or isn't "right".

  16. yes, AUTOHOME to my mind are the best out there price wise....however its 165 per vehicle, and they will only recover a truck, you have to register the trailer at extra money. They will try to fix you at the side of the road first commendable but not always possible. They have never recovered my vehicles, I was stuck at the side of the road for over 12 hours until I fixed the truck and we sped off, autohome couldn't really help...

     

    my ural broke down, it took them hours to get to us, by the time they had arrived I had worked out what was wrong, the police had put out bollards all around us and we didn't get any help from them...

     

    I had a breakdown on the m11, in the daf, with trailer fully loaded they sent a tilt and slide 7.5 tonner after about 5 hours...they did help us fix the fuel problem after 9 hours...but they were thinking they could tow us off the motorway with the 7.5 tonner...oops I am 40 tons worth...

     

    I have to add that of the lot Autohome are the cheapest and they were great when they had the multi-policy but now they don't. They only use local firms that are paid very little so you are very low priority...they are still great and everyone should have this as a minimum, but like me with over 70 trucks at 165 per truck...hmm maybe I will recover myself is how my head worked...and I can honestly say that with all the trucks I have it has always been quicker to call one of my boys than get the RAC or AA or Autohome to attend...I still have autohome.

     

    my service would be a service, you breakdown we come to get you..we drop everything else we are doing and we recover you home. This would be a priority service not secondhand service...anyway offer is there...PM me if you have any interest.

     

    just so you know we run a manned 24/7 operation, so you will always call someone who is awake and ready. we will come to you as fast as we can once we know what is the problem...we don't do punctures..but can do temporary repairs to some tyres to get you off the road, but we do have a lot of military wheels and we can usually provide a temporary spare if needed. We are Military enthusiasts so we understand the issues...

    I'm not even in UK, so my feedback is pretty much useless from standpoint of being prospective customer, but I think it's a good idea. The real issue is whether the service will charge based on "market" rates and how logistics work out. If I break down in London and you are in Manchester, clearly you can't provide service - unless you subcontract someone else or have a network. And in that case, you become essentially a dispatch service, offering coordination as the main value added. If you are essentially a middle man between the ultimate recovery agent and vehicle owner, then you either have to charge the owner more or pay the agent less, in order to feed your overhead/profit. That's the conundrum. Here in USA, AAA has this model for regular vehicles, and they basically pay the towing service nothing. The towing service only does it to have a captive customer for doing repairs, since once they bring you to their garage, you are most likely getting the repair there. And then they recapture their loss on the tow.

     

    With MV owners, the AAA model is not likely viable, on many levels. AAA covers the person, not the car, so if you have 5 cars you are covered. It sounds like you are thinking of the same thing, except that with MV you now have multiple breakdown probabilities if multiple vehicles are involved. So the fee structure has to recapture the exposure, else you will go out of business.

     

    I think the theory is nice. I would definitely pay to have peace of mind that if I break down, I can call one number and not sweat it out on the side of the road. I'm just not sure it's possible to design a system where both provider and user of the service have a fair pricing structure if it's based on a single pay system.

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