Old Bill

Just posting a few more pics but I am very pleased to read Terry's comments again. I didn't get around to trying the flame test last year but have continued to ponder the mixture. I have a selection of jets that I have turned up so must have a go next time we go for a play! In the mean time, I have been pattern making again. On the front of the engine, there is a casting which carries the outer fan bearing. We call it the 'onion casting' for some reason and, as you can see below, it was pretty poorly. A friend tried a TiG welder on it but the results were awful and we determined to make a new casting instead. I started on the pattern but then we were fortunate to find a good casting at the Banfield sale and that is what is fitted to the lorry. In the mean time, I passed the half-made bits onto Tomo to finish. Just the other day, our pal in New Zealand, who so kindly gave us the differential, asked if he could have a casting as the one for his lorry is rotten as well so I thought I had better finish the pattern off. Tomo had not got around to doing it and kindly agreed that I could have the bits back so I am on with the job again! This is a most cussing awkward shape and has been a real puzzle over how to do it. I eventually reached the conclusion that I need a full-diameter plug with a core to drop in which has part of its surface higher by the thickness of casting to generate the hole in the side. First step, therefore, was to turn up the plug using, as is my wont, a laminated MDF block. Getting the shape I wanted was a nightmare and in the end, I cut a template from platicard with some key dimensions marked on it. MDF dust is pretty horrible at the best of times and turning the stuff in a confined space was nightmarish. I couldn't see for most of the time for the dust on my specs! I brought out my dust extractor and used my respirator to make it liveable. The centre one here is the main plug. The question next was how to produce a core box with this complicated shape whilst maintaining a constant wall thickness. My boring skills are not up to the job but my pal, Adrian, suggested that I make a solid wooden core and then pour resin around it to make a mould. The piece on the right is that core which is 1/4" smaller than the plug all round to give a material thickness. The piece on the left is the same profile as the main plug so I can use it to generate the hole in the side. All three were turned using plasticard templates to control the profiles and have worked out OK. Whilst with Tomo, the bits have received the most fabulous paint job in Bondaprime. It was a pity to cut them! First job was to make the piece for the cavity so I cut a slice off of one side of the block. I then marked it out by eye and cut it to a curve until it fitted the casting. Lots of use of the belt sander here. Hardest thing is trying to hold it as there are no flat surfaces to grip! I was pleased with the result. Then it was time to cut a matching groove in the core itself. it was just a case of nibbling away at it until it fitted. The Bridgeport is a wonderful machine! Then, drop it in and glue it down. The tube is my dust extractor again. Horrible stuff. Then, heart-in-mouth time again as I sawed it in half. The plan is to cast the two halves of the core and make two boxes. The cores can then be glued together before dropping into the main hole. Main plug cut in half. I made up the saw thickness with plywood and then drilled holes for the locating dowels. The hole in the side needs to be opposite the boss which carries the greaser so thereneeds to be a location between the plug and the core. The boss on the plug is easy. However, that on the core is more difficult due to the direction in which I cut it in half. This is where we are today. The parts are painted and complete. I am just making up the core boxes over which the wooden cores will be suspended when the resin is poured in. I haven't tried this process before and am looking forward to seeing the results. Will keep you posted! Steve 🙂

Hi Chaps. Many thanks for all of your thoughts. I am back on the case now! I could make a complete new one as that would be a known quantity. However, I do like to use a repaired original part wherever I can. If I replaced this one, I would have to store it for ever! Fear not, Barry, I have been working on a really quite tricky pattern for the Thornycroft and I will post on that very shortly. Building up the surface and re-cutting is an option. Although I love silver solder, I don't think a layer of that would be thick enough as I need to add the best part of 1/8" to the diameter. Brazing would probably be OK but to build it up locally really needs an acetylene torch which we don't have and you know what my welding skills are like. Current thinking is to turn the whole flange off from the back and silver solder a new bronze ring into position. Then I should just have to turn it back and screw-cut it. Dad is on the look-out for a suitable piece of bronze and I will keep you posted with progress. I think that the locking screw was an original feature as similar screws are used on the wheel seal bronzes. However, as you can see here, locking additions were made in the shape of a piece of steel, top and bottom, which engage with the bronze cover. This problem has been simmering for a long while and now that we know it is there, we have to fix it! The bearings are on order and I will keep you posted with progress. Steve🙂

A bit more progress today. Dad has had a go at the gearbox lid and it is looking much better. Selector fork guide casting. Foundry mark. I wonder who they were? You may remember that when we removed the input shaft, the first bearing cage was in the cover in bits so we had to take it out of the box. I decided to have a go at removing the nut which holds the bearings. It is 2 3/4" AF down a hole and I don't have a spanner for it. As the nut is thin, I didn't think it would be too tight so I tried a bit of a lash-up by putting two bits of packing inside the Dennis hub-nut spanner. Amazingly, it worked! Once slackened off, the nut just unscrewed and the centre shaft pushed out. I was expecting it to be a difficult job. After the first clean up. The cages in both bearings have failed so they must both be replaced. Much to my surprise, they are metric with 60mm bores, 130mm OD and 26mm thick. The 26mm thickness appears to be discontinued and I can only get 31mm. However, I think I can get away with the thicker bearings by shortening the intermediate spacer collar. Time to remove the gland from the end cover. The only way I had to apply torque to this was to use the 36" stillson wrench. I hate doing that as it marks the nut but needs must. It let go eventually and I cleaned them all up. This bronze cover screws into the bearing carrier to trap the bearings but unfortunately, the thread is shot. It started out as 5 1/4" x 16tpi but there is not much left. I must decide whether to repair or replace the part now. Dad is pressing on with cleaning stuff and having a lovely time. It really is a horrible job! More pics another day. Steve 🙂

Yes, a horrible job. I did find three gear teeth in the drain plug though. Just trying to see where they came from! A few more bits and pieces before we go our seperate ways. The carburettor is water heated and as I had already made up the pipe fittings, I bent up the pipes themselves. First was the return pipe and that was quite straightforward. It needed a clip to keep it clear of the bump stop so that was simply bent up from a piece of brass strip. Success! I didn't have enough tube for the feed pipe but Dad found a bit in a drawer, obviously second-hand! I annealed it and made it passably straight in my fingers. Then I bent it up but rather spoiled the effect by cutting it short. As I only had one piece of tube, I machined a long end fitting to win the extra length back. It worked OK and you don't notice it on the engine. It can remain as a reminder of the old adage, Measure twice.... Dad had painted up the sump level tap linkage so I set about fitting it. All successful. I still don't understand why Peerless fitted two seperate sumps, however, as they do add an amount of extra complication. In poking about today, I found the remains of a rear bump-stop mounting clip. I have left this out for Father to make up some replacements, should the feeling come upon him. Happy New Year everybody! Steve🙂

A return to the fray. I tend to stop when things get difficult and go away to think about them for a bit. Pressing on usually results in disaster or blood! The input shaft wasn't letting go so we decided to try the power take-off gear. The extended layshaft was an option in the parts book but I am surprised that it was specified for a military lorry. The lorry worked its life as a tipper in which case it was a useful feature so I wonder whether it was a post-war addition? We shall never know. Anyway, I drilled out the locking bolt and applied the hydraulic puller and, much to my surprise, it let go. That puller was a good investment! Then back to the input shaft. I pushed the gear hard up against the casing and hit it again with a large hammer and block of wood. It let go and began to move. Once I could get a couple of screwdrivers in there, we were away. Eventually, I could pull it free. That old oil is remarkably sticky though. The inter-shaft bearing is of a double-row self-aligning type and looks OK. I had previously freed off the big nuts on the bearing cover and, once I had knocked the bolts through, it came off. To get the lay shaft off, the bearing on the other end also needed to be removed but it was a right so-and-so and, rather annoyingly, I broke the flange. Very aggravating. In the end, we decided that the sticky oil wasn't helping and so warmed the whole lot up to thin it down. That worked a treat and off it came. Then we could lift the layshaft out. That is a heavy lump. Followed by the output shaft, an even heavier lump. Taking them out will make it a lot easier to clean anyway! We are going to try to leave the differential in place but time will tell. We are going out again in a moment to start digging sludge. Steve 🙂

There is something to be said for living in California! Glad you are enjoying the instalments. We do tend to work in bursts as the lorry lives 200 miles away from me which is a real pain, and we therefore tend to get several jobs ready to do for each visit. We do love the friends we have made through Jack's forum. Periodically, they make themselves known at some rally or other and it is always a joy to meet everyone. Anyway, here is todays installment: We have been back on the gearbox and have been scraping and chipping again. Whilst poking around the input shaft, this gland carrier could be seen to move. As it should be screwed in, we became concerned and decided that it needed to be removed for a closer look. The UJ coupling had to come off first so I started by punching out a cross-pin. Much to our surprise, it moved quite easily. Then put the hydraulic puller on it. I had to wind it up fairly well but it came loose with a thump and it soon came off. Once the keys were removed, the carrier just pulled out and it could be seen that the threads were shot. Of more concern, part of the bearing cage was loose within it. The balls were no longer spaced correctly so now we must remove the lot to identify the bearing and replace it. The two bearings are mounted within a cast iron sleeve which is stuck pretty firmly. It is also very thin so I can't afford to treat it with a heavy hand and we are puzzling how to shift it. we have left it soaking with Plus-Gas overnight. Whilst pondering, we lifted out the selector forks. These could do with s bit of love and attention too. We have now decided that the shafts must come out so I released the nuts on the bearing caps. They were well tightened and I had to use a bit of pipe on the 3/4" drive ratchet before they let go. We shall return to the fray tomorrow. Steve🙂

Hi Barry. No, I haven't checked the ratio but I would expect between 3 and 4:1. The Thornycroft was 3.5:1 No wonder we barely make 5mpg! Just going out in the shed but it is a filthy day and not very inspiring. Oh well. Steve🙂

Hi Chaps. Between visits and guests, we have made some progress. First job was to try to start the Autocar and get it out. Poor old thing hasn't run for a couple of years and the cold and damp didn't help much. However, it went in the end and we moved it out in order to access the box. It is a big, heavy, awkward thing but we got it blocked up in the end. We had to take the lid off and were very pleased to find a super looking set of gears. We will dig the crud out of the bottom and give them a bit of a paraffin wash but unless we find any horrors, we plan to leave them alone. It was killing us on the floor though so we eventually managed to get it onto the engine trolley, ready for an external clean. In the mean time, Tim fitted the overflow pipe steady bracket. Then the new water system drain plug. And the repaired oil cups. The oil feed banjos were mounted but await the pipework. The extended magneto strap was fitted. Then we sealed up the engine. I was concerned about my new crush washers but they dropped in perfectly. A good heave on the newly dressed up valve caps. I screwed in the Champion D16s and the engine was sealed. We even have compression on all four! New water fittings in the carb and the carb firmly mounted on its bracket, newly painted by Dad. Not bad progress so far. Gearbox cleaning planned for tomorrow. That promises to be a very tedious job but there we are. We only do it for the fun! Steve🙂

Look what Santa brought me! An original magneto switch as fitted to Peerless trucks! Tim found it on Ebay amazingly. We shall have an hour out in the shed later. Happy Christmas everyone! Steve 😁

Progress has been slow of late with work and other things getting in the way. However, I have made a few brass fittings ready for the Christmas blitz. There are two oil pots on top of the engine and, quite remarkably, we have both although one is missing its lid. Made in Cleveland Ohio, the home of Peerless. I cut out a blank of brass and then just tapped the edges over the end of a piece of bar. The hinge is a staple formed from wire. Sadly, I didn't have any brass wire small enough so this is steel. It should last OK in such an oily environment. Complete and ready to fit! I made up a replacement banjo fitting a little while back as you saw. Now I have done the banjos as well which was a fun turning job. Silver soldered assembly of course. And union nuts and nipples to suit. 7/16" UNS to match the oil pump. I bought these elbows but made up the union nuts again so we will be ready to go once I have made the sight feed unit. So, Christmas is coming, along with a few days all together. The plan is to dig out the gearbox and see how far we can get with it. We haven't seen it for a few years and have never looked inside. Fingers are crossed that it will need little more than a good clean but we shall see. Watch this space! Steve 🙂

Hi Chaps. A very little progress but still inching forwards. This working away from home is an absolute pain! Anyway, the valve cap crush-washers have turned up from Dobson Gaskets in Keithley, specially made in under fourteen days so they can be fitted over Christmas along with the caps. If the spark plugs turn up as well, we will be able to seal up the engine completely! I have sorted out the magneto strap by cutting it and fitting a longer extension piece. Now I have the magneto with me, I have realised that it needs a ball joint to operate the advance so I have turned one up. I had to clean out the hole with a reamer but it is a nice tight fit and the original drive rod will fight again. Something else to fit over Christmas! Steve 🙂

Actually no. I plan to carve it out of a lump if we have one big enough. I am using up stock! Steve

I don't think there are any pressed parts in it. It is just a gunmetal casting. I shall carve it out of the solid if Dad can find a lump of bronze or brass in the stores. There are some thin bent bits to the sides which trap a white-painted backplate which shows up the drips and also an engraved plate on the front to indicate where each drip feeds. A bit more sketching needed, I think! Steve 🙂

Thanks Chaps.There is a solution! Steve 🙂

Interesting to see but I don't think I shall try to replicate them. Too much like hard work! I have been amusing myself with fittings for the oil and water systems. The mechanical oil pump feeds the two crank cases seperately through two banjo fittings. These are the fittings I have. I suspect that the steel one was a repair job at some point in its life and, rather inconveniently, sports an M10 thread. Fortunately, I spotted it as I am very suspicious of all screw threads on this vehicle! Anyway, I thought that I would rather they looked the same and so turned one up to match but with the M10. Unfortunately, we don't have the banjos themselves so they will be another imminent task. For some light relief, I turned up some water connections with nuts and nipples to match. 1/8"NPT to 1/2"x 24 UNS. More new taps and dies! As well as the banjos on the oil system, we are missing the actual sight feed unit which looks like this. I have spent the day on the board turning photographs and a manual illustration into enough information to make one up I just need to find a source of 5/8" OD glass tube and learn how to cut it! 15mm test tubes may be the answer or possibly to drill and turn some acrylic rod into tube. More food for thought. Steve 🙂

Hi Andy. Thanks for the pic and the story. You are a brave man to take it on and I shall look forward to seeing it sooner or later. Pleased to hear that you enjoy the ongoing story. I am always concerned that we are going into mind-numbing levels of detail but people do seem to keep coming back! It is wonderful for me to be able to ask questions of such a knowledgeable bunch of friends. You certainly can't do this sort of thing on your own! Steve 🙂

Hi Chaps! Many thanks for that. I knew I just had to ask! Interestingly, my spare plug which lives in the toolbox is a D16 so I think we are on the right lines. I will start with them. My goodness, Andy. That Lion is an animal! You are a brave man indeed for taking such a thing on. What is its story? Whilst looking at this area of the engine, I have picked up the valve plugs. Unfortunately, they are a sorry looking bunch and have all been seriously mistreated with a hammer and punch, probably due to the lack of an appropriate spanner. Well, I am fortunate to have in stock a Dennis cap spanner. The teeth are rounded off and bigger than the original slots in the Peerlees plugs but it does give us a chance of being able to tighten them properly. First task was to tidy the teeth up. Fortunately, it is not too hard. Onto the caps. I started off by putting them all in the lathe to tidy up the front faces and outside diameter. One of them was very far gone and, I decided, needed more than just a bit of tickling. I faced this one right off with the intention of silver soldering a replacement ring. I needed a 3" diameter disc for that job and quite amazingly, found a bar end of 3 1/2" brass under the bench which I duly parted off. It is very surprising how little I buy these days. I seem to have been doing this for so long that there is always something useful hidden in a corner somewhere, assuming I can find it! It floated off-centre on the solder but I had left enough meat on it to dress off so all was well. Then into the mill to have the slots cut. All quite straightforward. I tidied the slots in the other caps as well. I suspect that they were originally 1/4" wide but five caps are now 3/8" which suits the spanner. The other three are a whisker wider in order to adequately clean the faces. All done! I have ordered some new crush washers for them from Dobson Gaskets in Keighly following Tomo's recommendation. They have promised fourteen days delivery so we shall see how they do. Thanks Tomo. I will order the plugs next! Thanks for your help! Steve 🙂

Hi Pete. No, I wouldn't be able to disengage it so far out. I need to dress the leather back to get it to sit further in by about an inch. Current thinking is to set it up in the gap of the Colchester and then either using a bar in the toolpost as a datum, dress it off with a rasp or possibly even set up a sander in the toolpost and rotate it against it. Next time I pay a visit, I plan to spend some time eyeing up the job. Mounting a sander in the toolpost might be a challenge! Spark Plugs! Looking ahead, we are going to need some spark plugs very soon so that we can seal it up. The question is, how do I select the spark plug type? All of the Google references I have found so far say that it is imperative to start with the manufacturer's recommendation but, unfortunately, I don't have one! I have spoken to The Green Spark Plug Co and they tell me that the book calls for Lodge ST 22mm plugs but our valve caps have 18mm threads so those would not fit. Green supplied us with 'Champion 7' for the Dennis and these have been fine in what must be a very similar engine. Unfortunately again, they are out of stock. In my readings, I have found that some plugs have resistors built in but that we must not use that type with a Magneto. Also, some have a copper core which is not for conductivity but to keep them cool. We don't want that type either as our engines all run very cool and need the hottest plug we can get to stop them fouling. It is an interesting question and, to be honest, I don't suppose it is very critical for us. I would value some opinions if anyone is prepared to share them please! Steve 🙂

Thank you Peter, what a brilliant idea! I love the quote at the bottom! As you can see, it is a mighty spring and an uncontrolled release could be very exciting indeed! Steve 👍

A trial fit of the manifolds. Thank goodness for the chain block! Success! This water pipe connects the pump to the bottom of the radiator. The drain plug in the pipe is shot so I must make up a replacement. The hose to the manifold steadies the rad for the time being and I took the opportunity to fit the overflow pipe. What else can we fit? Dad had painted up the silencer brackets so we attached them to the end of the silencer and hung it on the chassis. No reason why we shouldn't fit the clutch. This is the main release bearing for which Father had made up two new bolts. But now the googly. I tried to mount the spring but, as you can see, it is nowhere near the thread. It appears that the leather lining is slightly too thick and with a couple of bumps as well, it is keeping the clutch out by about an inch. Not quite sure how I am goint to resolve this one but something to ponder. In the mean time, we really feel that we have made some progress! Steve 🙂

I took the opportunity to fit the magneto base. And then did a trial fit of the magneto itself. Unfortunately, it appears that my strap extension exercise was insufficient so I will have to do it again. Oh well. Dad has painted up the oil level tap handle so that was hung on the side. I fitted the level taps to the underside of the sump. You may remember that there are two seperate sumps so there are two taps linked together. Using the original linkage to check for length, I cut and soldered the replacement to length. Success! Water pump next and, as you can see, two mounting studs were missing. These were made up and fitted. Then I dug the pump out from its hiding place. Dad overhauled it long ago but had completely forgotten about it! We then realised that a spigot was missing. We weren't even sure that it existed! Tim went through the old photos and found it so I kept looking until it turned up. With the manifold fitted and a bit of hose, it was all mounted successfully. I did use jubilee clips though. They look horrible but will seat the hose ready for when I make up some nice brass ones. And then the oil pump! That mounted successfully but the tapped holes in the crank case for the fittings need cleaning out and I had left the taps in Leicester so they will have to wait until next time. Now the radiator. Dad is ahead of the game again and has made up the mounting pins and got hold of some stainless steel screws for the water manifolds.

Hi Chaps. Many thanks for your thoughts regarding the brackets. I am sure that you are right and that they won't survive for very long. I think I shall leave them for the time being though and just see how it goes. At least I now have a furher course of action for when they do fail. In the mean time, I have been very fortunate to have a few days in Devon to press on with reassembly work. The first thing I found was that Father has made up and fitted the nuts missing from the timing case cover so that one is ticked off! Tim was there for the first day so we unloaded the radiator from my car. It is a heavy lump! Tim then took the insulating bushes I had made and fitted them into their guide castings before fitting them in turn to the inlet manifold. He cut out some gaskets and the first part was on! The carburettor weighs 19lbs and has its own mounting bracket on the back. These were the two studs on the side of the engine which I thought were intended to carry it. However, they are too far apart! The hand throttle lever bracket does, however, fit on them. Once I had put it into place, it became obvious that there was a tapped hole to locate the carb. Rather peculiarly it appears that there should be a second hole but at some time in the past, the casting had been cut off! With the carb mounted on its flange, I could see a gap of 1/8" behind it and felt that there would be room for an additional mounting plate. Father made this up with two studs brazed into place. This has worked satisfactorily so it has been removed for painting. It does look nice in place at last!

The bottom sleeve of the pump needed a valve seat so that was a nice turning job. Just waiting for a strainer. The strainer appears to be a dome of gauze in the manual so I had to have a go at that. I turned up a dolly and a ring, annealed the brass and pressed it through. I trimmed the gauze off and soldered it on and another part ticked off. The tube was attached to the sleeve with silver solder and then pickled for a couple of hours. I did give some thought to the alignment so that the handle would point left to right when the ports are aligned. Ready for assembly. And into the tank. Interestingly, it all aligned which had been a great concern. I finished the reassembly process after cutting lots of gaskets and washers. All is well and we have another lump to fit the next time we are all together. Now I must get on with the oil sight feeds! Steve🙂

A closer look at the pump on the Sandstone Estates lorry gives another clue in that the pump handle has an arrow on the top and a square pump spindle. This suggests to me that you twist the handle to the front or rear sump and that the square rotates the pump to face the appropriate port. Ingenious, if a lot of extra work! Before getting stuck into the pump, I made up the top cover plate. This has a cavity underneath to align with the top of the pump itself. Then the valve block. This has a single hole in the side to face the relevant port and a thread to allow the valve seat to be screwed in. It pushes into the pump base casting as a close sliding fit as there are no seals on the oil delivery side. It can be rotated to allow the port to face either outlet. The top of the pump cylinder has a square hole so that the spindle can engage with it. Then the pump cylinder itself. The top four holes are for the set screws which connect it to the cap. The larger holes are to vent the top of the piston. The piston has a groove for an O-ring. I know it is not prototypical but I don't know what was there. The handle is a silver soldered fabrication (of course!) To create the arrow, I fretted one out and soldered it onto the top. The Bovington Peerless has a raised arrow so I am happy to do it this way. Piston and spindle, ready to fit!

We decided to start with the tank. You can see the tags which have been welded on. I wouldn't have tried this as welding old aluminium is very tricky. However, as they had been done, I marked them out and cut them to profile. The brackets are very slender and I don't hold out much hope for their survival. We shall see. Machining a lot of the weld away to give clearance for the nuts won't help much either. The suction strainer screwed into the bottom to meet the pump. That had seen better days as well. A bit of new gauze soon remedied it, however. The pump suction valve just needed a clean up. Repacked the drive shaft gland. The cap on the delivery banjo had split at some time so I made a new one of those up. And the pump is ready to fit. Now, the missing hand pump. Looking at the manual, it seems quite a straightforward device. However, the pump base casting has two outlet ports which feed down through the two legs and out of the bottom of the tank. This seemed odd but, unusually, the engine has two seperate sumps without a balance pipe so one port must feed each end. The question then arises as to how you control them?