David Herbert

It looks like the bronze worm gear has been stolen out of the rear axle but without dismantling it. How on earth did they do that ? Surely no one would have bothered to reassemble the axle for use as a trailer but not put the top back on. These photos do illustrate that that style of cast wheels had hollow spokes despite what many people think. David

Hi Nick, I think that you have pretty well answered your own question. The only real way to tell is to have an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge of whatever vehicle you are interested in. It is not made any easier that many of the vehicles that we are interested in continued to be used by the military for many years so parts were purchased locally that with use and sixty years of patina are very hard to sort out from original parts. Also, original genuine parts were often made by more than one sub contractor and were not exactly identical but were completely correct and interchangeable. I think that a degree of pragmatism is appropriate here. We can only do the best that we can. Any restoration is a learning experience and however much effort you put in someone will try to comment. Just do the best that you can. At least with jeeps there is a huge body of knowledge now but you must be selective in what you believe. Jeeps are great fun, usable vehicles that a normal (ish) person can restore to a very good standard. Enjoy the journey! David

Robert, Are you saying that there were no War Office Fords that started production before or after 1940 ? If your interpretation were correct there would be W9T and W1T, W2T etc plus the equivalent WxA and WxC designations. David

For the benefit of anyone using American tons, 1410 kg is approximately 3102 pounds so a little above 1 1/2 tons. Add on some pallets and the shipping weight will be about 3250 pounds. David

Find a post by the person that you want to PM. Click on their name. Click on 'Message' Write message. If they reply you get a notification when you log in and I think also by email if you have that in your settings. David

I have just weighed one new link complete with pad and pin and it was 7.83 Kg so a complete vehicle set of 180 links is 1410Kg. Add to that some pallets and the 1.5 tons is spot on. David

The oval style cans like 2H3442 above are actually a standard design of oil can that was used in all branches of engineering and steam haulage for many years in the UK and I expect many other countries. They were made in many sizes and with a button operated pump, a button operated valve (so gravity feed) and also purely gravity feed with no button like the one depicted as 2H3442. There was often a sliding shutter to close the filling hole but not always. There is at least one manufacturer that still supplies them new to the UK heritage steam sector. If I was looking for one I would search autojumbles at steam rallies and of course Ebay. David

Please give us a hint what "it" is ! David

I agree with Gordon. The whole of the vertical part of the T is stamped deeper than any part of the horizontal stroke suggesting a separate strike. David (Recovering from an excellent Christmas lunch !)

If one is going to make the gills out of tin plate then I would think that dipping would be the best way of soldering as it will protect the cut edges which would rust very quickly otherwise and would not take paint very well. As we are not talking about a great total weight of material, would it be better to make the gills out of copper or brass ? Better thermal performance, no corrosion, and one could use solder paste. Any commercial press operation buys the material in coils of the width required which is fed into the punching machine through rolls that straighten it and a gripper that advances it one pitch per cycle so eliminating more handling. Happy Christmas everyone, David

Please send all your empty coffee tins to Andy..... David

Is there any need to turn the tips over ? Possibly to allow the gills to sit closer to each other ? If a round hole were punched first, possibly in the same strike as the external shape, it would reduce the height of the petals and centre the pentagonal punch. David

On Bedford MW, OX and OY the chassis number (known these days as a VIN) is stamped into the vertical face of the LH chassis rail between the two step brackets below the cab door. I don't know where it is on a QL but I would look on the LH chassis rail above the front axle first. David

Having spent some time in Kenya I think that the bottom photo is quite possible. I saw a small bus in Nairobi once with 26 mattresses piled up on top and tied on with a rope that went under the bus and up the other side, over the top and tied onto the loose end of the same rope. The mattresses were wobbling in a most impressive way whenever the bus turned or braked. It is normal there to get at least double the number of people into a vehicle than would be acceptable in the UK or US, triple if things are busy. The attitude was: If you die, you die ! Great fun ! David

I don't think that that is the same one ! The bracing for the stabilizers is different so it is not just a different crane. David

I have never seen that design before. Is it possible that it was home (or military workshop) made for a special application and the handle and cap were taken from an ordinary 2 gallon can ? David

As Rick says tracked vehicle tires get shredded rather than worn down but these are idler wheels which had thinner rubber than the road wheels. Also 70 year old rubber will have become very hard and will eventually separate from the wheel so don't expect too much from it. However if you have a mid production T16 and need some curly spoked wheels these seem very clean and non rusty ones. David

It looks to me to be a 'recreation' on a WW2 ish period Ford (or Ford copy) truck chassis. The pre-revolution Russian army had quite a variety of armoured cars including twin shaft Austins with armoured bodies but how these stood up to the weight I have no idea as they weren't exactly successful as a light truck. The literal translation of the Russian spelling of the type of machine gun MAKCNM should of course be Maxim. David

You really know how to make life hard for yourself don't you ! I suppose it will keep you fit though. Had these wrecks been tipped over the cliff as a way to dispose of them ? If so I would assume a lot of broken castings and mangled chassis rails. I can't help thinking of Laurel and Hardy wrecking all those classic pre-war cars by pushing them over cliffs. David

Great photo of the lumber yard and there is a huge amount of fascinating reading in the 'foresthistory.org' link. Thank you for posting. David

Ruxy, You have used the same part number - 569746 for both front and rear chassis bushes, presumably not what you intended ? David

If you have fuel (or easy-start) getting to the cylinders and compression it must be ignition. If you have a good strong spark at the plugs then it has to be timing. Are you certain that it is sparking at the top of the compression stroke and not the exhaust stroke and that the plug leads are in the right order on the distributor, not the reverse order. Both mistakes are very easy to do ! You have mentioned flooding. I presume that you are happy that the float valve is doing its job ? David

Bridge pontoons ? David

Regarding the unavailability of 1/4" plate, you might be surprised at the variation in thickness of '6mm' plate. As with rolled steel joist and angle sections, the quality control of plate thickness is not that good and it is worth actually measuring any piece of 6mm plate to check its real thickness. David

My Austin Champ (B40) ran very nicely at 12 degrees BTDC static timing on unleaded 2* petrol. Any more than that risked detonation. It routinely did 16MPG (Imp) and was happy to cruise at 65, though stopping was needed anticipation ! David