Redmat

There are a small number of manifolds listed as suitable for the 28HP on Ebay in varying states and at varying prices! My son has a truck with a similar engine which had the same problem. We skimmed the exhaust manifold on a milling machine but also had to do the same to the head as the joints had clearly been blowing for years and this had eroded the mating surfaces, so look carefully at the head as well as the manifold. If you go down the route of machining the exhaust manifold, you might have to remove the same amount of material from the inlet so that both sit together as they should. Best of luck Alan

My Matador is fitted with the Westinghouse full air braking system. There is not really any back pressure against the foot on the pedal and it goes down to the bottom but the lower you push down the pedal the harder the brakes are applied. When driving you have to judge how far down to press the pedal to slow the vehicle as you intend rather than rely on sensing how hard your foot is pressing on the brake.

I don't know where it is located but it appeared on here looking ready for a bit of tlc in a thread a few years ago.http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?7379-Diamond-T-Gallery&p=306808#post306808

Earnshaws moved from Midgley down the road to the former Denby Grange Colliery site some years ago. The original yard is now occupied by houses and as far as I am aware the few matador bits left, basically a pile of wheels, were disposed of. You could give them a call, but I am not optimistic.

The mk2 armoured car appears to have been powered with a 9.65 indirect injection engine, not the 7.7 direct injection unit as fitted to the matador. If you look at the AEC Society website and trawl through the "Contribution to victory" publication there is quite a lot of information there that you might find useful.

I have a parts book which lists tools, etc supplied with the first 1100 or so vehicles. Many of these are special workshop tools, others are what one would expect to find in a kit carried on the vehicle. It is not clear to me what would actually be carried in service. If no one has the information to hand I would be able to scan the pages if it would be of use.

Mallard Metal Packs http://www.mallardmetals.co.uk or several others who supply the model engineering fraternity should be able to fix you up.

I am currently going through the brakes on my son's CMP so the time is not entirely wasted. The job is becoming a something of a war of attrition, buying parts as near as possible to the originals, then making them fit- including brake union nuts!

Curiosity aroused, I have dug out a copy of Machinery’s Handbook of 1944 to learn more about SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) threads. There were four categories, Course and Fine series, 8, 12 and 16 pitch series, Extra Fine and Special Pitches. Pipe threads, aeronautical screw threads and several other American systems are not covered by the SAE specifications, at least at the time of publication. The Course and Fine series and 8/12/16 series are similar to American standard threads. The Extra Fine and Special Series are particular to SAE. All types had the same American standard profile. To explain:- The Course and Fine series are said to be just the same as American Standards threads, which with some modifications later became UNC/UNF. The 8/12/16 series had the same pitch (threads per inch) for different diameters. For instance, the 16 tpi series ranged from ¾ “to 4”dia. and was said to be suitable for adjusting nuts and bearing retaining collars. The Extra Fine series ranged from 1/4” to 6”diameter. As an example a ½”dia. thread has 28tpi. The Special Pitch series is more complex as each diameter has a range of pitches. A ½”dia.thread can be 14,16,18,24,32, or “for special applications”28 tpi. Each category also has a range of up to four manufacturing tolerances, specifying limits to achieve looseness through to tightness for different applications. Until today I thought that our Whitworth based thread system was complicated!! :nut:

I think that you would be best advised to measure the diameters of the nuts and use a thread gauge to establish the tpi. I am currently doing the brakes on a Chev CMP which is piped with 1/4" tube. The male threads on the flexible hoses are 7/16 x 20 tpi, which is UNF, but the female ones are 7/16 x 24 tpi, which my Presto booklet describes as NS-"special threads of American national form". A bit confusing but apparently American practice on many vehicles of that era.

I have used safetek - The Cleckheaton branch is not too far away from where I live- several times. They even relined a tiny pair of shoes for a push bike for me on one occasion! http://www.saftek.co.uk/index.html

Basic information and photographs of command vehicles (p.30/31) and armoured cars (p.50-52) is to be found in the AEC publication "Contribution to Victory" - available here http://middx.net/aec/victory/001.htm It is well worth looking at and covers Matadors and also other lesser known wartime AEC products such as flame throwers and tank engines.

More than 3 actually! Phil, welcome to the forum.

Going back to the lining material issue, I would be surprised if Saftek were unable to help. I have always found them obliging and able to deal with one offs. http://www.saftek.co.uk/

Be careful with that shovel MW. I've come across the odd mortar shell when walking around Langsett!! Dave- Welcome to the forum

In have one of these- current use as a bowser for towing behind a steam roller. The pumps, filters, etc. were missing when I bought it. It is similar to the one pictured earlier in the thread in the Piano Del Orme musuem, same type wheels and flat and fluted mudguards. The data plate is shown below. Made by D+P Ltd. Who were they?

I got into conversation with a farmer who lives just above the site. He said that it was very unusual for that part of the field to flood and it only happened when there is exceptionally heavy rain.

Your cheapest route would probably be to buy a CD of the manuals from ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AEC-Matador-0853-Manual-Collection-CD-PDF-format-/280867920297?pt=UK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litterature_ET&hash=item41650859a9 I do not have these but have some on CD or downloaded for other vehicles. It is useful to be able to print off a few pages when doing a job to avoid spoiling an original and, usually these days, expensive original manual.

The Matador maintenance manual specifies 30 H.D. which is, as far as I have been able to find out, what you are currently using. Mine runs on a similar product without any problems. Beware of high detergent oils which can dislodge or dissolve accumulated deposits in an old engine which then have the potential to block oilways etc. with disasterous results.

The trailer never had any signs of an air braking system, nor did any of the others in Glossop's yard. I am not sure what towed the living vans around, the road burner unit or one of the tippers that took away the lifted tarmac but I would be surprised if they bothered coupling up the brakes. They considered the vans to weigh 1.5 tons, so not really a significant load.

I can only find one picture of the van . I bought it from Glossops at Hipperholme where it had been used as living accommodation for men working with their road burners. It is fitted with bunks and a stove. By the time I bought the trailer in the early eighties, the road burners, which were pulled with Scammell Pioneers, had become obsolete due to the introduction of planers. In the yard, about six Scammells were lined up and were for sale at £200 each. As far as I know, no buyers came forward and they all went to Hemmingways for breaking. I don't think any of the other vans-there were about 3-survived either. I was told that a farmer had bought them as a source of tyres and weighed the rest in for scrap.

Searching on the internet, I found some discussion and information on Brockhouse trailers here- http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9264&page=2

I have a living van which I am led to believe is converted from a WW2 radar van. It has torsion bar suspension and a rounded roof. I am considering getting it out of the shed and towing it behind my Matador and am thinking about how the van brakes would be linked to the truck. The trailer has hydraulic brakes on each wheel operated by a master cylinder/reservoir on the inside of the chassis. The operation of the brakes can either be via a rachet handle for parking or a pull rod which goes along the chassis towards the drawbar end. I assume that the rod would be connected to a bowden cable and through to the trailer brake air cylinder fitted to the rear of the Matador. I would be grateful for any opinions regarding this setup. Have I made the correct assumption? Are the cables and fittings available?

Mike It would be a good idea to give the tank a good clean out anyway- if you have not done it already. It is surprising how much crud can build up over the years, giving rise to potential fuel blockages.

Does anyone know how many martians were built?