Stefano

From what I can remember I think the triumph tank badge screws are 5BA

I don't get CMV but if it's ex Irish then I suppose that it's Mike Peacock's 18 pdr FAT. No, mine is the semi-mortal remains of an L.A.D.

It's really quite simple why it's difficult to locate James ML hubs (courtesy of the British Hub Company?)- they were totally, unremittingly crap. They had criminally undersized bearings (especially at the front) with little or no dust and mud exclusion, and pathetically weak spindles - there really is nothing to like about them. The brake plates weren't up to much either, the rear having a particular propensity to buckle. I dare say that they were all very well and good with meticulous maintenence but that is exactly what these bikes rarely got.

Try http://www.autovac.co.uk I bought one for the CD/SW from them

Aren't you going to be running the Quad on an Autovac?

Pathetic

The trouble with Samur is that alot of the tanks there are still on the active list, so every now and then something gets cut up to conform to some treaty or other - not that long ago a Grant ARV finished up that way, absolutely unbelievable if you think about it

Same here

Where I live in Italy, nearly all the lorries working quarries have had their ABS disabled. From what drivers have told me with ABS the lorries simply don't stop...

Ron, Ah, I should have looked better at your photos before I spoke. If you had any significant wear between the mainshaft and clutch backplate I would have thought that it would show in the chain run between clutch and engine sprocket, or if the chaincase was out of alignment for any reason you could again check it against the chain run. In any case, if outer clearance is a problem, wouldn't it be possible to shim the cover out a bit to give a little more room?

Ron, If you want to gain a little extra room you could use the manx type clutch spring adjuster setup. From memory (it's been a while) they are have a recessed square drive (like an allen key) so you get a little more clearance. God knows why they bothered with all that on the Manx, seeing there's room to spare, but there you go. Maybe it was to stop the clutch studs from chewing up the riders ankle if it somehow managed to get past the brake pedal guard......

Oh my, that's just beautiful......

I've got a brand new one of those hanging around somewhere, mine is Italian manufactured, one of the miriad of aftermarket parts that were made out here after the war

The reason a Triumph gearbox will jump out of gear could be due to one of any number of faults, or more usually to a combination of more than one Fitting a new camplate plunger and spring will certainly help but is rarely the real reason the gear won't stay in. If you eventually strip the box inspect every single item of the selector mechanism becuse it can all wear, and wear means that the movement of the gear lever isn't being translated into a corresponding amout of travel at the selector forks. The camplate on the 3HW 'box is made out of some sort of monkey metal and the inner tracks can open out quite dramatically, it can also strip away from it's shaft, which is steel, and the mating teeth with the quadrant can wear. If any of these conditions are present replace the camplate. Also check for excessive wear between the camplate shaft and the steel bush in the casing. The selector rod can wear which in turn makes the selectors twist on operation - the same one was used on all pre unit 'boxes so it's an easy fix. The selector fork ends can twist (due to wear in the preceeding components) or just plain wear out, as can the pins for the camplate rollers and the rollers themselves. They can be reclaimed, but it's not an easy job. Unfortunately the gearbox was redesigned for 1950 and the selectors are not interchangeable so new ones are a bit thin on the ground. At this point all you're left with are the gears themselves which are usually indestructable when used on the 350. A quick look will tell you if something is amiss. As an aside, another weak point on these 'boxes is wear on the floating bushes between the layshaft and the layshaft high gear. This can sorted by hard chroming the layshaft slightly oversize and reaming the bushes to suit - funnily enough, there's rarely any wear between the bushes and the layshaft high gear, which is a plus. Hope this helps, Stef

Beautiful!!!!

I've been looking throught the RAOC Chilwell book, and of course Wally is absolutely right, if you can find out the relationship between the Morris Commercial sanction number and the relative WD contract number then things do start looking up. Luckily for me, in the Quad article in Wheels and Tracks N°29 Bart Vanderveen made the correlation of my sanction number 1794 and the WD contract number V3772. Unfortunately the information in the article becomes sketchier when he talked about the Mk III. I didn't know that any of the Morris Commercial records had survived, when I enquired at Gaydon about the CDSW they told me that all the Addersley Park records were burned when the factory closed down. This is very good news

At shows I'll always wear the correct uniform for the vehicle - I just think that it completes the picture so to speak, although I suspect that my corporals stripes are starting to look a bit "young". Likewise, although I have absolutely no desire to dig trenches or suchlike, I have nothing but admiration for what I see the reenactors do at W&P - absolutely brilliant I think, although I must admit that wild horses wouldn't get me into an SS uniform..... In any case I think it all boils down to whether you feel comfortable with what you're wearing and there's no point in going around feeling like a pratt, because at that point the chances are high that that's what you actually look like..... We all share a common passion, so whatever flies our various kites is fine by me.

Thanks for that

I would have thought it pretty obvious that the earlier wartime vehicles were updated in many repects, especially when they were beneficial to the use of the vehicle - for example the permanent 4 wheel drive of the MkI and II quads was generally not considered A Good Thing, which is clearly why it was ditched for the MkIII. Motorcycle pannier frames are another that spring to mind - they were retrofitted to just about everything, or how many mid war pictures of CS8's and CDSW's do you see where the beautiful 8" CAV headlights have been ditched? All of them of course.. As for the engine, I've still to check the number on mine, but I'd be astounded if it was the original one.

Richard, You're quite right there - it is indeed a happily modified quad - it started life out as a (relatively) early MkII, but received a pretty thorough makeover to MkIII spec - Canvas roof, doors with windows, transfer case with disengageable front axle drive, etc - although there are still alot of MkII peculiarities (no l.h. front side window, early master cylinder with remote reservoir, central throttle pedal, early type front axle location...). The rebuild plate and makers plate numbers do match up however

Hello everyone. Can anybody shed some light on the REME plate I have on my Quad? Also, is there any way of knowing the original census n° of the Quad before it became 81RD76? Any help is much appreciated. Stef

Don't - ever - sell - it!! Because from that day on whenever you hear a Meteor fire up you'll feel sick to the core..... Guaranteed.

Steve, Like I said, if only for reasons of heat transfer i would go with a square section top ring. Whether scraper rings are necessary at all is a mute point, and seeing as my experience of cast iron pistons and their lubrication requirements is basically nil I'm really not the right person to give advice. I'd talk to someone that is used to working on engines of this age Stef

They look like scraper rings, also called second rings or scraper/compression rings. The wide part goes to the top. The top compression ring has a square section and it's greater contact area also helps heat transfer from the piston crown to the block. There also used to be a top compression ring with a slight cutout to the top, they were called "step dodgers" or something like that, and they were fitted to engines as a "ring job" without bothering to give the bores a hone, because a square ring would risk smashing itself against the step. The cutout of one of these is obviously less than that of a scraper ring so you'll have to compare sections to see what you have. Hope this helps Stef (oops, Richard got there before me)

Glad to see that you finally brought it home!!!