Duncan76 Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Well, show number two is over and done with. Despite many shows falling victim to the poor weather, the East of England Show at Peterborough went ahead, despite the non-stop rain on the Friday! Saturday dawned dry and sunny, so what better weather for 326 to start playing up again. Poor running suggested ignition problems, so a quick clean of the plugs was in order. This made no difference at all, so a mile or so later, I stopped again and not only cleaned the plugs fully, but also took all the leads off and cleaned and checked these too. The plugs were filthy although one plug lead came apart when I touched it. Then, the HT lead exploded after I unscrewed it. Besides, there were only 4-5 strands of wire poking through the washer at the cap end, so no wonder the spark wasn't great! A scrabble around the road proved fruitless until, after much cursing, a sweep of the chassis rail elicited the 'acorn'. One back together and the HT lead shortened and stripped so some wires were actually touching the cap contact, it ran sweet as a nut. I then met up with the owner of RXP 558 for a mini convoy down to Peterborough where we arrived late, after my breakdown and a long stop to take on board another £100 worth of fuel (now with added Ethomix in addition to the Valvemaster). The field was soggy, we joined a few other ex-AFS vehicles and a collection of red fire engines. Saturday saw small numbers of people to be honest, kept away by the rain and these straightened economic times perhaps. That said, the afternoon was hot enough for my head to burn whilst sitting listening to one of the excellent live bands! After evening meal and a few beers with the Royal Navy recruiting team in the Elgoods beer tent (Golden Newt highly recommended), I settled for a night out of the rain on the surprisingly comfortable bench seat at the back of the cab. Sunday started wetter but cleared up during my bacon butty; crowds seemed bigger with the collected fire engines attracting interest. Sadly, again it was too wet for any action in the parade ring. Then it was a mini convoy back home, with enough time to clean the mud off the tyres and to remove all the locker contents to give the lockers and hoses an airing in the afternoon sunshine before coaxing 326 back into the barn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan76 Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 A few pics from Cranwell Flying Club's 'fly-in' day at RAF Cranwell at the weekend when I took PGW 326 along. Blessed by great weather, the Spitfire is G-MKVB, a 1942 mark Vb owned by the Historic Aircraft Collection at Duxford (http://www.historicaircraftcollection.ltd.uk/spitfire/). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Very nice mate, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan76 Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 A few things done over the last few cold, winter months ready for the summer season... I managed to get hold of some brand new, unused ex EFS Duraline hose, so I now have a few rolls to squirt some water and save the faff of drying the canvas hose! Last summer, having seen an advert for a GG in Ireland which had some fitted, I had some 'locker locking discs' made by a casting company in Derbyshire. They made a mould in wood then cast some rather nice aluminium discs which now I have found some padlocks to fit, secure the contents of the lockers and save me storing it all in a garage! I also refurbished the roof-mounted tools - the shod lever and ceiling hook - so they have been painted and oiled and replaced. Bloomin heavy.... I finally got around to painting the exhaust silver so it looks much better than it did and refitted the silver ring around the dash panel which had been hanging around the house for over a year! I also managed to find some battery charger and heater sockets to replace the blobs of filler which were left when thy were removed in the mid-90s. Just a few more things to do including painting the wheels..... Duncan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Looking good Duncan ! Very nice to see a GG being so well looked after ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan76 Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 Well, 326 is running well and back on the road for the summer but the recent big job was servicing the main pump at the rear of the vehicle. The pump works but it hasn't been serviced for quite some time, probably not since it was sold off in 2005. There was quite a bit of water in the primer and that took some time to drain off but both that and the main pump have had the oil replaced (special oil from Morris Lubricants) and the gland lubricator has been refilled with special waterproof grease (again courtesy of Morris). I also cleaned and lubricated the priming handle and mechanism so it works smoothly. Just in time for the summer season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornycroft Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Well, finally got around to jet washing 326 yesterday afternoon - first time since I've owned her and quite probably for the first time in several years! The dirt fell away and has left quite a smart machine! So nice was the weather, added to the fact that the brakes weren't binding, I popped out for the first run in 4 months in the late afternoon spring sunshine. Roll on summer and a few shows!! A few pics below... I also have an 11.00 x 20 bargrip tyre and split rim available - currently advertised... http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?30049-11-00-x-20-Goodyear-bar-grip-tyre-amp-rim-Bedford-Green-Goddess-RL [ATTACH=CONFIG]59085[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]59086[/ATTACH] [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]i own pgw340 and live only 10 miles from you. i see your machine was built in loughborough like mine.your machine looking nice in op fresco colours.mine is red in RAF LUQA raf fire service colours.[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan76 Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 Haha, I think I have just posted a reply to your introduction! Yes, they are both Willowbrook bodies built in Loughborough although because of the way that they were turned out as chassis by Bedford, yours despite the 'later' registration actually has an earlier chassis number by 117! I chose to keep mine in Fresco colours, as that's how I remember them, although I know that it's more usual for them to revert to the 60s AFS livery. There's a link on my other post (and in the signature below) to my blog with more pics and restorastion progress. I also co-own an ex-AFS petrol carrier which I keep up the road at the same place as the goddess. I look forward to having a chat and maybe reuniting the PGWs at some stage! Cheers, Duncan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornycroft Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 morning Duncan,inbox me at timandkate123@ntlworld.com as i maybe can help source a tilt for the RL.Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan76 Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Spring time wash and brush up ready for the season! Nice to get out for a test drive, too. Now with added (magnetic) flashing amber beacon at the rear and new pump outlet washers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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