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Fiat 18bl at Stow Maries Aerodrome


john clayton

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]91494[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]91493[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]91495[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]91496[/ATTACH]

The thrust race is definately missing it balls. I think the rest of it is good enough to use. The gear/diff casing in the pics is made of bronze. So is the crankcase . Lucky to survive the scrapman. I have removed two of the gearshift rods but the third needs the fork to be removed . It is held on by two welded in taper pins . The shaft are very worn and need re-bushing.The first motion shaft runs on 90x60x23 self aligning bearings. Still a standard size (£22 each). T he other bearigs are 140 dia (£35 each 3off).Bearings from engineersmate.com. They are far eastern but look ok

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Imagine my surprise when heading off to the Magneto Builders with a flywheel strapped to the back of my R1 to pass a sign for Stow Maries. For some reason I had been thinking it was in Dorset rather than Essex and 20 minutes from my front door!

 

I went to have a look to see if anyone was about working on the Fiat, but the signage made it pretty clear that callers weren't welcome on a saturday, so I carried on home.

 

FWIW the re-magnetisation of my flywheel means that I now have a running Ner-a-Car engine :-)

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Imagine my surprise to pass a sign for Stow Maries. For some reason I had been thinking it was in Dorset rather than Essex and 20 minutes from my front door.

 

Not as surprised as I would have been. I was born in Essex and I thought Stow Maries was in New Zealand. No idea where I got that from...

 

David

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Sorry that you did not come into the airfield . Ask for the 'Twins' and one of them will show you the Fiat. I will be there tomorrow. Ask for the John the blacksmith. 11am till about 5pm. We still come across people from the next village that dont know about us.

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Imagine my surprise when heading off to the Magneto Builders with a flywheel strapped to the back of my R1 to pass a sign for Stow Maries. For some reason I had been thinking it was in Dorset rather than Essex and 20 minutes from my front door!

 

Obviously secrecy was paramount, and apparently still is. It's tricky to find with sat navs too.

 

jh

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We now have a brown sign . We just need the Highways Agency to put it up. Sat Nav will probably take you to a farm on the wrong side of the aerodrome . Take Hackmans Lane out of Stow Maries village . Up the hll by the big white water tower. After half mile turn into Flambirds Farm lane. Drive to the end and you cant miss us Mainly open to the public on thurs ,fri and sundays. Ask for me if you want a full tour of my truck. John the blacksmith.

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I actually found the place without too much trouble having spotted the tiny "WWI" sign in Cold Norton.

 

It was interesting to look at the Fiat. The quality of engineering as a level above that of Dennis, with proper pressurised engine lubrication (and feed pipes to the little ends, even) and ball bearings everywhere including the wheels.

 

I wonder if it is worth looking at mobile induction heating equipment to straighten the rear stub axle? You might be able to heat it in-situ then pull it forward with a Tirfor.

 

On the subject of your clutch mechanism, I do rather think that the "horns" on the otherwise-pointless brass ring are likely to be for a mechanism like this on the Dennis: https://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/rcsmotor/wp-content/uploads/clutch_puller-300x273.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's a few pictures of the clutch mechanisms I have on my Fiat 18bl

 

This one is original however has a non standard transmission brake fitted.

 

 

imagejpg1_zpsf8d28aeb.jpg

 

 

Next one is the one removed from my current 18bl project and is original

 

imagejpg2_zps80579b80.jpg

 

 

 

imagejpg3_zps912027f0.jpg

 

 

Finally a non standard arrangement

 

 

 

imagejpg4_zps940a5934.jpg

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Hi chaindrive. Thanks for posting your pictures. I will post some soon . If you need any dimension of metalwork and rad let me know. Do you have aspare clutch bell as min is smashed? I'm still chasing wheels around Europe . Found som e front ones near Turin . New chain cases nearly finished. Old ones are too bad. Post again soon.

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Hi John

I don't have a clutch bell that I can spare. I will keep my eyes open for you here. It was a nervous time removing my clutch from the truck as it was well and truly stuck to the flywheel. Heat and gentle tapping did the trick and I removed it without damage,with a sigh of relief. Good luck with the rest of the build. It looks great.

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Hi John

 

Good to see you on Saturday, The BE2 s were wonderful here is a picture for anyone who should have been there.

 

1.jpg

 

I went to Shuttleworth on Sunday, it is surprising how few people I met know of the existence of Stow Maries

Here is an incident, the pilot was unharmed:

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

just got back from Turin . Picked up a set of wheels for my truck. Weighed close to a ton . Ford ranger struggled a bi t over the Alps. 40/45 mph all the way back .Annoyed a lot of truckers . 1835 miles round trip. Fly in all weekend at Stow this weekend . Come and see wheels and give advice. Pics when I get time.

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The repair to the diff cover is great. Confronted with that crappy aluminium it is easy to convince yourself that you have to make a new casting. In this case it would not have been too frightening but you have made the original live again. What exactly was the material you used? Did you just clean the break and pour the repair metal against it or did you need to 'tin' it in some way or use something as flux?

 

Getting the wheels home must feel good, have they got tyres on them or do you still need that mortgage?

 

David

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The filler I used was a Bernzomatic product that was on clearance at next to nothing in B&Q. I cleared the shelves. As for the tyres 'I need to follow up the thread on the Thornycroft restoration about polyurethane tyres. They seem to be much cheaper. First problem is to remove what remains of the old rubber.P S I used oxy acet on ali casting. Preheated and just stirred the filler in .scraped off inpurities. Cleaned joint area thoroughly.The copper mould worked well.

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As for the tyres 'I need to follow up the thread on the Thornycroft restoration about polyurethane tyres. They seem to be much cheaper. First problem is to remove what remains of the old rubber.

 

We removed the old rubber on the Dennis Tyre Steel bands by cutting it through crossways in one place and then putting a propane torch against the inside of the steel band - got it hot to start lifting the rubber - and then levered the rubber off with a crow bar, bit by bit along its length, heating as we went. This time for the Thorny, our Poly Tyre Makers say that they have an oven which will do the trick for us and that will save a lot of work. They then sand blast the steel bands to make sure that they are thoroughly clean before the poly is bonded to them.

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If you had access to a suitable press the classic way to remove the old rubber is to roll a steel band of say 6mm steel to fit as closely as possible over the steel band of the tyre and press it on in the manner of a pastry cutter. If you only had a smaller press, it would be quite easy to make a curved knife that did about 6" at a time and just work your way round.

 

Incidentaly, polyurethane tyres, although cheaper than real rubber, are actually much better which is why they are used on modern tank wheels which must be about the harshest application possible. Synthetic rubber got a bad reputation in WW2 but things have come a long way since then.

 

David

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Incidentaly, polyurethane tyres, although cheaper than real rubber, are actually much better which is why they are used on modern tank wheels which must be about the harshest application possible.

 

I don't think that there is any requirement for grip in the case of a tank wheel, though? I don't think that usage as a tank wheel and as a road wheel are 100% equivalent.

 

I don't think there are many people who have travelled as many miles as me on solid tyres (other than other members of RCSMC). We find that heat build-up in the tyres at sustained high speed (30mph) is a problem that none of the manufacturers seem to consider. Mainly because solid tyres are not legally allowed to go that fast...

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Tank tyres are typicaly expected to carry 2.5 tons plus per tyre (5 tons per wheel station) at 50 mph continuously in desert conditions. At slow speeds they are expected to survive gravel and much bigger rocks getting between them and the tracks as the vehicle turns. It is heat build up through speed, and damage that kills solid tyres, not traction and turning forces. As you say there is a limited relationship between the needs of a modern tank and a WW1 truck that weighs 5 tons and does 20mph.

 

David

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We find that heat build-up in the tyres at sustained high speed (30mph) is a problem

 

What kind of problem: grip, tyres flexing under cornering, rapid wear, loosening on the wheel, gravel adhesion, or something else? I admit I don't have a lot of experience, the last solid tyre vehicle I used was my first bicycle :-D

 

trevor

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Repair to cast ally[ATTACH=CONFIG]95886[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]95887[/ATTACH] diff cover using some of that amazing repair rod you can see at model engineering shoe etc. I made asheet copper mould around the area that was missing. I used a mapp gas torch to heat it. I was very dubious as to it working but it was fine. I did try tigging it but 100 year old ally is awful.[ATTACH=CONFIG]95885[/ATTACH]
yep...

 

forget using argon on old cast or ally....its full of impurities...so it either just blows away or gasses up......

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heres some bumph if you want to get into home casting:

 

http://www.backyardmetalcasting

 

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Backyard-Metal-Casting-and-Homemade-Forges/

 

 

http://www.flamingfurnace.com/2012/11/foundry-setup-crucible-flask-and.html

 

 

http://www.myhomefoundry.com/

 

 

http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showthread.php?7812-Making-money-from-backyard-metal-casting

 

 

http://www.themetalcasting.com/hobby-foundry.html

 

 

 

theres plenty in there.....goes into aluminium and brass...theres stuff on iron...and your gunmetals etc...

 

shows you how to set up a home foundry...good for small batch specials & one-offs

 

pattern making as well....although i think what Steve has acheaved in the Dennis thread was outstanding...

Edited by flandersflyer
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