1914 Dennis Lorry

[BenHawkins]

After giving the arm a coat of primer and paint I tried it on the shaft. 1st-4th gear select well but reverse is not easy to select; I think the lever is just tight against the bracket and if so should be easy to fix.

 

It clears the universal joint so it must be nearly right as there is not a lot of space.

[BenHawkins]

I scribed two lines where the clutch lever needed splitting and cut through with an angle grinder.

I milled some of the shape into it before thinning it closer to shape with an angle grinder in the two positions where it needed to be bent. I then heated it with an oxy-acetylene torch and fitted some box section over the end to apply the bends.

 

It needs to go back on the machines to finish it off.

I dropped the front propshaft off with the gear cutters; hopefully they will sort it all out for me.

I have finished painting the next two boards for the back of the cab so we fitted those. They had bowed a little so some big sash clamps were used to close up the join between the two boards. The cross head screws in the window frame a temporary fitment until I get some slotted ones.

 

 

[BenHawkins]

I have painted the undersides of twenty lengths of tongue and groove timber.

And marked the centre line on the cab.

Then clamped the first board in place; it seemed to follow the arch quite well.

[BenHawkins]

This allowed me to accurately mark the length of the board for cutting.

 

The first board was then screwed down.

 

The process was repeated for 9 more boards. That is the limit for allowing be to fit through the gaps and the final boards will have to be fitted from a ladder.

 

The coach building books suggest all gaps should be filled with putty so I looked in the shed and thumbed some into all the gaps. It needed warming in my hands before it was pliable enough but that might just be a sign of the weather.

[BenHawkins]

I have fitted the remaining boards to complete the roof and applied some undercoat.

 

Once all the roof boards were in place I screwed on the front board for the cab.

 

And swapped the cross head screws in the window frame for the slotted ones I purchased.

 

[BenHawkins]

On Monday I dropped the flywheel of at the nearest dynamic balancers. They had to remove 200 grams to sort it out. They mostly do work for aerospace companies so I thought they might get the hole spacing slightly more even.

 

However, it is hardly noticeable when the holes are painted.

I can't fault the 48 hour turnaround and it would terrible without balancing. Probably better balanced than Dennis would have managed.

[BenHawkins]

I remounted the phosphor bronze in the lathe so I could continue the machining of the clutch centre bearing that needs to be pressed into the flywheel. The first step was to machine the first 1/2" down to 1.995" diameter.

 

Then cut the 16tpi thread.

 

And try the collar on the thread to make sure it fitted.

[BenHawkins]

I then machined the outside diameter down to 2.001"

 

And started to bore the internal diameter out; using a stop on the bed so I stopped in the same position each time.

 

Continuing until the bore was 1-3/8"

 

[BenHawkins]

I parted the bush off, using a piece of bar in the tailstock to catch it.

 

Then remounted it in the chuck so I could face it off.

 

Followed by chamfering the edges.

 

And the (almost) completed bush.

 

It still needs a small notch machining but I need to sort out a 7/16 slot drill for that. The flywheel will not fit in my press so I will probably make up some tooling to use with some M16 threaded rod to draw the bush into the flywheel.

[john1950]

Again a lovely piece of work, both timber and bronze. Sorry I forgot the flywheel as well. (Artwork)

Edited December 3, 2017 by john1950
addition

[Asciidv]

Ben, why are you so certain that you would notice the 200g out of balance on the flywheel? You don’t think that the engine vibration would mask any flywheel out of balance vibration? However, you have me curious now, so when I next go to the blasters ( who also refurbish alloy wheels ) I will pick up 200g of stick on wheel weights and see if I can feel the difference on one of my engines.

[andypugh]

12 hours ago, Asciidv said:

Ben, why are you so certain that you would notice the 200g out of balance on the flywheel? 

I have a vague feeling that we have a Rivetted-on balance weight on the fire engine. 

You could fill the holes with expanding foam (or balsa wood) to hide them. 

[BenHawkins]

19 hours ago, Asciidv said:

Ben, why are you so certain that you would notice the 200g out of balance on the flywheel? You don’t think that the engine vibration would mask any flywheel out of balance vibration? However, you have me curious now, so when I next go to the blasters ( who also refurbish alloy wheels ) I will pick up 200g of stick on wheel weights and see if I can feel the difference on one of my engines.

I don't really know if I would notice, but it seems like quite a lot of imbalance to spin at up to 1400 rpm. All my Dennis flywheels (3) have holes drilled in them that I assumed were for balancing. None have more than two so they look less like Swiss cheese than mine (and it is much easier to drill two holes that appear to line up).

The clutches tend to have a balance weight riveted on, probably because there is not enough material to drill.

I don't know if the flywheels were originally dynamically balanced or just put on a 2" shaft and placed between two parallel horizontal rails so they could see which part rolled to the bottom. 

 

[DAN THE STEAM]

On 19/11/2017 at 6:30 PM, BenHawkins said:

Hi Dan,

The Dennis two ton flywheel is 16" od, so it would probably work for your purpose. I don't know how similar the Halley flywheel/clutch is to the Dennis but I am sure we can arrange another casting if required. The flywheel & clutch has worked out to be one of the most expensive parts of this build; including lining and all materials it has probably worked out around 800 pounds. It looks like you may be able to machine the flywheel yourself so that might save you 200 pounds.

 

Hi Ben, sorry for not replying sooner, I think that would do perfect as the 18"od was the largest od I could get into the gap, so this is probablyabout right.

I am definitely interested in  a set, i just have to raise up money for it.

[Tomo.T]

Hi Ben, 

It would be normal practice to stick canvas to the cab roof and paint it before fitting the edging.

[Charawacky]

I was taught my an old school coach builder to paint the roof as thick as possible with all the old left over paint mixed up, then stretch the canvas over the roof nailing it at the edges.

The paint will push through the canvas, then add more thick paint over the top of the canvas until the canvas threads can no longer be seen.

Once dry the guttering can be fitted around the edge.

I have done this to my 1955 Atkinson 744LE and a 1925 Crossley 15 hp Van.

I rate this as the most pleasurable and satisfying part of a restoration.

[Tomo.T]

1 hour ago, Charawacky said:

I was taught my an old school coach builder to paint the roof as thick as possible with all the old left over paint mixed up, then stretch the canvas over the roof nailing it at the edges.

The paint will push through the canvas, then add more thick paint over the top of the canvas until the canvas threads can no longer be seen.

Once dry the guttering can be fitted around the edge.

I have done this to my 1955 Atkinson 744LE and a 1925 Crossley 15 hp Van.

I rate this as the most pleasurable and satisfying part of a restoration.

That would have been the process using old school lead based paint. Unfortunately, in my experience, modern paint is no longer up to the job and we now use Williamsons canvas adhesive to stick it down prior to painting  with flexible floor paint.

Nice van by the way, what model is that?

[jpsmit]

Just because I recently did it - there are also excellent fillers designed for canoe canvas that could smooth out the top beautifully.

[QL Driver]

Could always go and get some white lead, Tomo! Call it a "work of art"!

[Charawacky]

3 hours ago, Tomo.T said:

That would have been the process using old school lead based paint. Unfortunately, in my experience, modern paint is no longer up to the job and we now use Williamsons canvas adhesive to stick it down prior to painting  with flexible floor paint.

Nice van by the way, what model is that?

The van is a based on a 1925 Crossley 15 hp 'pleasure car chassis' which was built up from parts shipped in from AU, unfortunately the owner who had nearly completed the restoration died. I completed the restoration which included the roof, floors, windows, made the mirrors and some mechanical work during 2012. It has now passed to a new owner who will use it more than me. The van was made entirely as it would have been in period which resulted in a charming appearance.

[BenHawkins]

Thanks for all the comments on roofing methods. It is always good to learn about these techniques. The Dennis catalogues of this time suggest that they were actually covering the roofs with zinc sheet. Unfortunately there does not appear to be a zinc mill that rolls sheets wider than 1100mm so I will need to solder two sheets together.

I know the radiator castings will ultimately need replacing but I have been doing a little more work on them to see if I can get a year or so our of them.

I was interested to see if the corrosion pits could be filled by spraying molten metal into them. They needed to be prepared by sand blasting and then an oxy-propane nozzle was used to melt aluminium wire and compressed air used to propel the molten droplets. 

I couldn't get it to stick well in the craters as it was difficult to get a good blast profile in the craters.

 

So in the end I decided to drill out the pinholes.

 

Tap them out so I could Loctite in aluminium bolts

 

Then cut the bolts off and grind them off flush.

 

[andypugh]

I wonder if aluminium MIG wire would have worked for filling the pits? 

(The risk is a bit higher than either of the techniques you tried)

[andypugh]

Are you planning on another layer of metal-sprayed aluminium to hide the screws? 

[MatchFuzee]

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 7:05 PM, BenHawkins said:

Thanks for all the comments on roofing methods. It is always good to learn about these techniques. The Dennis catalogues of this time suggest that they were actually covering the roofs with zinc sheet. Unfortunately there does not appear to be a zinc mill that rolls sheets wider than 1100mm so I will need to solder two sheets together.

If 2500mm x 1250mm is large enough have a look at these 2 companies (there are others):-

https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/sheet/c2240/galvanised/c2250/1mm-thick-galvanised/p2940?showvat=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIruSUzYSK2AIVAbcbCh3Mmgm4EAQYAiABEgJmW_D_BwE

http://www.franklinsteelplc.co.uk/steel-product-services/sheet-hrcr-galvanised/galvanised-steel-sheet/

[BenHawkins]

On ‎14‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 5:45 PM, MatchFuzee said:

If 2500mm x 1250mm is large enough have a look at these 2 companies (there are others):-

https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/sheet/c2240/galvanised/c2250/1mm-thick-galvanised/p2940?showvat=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIruSUzYSK2AIVAbcbCh3Mmgm4EAQYAiABEgJmW_D_BwE

http://www.franklinsteelplc.co.uk/steel-product-services/sheet-hrcr-galvanised/galvanised-steel-sheet/

Thanks for finding those. However I think they are both zinc coated steel rather than a sheet of pure zinc. Zinc is a soft metal and easy to form to the shape of the roof.