restoration Mk1 Militant Tanker

[Zero-Five-Two]

Actually, that might not be a bad idea, Mate.  At some point in the not to distant future I'll need to jack the back end up to do the rear brakes.  To get them adjusted right, all four rear wheels need to be off the ground together, and that'll take quite a bit of jack and pack.

Four inch blokes?? Bit short in the leg, are they??  The going golden bit went over my head, It'll need explanation

[Zero-Five-Two]

Finally the 4 mm rod arrived, and I was able to get on with the wired edges.

Clamp ed the panel to the top of the RSJ anvil, and cut the rod a bit long so that it could be hooked behind the G clamps.  I've made up a dolly from a small piece of 4 mm plate with a lump welded to it. Kept a straight edge on one end and a radius on the other. Works well for holding the rod into the edge as you begin tapping over.

As you can see in to photo, I started knocking it over all round, then had the idea of tapping each end right round to hold the wire in place. This worked very well, and then the curved end of the dolly to push it right into the corner.

 First one done, and doesn't look bad.  Few little hammer nicks in it, but they polished out with a wire brush in the battery drill.

Now to put the curve in it

If you remember it needs to be rolled up at the end.

Turned out to be quite difficult to get it to curve at all, the wired edge imparts a whole lot of strength into the panel.  Got it by clamping the end onto a big tube and hammering the edge round with a big copper mallet.  The rest of the panel just followed on.

Final clean up and then a coating of the old Bondaprimer

Left and Right side done.  They still need final measuring and trimming to fit, but I'm well pleased with the result.  Learnt a whole new skill.

 

[Zero-Five-Two]

Managed a good days effort on the old girl this Sunday, finally got enough decent weather to be able to attack the brakes.  But first, try the new blast skirt bits for fitting.

Both sides went on, but there's something not quite right, they don't want to line up properly.  The original near side panel was reasonably complete to be able to copy measurements, but the off side had disintergrated, so I just reversed the near side measurements and went from there.  Need to have a rethink here, don't want to have to rip up the nice wired edge but it has to be right.

Had help from son Stuart on the brakes, which speeded things up quite a bit

He started with the near side, but the better photos are mainly of the off side.  

Both drums came off fairly easy, considering how long it must be since they were last disturbed.  Hub cover off next to reveal standard AEC type retaining collar with pinch bolt.  He described the grease as like "Marmite"  very dark and sticky, and definitely in need of some fresh.

 

Hub was a bit of a fight to get off and the back bearing took a lot of persuading to let go.  There has been a bit of water in here at some point, which is not good, much rust to clean off.  Bearing looks OK, but we'll have a closer inspection of it, once all the old grease is cleaned out.

Biggest problem was getting the clevis pins on both sides to let go.  But as you can see, bit of gentle warming up encouraged them to see things our way, although the near side did get a bit stressed and will need the threads dressing up before refitting.

Militant brakes are a full air system, but they have a reputation for not being that good.  However, it is my personal belief that most of it is caused by bad maintenance.  Either the brakes aren't adjusted right, and granted the back ones can be a pig to get set up properly, or it's this.

There is a grease nipple on the back of each brake chamber, to facilitate to lubrication of the inner seal.  They are meant to receive a shot of fresh grease every once in a blue moon.  Unfortunately more often than not, when a wagon is in for service, the job of greasing up is passed down the line to the lowest of the low, who just plugs in the power greaser and lets rip.

And you get this

 Brake chambers so full of grease that it has backed up the air pipe as well and is severely restricting the flow of good clean air pressure.  This was just the first handful from the off side chamber, there was another two more  to follow and the same in the near side. I quite expect the rear brakes to be the same, when we get to that end.

Still, on the positive side, it does stop the steel inside of the chamber rusting, and it is easy to clean out.  The rest of the brake parts all look reasonable and just require clean and painting.  Plenty of lining on the shoes too

More homework.  I really could do with a bigger shed

 

[Tony B]

I was thinking of Austen's new toy. I'll get you a load of blocks up ASAP.

[Zero-Five-Two]

Yes, see what you mean, now.That primer on the door is Beige, really, it said so on the tin. Good base colour for the Deep Bronze, apparently.

As for the golden thing, you'll be able to ride round Detling in it on Saturday.

Many thanks for the blocks, I was thinking of collecting, wasn't expecting delivery as well as loan

[Tony B]

No problem delivering, there only at Swanley anyway. Will get them to you Saturday or Sunday, keep them I get plenty from all the scrap wood dumped at the yard for shredding.

[Tony B]

As for Detling, someone had to keep the money making wheels turning. On the up side! There are a load of blocks by the Milly for you, if you want more let me know.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Tony B

[Zero-Five-Two]

Many, Many thanks for the blocks, Tony, I've tucked them away safely, this morning.  Just in case someone else thinks they may have a use for them, and they disappear

[Zero-Five-Two]

Good weekends work, nice bit of sun for a change, warmer too.  First job was test the steering.  Having got the wheels off the other week, we found the steering really hard to turn.  Granted we were pushing it round with only the stub axles, but with no weight on it, it should have moved easier.

Worst case scenario, one of the king pins has seized, or a ball joint has failed badly. On the good side, could just be it is just where it hasn't been used for so long and needs some fresh grease and a bit of practice.

Going with the needs greasing theory first, as it's cheaper and less aggro than sorting a seized king pin, I dug out the grease gun from the back of the shed. As it happens it is a monster that I acquired from a re-distribution of military stores way back in the day (that means I stole it off the Army).  Hand operated, but has some awesome pumping power, ideal for force feeding grease into a tight king pin.

Fitting the steering wheel seemed a good idea, to help turn things

Looks so much better than the original one

     

Half an hour of left to right hand lock, and pumping new grease into king pins and joints, and it started to free up.  Took best part of an hour altogether, working the steering back and forth, more grease, more steering and more grease, but it has freed up nicely.  So that's a result, there's no lift or rock in the pins either, so good to go.

Spent the rest of Saturday fitting and adjusting the blast skirt.  Still can't get it quite right.  Near side is quite good but the off side, which was so badly corroded, I had to copy the near side and try to reverse the dimensions, isn't working. What looks straight doesn't fit and what does fit looks totally p*ss*d.  Something's not right, but we'll get there. No point in photographing it til I get it sorted.

Nevermind, back to the home workshop, and re-conditioning the brake parts. We have a hot water parts washer at work which is brilliant at cleaning old Militant bits,gets the muck off and most of the old paint too. Shoes first, plenty of lining on them, so just clean up and fresh paint.

Hubs take a bit more effort, remove bearings, they'll get fresh grease in due course, clean off rust and paint. 

Bonda primer first

Back plates cleaned up well in the dish washer, hardest job was getting the adjuster bolts out to strip the thing down

Last job, a fresh coat of DBG all round

And we are all ready to fit back on next weekend.

Not a bad bit of progress.  Packed everything up, stood back and admired the work, took more photos, went to put the wifes car back inside and promptly ran over the end of the near side of blast skirt

 So much for a good weekends progress, not quite the finish I was intending, hopefully I can straighten it out 

[Zero-Five-Two]

Just got the seats back from the trim shop, green vinyl rather than the original rexine but they do look good

 

 

Just a tad better than before

 

[MatchFuzee]

On ‎4‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 9:31 PM, Zero-Five-Two said:

Spent the rest of Saturday fitting and adjusting the blast skirt.  Still can't get it quite right.  Near side is quite good but the off side, which was so badly corroded, I had to copy the near side and try to reverse the dimensions, isn't working. What looks straight doesn't fit and what does fit looks totally p*ss*d.  Something's not right, but we'll get there. No point in photographing it til I get it sorted.

Is it possible, that rather than the blast skirt being the wrong shape that the other metal work has been damaged at some time and poorly repaired, so making it impossible to make everything look a perfect fit? 

[Zero-Five-Two]

2 hours ago, MatchFuzee said:

Is it possible, that rather than the blast skirt being the wrong shape that the other metal work has been damaged at some time and poorly repaired, so making it impossible to make everything look a perfect fit? 

Yes it is, unfortunately, perfectly possible. The damage was caused by the tin worm, and the repairs good or bad have been done by me, so there is no guarantee any of it is right (LOL!) I seem to have this tape measure use affliction sometimes.

Been too busy doing other stuff lately, and getting out and about with the timber tractor, so not had a real chance to have a serious look at the problem, yet. June is looking promising for a good deal of tankering so I'll let you know

[MatchFuzee]

14 hours ago, Zero-Five-Two said:

The damage was caused by the tin worm, and the repairs good or bad have been done by me, so there is no guarantee any of it is right (LOL!)

I meant accident damage pre tin worm. Also, I wasn't questioning the quality of your repairs.

[MIKES]

Hello Rob,

Those seats look excellent. Would it be possible to have the details of the trim shop that did them ? Need to get my Explorer seats done and rather like the green vinyl as much easier to wipe oil and grease off than rexine.

[Zero-Five-Two]

Seats were done by a friend of mine, from Faversham in Kent. He is (was) a professional trimmer, but is trying to be retired these days.

Are we anywhere near you?

[MIKES]

Evening Rob,

Yes, not too far away - just outside of Brentwood, Essex. we've met a few times at the AEC rally but unfortunately I couldn't get there this year.

[Zero-Five-Two]

PM sent

[Zero-Five-Two]

Indeed June has started quite well for Tanker work.  Reconditioned front brakes fitted up this weekend.

N/S with all new bits

Looks so much better than this before view of the off side

Hub and drum on the off side, cleaned and painted. fresh grease in the bearings and all adjusted as per the manual.

Cleaned up the inside of the wheels before refitting, they'll need further work in good time but it is an improvement.

Chamber and adjuster rods fitted, there is still another 4 holes of adjustment available, further evidence of the condition of the shoes.

Replacement hoses are yet to be fitted, and the whole set up will have to wait a while for testing, as there is still much to do before building up air pressure.

Only one downside with the whole day, I forgot to take a wheel nut socket with me and ended up fitting the wheels with an adjustable spanner.  Hard work and not particularly tight. Just as well they are going to be coming off again soon

[Zero-Five-Two]

Set off this morning with great expectations for a good days progress, unfortunately I failed to take half the kit I needed, and it turned into a complete disaster.

Plan 1, Fit the modified downpipe and exhaust silencer in a better place so that it misses the off side tyre. This would need the mounting brackets modifying and welding, only I left the welding helmet behind, so ended up with this

Exhaust fits nicely, but mounting brackets leave a bit to be desired.  It does give me the correct dimensions for making the new brackets, but......

Plan 2 Connect up sufficient electrics to be able to start the thing and check leaks, oil pressure, charging and so on. Got up early this morning, printed wiring diagrams off the computer and promptly left them at home.  Got this far with hooking things up and decided it might be safer to stop guessing

They might only be small batteries, but 24 volts in the wrong place will do untold damage.

Looking like I'd wasted a good day, I packed up and went home. Can't just stop though, so cracked on with the blast skirt. 

At least there was a bit of success here, new centre section made up, wired edge and sides folded round.  What you can't see is the two earlier attempts that are now residing in the scrap bin. So it still wasn't that good.

There was one other glimmer of hope in the gloom

 New dashboard looks the mutts, even if it isn't connected to anything.  Never mind there's always next weekend!!

[ArtistsRifles]

Looking good Rob - nice to see the progress after time away. 🙂    
Been grounded myself after first losing my car to a twat in an Audi last Oct - court case against him pending still - then having the throttle body on the replacement Saab go....  Got that sorted then found some work (that actually pays money!!) as an assistant armourer at weekends  so I've not been over to my old girl since last Oct.  Got the jerry can carriers to go back on and the support struts for the rear most nudguard on the passenger side.  Looks like I may have to be going over week days in future which is a PITA as no one else will be there.

[Zero-Five-Two]

Time for another progress report, after the fiasco of leaving various bits of kit at home the other week , I had another go at setting up the electrics and running the engine, last Saturday.

Bit more success this time, wiring diagrams in hand I plugged everything in as per my notes etc from when I took it apart.  Switched on the ignition and nothing happened. 

Right back in the begining when I found the thing in the barn and hooked up a pair of batteries, only the near side front side light worked, and I got the same result this time, except there isn't a side light fitted just now. Clearly there is something was not plugged in right then, and it's not right now.

After major reshuffle of connections in the main junction box, using a test light and voltmeter to check things and we get some where.

Pull the start lever and....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JdFxetfojQ&feature=youtu.be

Sounds lovely, Iveco Cargo silencer really does the job, and no other nasty rattles or knocking.

Unfortunately, what you don't see in the vid is the shower of antifreeze that is being blown about by the fan.  The water pump pours out coolant the moment the engine turns over. So bit of a crisis there, but well pleased with the rest of it.

A minor issue, it doesn't want to idle, soon as you take your foot of the gas it slows down and dies, so bit of adjustment needed there.

Priority repair, of course, is the water pump. Pig of a job to remove, as well as being heavy, you have to remove the thermostat housing, and jack the radiator forward to get enough room to extract it.

 

Once out, back home for stripping and finding out the problem

You don't see too many repairable water pumps these days, most are throw away jobs.  Front half looks OK, bearings are clean and grease seal is intact

But with the impeller removed and the centre shaft extracted, the problem is very obvious.  The dirty, rusty bit on the right hand end should be clean and shiney, and sits in a brass bush with a rubber seal on the end.

Brass bush is well torn up and the rubber seal has long since passed on.

So we are looking at pump repair or replacement.  Fortunately there seems to be plenty of firms round and about advertising vintage pump repairs etc, so will be phoning round tomorrow.

Back in the home workshop, been carrying on with the blast skirt.  Lower half is now complete, painted in Bondaprimer, and awaiting fitment to the top bit. All progress is good progress

 

 

 

 

 

[lowfat]

so pleased you posted twice? lol

[Zero-Five-Two]

Oops!! Didn't do it intentionally, Hopefully a mod will sort it out 

[David Herbert]

Ahh but we might have missed it the first time ! Good progress although the pump shaft is anoying but shouldn't be too hard to make a replacement.

David

[sirhc]

5 minutes ago, Zero-Five-Two said:

Oops!! Didn't do it intentionally, Hopefully a mod will sort it out 

Deleted the duplicate. 😃