restoration Mk1 Militant Tanker

[Zero-Five-Two]

10 minutes ago, 67burwood said:

It’s all in the detail, you’ve done a cracking job with everything else, last thing you want is a bolt head going rusty and spoiling all the hard work. 

Yes, unfortunately I didn't do the ones on the spare wheel carrier when that was fitted, and it looks a mess now. It will need revisiting at some point soon

[Zero-Five-Two]

Bit more progress on the Tanker this weekend.  Down to the small bits now, the five minute jobs that take all day.

Fuel filter/sediment bowl fitted and a quick test.  Felt it was worth a short video, as she ticked over without stalling.  Bit too slow mind and still needs adjusting.

 

Now the fuel tank is fitted, next job wire up the fuel gauge.  Connecting the sender is fun, working through a small hole in the pump room floor.  Five cables to cram in, on the right terminals.

Then the dashboard end, which is not quite as bad.  Took the steering wheel off to get better access, but still managed to scrape off a fair bit of paint, which will need touching up later.  Good news is the gauge works, and appears to be spot on accurate

Which is more than can be said of the tank gauge, which is showing about 5 gallon more than is actually in the tank.

 

Horn went in next, refitting the original one that has been cleaned up and adjusted.  Not exactly loud for a truck this size, but a healthy beep, beep that will do the job. 

Moved on to the lights.  I wired in the brakes and indicators a while ago, so at least we had the important ones when we drove over to the workshop for painting the tank earlier in the year.  Now side, tail and head lamps get the benefit, and the new rear marker lights I recently fitted.

Plugging them in under the dash was the easy bit, clipping in all the conduit takes the time

Near side head and side light wires here, under the front bumper.  Originally they were 2 BA screws into threaded holes.  All of them sheared off during the dismantling process, so I have drilled them right out now and put nuts on the inside.  Still 2 BA so reasonably authentic. 

Switch on and get a very bright pair of "un Militant" lamps.  Bought on fleebay,  they were listed for Land Rover, but fit into standard military shells nicely, just replace the 12 volt bulbs with a pair of 24 volt zenon truck bulbs.  110watts on dipped beam, can't wait to try them in the dark. Might actually be able to see where we are going.

Thinking I was on a roll, I cracked on with the rear markers, and then, it all went pear shaped.

 

Struck down by the curse of the elastic tape measure, to begin with.  Nice new loom in new conduit that is about 6" too short to plug in.  Don't quite know how I managed that one.

 Near side went in nicely, but that had a different issue

Spot the schoolboy error!  nearly fried the whole truck with this one.  Double connector looks just right in the little clip. But, of course, it is a dead short to earth, not that I noticed until I tried plugging it in.  There were many sparks and a rather scorched terminal. 

Singles look untidy, but at least they work. 

Got there in the end, and now have a full set of lights, including a couple of extra modifications for the modern times, like a reversing lamp and hazard lights.  

Back to the downside, dynamo has stopped charging again.  Last time it was dirty contacts in the control box, and after a good clean up it was all was fine.  A check of plugs and wiring this time, and it seems to be the same problem.  Although, I may have blown the fuse inside, with the dodgy marker light. Either way the box is off again, and back in the home workshop for further investigation tomorrow.  Sounds easy, but to get to it the drivers seat has to come out and the main electrical junction box on the back of the seat frame has to go as well.  Another 5 minute job that took half an hour.

Last job today take a picture of the whole thing.  More than a bit pleased with how she is shaping up. Certainly be ready for next years show season

 

[67burwood]

10 hours ago, Zero-Five-Two said:

Struck down by the curse of the elastic tape measure

I think we may have bought them from the same place 😂

[Rootes75]

I recall all of those 5 minute jobs that go on for ages and really get under your skin!

Looking very good.

[Zero-Five-Two]

Control box now sorted.  It was, as expected, dirty contacts.  When I did it last year,  I just set the gap so that it looked right and worked.  Since then I have acquired a copy of the tech book, so this time it has been set properly with a feeler gauge to get the correct gap.  A lot smaller than I had before.

Worked out well with testing it too.  Wife wanted to go down the farm where the Timber Tractor is to visit the relatives.  So spend a bit of time giving her a lift down, say hi to Aunt and Uncle, and get to test control box on the truck.  Everybody happy.

Spent the afternoon making badge plates.  It is my intention to finish the restoration as it would have looked during it's time in Scotland with 225 Squadron RTC.  I posted this picture from Les Freathy's book on a different thread a while back, and several learned members identified it as showing the same badges as mine should.

 Wally Dugan advised me the 2 either side of the radiator would be waterslide transfers on steel plates bolted to the front panel. And indeed there are 2 holes on the nearside of mine where they would fit.  He also came up with some original transfers for the RCT flash.  So many thanks to him, I've just got to do them justice and get them fitted right.

So, two plates made and sprayed in primer

The sharp eyed will have noticed the diesel tank cap hanging up behind the shield shaped plate.  It's being a right pain to get a decent finish in the yellow, but getting there slowly with it.

[Trooper 3/9 RAAC]

Great looking Tanker, you've done a fantastic job congrats.

cheers

Pierre

[Zero-Five-Two]

It's good to write about things when you have had a bit of a result, even if it's only a small one.

Take one sorry bridge plate, and sand off the rubbish

Good coat of primer

and then a few top coats in the correct Golden Yellow.

Now the difficult bit

One water slide transfer to "slide" on

First attempt didn't go too well.  Looks OK from a distance, get close up and the cracks look awful.

Second attempt didn't go too well either, managed to get one corner screwed up.  Third one never actually made it onto the plate, a printer cartridge fault left a line down the first 2

But, can't let it go, keep going.  Fourth attempt, then.

Success, there's a tiny little nick on the second 2, but I can live with that for now. Leave to dry thoroughly then a few coats of clear lacquer to seal it should finish the job.

Well pleased.  Only one thing, my paint supplier insisted he needed to mix half a litre of paint to get the yellow colour right, and I've only used a teaspoon full here, so I'm quite flush for bridge plate yellow if anybody needs one doing  😁!

 

[Zero-Five-Two]

Bit of a set back on the Tanker today. Plan A was to get another load of little jobs out of the way, but it didn't quite work out.

Finally got the fuel tank cap back on, and in a decent yellow paint finish

Refitted the cab electrics, dashboard is back in, and all cables secured, but the damn thing still wont charge the batteries, so more work required here.

Then I thought I'd best have a look at what was causing the damp patch that I'd just noticed under the left side of the engine.

A steady coolant drip from the middle of this cover plate, and a suspicious looking bulge under the paint.

Cancel the little jobs, get the plate off and see how bad it is

Nasty pile of sludge appears to be the cause of the issue

And it has eaten it's way through the aluminium plate.

A good scrub off with a wire brush and hold it up to the light shows the full extent of the issue

Not just one leak, but several, and the remaining metal is very thin too.

Just the sort of job they made chemical metal for

Substantial quantity on the inside of the plate, and a similar layer but shaped off on the outside.

Nice coat of primer to hide the evidence, finish off tomorrow in sky blue.  Should do the job.  Just got to make a fresh gasket, and wash all that sludge out before refitting.

Moving on with some more positive stuff, set about fitting up the recently made bridge plate and the other badges.

The water slide transfer I got from Wally was an absolute pig to get to separate from the backing paper, had to soak it for the best part of half an hour before it would slide and even then it had to be persuaded.  But it went on alright, little bit off square at the bottom edge,  but appears to have stuck well, and the clear lacquer I sealed it with seems to have taken OK too.

The St Andrews cross, or Saltire as I've found out it is called has been a different story.  With only a slightly blurred picture to work from it has all been a bit ad hoc and guess work, and so far I'm not sure I like the result.

Here's how it looks fitted to the truck.  Bridge plate and RTC flash look fine.  Cross looks short and fat and out of proportion.  Some websites state that the blue should be Navy Blue, but others reckon a Blue colour called pantone 300 is right. But pantone shades are for printers ink, not paint colours, so what shade of blue should I use?  It is currently in Halfords Navy Blue, but I think it looks too dark, almost black.

Currently cutting out a second shield, of a slightly different profile which hopefully will help the short fat appearance.  As for colour, any advice or suggestions would be most welcome

 

[MatchFuzee]

The Saltaire blue has changed over time:-

https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-s-des.html#:~:text=The colour of the blue,ultramarine blue with added white".&text=Although the shade is lighter,on flags around the world.

Pantone colour chart from Riolett Custom Aerosols (other suppliers are available:-

https://www.riolettcustomaerosols.co.uk/cheap-pantone-paint/

[Ex-boy]

Fascinating information on the saltire. I always wondered about the colour difference from the union flag, and now I know. Thank you.

[Gordon_M]

Great work with the rest of it, but as for the cross, if you look at the monochrome image, the centre of the cross is in the centre of the shield, and the rest of it takes care of itself.  Your centre is too low on the shield which is what makes it look off.

[wally dugan]

I have followed your thread from the start with all it's highs and lows and   to see it now is a credit to  you l cannot think of a better use of those transfers

REGARDS WALLY

[Truck257]

Rob she looks fantastic !! Well done mate 

[ruxy]

On 9/8/2020 at 10:08 PM, Zero-Five-Two said:

It's good to write about things when you have had a bit of a result, even if it's only a small one.

Take one sorry bridge plate, and sand off the rubbish

Good coat of primer

and then a few top coats in the correct Golden Yellow.

Now the difficult bit

One water slide transfer to "slide" on

First attempt didn't go too well.  Looks OK from a distance, get close up and the cracks look awful.

Second attempt didn't go too well either, managed to get one corner screwed up.  Third one never actually made it onto the plate, a printer cartridge fault left a line down the first 2

But, can't let it go, keep going.  Fourth attempt, then.

Success, there's a tiny little nick on the second 2, but I can live with that for now. Leave to dry thoroughly then a few coats of clear lacquer to seal it should finish the job.

Well pleased.  Only one thing, my paint supplier insisted he needed to mix half a litre of paint to get the yellow colour right, and I've only used a teaspoon full here, so I'm quite flush for bridge plate yellow if anybody needs one doing  😁!

 

Difficulties with yellow paint finish , the correct undercoat colour - as I understand is brown.

[Zero-Five-Two]

14 hours ago, Gordon_M said:

 the centre of the cross is in the centre of the shield, and the rest of it takes care of itself.  Your centre is too low on the shield which is what makes it look off.

Nice try, but no cigar for that one 😁(LOL).  It only looks like that.  In actual fact the centre of the cross is  about 20mm higher up the shield.  It looks too low because the lower legs are short, and you eye gets drawn to that.  It's more to do with the shape of the shield, I think.

So, start again.  Cut of new shield with a less pointy shape.

Have a practice run with the cross before doing too much work on it.  I think this shape looks better.  I've ordered the right colour paint via the link Matchfuzee posted, so with a bit of luck I'll be able to have another trial fitting come the weekend 

[Gordon_M]

5 minutes ago, Zero-Five-Two said:

Nice try, but no cigar for that one 😁(LOL).  It only looks like that.  In actual fact the centre of the cross is  about 20mm higher up the shield.  

I think 3/4" out would be noticeable ( I don't speak metric ... ). Let's see how the new version looks then. 8-)

[Zero-Five-Two]

5 minutes ago, Gordon_M said:

 I don't speak metric ... 

Sorry, I was trying to be modern...... thinking of our younger readers

I think the new shield looks more balanced now, but that is without paint.  Once painted, contrasting colours can sometimes be deceptive to the eye and change the overall appearance.  We'll see. 

[Gordon_M]

24 minutes ago, Zero-Five-Two said:

Sorry, I was trying to be modern...... thinking of our younger readers

I think the new shield looks more balanced now, but that is without paint.  Once painted, contrasting colours can sometimes be deceptive to the eye and change the overall appearance.  We'll see. 

We are a traditional lot up here, nothing too new-fangled.  We still pay for our paint in Groats hereabouts, and the price of Woad is shocking.  8-)

[XS650]

I posted some links and stills to some postwar colour  Scottish TA  Regiment  films and  and the blue colour  of the Saltaire badge varies from a deep blue to a light blue even  in the same outfit.

Scroll down to the last two stills of the armoured cars for a quick instance -

 

BTW-This is a stunning restoration , no corners cut , can only gaze on in wonder as I find it hard to keep one old motorbike on the go!

Craig

[Zero-Five-Two]

Thanks for posting that link. Looks like any blue will do, going by their standards. I had assumed there would be a typical Army type official spec for exactly how it should be. Being the national flag and all that

[wally dugan]

I think you are right on the choice of blue it does vary scottish regiment   from regiment in the 50s to 70s some dark and some light

[David I]

The Saltire badge looks like the 52nd Lowland Division emblem (if they were still a Division in the 50/60s). Would 225 Squadron RTC be a part of this.

[Zero-Five-Two]

4 hours ago, David I said:

The Saltire badge looks like the 52nd Lowland Division emblem (if they were still a Division in the 50/60s). Would 225 Squadron RTC be a part of this.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, they were, as part of 154 Lowland Transport Regiment.  That said, my information comes mainly from various google searches and isn't guaranteed to be right.  So far, no one has told me I'm wrong, but I'm always open to information from anyone who knows better than I do.

[REME 245]

If it was like 155 (Wessex) Transport Regiment RCT when I was in you would have had a one Tanker squadron within the Regiment so it does fit in with the normal configeration.   I don't think the Regiment is in any doubt.

 

 

[wally dugan]

I do not know if you knew that on the 4/1/ 71 that 225 squadron redesignated  to 225 QOLY fuel tanker squadron