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WW1 Thornycroft restoration


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Lucas had a standard universal bracket for bulb horns of this type. Unfortunately this picture does not show it too well, but the brass stalk has an adjustable 2 axis swivel clamp. On the end of the stalk there is always a Lucas King of the Road badge. The horn in the above picture does not appear make use of the mounting boss which is rivetted to the horn body and as such is non-standard..........and just looking on ebay there is a perfect example of the standard bracket! (Should we allow Steve to make the split clamps from brass bar or should we insist he forms them from sheet metal?).

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Edited by Asciidv
Forgot to add some detail
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On 7/30/2018 at 10:16 PM, Old Bill said:

We have only ever found one original WD gas generator and that is on the Dennis so when I get a moment, I will make up a copy.

 

Talking of acetylene generators

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Acetylene-Generator-Welding-Machine-1920s-1930s/113173171128?hash=item1a59a58bb8:g:fTEAAOSwlOJbU0ga

 

Not right for lighting, but for a mobile workshop it might be just the thing. 

 

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That was a good find!

The correct one that we have on the Dennis was made by Radmore - and branded "Radwell" - and we have never seen another. I have left a continuing Search for another one under either of those two names for some considerable time on EBay but nothing has turned up. Hence Steve's thoughts of just copying the original for the Thorny.

Tony

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It is the Bovington WW1 Day tomorrow and we have promised to take something. We have therefore been working towards getting the Thorny ready so Saturday was the day for the next test run. It started very easily and I drove it out and  parked up so that we could fit the canvas. This is the first time we have seen it with Canvas and wings together and we think it is looking rather nice.

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The moment of truth!

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All went well for half a mile, all downhill, and then we returned. It was looking good until

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disaster struck and the engine seized again, 50 yards from home. On opening the bonnet, we found it all to be incredibly hot. Two of the leads had begun to melt and the bonnet was too hot to touch. Once it had cooled down and freed off, we started it again and brought it back into the drive.

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We decided that it must have been running lean or retarded, both of which would make it run hotter. The detent on the advance lever doesn't work very well and this had allowed it to retard on the trip without me noticing so that will need some attention. Our pal, John, went and got his timing light to check what I had set up with a Rizla paper and it all looked OK. Fully retarded, it fires just before TDC. We fitted the next jet size up as well and then decided to have another go.

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The lorry was now facing the wrong way so we backed it out into our neighbour's driveway where we learned something else.

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As you can see, the FL wheel is much lower twisting the chassis. We had been warned and now found out that under this condition, the clutch jams up and won't let go! I stalled the engine and could not get it out of reverse due to the tension on the driveline. We put a pinch bar under the back wheel and shook it until it released the gear and then pushed it back into Father's driveway where everything freed up.

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I managed a nine point turn (I was sweating after that!) and off we went again.

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All was well and we were very pleased with ourselves. Then we realised that there was oil trickling from the sump and petrol from the tank. There is a hole in both. The sump will probably fix by drilling and tapping a screw into it. The tank however will want re-soldering. This is severely irksome as I took a great deal of care with it and we lined it with Slosh tank sealant whilst it was new and clean as I realised how troublesome a leak would be to fix. That is not going to be a quick job so we have scratched Bovington for the Thornycroft this year.

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We are, however, in the very fortunate position of having another string to our bow so we have decided to take the Autocar instead. It hasn't run for two years but after pushing out and oiling up, started on the first swing and we went for a test run. This lorry really is a joy to drive and deserves an outing.

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Thorny is back in the shed. This one really isn't giving in without a fight but we will get there eventually. We just have to keep knocking them down.

Steve   :)

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Well that is good progress, even if it is not yet there.  Looks good even with just the cab hood.

Fuel tank leak seems odd, with sealant and so on.  It isn't fixed rigidly to the scuttle and subject to any twisting when the scuttle flexes, is it?

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Hi Steve haven't posted for awhile as we haven't done much more managed to get a radiator patten quality but have continued to follow yours with great interest so much is the same or simmelar to our bb4 engined q . i was particularly taken by your recent twisting chassis clutch problem i had a look back through some of your pictures but couldn't see is your motor bolted directly to the chassis our Q has a sub frame same as the picture of one of yours on page 27 that had people confused it has a large rubber mount at the front the crank handle goes thou the middle and it bolts to the A cross member and the rear of it hangs from the B and it holds the engine gearbox in line in my pictures i have attached some wheels to it so we can roll it round   for got i started new thread    b   thornycroft Q bb/4

Edited by brockwood
grammer
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I thought it was time to make this post, as Steve, Tim, and Tony are too modest to do it. Incredible is the only correct description of their accomplishment. It’s beyond any other  words that I can come up with. Decades of searching, labor, scholarship, and perseverance. Congratulations gentlemen, you deserve the Nobel Prize of vehicle restoration. Thank you for many hours of entertainment. You bring much joy and happiness to many people following your exploits! 

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7 hours ago, edinmass said:

I thought it was time to make this post, as Steve, Tim, and Tony are too modest to do it. Incredible is the only correct description of their accomplishment. It’s beyond any other  words that I can come up with. Decades of searching, labor, scholarship, and perseverance. Congratulations gentlemen, you deserve the Nobel Prize of vehicle restoration. Thank you for many hours of entertainment. You bring much joy and happiness to many people following your exploits! 

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Some photos taken before the black and white photo

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Thanks Ed. You are very kind. I still maintain that anyone could do it, though. You just have to want to enough!

Yes, Gordon. The leaking tank is a puzzle and I am very disappointed. I would have thought that the sealant should have held it all together, even if I did leave a pin-hole. The tank is strapped to the dash plate as per the original and whilst the plate can twist as the chassis wracks, it is only 1/8" flat steel so would have expected it to deform itself before putting much stress into the tank. Oh well. We will have to pull the tank off and unsolder the end plate outer skin to have a look. More excitement with a propane torch on a petrol tank!

Chris. The one on the LH end of Tim's photo is John Marshall's Thorny J so no doubt we will be able to park up next to it one day. Of course, the Hampshire Museums Service have a military J and the the IWM has their AA gun lorry so between us, we form more than half a battery!

Steve :)

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We had a nice day out yesterday at the Bovington Amiens Commemoration Day  with all the lorries you can see above and some more. No doubt Tim will post a report shortly.

In the meantime, we now have a horn! Thanks to Barry's photos above, I have made up some representative bits.

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These were done in Leicester and I have since cleaned them up with a file and broken all of the corners. Then it was on to the base which is bolted to the curved top edge of the dash plate.

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My usual favourite, silver-solder!

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Getting closer to being legal. We only need a rear lamp bracket to complete the requirements. Hood frames are in the plan for today.

Steve   :)

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Ive just bought some Lucas medallions for the lamps on my Austin 7.
 Looks like you just need to araldite one of suitable size on your post and it will be indistinguishable from a pukka one

https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/products/516luc-lucas-lamp-badge-medallion

you also do not need lamps of any sort to be legal, provided you do not take it out in the hours of darkness

Edited by 8_10 Brass Cleaner
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11 hours ago, Great War truck said:

Cant quite manage that. But this was close:

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A great line up of rebuilds. The gun poking out on the left has not had any mention over the years. Is this a secret project you have tucked away?

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I thought it was time to make this post, as Steve, Tim, and Tony are too modest to do it. Incredible is the only correct description of their accomplishment. It’s beyond any other  words that I can come up with. Decades of searching, labor, scholarship, and perseverance. Congratulations gentlemen, you deserve the Nobel Prize of vehicle restoration. Thank you for many hours of entertainment. You bring much joy and happiness to many people following your exploits! 

    Further to Eds comments;

  I too would like to say thanks to the Gosling family for their time they have put in, Not just to the restoration itself, but to the sharing of information and methodology used. It is the recording of the step by step processes as  has been shown on these pages, that help those of us trying to  undertake projects of a similar nature. Your willingness to share information and helpfulness to others is highly commended.

 Doug W 

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Thanks for all of your positive comments chaps. Steve, Dad and I would like to thank everyone for coming back to look at this thread and add ideas and information as we needed it. It wouldn't be as half as much fun without you.

Thanks

 

Tim

Forgot to say. Nothing to do with us.

 

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We have had a nice day again and have fitted all of the rope hooks. Definitely a two-man job to avoid climbing in and out of the back all the time.DSCN6431.JPG.47d7f13a5fa9bc5d37f12b54be06e52e.JPG

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Another job ticked off! I also took the opportunity to crawl underneath and have a look at the sump.

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Once I had wiped the oil away, it became obvious that some sort of filler had been used to fill some porosity in the casting. It looks like soft solder.

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The oil is leaking and steadily dripping from the joint line between the two metals. The question now is what to do about it.

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I am wondering if I could cut some of it out with the Dremel and fill the resulting groove with Plastic Padding or even a silicone gasket material. Any suggestions please chaps?

Steve   :)

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15 hours ago, Old Bill said:

We had a nice day out yesterday at the Bovington Amiens Commemoration Day  with all the lorries you can see above and some more. No doubt Tim will post a report shortly.

In the meantime, we now have a horn! Thanks to Barry's photos above, I have made up some representative bits.

DSCN7711.JPG.d67041d58defffc38789063e4469a922.JPG

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These were done in Leicester and I have since cleaned them up with a file and broken all of the corners. Then it was on to the base which is bolted to the curved top edge of the dash plate.

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My usual favourite, silver-solder!

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Getting closer to being legal. We only need a rear lamp bracket to complete the requirements. Hood frames are in the plan for today.

Steve   :)

I'd weld that bracket Steve as if it drops off that vintage horn will be under the wheels... 

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