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WW1 Thornycroft restoration


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Thanks for that Hedd. I will think on that one.

In the mean time, I have heard back from the Slosh people. Unfortunately, it is not possible to re-coat the inside of the tank as the new coat will react with the first and won't seal. They have suggested using an epoxy putty on the outside but that will leave an unsightly lump which I don't want. Can anyone offer any more thoughts please?

Steve    :) 

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I'd forgotten about Oyltite. It does work, I've used it on a leak in the seam of a wing tank on a jet in the pouring rain before flying back home across most of europe!

The best slosh selant out there is PRC PR-1005-L  http://www.ppgaerospace.com/Products/Sealants/Specialty-Products/PR-1005-L-Buna-N-Slosh-Coating.aspx

But it's not cheap.

Robert G8RPI

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/13/2018 at 10:17 PM, lowfat said:

probably easier to make a new tank than dismantle the old one

Well, possibly but after the amount of effort we put into making this one, I don't want to give up yet!

Sorry it has been a bit quiet recently. I have spent a weekend playing with Sentinel Steam Waggons followed by a week house- sitting for a mate. I did have one exciting moment with the Sentinel when, whilst I was lighting up with a paraffin soaked rag, I suffered a blow-back and was momentarily engulfed in a red fireball. I was fortunate to get away with it as I was wearing  gloves, flat hat and cotton boilersuit and I even have most of my eyebrows! Bit of a shock though. Getting into practice for fuel tank soldering.

Dad has been busy though, pressing on with the petrol tin carriers. I drew up the woodwork and Big Mark kindly made them up for us, much squarer and more quickly than I would have done.

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Straight into the paint shop.

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One end bolts to a cross-member and the other to a piece of steel angle bolted up through the floor. Dad found some oddments and cut these.

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There is a thin wrapper plate which goes underneath and up the ends. It is a 4 1/2" wide strip bent into a 'U'. I did a detail drawing and these came back.

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I still can't see how he mis-read the drawing but never mind. Dad has reworked them and only you will know.

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Then it was onto the locking bar. This would probably have been a bit of blacksmiths work but fabrication suited us better.

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Dad is into silver solder as well!

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He then drilled the woodwork to mount them, fortunately realising that they are handed which is a point that I hadn't spotted.

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Laid out for the catches.

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They are now complete and in the paint shop. We plan to hang them, along with the sump, the next time I am in Devon. We are very close to the end now with only the headboard to paint and install and the toolbox to make up. Once the tank is sorted, we should be operational. Fingers are crossed!

Steve    :)

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6 hours ago, Old Bill said:
On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:17 PM, lowfat said:

probably easier to make a new tank than dismantle the old one

Well, possibly but after the amount of effort we put into making this one, I don't want to give up yet!

I've just searched "Por 15 tank sealer removal" and found a number of old posts (even back to 2010) on various forums, that recommend using any number of liquids e.g. methyl ethyl ketone,  aircraft paint stripper and even vinegar.

This is an example of dedicated sealer remover:-

https://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/fuel-tank-seal-remover-removes-failed-por15-and-kreem-tank-sealers/

I haven't tried removing sealer myself so I'm not recommending any product.

It is possible, that the inside of your tank was too smooth for the sealer to bond to?

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Would those petrol can carriers not have holes in the bottom to allow rain etc to drain away and not rot the timber?

 

As for the fuel tank, could you not make a new one and use the old tank as a jacket for it to keep looking original..

But then again if you're going to go to the trouble of carefully opening the old tank up you'd be aswell to clean the sealant and repair it properly 

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On 9/24/2018 at 4:00 PM, Scott Sorby said:

Would those petrol can carriers not have holes in the bottom to allow rain etc to drain away and not rot the timber?

Good thinking! Thanks for the reminder.

I went down South this weekend and took the headboard for painting and the sump for fitting. I cleaned both surfaces and then applied a liberal coating of Loctite liquid gasket. I then fitted the patch and screwed it partially down until sealant came out all round. I left it for the rest of the day and then nipped up the screws on final assembly. It went down well and I am pleased. Proof of the pudding now!

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Then fitted up the new gaskets with grease. This shot, taken whilst I was on my back, was just before the second fitting. We had fully bolted the sump up before remembering that the oil level float needed to be fitted first! You can see it on the LHS of the pic.

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Oil pump re-fitted and starting handle in place again. Just need to sort the tank out and we can have another outing.

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Dad has finished off the tin carriers.

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They were held in place by the lifting table which was ideal for this. It is amazing, however, how long it takes to drill just five holes in the right place.

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Success!

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Both carriers fitted and our thoughts then turned to the Peerless. Something for tomorrow.....

Steve    :)

Edited by Old Bill
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  • 2 weeks later...

At long last, I  have bitten the bullet and sorted out the fuel tank. My biggest concern with re-soldering it has been the possible presence of petrol /air mix in the tank going bang when I bring the torch near it. To avoid that, I have simply left the tank open to the atmosphere for six weeks after draining down and then started the exercise by poking my dust extractor hose inside and running for half an hour. Seems to have worked!

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The next concern was that there might be liquid fuel between the two end skins so I drilled the outer and filled it with water using a funnel.

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I tapped one of the holes 5BA and inserted a screw. Then it was simply a case of warming the joint up whilst pulling the screw.

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Once the corner lifted I worked my way around with a pair of screwdrivers just lifting it until it parted company.

The water beneath was hot!

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There was a gap in the seam right underneath the point where the petrol was coning out of the outer skin joint.

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I think that this was my fault by being a bit heavy handed whilst tinning so that I squeezed the rivets up without the joint being fully closed. Soldering the end cover had allowed the solder to run out of the joint underneath. Interestingly, it did show some signs of the sealing material running through. The sealer, unfortunately would prevent the solder from re-running so I removed three rivets, un-soldered the joint and spread it with a screwdriver so that I could clean the surfaces with a thin file.

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Once that was done, I pushed solder-paint into the joint and put 5BA bolts through it before warming it up. I then heated the joint with the torch and kept tightening the bolts to squeeze the solder out. This proved successful so that once it had cooled, I removed the bolts and replaced them with rivets before re-running the solder around the rivet heads.

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I set the tank on end and filled it to the filler neck before leaving it overnight. It wasn't leaking this morning so I cleaned up the outer skin and sealed up the holes with rivets. before re-fitting it.

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I just painted the joint with Baker's fluid and warmed it gently, working around the joint with a stick of solder.

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The lumps of metal were there simply as weights to hold it down.

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A good clean-up with a flap wheel and it is all ready for the paint shop.

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You may recall that Father had a devil of a job painting it last time as the paint kept reacting with something. I am told that the problem was flux and that the surfaces must be washed with something caustic this time.

Steve   :)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Something else I have been up to is making up some rear view mirror brackets. I have tried driving without mirrors and it is foolhardy in the extreme so these brackets hang on the hood frames with wing nuts.

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Safety concious as ever, I have made a carrier to go under the seat to stow a fire blanket.

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Whilst on that theme, I have fitted a fire extinguisher under the seat.

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All of this lot is in Devon now for painting. I also took down the fuel tank so Dad can paint that. We were caught out last time by the paint bubbling up but on taking some advice, this was put down to poor flux removal on my part. It has been recommended that we use washing soda this time so we asked Mother if she had any. Of course she had!

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Mind you, I think it is nearly as old as the lorry!

Looking at the tank, Dad spotted two areas of damage on the back.

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These turned out to be caused by bolt ends just fouling it. It is a good job that we took the tank off as they would have worked their way right through in the end. Dad has now trimmed them off.

The seat cushion is now fixed with a batten along the top edge rather than screws. They were beginning to show signs of pulling through so best to catch them early. The cushion has a flat strip along the top edge so the batten is just screwed through it and the cushion folds down over it.

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We fitted the shovel and pick brackets so they are out of the way.

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Dad has finished painting the head board so that is safely stowed in the back now.

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These finishing off jobs take a surprisingly long time but are nearly all done. I will be making the rear lamp bracket next. The Peerless is looming!

Steve  :)

 

 

Edited by Old Bill
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  • 3 weeks later...

We are getting towards the end of the job now and only the last few odds and ends remain. However, if we don't do them now, they will never get done! I have been given a copy of the Ministry of Munitions drawing for the standard chock or 'Scotch' as they call it so I decided to make up a couple to hang on the back. The drawing specifies Elm but I think we will settle for softwood. Fortunately, I had a spare plank in the shed. First job, though, was to sort out some bolts and fortunately for us, we had some in stock. I made up the square washers to the drawing.

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Ten minutes with the band saw.

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Interestingly, rather than screw the chain to the rear of the scotch, there is a hole in the centre so that it can go around the tie bolt.

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Then we needed the rings for the end so I bent some rod, cold, around a bit of bar in the vice.

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And then joined them using silver solder again.

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There is a long narrow link between the scotch and the first ring. These were bent hot.

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A bit of chain rescued from an old chain block and that is another job off the list!

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The timber for the tool boxes is on order so we plan to make them up over Christmas along with re-fitting the fuel tank. Then we should be ready for a proper run!

Steve   :) 

 

Edited by Old Bill
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Another finishing-off job, currently in hand is the rear lamp bracket. Detailed information on this is scarce and we had only this photo and the remains of the original article.

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It is attached to the chassis rail but not to the underside of the channel but to the inside face of the bottom flange instead. We know this as that was where the original came from. It is a pain though as it meant an extra bend in the bracket. I guess we shall never know the reason why.

First two bends were done hot in the vice.

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Then the big one, also hot, using my bending block and some pegs.

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The ends were welded on by our welding instructor at work. You can tell the difference from mine!

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It is now primed and ready for the paint shop at Christmas.

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Just the last pattern to go now.

Steve   :)

Edited by Old Bill
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If you’re wondering, the lamp is a J & R Oldfield Dependence. To my eye it looks like the intermediate size (the proportions of badge to chimney are a good indicator). 

There is one of the smaller type on eBay right now. The one you want is larger than this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Dependence-Lamp-J-R-Oldfield-Type-No-540/253971667272

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