Great War truck

Again the sequence of photos is quite self-explanatory. There is a fourth piece of floor to go in, to the right of the driver. There is no door to the cab on the driver's side - that side is permanently closed with a wood panel in where you might think that a door would be. The driver enters through the near-side and slides along the seat. The off-side entrance would be blocked by the gear lever and the brake so it would not be easily possible to get past them. So the natural sequence now is to fit that wood side to the cab and then shape the fourth segment of the floor to fill the gap between that panel and the section of floor neighbouring it which has now been fitted. And of course, all of this has to be taken out again to be painted! And whilst all of the floor-making is going on, more of the never-ending painting!

The cab floor has been given priority today - we are very aware that it will be only three weeks today that we shall be loading the lorry onto a transporter to get it to the start of the "Brighton"! And it has not been on the road at all yet - utter brinkmanship! The main part of the floor - forgetting the various supports is in three sections and each one of them is an awkward shape with various cut-outs in them. The sequence of photographs show them adequately and do not need further explanation. The centre part has to be able to be lifted out for access to the various parts that need lubrication. As each part was made, it was continually lifted in and out to make sure that the fit was good. With the continuing good weather, we were again able to use the trailer parked up just out side the shed as an additional bench which was a god-send. As we anticipated doing, we have fitted a piece of 2" angle under part of the floor to brace it up where the wood will have been weakened with so many cut-outs in it.

And of course, the never ending painting continues! One of the front wings was not up to mark and this has been rubbed back and re-painted. All of the wing brackets have been primed, and we have started cutting the slots in the steel angles for the rear canvas bows where they are to be bent.

Pushed on with it again today where time is now getting very short - just 22 days before the "Brighton"! Steve has been getting on with the cab floor - the front inclined part of the floor is full of various cut-outs to avoid pedals, bolts and other fittings and it takes time and care to get it right - with the various trial fittings involved as he progressed with it. We were glad to have such a fine day as far as the weather was concerned as we were able to use the Trailer outside as an additional work bench! Finally, success at 8.30 this evening - after a full day of it - fits like a glove! With all of the cut outs, it will have weakened the timber, and supports in the way of perhaps steel angle - or steel flat - or even ply wood to go underneath will be necessary to ensure that it does not split in the weakened areas.

Our minds are now turning to preparing for the main canvas canopy for the body and to the bows and rails which will carry it. The canvas is on order through Martin at Allied Forces and this should be available very shortly. The four longitudinal rails are of ash and are already prepared and painted. There are three bows altogether - the two end bows are to be made up of 50mm x 5mm steel angle and we are just about to start work on those. The sides of the bows are vertical - the tops are horizontal and there is a curve of 380mm outside radius where the vertical meet the horizontal. The third bow in the middle is just a flat steel strip and should not prove to be a problem in making the same radius curve in that. To get the curves in the end bows, we will cut the angle where the bends will be in two places (at the start and end of each corner bend) and remove the section which obviously will not easily bend. The angle can then be easily bent without that section in place and we can then weld in a pre-laser cut quadrant of a matching radius and size to fit the bend. These are on order and promised for next week. Other work going on today is the making of the cab floor! We had a nice piece of red cedar in stock - left over from the first restoration that we did - the military Autocar - and Mark very kindly took this to his workshop and prepared it for us. So far, the two end supports for the floor have been made - but there have been some intricate cut-outs necessary to avoid other fixtures and fittings! The front part of the floor is inclined - nothing is ever straight forward!

Another full day behind us! The priority was to get the front wings brackets completed and the wings bolted down so that we could see that they were sitting comfortably. One of the brackets was not quite right from yesterday so it was re-heated and a big adjustable spanner put on it to lever it into the correct position. Both wings were then bolted or clamped into position and remaining holes were drilled. They were then fully bolted on with temporary nuts and bolts, just to ensure that they looked right! Next job there is to strip them down again and paint the brackets before they can be finally bolted up. The body is held to the chassis by four "U" Bolts and two straight strips of 2" x 3/8" steel bolted vertically from chassis to body frame. The "U" Bolts are roughly at each corner of the body whilst the 3/8" strips are in the middle. The two strips have been fixed in position for some time but the "U" Bolts previously made up with their Keeper Plates were fixed down today. It is usual for the Keeper to go underneath but in one of the positions the silence pipe would foul it if fixed that way - so we have turned that one upside down and put the Keeper on top - again accepted practice.

And then it was back to the brackets for the front wings - the brackets for these are more complex than the back ones and it was very much a case of getting the home made hearth out again so that the metal could be got hot to be beaten into a correct profile. Not an easy job, but after persevering, we ended up with a pair of handed and matching brackets, one to suit each wing. Steve was very pleased that his welding held up to the harsh treatment! And when the brackets appeared to be correct, it was a case of bolting them onto the lorry for a trial fit and to see if the mudguards were going to end up hanging in the correct place! After some further adjustments, it all looked well and the mudguards must now be drilled for the fixing bolts. The brackets will go off to the "Paint Shop" to be cleaned up and painted before final fitting..

Another day on mudguards and wings - and of course, more of the endless painting! The brackets to hold the rear mudguards had previously been finished and with the painting of them now also complete, it was time to fit the mudguards permanently. The brackets were bolted to the lorry, ready to receive the mudguards. With the holes for the retaining bolts previously drilled when we did a trial fitting before painting, it was simply a case of offering the mudguards up to the brackets and bolting them up. In accordance with the original drawings, coachbolts are used for this with the mushroom head under the mudguard and the nut on top. Suddenly, the rear end looks complete!

Steve has been practicing his Blacksmith's skills - making brackets to hold the front wings on and also the twisted straps to hold the seat box to the chassis. Still more work to do there - tomorrow!

We have some polyurethene ones on the Dennis rear. We will be testing them soon so i will let you know how we get on. Much cheaper than the runner ones, asuming they dont fall apart after a couple of miles that is.

Awesome crane. Fantastic work.

An upside down Jeep at a sharp corner was a traditional county scene at this time.

The Tailgate catches have gone on - the rope hooks have been fitted as have the pick and shovel blocks, tax disc holder and endless painting! The canvas protector blocks have been cut and fitted but are currently off for painting.

I should have posted these a while ago. As you can see i finally got around to finishing off the lamps. Quite pleased with the end result: Another fiddling job out the way. I may change the damaged brass for a better one later.

It was good to see you again. Amazing that you were staying in a village about 2 miles away. Sorry that we couldnt spend more time hanging out but we had a long drive ahead. Also in the photo is Tim from Canada who had come to see the FWD. Good to meet him as well.

I like the way the hack calls a Spitfire a "Spit Fire". Cracking model though. While being pedantic, is it a "replica" or is it a "model". Fantastic work anyway.

I understand they had a new lady who was head of the museum colelction. One of the first things she did was throw out lots of Peerless parts. How daft. I have a pile of photos of thier Peerless, but i just cant find them. how annoying is that. I have found a couple though: I will see if i can find the others. Here are some pictures of two other Peerless which might help a little: In my routing around i also found these which might help: I will see if i can dig out some measurements later on to.

Do you have any photos of the Cornish Peerless?

Yes, i recognise that one. Richard who is a regular poster restored that one. I expect he will be able to tell us more about it. The fairground Society? Was that near Bridgenorth by any chance? As far as i know there are four Quads in the UK, only two of which are runners.

This sequence of pictures are all quite self explanatory - the seat was lowered under full control - clearances were very tight and we estimate that there is only a 1/16" clearance each side of the petrol tank brackets! Some final adjustments to get it exactly in the correct place! Looking OK! Putting itaway - and trying it for size! A tricky job well done with the aid of all our friends. Many thanks. There is still a lot to do yet to get it running, so we are going to be very busy as the deadline is approaching.

The time had at last arrived to fix the Seat Box assembly onto the body - it was a job that gave us a great deal of thought as the assembly was heavy, awkward and was going to be a very close fit! Some very good ideas on how to do had come from the forum and were a tremendous help to us in deciding the final method! It was obvious that we were going to need some more muscle and a request to various friends resulted in seven of them turning out at 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning! With so little head room within our shed, the Dennis had to come outside - and this was the first time that it - or at least the front half had seen the light of day! We decided that the easiest way of doing it was to come in from the side - just behind where the seat would go - it was lifted out by four chaps - turned over on to its back with the bottom facing forward so that it could be lowered over the head board into position. Two chaps stayed in the back of the lorry to receive it, then hold and support it from there where it was to be dropped down over the petrol tank. Some old blankets placed across the top of the body to protect the paint work. I will post some more photos in a moment.

Our good friend Mark, retired submariner, museum conservator and amazing craftsman, has today delivered the leather straps which hold the hood in position and what a beautiful job he has made of them. They truly are a joy to behold. The top ends are wrapped around staples which are screwed to the underside of the cab bow. At the bottom end, they wrap around the radiator protector and are secured with buckles. Now this is the really clever bit. Because of the way they wrap around with the buckle on the top, a single continuous strip of leather would have the underside showing outwards at the bottom end. Mark has very cleverly cut the strap and scarfed a joint at the buckle so the outside of the hide shows all round the lower end and around the rad protector. It really is a super job and we can't thank him enough. Mark is one of those people who can make anything and whatever takes his fancy results in a work of art, whether it is leatherwork, toolmaking, steam engines or old motorcycles (1943 Matchless G3 amongst others). If you can spare a few minutes, his website is well worth a look: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/remark/index.html We have a number of friends coming around today. The aim is to get the seat box lifted on and into position. It is going to be a very tricky job. I will let you know how we get on later.

Crikey. where are they going then.

This will cause a lot of upset. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12914070

Wonderful job. Well done.