Great War truck

Great stuff. i am not aware of any other war time truck Co that advertised as much as FWD. Tim

Really enjoyed that. Thanks Harry.

Finally, there remained only the pivot bearings. These are plain bearing mounted in small cast housings. The difficult was that they are spherical bearings which are assembled by pushing them into the housing sideways and then secured by rotating them through 90° to trap them. They were well corroded in and took a lot of heat and perseverance to free them up and get them out. The housings proved salvageable but the ball parts needed replacing. Steve used his spherical turning technique to make up replacements and these are all now in stock and ready to fit. All of this was done over a year ago but it is very nice to know they are there ready and waiting.

When were they introduced? Who made them?

Fortunately for us, one of the release links had survived, albeit corroded and bent Steve straightened this by heating it and hitting it in the vice after which he bored it out and bushed it. He then had to make another. This was slowly carved out in the mill and lathe and then the edges were radiused with a file Finally, he brazed a web in and dressed it off to match the other.

Here is another one to ponder:

Well done all. Here is another photo of it: It is indeed a spotter tower for a railway gun. You can anticipate all sorts of possible problems, worst of all would be going under a bridge, but i wonder what affect the recoil would have on the observer when the thing was fired.

A bit more progress: As always, we are trying to think ahead and have been planning the great reassembly of the drive shaft between clutch and gearbox including the clutch release mechanism. Tony caused us some amusement by saying don't we need a new one of these? 'Yes' we said 'and you have already made it!'. There, in the back of the cupboard was the shaft finished, painted and ready to fit. When it arrived, it looked like this Both bearings and the levers were on it but heavily corroded. Tony stripped it down and made new clevises as we deemed the others to be beyond repair. The drop arms were built up with weld and then Steve dressed them back, bored them out and bushed them.

Apart from the depth issue, they wouldnt be too hard to raise. Problem is there is no point as they are not rare enough and it would be too expensive to preserve them to make it worthwhile. Better just to survey them well and record them in situ. (But if someone could get the data plates off for me then that would be great). Tim

Thanks for that interesting picture. i didnt know they made it to Poland. Tim

Here is another one. You are welcome to have a guess at what it is, or you can provide a suitable caption, or both.

Tony went to the foundry today and collected the recast water pumps parts and the last few bits that needed doing. The foundry were a bit embarassed about what happened last time and have done a cracking job on this lot. It will be interesting to see how they look after they have been machined.

Great shed. I could do with one like that. Already have the stuff to fill it, i just need the shed (and the land to put it on of course). Tim

Tony has been doing sterling work on cleaning and painting the prop shaft parts. A monotonous job but actually a lot of any restoration involves this sort of thing.

Sorry i dont know, but what a great looking lorry. I always find it very strange how some people who put these things up for sale are so miserable. dont know much about customer service (as if i care), but i wont buy anything from someone who is rude - unless of course it is something that i really need and have no alternative seller. Tim

Quite amazing. I still can not work out why someone would buy a large number of MV's park them in a forest and then leave them to rot. Where is the logic in that?

Steve has finished the bronze drive shaft blocks at last, complete with cross drillings and oil ways. Clutch release bearing carrier is next. Very soon, we will be putting it all together!

Viking?

Oh my God! I am officially old.

Fantastic photos. Must be a great camera you are using. Wow, first time we have an object with its name on the side! sadly, i have no idea what age it might be. Anything from 1930's to 1950's. What age are the other objects that you have in the vicinity? Tim

I have seen pictures of Dietz lamps on Quads, but that is about it. Have you seen them on anything else during the war?

Sorry Tom. I cant quite make it out. I do not recognise the high top as being a British makes but i have seen a number of French ones like that. of course it could be locally procured. I presume that you no did not get that lamp with the car? Tim

Thats great. This forum is so good for passing information. Thanks Ben. Tony has been busy again today on painting the torque tube and cleaning up the end. All looking very good.

Ah, so that is what they look like. Not much chance of finding one then. if Steve is going to make a batch, does anybody else need one while we are at it? Tony has not been idle, and has been cleaning up the torque tube.

So what has happened to the other chassis? Is it still available for sale?