Great War truck

Here is another selection of Australian trucks photos: An early Dennis rad needing some attention Some more Thornycroft chassis: A Thorny Diff !!!!! A wonderfully restored civilian Mack AC. Extensively used throughtout the war and made up until the late 1920's. A Dennis

Wonderful answer. I thought that the reply would be a simple "not possible". Now, i am under the impression that some (possibly all) of the missing pieces have been lost. Will the repair still be possible, and what can be done about the missing parts? Many thanks Tim (too)

This early Leyland engine has suffered some frost damage. In your collective opinion, do you think it is repairable? Thanks Tim (too)

Yes. Tim (too)

As you know we have been working on the gearbox dismantling. Father has been very busy and has been taking lots of photos which he has been sending on to me. There is a heck of a lot of photos, so instead of posting all of them i have posted a selection and you can see the sort of problems that he has been dealing with. Nothing that cant be resolved without a great deal of heat and pressure (and pullers too). Now we just have to put it all back together again. Tim (too)

Doug and Mike (the collectors in New Zealand) have asked me to point out that these chassis are not as commonly found as i might have indicated and that these were acquired over several years and not Months. They are in fact very hard to find and being in New Zealand you do of course have to travel further to find things. Doug had a query on the repair of water jackets. This forum being an ideal place to ask such a question i have suggested that they register for HMVF and test our pooled knowledge. Someone is bound to know the answer here. Also perhaps you could tell us a bit more about your collection. Over to you chaps. Tim (too)

Those second photos are another one that we brought back to the UK a couple of years ago. Two more have now turned up. It is like waiting for a bus. Tim (too)

Steve had a phone call once. "Do you want a Thornycroft M4 engine". "Oh yes please - where is it". "Auckland" "What Bishop Auckland?" "No Auckland, New Zealand" "Crikey" (or something like that) Anyway, here it is coming out of the box shortly after arrival. Here it is now. Note the large can of plus gas. Cracking engine. Fantastic luck once again.

A good question and i like good questions! Several reasons really. There was no big scrap drive in Australia during WW2 like there was in the UK, so these things survived. After the war, the price of scrap and the diverse locations of these trucks just made it uneconomical to recover so they were left where they were. Lots of them are still where they were last parked. I will post some more pics later. Tim (too)

Ah, you are thinking with your WW2 truck restoration sense of logic. With WW1 truck restoration logic you think "it is original and the only one i have ever found, therfore it must be restored at any effort or cost". It is also in New Zealand so the climate is a lot nicer and it should not (hopefully) be too damaged internally. As they are a lot more primitive they can suffer quite a lot of neglect and still be brought back to life. Tim (too)

Ah yes! Cunning! Cunning!

Another Thornycroft: A very fine looking Albion, but on pneumatics:

Like New Zealand, there are still WW1 trucks to be found out in the bush. Take this FWD. Seen better days for sure. Another one, this time built under licence by Premier. This one is just post war, but too good to leave out:

Thornycroft M4 engine. Converted for boat use, but quite restorable. Now recovered.

Quite right. The sort of underhand thing we would not expect from a member of the HMVF! It is just not British! Tim (too)

Darn it. I have done it again. I now withdraw all the positive things that i said about you. Tim (too)

Spot on. Well done. Didnt think that you would get the White from this angle. Obvious from the front, but not so from the side. I am impressed. Tim (too)

Yes you are quite right. It is hard to tell with the one at the back, but Y Type was my best option. I expect someone will come and correct us now. Alan? Tim (too)

As you know, i have usually got my ear to the ground when it comes to the turning up of WW1 trucks. It would seem though that the supply in this country has just about been cleared out and the French have suddenly realised that there is money to be tapped in those scrap yards. Interestingly, New Zealand is the place where things do frequently turn up. The following images are all WW1 period trucks that have been rescued in the last few months by the same person. Who can identify them? This next one has been restored and is part of the largest collection of commercial trucks in NZ. Interesting stuff eh? Tim (too)

Here is a recent (but small) pic of Blackpool sands. It looks quite similar, but there are a couple of geographical differences. Hmm, I am not sure now. Jack! jack! Where are you!

Jack wont be home until late, maybe even tomorrow (or day after if he has run out of fuel). But anyway, I think it is the next beach along to Slapton Sands which if i remember correctly was indeed Blackpool Sands. Tim (too)

I cant think of many people who would take on a task like that. It is wonderful that you do, so well done everybody. Tim (too)

Just found this on the BBC news http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7382596.stm I knew that the tunnels were there and had been closed off, so it is interesting to see that they have been reopened. I feel a need for French holiday once again. Tiom (too)

I will let Jack tell you about that himself. He certainly had a good time, although was a little bemused that when we went through every town the people waved and cheered at us, and just waved empty jerrycans at Jack. Its a Wiltshire thing i suppose. Went back to the campsite late last night and had a drink with the HMVF guys. Great to put faces to names. We then went down into Ramsbury town and watched the search light Living History group in action. Very impressive. Now it is Monday and it has been pouring with rain all night. Seems to be brightening up a bit at the moment, so hopefully the field wont become too boggy for vehicle movement. We will see. Tim (too)