Great War truck

Quite by chance,we saw another Inlet Manifold at the Banfield Sale in June and were able to buy it. It is obvious that you should always grab a spare when you see one as bits like this are like Hen’s Teeth and another opportunity to obtain one may never come again. This one was quite different from the one that we already had as it is cast in iron whereas the one that we had is in aluminium. The other important thing that caught our eye was that this one still had the “short pipe above the carburettor carrying the governor throttle valve” as described in the Parts Book fitted to it. We did not have one. And the two manifolds are not entirely identical – what would appear to be a drain plug fitted to one is in quite a different place on the other. There is also another nut on the iron one, to the right of the Drain Plug which could well be a gland nut still retaining a broken off piece of pipe – study the photo! The “short pipe” has now been removed from the second manifold. Would the iron version be earlier than the aluminium one? It certainly appears from the original plumbing on the engine that the aluminium one came from a “low level” version of the “Thorny J” and perhaps post war?

We would like to get the engine reassembly completed as far as we can over the Christmas Break and one of the outstanding items is the Inlet Manifold. This one is of aluminium and is the original one that came with the New Zealand engine and has cleaned up fairly well. It is now ready to fit and the engine is ready to accept it.

The Brake Shoes have been cast in SG Iron and have come out very cleanly – and are now ready for machining.

We are trying to get the bits together now in some form of sequence and with the Transmission Brake Drum recently fitted, it was time to move on to the Brake Shoes. This again involved more pattern making as we never had the original Brake Shoes and two had to be cast – so it was back to Steve again for him to make the pattern for those. This was probably one of the more elaborate patterns attempted so far and our friends at the Foundry took one look at the end result and said “Looks good”! – all very reassuring!

Or as one person put it “We have got four more b****y years of this yet”. As we approach the end of 2014 I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on the Great War centenary events and will the general population all be sick to death of it by 2018 (perhaps much in the same way that everyone was sick to death of the war in 1918)? There have been numerous local and national events. Perhaps the most eye catching of all was the poppy’s at the Tower of London, but I do wonder if that might have been better saved for 2018. It certainly raised people’s awareness of the enormous British and Commonwealth troops loss of life. The dimming of the lights was a very poignant act of remembrance but I expect that most people will not have participated or know what it symbolised. With the Christmas Sainsburys add in the mix I wonder if we are about to reach saturation point. Will any interest in WW1 grind to a halt in December 2018? In the run up to 2014 there has been a significant upturn of interest in WW1 vehicles with the restoration of several vehicles coming to their conclusion. Two AEC Y Types, an Albion A10, a Napier, the LGOC B type bus, Model T ambulance were all completed this year. The restoration of several others have commenced: Marks Napier, GMC Ambulance, Fiat, Halley, and another AEC Y Type. I am aware of several other vehicles having been recently acquired and we will see their restoration kicking off over the next few years: RAF Leyland at Hendon, Liberty B and Fiat 15 TER. I am sure there are several others which I have not mentioned and these are just in the UK. Other WW1 vehicle restorations are taking place in the USA, Canada, New Zealand and France. This is all great news for our hobby and I do hope the momentum will carry forwards well beyond 2018. About a year ago it was said on the forum that there should be no hurry to organise WW1 vehicle events as there were five years to spread them over which is very true. In the last 12 Months we have attended with the Dennis and friends with their WW1 vehicles the London to Brighton, Shuttleworth collection and Duxford events which have all been very exciting. Probably a highlight of the year for those with an interest in WW1 vehicles was the Great Dorset steam fair which had many WW1 vehicles and the most impressive trench display I have ever seen. This was supposed to be all flattened at the end of the show but now they plan to keep it all in situ and will consider repeating the event. Another interesting feature was their heavy haulage convoy from Bovington to the show which attracted crowds of people to watch. One of the WW1 Mclaren traction engines which was at the show recently drove through the centre of London again causing much interest. Tracks to the trenches was another well organised event which unfortunately clashed with another event for us but looked to be very interesting. Maybe if they do it again we might be able to attend? So, what WW1 vehicle events have been planned for the next 4 years? I know the French are looking to run a convoy of 20 WW1 vehicles to Verdun and other battlefields over a week. Is anybody aware of any planned significant WW1 vehicle events here in the UK or have we now reached saturation point?

And then it was to work with the hacksaw, files and flap wheels to bring the tie bar to the correct and final outline. All that is left to do now is to bevel the corners and sharp edges.

After silver soldering the bits together, the 3/8” holes were opened up to 1” diameter to match the diameter of the Fulcrum pins – and then a quick trial fit on the gear box before final shaping to ensure that the 1” holes were the correct distance apart – all was well!

Another bit that had to be fabricated – we never had it – was the tie bar that goes between the fulcrum pins of the Transmission Brake. Its general shape and dimensions were sketched from information obtained from photographs and from looking at other still complete Thornys. The original was probably a forging but we have used a piece of 2” x 3/8” steel bar with some 1/16” steel plate silver soldered to the ends to give it the same shape as the original. The four pieces of steel plate were drilled 3/8” through their centres, bolted together and turned to 2” diameter to match the dimension of the main steel bar. One disc to be held each side of the 3/8” bar at each end which has had matching 3/8” holes drilled in it 13” apart to match the distance between the fulcrum pins on the gearbox. The steel bar and discs were held together with a 3/8” nut and bolt to hold them in place during silver soldering. The bits were thoroughly cleaned before fluxing and silver soldering and the nut and bolt were not be done up too tightly as otherwise the silver solder would not penetrate.

Great War Truck. And why not.

A loyalty card and nectar points!

Do you think that it is only a matter of time before CMV goes the same way? One well known publisher said to me a while back that it is only a matter of time before everything goes on line and the magazine is consigned to the history books. The greatest part of the cost of the magazine would be the printing which could I suppose be replaced by an on line version. Although the forums are great for sharing information I do not yet think that they can replace the magazines. There are several high quality French MV magazines. How do they make themselves pay? As for an on line version, WHO or something similar could replace the magazines but then it would have to become subscription only to pay for in depth contributions to make it worthwhile for the readership to subscribe. Just a thought.

Back to the subject of tyres. Does this offer any inspiration:

In posting no. 1428 of the 12th September, we showed the constituents of the swinging arms of the front axle. Each King Pin is contained within two bushes and the top one in each case is unusual in that incorporates the bottom section of a Thrust Bearing. These are badly corroded and beyond redemption and this sort of fitting does not seem to be available on the commercial market. In fact, no one seems to have ever heard of them! Three of the original four bushes were of a hard steel and the other one was of bronze. We decided to make four new ones using bronze for them all and that the top bushes would have to be made to incorporate a standard readily available lower part of a Thrust Bearing. The King Pins have been skimmed since they were removed so the new bushes must be of a slightly reduced internal diameter to suit the now very slightly smaller King Pins. A slight shoulder has been left on top of those bushes on which the bottom part of the Thrust Bearing will be a simple push fit. We have not yet pushed the Bearing on - but it will go! The sketch should show the general layout.

That's interesting. What will the end result of that be then? Both magazines had a very different style. I enjoyed the more in depth articles, but that seems to be lacking in the latest CMV. New editor though, so give him time and hopefully things will pick up.

Thanks. It seems likely that different manufacturers would have different methods of making them. Rolled steel then welded would seem to me to be the easiest method though.

That differs from what we have Doug. Can you post some pictures please?

Great to see the cab coming together. I must stop by sometime and say hello as I have not been to see the Matadors for a year although I drive by almost every day.

Oh yes. Sorry.

Is that two signs?

Heavy Aviation was made at a similar time as the Liberty B for use by the Air Service (you can just make out AS drilled into the side of the cab). It is slightly smaller than the Liberty but similar in as much that it was made by several manufacturers using proprietary parts. The engine is a Continental E4. There were less made but they are incredibly rare. The defresne collection had at least 2. Possibly more locked up in the big shed.

Always fascinated to see things turning up. This US built Heavy Aviation has just turned up in France. It had been fitted with a rock crusher (probably not a Pegson before anybody asks!). It is currently being restored which is a good job as although there are several survivors I can only think of one restored example: Looks like there is a big dent in the radiator top tank. That will be fun fixing that.

Yes, we live and learn. We probably wont make that mistake again.......... Due to the design of Thornycroft wheels they are particularly awkward to repair. We would not be able to use a press on it as we would not be able to reach the other side to press against it. I have come across several references to Thornycroft wheels having to be scrapped after a small collision. Luckily we were in the very fortunate position of having access to a very well equipped workshop and lots of skilled and interested people. While we were still contemplating what to do the wheel had disappeared and was already under repair. The photos are very much self explanatory but having the right tools for the job was a great help as you can see: Many hands make light work: Almost as good as new. Another scar to add to its history:

Well done chaps. You have got it. The top blocks are just not quite long enough for this set up. As the wheel was pushed up the chain fouled the top of the press. We noticed just as the tyre was about to drop off: Nasty dent and gouges: Actually, a lot worse than it looks in the photos: Disappointing to think it is nearly 100 years old, survived two world wars and then we damage a wheel like that: Anyway, it is still in better condition than the tyres:

That was very observant of you. Yes, that would have been very nasty resulting in trimmed finger nails (or trimmed fingers), but that is not what happened (although it could quite easily have done). I feel like I should be making one of those Health and safety videos. "What happened next"? There is something not right in our set up which resulted in the incident. If you study the photos carefully you might notice it. The shape of the Thornycroft wheel exacerbated the situation. Think about what forces are being applied. Free mince pie to the first to notice. Don't worry if you have no idea. There were 20 of us watching the pressing and we didn't notice what was about to happen until it was too late.

The next step was to press the old tyres off the rear wheels. The process was similar to pressing on the new ones. However, the rears are a great deal heavier than the front requiring a chain block to lift them into position: This time the wheel is placed up on blocks the tyre is to be forced down. Here you can see the blocks being slid into position: The wheel is manoeuvred into position: The pressing begins: The suspended blocks are slid out until they just sit on the rim of the tyre: After a great deal of pumping and effort the tyre begins to move: Until the first of the two tyres dropped off: The first tyre is lifted out and the pressing commences on the second tyre: It must be remembered that the pressure on the wheel is enormous and H&S is not something to be ignored. Unfortunately, just after this photo was taken something very unfortunate happened. Despite being careful it is very easy in your enthusiasm in watching the tyre slide off the rim to miss something very important. Right. Time to get the Sunday roast ready.