Great War truck

The weather didn’t start well on Sunday with a heavy down pour but this soon stopped and the day brightened up. We crossed the road to the off road track and started going round the circuit. This was great fun and a very good reason to own a military vehicles. Richard took his Champ around in reverse very successfully. I was pleased to see the BRDM do the course, knocking off tree branches as it went around causing the commander to regularly duck for cover. It was very impressive and had no problem at all with the slopes.

After that, a trip to another WW2 airfield, Shenington where we explored the control tower and then some of the other areas. This was a bomber training area and Bill had very thoughtfully provided maps of the site and the crash locations. The ground must have been littered with crashed Wellingtons. This was followed by a trip back to the camp site and a barbecue and buffet which was very gratefully received.

After that we drove out to the battle site of Edgehill and once again Bill gave a very interesting talk on the subject. This was followed by a pub lunch but as there were so many MV’s we had to use the overflow car park (a quarry).

The North Oxfordshire & Cotswolds MVT hold their annual camping, roar run and barbecue weekend in the middle of August. We used to hold it at Swinbrook, then last year we relocated to the Windrush airfield. However, due to significant weather damage to the control tower we were unable to use that site this year so we had to look around for somewhere new. With a couple of weeks to go we were invited to use the campsite located behind the Greedy Goose pub outside Chipping Norton. This looked to be very promising, especially as there is an old quarry across the road which we obtained permission to use as an off roading course. People started gathering from Friday night and we had dinner in the pub. Saturday morning was bright and sunny and the highlight of the day was the 50 mile road run organised by Bill King. We had 25 vehicles on the run and the first stop was Wellesbourne to look at the restored Vulcan bomber located there. This was followed by the historic house of Compton Verney which now holds a fabulous art museum (currently including an exhibition of WW1 trench art). During the war it was used as a camouflage school and Bill delivered a very interesting talk. What is the name of the famous statue on the right and which war film did it feature in?

The AEC and the Hallford drove about 25 miles to the event while the Dennis drove about 10 miles. The Maudslay was transported as it had a long way to go and had not been driven on the roads before.

Hmmmm. Maudslays were used by the RFC and Dennis by the US Air Service. The museum did bring out their Crossley and that featured in some photos. I would agree that I would be stretched to find a photo of all marques together with a WW1 aeroplane but you never know. I will have a look and see what I can find. The intention was never to create a period type picture, but to see what we could get together to make a nice photo. The end result was most satisfactory I feel. The best location to create a period sepia tone photo will be Beamish, but we will save that for another year.

it is a Cushman Model 39. 600 purchased in 1943 and 1944. Same engine as in the two wheel models.

I am having great difficulty in getting youtube to work. This should be a shortcut to the LGOC driving around

The first brake drum is off:

Here is a clip of the Maudslay. I think that driving around at the Shuttleworth Collection was the longest trip it had done since restoration. https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=87-wO4InhOE&video_referrer=watch

There was a couple of heavy showers of rain. Hurricane Bertha apparently:

We took the Dennis to the Shuttleworth collection WW1 event today. As we took the lorry out of the shed it began to rain and it showered on and off until we arrived. We parked up alongside the AEC and the Hallford and were then joined by the Coventry Transport Museum Maudslay. I think that this was its first trip out and it performed very well. It was a treat to see how much it had come on over the last 12 months. Also there was the London Transport LGOC “Battlebus” which has been completed. In a few weeks time it is going to be painted green in anticipation of its trip to France in Septmber. With all of these WW1 vehicles together we spent sometime getting everything lined up for some group photos. The heavens really opened at one stage as we had to take cover until the storm passed. Overall it was a great day out. The collection were really pleased to have us there and I hope it helped make up for the lack of flying aircraft.

Hi Tad A Quad will be a bit of fun. A diff and rad should turn up. There was a guy out in NY (a retired Doctor I think) who bought the remains of two Quads some years ago. Just chassis if I remember correctly. I saw photographs of them being recovered from the undergrowth. I wonder if they are the same ones. Forget the guys name. There were photos of them on this forum but many years ago. Anyway, a few Quads were used for carrying a crane/hoist. Quite dissimilar from that French post war Liberty B conversion photographed there. The ammunition body was most common, but Quads also had the artillery supply body and some the workshop body. A crane would be fun. I will see what I can turn up for you. Best regards Tim

With everybody here in Devon over the weekend, there was enough muscle available to pick up the old rotten spare front axle and put it into the back of the Land Rover to take to the local Garage where there is a 60 tonne Press. You will recall that we wanted to take one of the swinging arms off this to replace a much more worn one that came out of the axle that we plan to use. The pressure was taken up to 40 tonnes but the King Pin refused to move. Heat will often cure this sort of problem, so Neil at the Garage very kindly put some oxy-acetylene heat on it after which we tried again – but still no movement. The King Pin started to bend, - there was no alternative other than to cut the top off it. We then tried pressing again, but still no movement and we decided then that there was no alternative other to cut out the old Kin Pin. We had to do this on the Dennis and once that King Pin had been cut into more manageable portions, it became plain sailing to get the bits out although still tedious work. So we took the axle home again and using the back of the Land Rover as a bench, two through cuts were made in the King Pin in the narrow gap between the swinging arm and the axle end and the arm was knocked off the axle. All that remained to be done then was to knock out the two ends of the King Pin left in the arm – was came out very easily and the other will follow today.

The low census number on the bonnet would suggest that the photo was taken somewhere in France/Belgium. I would guess that it was a Daimler B Type (although I am sure one of the Daimler experts would be happy to correct me) and that it was an impressed bus. Nice photo and thanks for posting it.

We had the whole team in Devon over the weekend and were able to get on with several things. One thing that was very much on our minds after the recent discussion about Brake Rings was the condition of the second set that we have which Mike very kindly sent over from NZ on the set of wheels on the back axle. You will remember from a posting just one or two ago that the conditions of the originals caused some concern where they badly need skimming and that they are already thin. The NZ set are a later pattern and are cast iron whilst the originals are steel bands. Well, there is much more “meat” left on the NZ ones and it is very much in our thoughts at the moment to go with those – despite the big crack that we knew about and which must be welded – but we then found that the second one has a small crack in the rim which appears to have been caused by a build-up of rust behind it and the pressure from that causing the crack. So both have to be welded up. Anyhow, the next job is to get them off and eye them up properly before a final decision is made. Doug was asking about foundry marks or part numbers on them but we cannot see anything at this stage – but they may show up after cleaning. We are not sure where to look for them – can you give an indication, Doug?

OK. Well just the tow hook bracket which is visible on the front right corner of the chassis in the photograph will suffice. Thanks

Also, radiator and front tow hooks as well please.

Have a look at the inside top left of the scuttle. If there are no data plates there even the location of the screw holes might be a clue. In fact the location of any screw holes might be interesting to see. Could you photograph the back part of the chassis from above, rear tow hook, gearbox cover might be useful as well. I think that will do for a start. Thanks

The Back Wheels were taken away and blasted and returned to us shortly afterwards. They are difficult things to “clean” and there is some more work to be done on them before they can be primed. Again, the old tyres were left on to protect the wheel surface under them so that when the new tyre is pressed on, it will not be a loose fit on the wheel because the old wheel circumference has been reduced by sand blasting. With this game, it does seem that every stage and at every step we take, another conundrum or puzzle is thrown up. The cleaned up brake drums are badly corroded and will have to be cleaned up by skimming if they are to be used again. They are quite thin already. It occurred to us to look at the drums on the two wheels that came from Mike in NZ, with the thought that they might be in much better condition and could be substituted. For the first time, we noticed only today that the two sets of drums are different from one another. The ones on the wheels just cleaned up have a plain surface whilst the NZ ones have a large rim around the outside. The two photographs will clearly show the difference. The picture of the drum in the Parts Book illustrate the drum with rim – like the NZ ones. But again things are not straight forward. When we took the NZ ones off the axle, we cracked one of the drums and there is a clear picture of this in posting no. 133 dated 26 December 2011. So if we decide to use those drums, there will be some cast-iron welding to do! As we mentioned earlier, nothing is ever straight forward – it would be boring if it was!

This was spotted yesterday. I wont say where but it was a big surprise. Is it the same as that in post 7? I don't know who owns it, but can confirm that it is no longer where it was when it was photographed.

Hi Terry Is it the same one as this? Cant tell you much about it really. From the tow hook on the front it looks to be an ex WD one and that is about it. Did you have the chassis or makers plate? More photos would help, particularly of the rear end of the chassis from above. As for finding an original engine and wheels, well I would think that you were in the best part of the world for that.

A week later and they were ready for another go. Adrian had serviced the toolpost and found a much better tool. This did the job satisfactorily but the drum was so hard that there were a lot of sparks flying! In the end, Steve stopped at the limit of the tool’s length which didn’t quite get underneath the crowning. He felt that there was enough good surface to do the job and he didn’t want to go any deeper as the drum was already down to a thickness of only 3/16”. Whilst not quite perfect, the drum will still do the job it was intended for and is now with Father for painting. Next job will be patterns for the brake shoes themselves.

This was successful but very much a heart-in-mouth exercise, especially as Steve only had one cutting tip! The remains of the ring were then faced off. Next, Steve tried to turn the periphery but this proved troublesome. Big though it is, the DSG lathe was not quite big enough that the drum would clear the top of the cross-slide so to reach along the drum, the tool had to be severely overhung towards the headstock. Cuts were taken but the surface proved to be extremely hard and the tool just bounced off, losing its edge in the process. A slightly deeper cut caused the toolpost to rotate slightly and the tool to dig in causing the groove you can see in the edge. They decided to call it a day at that point and Adrian took the toolpost away to service it further and see if he could find a better tool for the job.