Great War truck

In the end, he had to grip the drum from the inside on the very narrow edge ring as it was the only way to hold it. As he wanted to part the excess off, at Adrian’s suggestion, he faced up a disc with a centre in it which he used with the revolving centre in the tailstock to keep the drum pressed up to the chuck. With the job now secure, he turned his attention to the toolpost. This was solid and could not be adjusted so a quick strip down was in order where the reason for it’s seizure was discovered. A clean and polish exercise then ensued whereupon the parting tool was mounted and the parting process commenced.

The Lathe now looks magnificent! Readers may recall that the Thornycroft chassis had been built into a hut on the top of Penmaenmawr in order to use the engine to drive a water pump. Part of the conversion had been to remove the transmission brake and to roll up a 2” wide ring and weld it onto the end of the brake drum in order to use it as a belt drum. The job was done very neatly including the crowning of the drum to help the belt stay on. Steve’s task was to remove the extra width and then skim the surface back to allow it to be used as a brake drum once again without tearing up the lining. The drum was measured and Adrian very kindly loaned a 16” four-jaw chuck from another DSG lathe. Unfortunately, it proved to have a slightly different back fitting and could not be mounted. Undaunted, he had another rummage and came up with a 12” four jaw, just right for the lathe and Steve spent some considerable time setting up the machine. The drum was so heavy, he had to stand in the lathe bed in order to lift it!

Followers of the ‘Dennis’ thread may recall that Steve is also keen on miniature railways and has a locomotive of his own. This he run runs at the ‘Echills Wood Railway’ near Tamworth. At the railway, his good friend Adrian, has been the Mastermind behind the construction of a workshop to support the railway and for the general benefit of the members. Steve has assisted with this project for the last two years from the manufacture and erection of the building to the laying out of the workshop and commissioning of the machine tools and it is now ready for use. As you can see in the pictures, there is a big Dean Smith and Grace lathe which has had many hours of cleaning and painting given to it by Bob and Trish, two of the members, with the result that it looks just like new. When he saw it, Steve’s first thought was ‘I can do the brake drum on there!’

Is it easier to control the outflow of aggregate when you are building a road? The yanks certainly used tippers during WW1 (Mack) and I see in Barts book a photo of a WD Halley tipper but that is the only one of those I have ever seen.

Probably a Hallford and used for road building. On the side it might be "Roads" beneath the WD. Great photo.

French army trench digger. Looks to be on a Packard chassis.

Sorry Clive. It is definitely you. Or more likely your computer. I broke a long standing tradition this year and bought something at W&P to take home. Quite pleased with my find: Oh, another 2 gallon petrol tin you say. Well, it has the WD arrow on the handle: Spout leans inwards and dated March 18 indicating a genuine WW1 petrol tin. In good condition too. Two down, 13 more to find.

Did anybody come back with any exciting or unusual purchases?

Went or see the Sand Blaster this morning to arrange to get the rear wheels “blasted”. Took the two engine mounts just made with me and he very kindly “blasted” them whilst I was there to get all of the scale off. Cleaned them up nicely and they have since had one coat of Bondaprime.

Not MV related but slightly amusing. I was driving home after picking up my daughter from school. I got stopped by a guy in a reflective jacket telling me that the road ahead was blocked. I could see a car on its side in a ditch with lots of people running around. After 10 minutes I got waved on and saw that it was Jeremy Clarkson with a film crew. As I drove by the same place yesterday there was a guy parked up in the same place waving a large placard saying "No Top Gear here". I was thinking of stopping to say "You are right mate, that was a couple of days ago", but thought better of it.

Thanks guys. That is very useful and I have learned a great deal there. Yes, Ford chassis dated to July 43. Willys engine. Body has been coated with filler. I presume covering all the holes for fixing the side screens. I would have though with some body flexing that all of the filler would crack and drop off, we will see. I couldn’t see any WOF markings on the axles, so with the Hotchkiss wheels and cut out it does look like a French army rebuild of a mostly Ford Jeep. The battery was I understand new as was the starter, but it does seem to not have enough power to turn the engine more than a little bit. So, as you guys suggested it is wither a problem with the earth or the starter, but it does seem to be a new starter so you would not expect some of those problems. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts. Tim

Lots of clues there. Cant imagine an oil rig engineer finishing any e-mail with "God bless".

I went to see a local Jeep today. It was quite nice but there were a few oddities about it. Its history is not known but it has never been registered for the road, so I presume that it was an ex French army import. I could see no obvious Hotchkiss parts though but I don’t know very much about Jeeps and would have difficulty recognising them anyway. The scuttle cut out was there and the gauges looked mostly original. No holes in the glove box door, which otherwise appeared original Composite style body Solex carb… The windscreen had quite a steep backwards slant which left the canvas a poor fit. The whole body seems to have been skimmed with filler on the outside so I guess it was a bit rough, although personally I would have left it. What are these loops for: It also has a cut-off switch under the scuttle. It has a new starter motor and battery (6V) but it hardly seems to have enough power to be able to turn the engine. I don’t think it is the fault of the engine as I put the handle on it, turning it quite easily and it started first pull. The starter was installed by the previous owner and looks modern. Can anybody offer some thoughts as to what the owner could try to resolve this problem? If you click on this photo it should demonstrate the issue…. The previous owner had problems getting it to start which is one of the reasons why he sold it I believe. Any thoughts or suggestions on what he could try next (apart from turn it to 12v) gratefully received.

We have been working on the second Engine Mount Angle today – although there is not a lot that we can do to it at this stage. Several of the holes to be drilled in it need to be done and marked out along side other fittings on it, just to ensure that the holes go in the right places. The two slots shown in the photos are for clearances – an oil pipe passes up through the round one and the front one is for a clearance right at the front end. Holes will have to be drilled in it to take the female part of the swivelling engine mount casting – Steve has been Pattern-making and we hope to be able to take this to the Foundry very shortly to have it cast. The angle worked on yesterday is to be fixed to the sub frame and this can be clamped into position and the fixing holes for that spotted through from the frame and drilled out to take the required 1/2” Whit Bolts or Screws. The next job!

So we got cracking on the first of the 3” angles today – the large part that had to be removed was cut out by chain drilling and finished with a hack-saw. Not very scientific! It was then cleaned up with an end mill. We can put some of the holes in this – but others will have to be “spotted” through from the original holes in the chassis. It needs to be further tidied up with the sharp corners taken off.

The first of these three pictures show the two groups of four holes through which the fixed, off-side angle was bolted to the sub-chassis. The second picture shows the large hole through which the male part of the engine mount goes through the sub chassis and on which the swivelling joint rests. The four holes – two either side take the retaining bolts to hold the male part of the joint in position. The third photograph shows the male part of the arrangement – and is the only original part of the set-up that we have. As it has been exposed to the elements over the years it is badly corroded - we plan to use it again by skimming it and then sleeving it. The thread on the end is 1” Whitworth – but not much left of it! The part that fits very tightly into the chassis frame is not corroded and does not have to be touched.

As our chassis was recovered from under a Shepherd’s Hut, the engine had of course long been removed together with the fittings – except one. Over the last 20 or so years, Steve has been collecting Thornycroft information, and has it ready for this day. So when 20 years ago, Steve was working in Portsmouth, a Thornycroft “J” Bus was stored in the Bus Garage and Steve spent many of an evening measuring and sketching the appropriate bits of that bus that we did not have! That information has proved invaluable and that together with further information obtained from Carlton Colville, the attached sketches have been prepared of the Engine Mounts so that we can make replacements.

We have been quite disappointed that our progress has been so slow recently – and unfortunately other priorities seem to have got in the way for all three of us! We hope that “lights and tunnels” are now appropriate for all of us! There are three or four jobs that we want to get on with and they seem to be inter-dependant. The engine is mainly together – very little to do to that now and we want to get that into the chassis, out of the way. But it needs engine mounts – and these have to be made – description to follow! Even when they are made, we have to be able to move the chassis under the block and tackle – so we need wheels! The front axle has been stripped down and sand blasted. Both of the axle swinging arms have been removed – one is fit to be used again but the other is badly worn and must be replaced with a twin – still to be recovered from another old axle in our possession – and that one is sound. It needs either Steve or Tim in Axminster to help Tony get that axle to our friendly local garage where there is a big press available! The front wheels are now with Steve in Leicestershire as the hubs are worn and have to be skimmed – but first those wheels must be taken to the Tyre Press in Bedfordshire so that the old tyres can be pressed off. A friend up there has a big lathe that will accommodate the wheels for “hub skimming”. The King Pins must be looked at – and perhaps new bushes made for them in the axle. The Back axle is to be looked at and hung when it is ready but the springs have to be hung first of all. We have new back springs but we need new shackle pins to be turned first. That job is very close. The back axle complete with the diff from NZ gifted to us by Mike is waiting for us – it has been safely stored for this moment to which we have been looking forward! So turning first of all to the engine mounts....... The engine is not hung directly on the sub chassis but it has three mounting points which go on to two lengths of 3” x 3/8” steel angle – one angle is bolted on the off side directly to the sub chassis but the angle on the near-side is able to move by a swivelling joint bolted to the sub chassis. The engine on that side is bolted to the angle but that angle is designed to move slightly with any twisting of the chassis when on the road. The photographs here are of the Carlton Colville Thorny which will give you some idea of the arrangement. The last picture shows the female part of the swivel attached to the angle. The male part is of course, bolted to the sub chassis and is not visible.

I stirred up a right old storm last year when I posted photos of "UN" vehicles. I promise not to do that this year so I have posted some photos of some replica military vehicles and some other oddities. If you don't have a sense of humour you might not find some of these to your taste: Land Rover chassis?

Markings in black? Kegresse again Replica goliaths:

A few more:

Just got back from an excellent day out at W&P. We had to go on the Wednesday this time due to other commitments so some vehicles had not yet arrived. Still, there was a lot of interesting stuff to keep me entertained. Almost complete absence of mud. Favourite was the Pierce Arrow. I had known of this one for years but had never seen it: Here are some more favourities: Film prop for Fury.

OK. A bit of a scorchio day due tomorrow then so I guess I will leave the wellies at home.

Supposed to be quite muddy there today. Anybody there who can confirm what the conditions are like?