Great War truck

Fantastic story. Well done.

We have not posted anything for a little while but work has been going on! Steve has completed the first stage of the machining of the new pistons and they are now with our friend Andy W who is boring them for the Gudgeon Pins – his Milling Machine has greater capacity than our modest ones and he will also shorten the old gudgeon pins by 3/16” so that they can be used again in the new narrower pistons. They are of extremely hard material but again, Andy has the facility to machine them. When Andy has completed that job they will come back to us for the final machining here. We have been looking at the flexible coupling that goes between gearbox and engine. This consists of a leather disc, 7” in diameter with a 5” hole in it. It has six, 5/8” diameter holes in it for securing bolts so that it can be coupled to the two forks – three bolts to each fork. We had one original leather coupling which is beyond redemption with just one of the original steel “washers” still attached to it. But this provides us with sufficient information for us to replicate. Another of our great friends is Mark D – a former Submariner and Museum Technician and Restorer – and a man of many great skills – including leatherwork! We asked him for advice on making the leather ring and he immediately offered to make it, but not only the one but two others as there is a similar arrangement at the ends of the prop shaft – so we shall need three in total. Mark rescued a roll of Pump Leather from a Skip some time ago and it has been awaiting a use! The final ring is about an 1 1/4” in thickness and four layers of the leather sewn together – by hand – provide this! The six 5/8” holes remain to be put in the leather and Mark tells me to do this with a sharp 5/8” drill! The one recovered washer provided the pattern for 36 to be laser cut – sufficient for all three couplings, at just a very modest cost and saving a tremendous amount of work in having them made this way. These three pictures will give some idea of how the finished assembly will look! The 5/8” Holes are still to be drilled and the washers attached.

Not really a find or a discovery but the Fresne collection are selling off more stuff (Marcel put me onto this). Fresne has been collecting and putting stuff away for years. it looks like they have gone through the field with strimmers and just put labels on everything. lots of junk, but there are some interesting things there. Another Nash or Jeffery Quad for you Richard, it looks no worse than your last one. I expect the scrap man will take whatever doesn't sell. http://www.musee-dufresne.com/admin/doublons/pdf/20130603213529Carnet-doublons-2013.pdf I am still waiting for the big shed to open its doors and the really interesting stuff to come up for sale.

That looks nice. Has it got a new owner, or has it just changed location for storage purposes?

Richard What condition was the other Liberty engine and did it go to a Mr Dodd? Can you id this fuel tank. I have been told it is a Liberty B (obviously the one which goes under the seat and not the one which bolts to the scuttle). What do you think? I know it may be a long time ago, but do you remember what the hooks on the front of the Liberty chassis looked like. I was wondering if these Mitchell produced FWD hooks would be the same? Thanks PS. Thanks for your posts Gordon. I always learn something new from you.

I was wondering if the width would preclude it from road use. Almost certainly I would imagine.

Oh no, not mine. We are not buying anymore trucks. Not enough time and space. This has been purchased by a good friend of ours. Good spot on the wheels. The wooden ones are the early pattern, the metal ones later. Ideally he would like a full set of metal ones. They do turn up occasionally. A pair came up in the UK some years ago. I wonder what happened to them. This Liberty is in the USA at the moment and will soon be containerised so he is looking for metal wheels quite urgently. Thanks Tim

One and two halves of a Liberty B. Carefully packaged to fit into a container and ready to make a very long journey by sea. There are a few bits missing though (nothing too crucial). Does anybody have any Liberty bits they don't need? Tim

Here is a rather nice looking Riker which I did not know about. The question which nags me is what else might still be found in that yard:

The completed Gearbox had been standing upside down on a mobile table for painting for the last few weeks and with the bottom part now completed in that upside down position, it was time to turn it right way up so that the job can be finished with the top to be done. The pictures are quite self explanatory – but it was necessary to lift the gearbox – put it on the ground to be rolled over and then lifted again onto the table, but now the right way up. We have managed to find some old style wing nuts now with “Mickey Mouse” ears, and those shown in the picture which are the modern type will be replaced.

Richard What were the main challenges faced in your Quad restoration? The rad was destroyed in the fire I presume. What condition was the engine, gearbox etc in. To restore that truck today at current prices how much do you think it would have cost?

The BTR60 is one of my favourite looking MV's. I have seen several coming up for sale on the internet (mostly in the Ukraine), but never seen one in private hands in the UK. Can you drive them on the roads over here? Not planning on getting one (just yet - well, not while I intend to remain married), but are there any major issues with them? Thanks

Well done Richard. Yes, he did indeed pee on it everyday. I thought that formula would raise a question or two. Tim

Regular readers may remember the water pump inlet casting which had had the inlet flange broken off. Steve made up a pattern and had a replacement flange cast which our friend Adrian kindly welded on. Unfortunately, the joint was slightly pin holed and Adrian offered to take it away to seal it up. This he has done and on completion, it held a pressure of 30psi (hydraulic) for 20 hours without weeping. We were expecting him to weld it but he says not. Apparently, he put it in the Rayburn oven for a month to start with ( I must thank the long-suffering Fay for her patience and tolerance at this point!). He then took it outside and squirted it with a 95% aqueous solution of urea 9.3 g/l, chloride 1.87 g/l, sodium 1.17 g/l, potassium 0.750 g/l and creatinine 0.670 g/l. each day for another month simply leaving it to corrode between doses. He finally washed it off, sand blasted it and gave it a coat of paint. Job done! You learn something new every day in this hobby! Many thanks Adrian.

You must have gone to a rough school. Was it in Sarajevo? No, but seriously, you are right. Close call, no one got hurt. Lets make sure that we learn from this and we can keep on enjoying our hobby.

I agree. I certainly dont doubt that it is worth £25,000, i just cant see anybody paying that much for it.

Dave the Packard has just obtained this. I think it rather nifty, although it will take up a lot of space in his shed. Saved from a nasty fate. Good luck Dave.

In Switzerland. Asking price 25,000Euros. Heck of a lot of money but very complete.

Steve has had a go at straightening the steering worm in his press. It would not go cold so he had to heat it in the end and there are some marks in the surface. Nothing serious and, although not perfect, the steering column moves only about an 1/8” from centre when rotated between the lower centre and the bearing surface. He will make further adjustments later on if necessary. The other thing he did was to sort out the lower bearing surface. As you can see, the bearing has ‘worked’ and rather chewed up the surface. Steve’s solution was to bore out a sleeve and skim the end of the shaft to fit before pressing it on. Then he mounted it back between centres and skimmed it back to size. .That’s something else which should live to fight another day.

Cool. Thanks. Tim

Great stuff. Thanks. Tim

A friend just bought an ex military Land Rover. The chassis plate states Truck utility 1/2 ton 4x4 rover series 3 chassis no 951-01032A Cont no wv10828 item 3 Code no 1620-0778 2320-99-893-2845 Vehicle no 55-AH-68 Is this enough information to get its service history? Thanks Tim

OK. I have found the church which features at the start of the second clip. It is St Leonards Church in Hounslow. Everything else has changed beyond recognition, but the water trough is still there. Any other locations we can recognise?

There are some more David, but not as entertaining as these ones. The "awkward soldier" is an excellent comedian and I wonder if he has been brought in from the musical hall. As you suggest, perhaps a known actor of the day. I can recognise Hounslow bus garage and the roads around there easily enough. I suspect the other filming is done around Osterley Park. There is one road sign which says to Twickenham and Kingston one way and Hanwell, Southall and what looks like Harrow the other. Still cant find the location though. Of course, the Germans did some landscaping there a few years later on so it may all have totally changed anyway.

I have known of the existence of this clip of film at the Imperial War Museum for some time and have been hoping that they would put it on line. I have just checked back today and it is now available: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022731 It is three clips of film each about 20 minutes long and shows a trainee driver being provided tuition. Mostly Peerless trucks, but also Dennis, Thornycroft, LGOC and Napiers. Some of the clips are truly brilliant. Health and safety is refreshingly not present. They demonstrate stopping distance by making loads of kids run out in front of a Peerless. Slippery roads in Hounslow by pouring oil on the road and making a Peerless and Vauxhall skid on it. Hill starts by crashing one Peerless into another. All great fun and very entertaining.