Great War truck

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.

Jack. I really don't think this is a good idea. At least when the GMC ran out of fuel it would coast to a stop. Aeroplanes really don't work like that. Tim

Yes, you are absolutely right Richard, it is a Jeffery. I just quoted what was stated in the auction catalogue without questioning it. You would think the owner would know what he was selling. Thanks Tim

That is a well known one. Interesting to see that it has the truck trailer. These are quite rare, although I know of one in the UK. Asking price on that one is 36,000. Inflation seems to have taken hold in France. http://www.prewarcar.com/index.php?option=com_caradvert&view=ad&section_id=1&id=81485&Itemid=432

We collected the castings for the new pistons from the Foundry again – our good friends in Bridport – and the results look good! They were quite happy with the patterns despite any misgivings about them that we might have had – but Steve and John there are very helpful and always bend over backwards to help. Included in the photos is one of the original pistons so that you can see what we have to aim at. So machining of those next!

They have their best hats on! A Sunday outing to the seaside I imagine. About fifty McCurds were taken on by the WD and fitted with GS type bodys. I don't think we should be concerned about whether or not to include early "civilian" type vehicles here. Many of these would have been used by the military anyway and the design features are all much the same. I would rate HMVF as the best on line centre of knowledge for solid tyre vehicles. I am not aware of any other website which brings together so many knowledgeable people in such a friendly atmosphere.

Not really relevant to this thread, but trucks did get shot at and hit:

Hard to say for sure. They just dont come up for sale that often. The estimate is 8,000 to 16,000 euros. I think maybe 12,000 is acheivable.

Steve is still very busy trying to move house. He has, however cleaned up the oil pressure regulator which had, quite remarkably , survived on the half-engine which came from Buxton. It is a simple device where the oil is fed in from the side, underneath a piston which is held on its seat by a spring. When the correct pressure is achieved, the piston lifts and the oil runs through the centre of the body, emerging through the bottom which is directly above the timing gears. A good clean and a new centre bolt were all that was required and it is now safely stored away ready to fit. On another front, Father delivered the piston patterns to the foundry this week. After some discussion, we have decided to do away with the chucking piece on the crown and to use the draw-bolt method of mounting them in the lathe. This will reduce any residual stresses in the crown and make the whole lot more stable when cutting the ring grooves.

Runflat put me on to this one. Coming up for sale in a French auction (one of only three in France, hmmm, they got that bit wrong then). Heavily messed about with but looks to be mostly there. The compressor on the back is a post war addition.

Well done Ian. Another one saved from scrap.

Some film here of the replica Shermans in Bridge too far. Don't look that bad from a distance.

What are the origins of it. Was it imported from the USA recently in which case it is not a Greek. I have some photos of Greek Jeeps imported in to the UK somewhere. I will see if I can find them

Did the post war Greek Army put on a similar colour scheme. Cracking looking Jeep.

Yes, 200 is probably about right. I estimated some years ago about 40 FWD's surviving world wide but they do seem to keep turning up especially in Europe so 100 of each is not impossible. have a grand day out Tim

Is Kens Quad one of the licence built ones or is it a Nash? Now as you have been researching this, in your opinion how many FWDs and Quads survive in the USA today? Tim

Those are great replica plates. In fact the whole Dodge is outstanding. It is nice to see another WW1 era truck.