Great War truck

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.

The strip down continues – the second and third pictures in this sequence of three show the reverse gear shaft – just to the left of the big bearing – being pushed out. The Reverse Shaft is out and can be seen standing on end by the “4” in the last of this sequence of three photos. The shaft was re-measured and it was found that there was the slightest of tapers of one just one “thou” on this shaft and that was causing some of the trouble. So the shaft was put back in the lathe and the excess was taken off with some emery tape. There were also a couple of high spots in its bronze bush and these were scraped out. This took care of the problem and the stiffness has gone. Then it was just a case of re-assembling the box – just reversing the strip down procedure previously shown. Everything is now turning freely in the gearbox and the casing can now be properly cleaned again and finish-painted ready for placing in the chassis. Paper Gaskets have been made to go under the covers. The gearbox has been placed upside-down on a mobile bench for ease of painting.

Steve joined Tony in Devon over the weekend as they intended to go to Brighton together on the Sunday to see the completion of the London to Brighton Vintage Commercial Run, but they had the Saturday free and wanted to do something to the Dennis. It has been “bugging” Steve for sometime that there was a stiff or tight spot in the reverse gear of the gearbox which we re-built about 20 years ago and put to one side then until it was required and he was determined to look at this again before the gearbox was fitted into the lorry. The original re-build of the gearbox is covered briefly on page 2 of this “blog”. The gearbox had been stored on the bottom shelf in the Garage and has picked up some dust and muck on the outside over the years! It was lifted out and the strip-down was easy and a real change from the dirty and rusty items that we usually have to deal with as that part had all been done before! The following sequence of pictures show the strip down again are all really quite self explanatory and show the sequence in which it was done. The first of these two pictures show the wear on the teeth of one of the gears – we put this down to “heavy” gear changing by the drivers over the years! It should not cause us any concern.

Sorry. Only these ones:

Here are some pictures of the other Albion which was in the background in the Beamish photographs. Just completed the London to Brighton yesterday:

Wasnt planning to go to this one, but spend the day fixing the Jeep. Anyone, i went over for the afternoon with my youngest and really enjoyed it. I didnt take many photos but the place was very busy although the weather was rather cold. Saw some very nice vehicles. I really liked the Thornycroft (Nubian i think) which i hadnt seen before. A gorgeous Morris (which has featured here before) This number and colour scheme looked original. RAF? Nathans loveley new restored MW A WW1 Feldbahn. They have another one of these about to make its debut

MT sheds: We found a pile of these. Dont know what they are: Not sure what this was. Possibly toilets, but maybe battery charging area. Next to the MT sheds: Very wide door which made me think not toilets: Control tower: Another Auster flys in:

A few of us took our MV's up to the Windrush airfield for their fly in before going down to Abingdon today. I think there were 7 planes in all and about 10 MV's. We went for drive around the remaining peri track and a bimble in the woods to look at the remaining structures from the war . A fun day out and mostly sunny: Coal bunkers we think Shelter - very complete: hearth. Lots of these about: Another blast shelter: The old HMVF club house. It needs a lick of paint:

Thats funny. I came across one of these only yesterday. Not in such good condition though:

such a secretive collector he keeps his Panther in an underground bunker beneath his house. Mind you. it must have been quite tricky being in post war Germany and wanting to collect WW2 German armour.