Great War truck

The new Inlet Valve Cap retainers have now been completed and the pictures show them next to the remains of the originals which had to be drilled out of the cylinders as they were so rusted in. The Exhaust Valve Cap retainers are still to be completed but the bulk of the machining work there has already been done.

Interesting how they keep turning up. Now if you could just find a Peerless like that then i might be interested.

Yes, you are right it is a Dodge light repair truck. The wings are different but correct. Tim

Tony Oliver's works. Goes rather fast i understand. Tim

I think the new owner is Justin Fletcher, or as kids may know him better as the TV character "Mr Tumble". He came up to me at Fly to the Past at Woodstock and asked me about the Jeep as he wanted to get one. Spent quite a bit of time with him and he was very pleasant. Tim

Yes please Jim. Very interested. Tim

Yes. Quite an exercise. I wonder what the connection with that town was. I suppose i should just look it up on the internet. Hold on. To honor Lt. Holbrook the town's namesake, the Holbrook council acquired a portion of the hull of HMAS Otway, a decommissioned Oberon class submarine when it was decommissioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1995. The Navy gifted the fin from the submarine to the town. This resulted in a drive by the town and district to bid on the whole submarine. This drive for the purchase of the submarine, was successful in raising $100,000, almost all a gift from Lt Holbrook's widow Gundula Holbrook. However, this amount was insufficient to purchase all of the Otway. Through negotiations with the scrap yard in Sydney, the town did succeed in purchasing all of the outside skin of the Otway above the waterline. This part of the Otway is now displayed in Germanton Park in the heart of Holbrook, having been dedicated on 7–8 June 1997. Isnt the internet great? Tim

i dont think we should discount "Subs in town" just yet. it has met with various levels of success across the globe.

I remember going to an army surplus in Exeter about 15 years ago and there was a stillage full of them. I had a good look at some as many owners had carved words into them. One was marked "Paddy Basher". i wonder what happened to them all. Firewood i expect.

Could do. It is a great marketing opportunity: Where's Jack?

He is still in Germany. I told him there was a military rally on and he went:

I am delighted that you have saved it. I have not yet found any photos of one in use, but will keep looking. I cant see the photos on G503 though. Can you post them here? Tim

Tony had some time yesterday so returned to the Engine Blocks to clean them – they had rusted up slightly again following the last wire-brushing, a month or two ago! Turned first of all to the valve seatings and found that after all the rust and other crud had been removed, one of the exhaust valve seats is in very poor condition and will need some significant work to get it right again. This is the lower of the two seatings visible in the first two photos. The third photo shows the advance again of the devil “rust” since the last wire brushing. After a successful but tedious wire brushing, the cylinders were washed down first of all with paraffin – dried off and then washed down again with a cellulose thinner. They were then given a coat of Bonda Primer – which is cellulose based to stop a repeat of the rusting. All the missing or damaged studs were replaced at this stage, too with ones that were previously made and were waiting to be fitted.

The iron disc with the spark plug thread in must now be firmly fixed down. The first item to go in is the “dog” or bayonet sleeve – you can see how it drops in and then twisted through 90 degrees to secure it. The next item to go in is the hollow sleeve – threaded 2” x 11tpi. When this is screwed down tight, the bottom of this hollow sleeve bears down on the spark-plug iron disc and holds it securely in position. The first two pictures shows the hollow sleeve screwed down tight to secure the iron disc. The third picture shows the threaded section sitting on the iron disc out of the engine just so that you can see how it holds it. The valves and iron discs are going to have to be lapped in again because of the rust and corrosion. The new valves have not yet been ordered.

Here is the sequence of pictures that John G would like to see! The first one shows the top of the cylinder and the combustion chamber before a quick clean with a rotary wire brush – the second one after this cleaning and now the two seats that Steve described in his note above are really apparent. The third picture shows the best one of the original valves – all the valves are beyond their “sell-by” date and will have to be replaced The first picture shows the Valve being dropped in – but it is so badly corroded, it will not drop down easily to its bottom seating and it has not been forced. So it is in just half way. For the purpose of this photographic sequence, imagine the valve has dropped right down to its seating. The next item to drop in is the iron disc with a tapped hole in the middle to take the Spark Plug. This is bigger in diameter than the valve head so that it drops down on the upper of the two seats.

I didnt get it Gordon - it didnt reach reserve (not that i actually bid in the end). But this will appeal to you. Possibly more than me: A pity about the primer, but there we go. Tim

Amazing collection.

With the flanges now all marked out on the Inlet and Exhaust Valve caps, the final job to do on them is to machine away the superfluous part of the flanges – to just leave the locking tabs. Started with one of the Inlet Valve Caps and this was set up on a Rotary Table in the Milling Machine – using a “Clock Gauge” to ensure centricity. The top flange was worked on first of all with the unwanted parts of the flange each side of the locking tab gradually milled away. This was then taken off the mill so that it could be inverted for the other side to be similarly dealt with. These three pictures show the bottom of cap being machined as before – after it was inverted on the milling table – and the completed item. The first picture here shows the two parts of the Valve Cap temporarily screwed together and the second picture shows the base of the assembly alongside its final position on the cylinder head. This indicates clearly how the bottom of the assembly drops into the hole in the cylinder head and then has to revolved through 90 degrees to lock in. These two pictures show the parts in their final positions – the cylinder is still rather dirty and needs to be thoroughly cleaned!

Thanks for that. That is very helpful. Tim

I came across a very interesting MV up for sale in the USA. It was described as having an incorrect title. Can any of the more knowledgable or US readers explain to me exactly what a title comprises and how do you get one if for example you purchased a vehicle without one, or get it corrected which in this case would be necessary. I also understand that you cant export a vehicle without title. Any thoughts or suggestions please? Thanks Tim

Here are the first two of four inlet valve cap retainers taken to the same stage as the exhaust valve cap retainers. Like the exhaust valve caps, the bulk of the flanges remain to be machined away. It should be possible to do all eight with the same set-up

At Beaulieu. Very pleased to see this. Steve has eyes like a hawk: He also picked up this at Old warden. should be useful for the Jeep:

Tony started to cut the flanges on the Exhaust Valve Caps, to leave the tabs remaining which will hold them in place. Rotary table next to finish the job. The smaller section of the flange between the two cuts seen in the picture will be the tab with the larger section of the flange still to come off.

Phew. Thats OK then. Just as long has Jack not pressed any buttons I am sure everything will be fine.

That looks spot on. Nice job.