Great War truck

With the engines stripped down, we are starting to think about the re-assembly of it but I guess little will actually be done to putting it together until the whole team re-assembles in Devon later on. A whole new set of studs will be required and manufacture of these has started. You will recall that this is a four cylinder engine with the cylinders cast in pairs - i.e. two cylinders in one casting so that there are two fixed head cylinder blocks to attach to the crank case. Each block is held down on six 5/8" studs - the studs are threaded 5/8" Whitworth. We have chosen to make the new studs out of EN24 which is a bit tougher than ordinary mild steel - we are thinking of the forces to which they will be subjected to in use. Of the six studs, four are plain studs - one at each corner - but the two centre studs are extended down into the Crank Case, but reduced to a 3/8" diameter on the extended portion - to hold splash guards which are designed to prevent the oil from going up into the bores. We started by making the centre studs. The 5/8" EN24 was held in a collet chuck and was threaded in the lathe to about 4/5 of the full depth of the thread - and then finished off with a Die. The embryo stud was then reversed in the chuck - the required thinner length was first of all reduced to 3/8" and then threaded 3/8" Whitworth - to hold the nut retaining the splash guard. Later on, this will require a cross hole in the 3/8" threaded section to make sure that the retaining nut cannot fall off in to the crank case. The second section of 5/8" thread was then cut - using the same method as the first one. So that's those four out of the way and we can turn to the eight shorter ones next.

Good stuff. Well done. Tim

Hi. Pleased to have you here. The Austro-Hungarian trucks of WW1 are very interesting and i think technically very advanced. I hope that we can exchange information on the subject. I can only think of one survivor and that is the WAF, unless you know of any others? Tim

After some diversions, work has resumed! The Crank Case has been cleaned and primed. Next job - make and fit replacement studs.

I see what you mean about the Bedford cab being such an awkward shape. But you are doing a great job there. Tim

That is great. Something really unusual. What did you do with the covers that were too big?

I have just reinusred with Premium Choice for £114. £50 cheaper than Footman james. Worth my time phoning. Tim

How did you manage that? they just quoted on my 1944 to be Willys Jeep £165 and valued at £10K. Although they described it as a 1944 Willys jeep they asked me what make and model it was which left me a little concerned really. Time to ring around i think.

It is not often that we restart old threads, but this one was really something special and deserves another go. There is another reason and for which i ask for your help. You will remember that Steve Price provided great interest to this forum with his postings of photographs of submerged vehicles taken from the manned submersibles off Hawaii. Well Steve has just contacted me with this message. This is going out to all our friends in Maritime Heritage. In case you haven't heard, NOAA has zeroed out our budget starting Oct 1. If we are not reinstated our submersible program will be likely shut down. This program has been operating for 30 years doing science, research, and exploration from Midway to New Zealand.....not to mention our discoveries and contributions to Maritime Heritage, which were not really a part of our mission, but we were able to conduct via our "test and trial" dives. Please support us by joining the petition linked below before March 27th Senate Hearing. Lets keep the only remaining manned deep submergence assets in Central and Western Pacific funded and operational. Forwarding to friend, family, and collegues, along with any personal commentary would be appreciated. aloha, Steve Price Maintenance Chief, Co-Pilot, Diver Hawaii Undersea Research Lab http://signon.org/sign/support-deep-sea-research-1?source=c.em.cp&r_by=3361848 They only require another 68 signatures. Now make that 67. it will make a difference. please do it. Thanks Tim

What a super looking truck. Is it a model TH? Although you are missing a bit, you do have a lot of it there. Are you missing any major components? do you know its history? Tim

Thats a shame, but very interesting as well. Where are they kept and in what sort of condition? Thanks Tim

Those are very interesting photographs. When did Portugal dispose of their Napiers? Are there any survivors perhaps? Thanks Tim

Hi Adrian Well i am very pleased you got it. It will go to a good home with the rest of the collection and is at least safe from the scrap man. You may remember i helped you with the body plans for your Liberty four years ago. Sadly, i cant do anything to help you with this latest acquisition. I came across Monty's name in the acknowledgements section of the excellent book "In a strange land" just a few weeks ago and i thought i recognised it. It took me a while to put two and two together though. Have fun in Germany Tim Gosling

Thats very interesting. I did not know that. Did any of these Napiers make their way back to Portugal or were they left behind in France? I would be very interested in seeing what you find. Thanks Tim

The wood on the Lee Enfields does look scorched to me, so it does seem likely that it was caused by a fire although i would expect to see more distortion in the metal. Were Lee Enfields and Brens used in Vietnam - even by the French? With the MG34's there as well it would seem more likely that it was taken in Pakistan than in Vietnam, but happy to be shot down in flames. Tim

With the "Dogs" for the Inlet Valve Caps virtually finished last month but put to one side as the top flange on each of these has to be partially cut back to leave the "Locking Tabs". There are similar "Tabs" on the "Dogs" for the Exhaust Valve Caps and it was our thinking that these could all be machined at the same time. So it was time to turn to making the Exhaust Valve Caps. Like the Inlet ones, they are machined from solid drawn cast iron bar. We decided to machine one right through first of all with the exception of machining the "Tabs" on the top flange - just to prove the machining process - and if that proved to be successful, the other three could then be machined in a batch. The iron was turned down first of all to the overall diameter plus a few "thous" to be finished off later in the process. The flange was then roughly cut in - again leaving a few "thous" to be finished off later. The inside was then machined to the final shape and dimensions, drilled and tapped 5/8" Whit for the locking bolt and nut. There is a drawing of the part following, should the photographs not be clear enough to see the finished shape. The part was then reversed in the lathe so that first of all, it could be machined down to the final depth - in other words, the chucking piece can be machined off at this stage. Final machining to the required shape follows. All done - apart from cutting back the flange to leave the "Tabs". In the final picture, locking bolt and nut are screwed in. Just another three to do - and hopefully will be done quicker as a batch!

Go on Adrian. You know you want to get it really. You will just have to sell something to pay for it. Are you realted to Monty Winget by any chance? Tim

It carried a 3" gun and limber. Easier than towing it? I am not sure. Seems to make it more complicated and heavy. Anyway. US Army only bought 472 of these and only took 15 to France. I would think that it was really quite rare.

Progress just a little slow at the moment because of other diversions! Cleaning of the Crank Case has started, using just rotary wire brushes in a electric hand drill and also paraffin brushed on to get rid of grease and oil. These two pictures are "before and after". Still a long way to go as we have not started on the inside yet. Some of the residual rust on the case is just dust from the wire brushing and it is our usual practice to "wash" items with cellulose thinners before painting to get rid of this and to leave a oil-free surface. Bondaprime - the primer we use is thinned with cellulose thinners. This is the inside of the Timing Case - "before and after" the first clean !

I have seen pictures of these before but not recent ones. Quite rare i would have thought. This one is up for sale.

Very sad. I am sorry to hear that.

Steve, I and a few friends vixited Coventry today and had a good look over the Maudslay. It is going to be a great looking WD lorry when it is finished and they are completing it at a good pace. The steel in the chassis has no real evidence of being out in the weather for protracted period and looked very good. The engine looks odd. Almost spindly: problems with this half shaft though: I have never seen anything quite like that before. The diff has all been rebuilt On round spoked wheels which is unusual: The gearbox case looks lovely As are the gears: With perhaps a couple of exceptions: Lid even had the date of casting in it:

Yes its still there and looks loveley. Steve and i vistied the reserve colelction today and had a very itneresting time: I am sure some one would like to get their hands on these:

With both the whole engine and the "half" engine now mainly dismantled, the next job was to get the old studs out of the crank case that we intend to use. The old studs are either very rotted away or the threads are quite worn so they must be replaced with new ones. We expected this job to be quite difficult and that the old studs would probably break off. However, they had been heavily dosed with "Plus Gas" and all of them just unscrewed with the use of a Stilson. A pleasant surprise! The four long studs go down inside the crank case to hold the splash guards. And now the really unwelcomed and odious job - cleaning the crank case! It is too precious and delicate to have it sand blasted so it is back to rotary wire brushes in the hand drill - with paraffin and a soft brush to get the grease and oil off. This one is more difficult than the Dennis - that one is made of aluminium so that one man could heave it around but the Thorny one is of cast iron and is really a two man job to get it off its stand to turn it up side down. A start has been made on one end but there is a long way to go!

There was a green canvas bag for carrying them, much smaller than the general purpose ammunition bag. I think it would carry about 6 magazines. Hang on i have got one some where. i will try and take a photo for you if you are interested.