Great War truck

The second one was approached in the same manner but after tightening the bolts as far as he dared, Steve resorted to a bit of heat to encourage the piston to let go. This was applied very gingerly as the risk of cracking the casting is very high and would be catastrophic. He raised the temperature to a point where it was too hot to keep your hand on it and then gave the bolts another half a turn. Fortunately, the piston let go at this point and he was away. On removal, the piston looked fine but the bore could do with some attention. A good crust of rust had formed over the crown it looks pretty poorly beyond that point. Something to consider another day. Number three had been on top dead centre when the engine stopped so it had to be dragged the whole length of the bore. Dad polished the area below the piston with emery and Steve tried jacking again. Much to his surprise, it let go very easily although it had still be be jacked the whole way. Number four was just the same so success has been achieved and we are very pleased. The day was rounded off by an inspection of the valve guides. The inlet side are all fine but theexhaust side are well worn. Steve therefore knocked them out with a drift and Dad will turn up some replacements in due course. Steve returns to Leicester tomorrow but all objectives for the week have been achieved and we are very pleased. Now all we have to do is clean the bits, make replacements and put it all back together!

It is the last day of Steve's holiday today so he and Dad were keen to finish the engine strip-down. The last remaining job was to extract the pistons from the cylinders and this has been causing us all some trepidation. However, there is only one way to get it done and that is to go and do it! Here is the jig that they made yesterday. It is a simple 1 1/2" diameter bar tapped through at 3/4" Whitworth for two set screws. The centre collar is the same size as the journals and sits inside the big end to prevent it from going oval when the jacking force is applied. The bar was fitted into the big end of the first rod and then blocked up with timber underneath to jack the screws against. The pressure was applied by slowly winding the bolts until there was a bang and the piston let go. Progressive jacking and packing saw it slowly extracted. The piston doesn't look too bad and a good clean will help. Even the scraper ring came loose so we were very pleased. The bore could do wth a bit of a polish, however.

Steve and Dad spent the morning removing the valves. Not too hard but they were well stuck and only moved after persistent gentle use of the hammer and a drift. Once freed up, a large valve spring compressor took the pressure off the cross pin in the end of each valve allowing them to be knocked through. None are good enough to re-use. One of the valve guides could be seen to have moved at some time in the past so Dad made up a drift and Steve knocked it out. It proved to be shorter than the others and exhibits a very strange repair. This will have to be replaced. The others remain to be closely inspected but we expect to have to replace the lot. Next job was to remove the water connection between the blocks. The bolt heads had almost rusted away so Steve took them off with the angle grinder and the casting followed. The shanks of the bolts remain and will have to be drilled out. The afternoon was spent making a puller to fit the big ends. Tomorrow will be the moment of truth when they try to extract the pistons!

These arrived today. Thanks Glen, they will be put to good use. Tim

A little more progress on the Thorny today. Steve and Dad removed the splash guards which prevent the oil from going up the bores. They are a bit ragged but should live to fight another day. Yesterday, the camshafts could not be removed and this was a bit of a puzzle. They laid the securing bolts side by side and it was instantly obvious that the bolts removed from this crank case were shorter than those taken from the complete engine. The remains of the bolts were left in the bottom of the hole preventing the shaft from moving so Steve proceeded to drill them out. This was successful and the shafts were safely removed. These cams and gears are first rate so they will be returned to the engine in due course. The last few bits were removed from the case and that is now ready for cleaning and stud repair. Finally, Steve had a go at one of the valves. He squeezed up the spring using a pin-punch. The collet was rusted to the valve stem so it stayed down whilst the pin was removed. Then more hammer and blowlamp treatment freed it up and the valve was knocked out. Unfortunately but perhaps not surprisingly, the valve stem is very worn and will require replacement. More valves tomorrow and then it will be time to extract the pistons!

That looks fabulous. Well done. Tim

Steve and Dad have been stripping the half-engine down today. This has gone quite well with the removal of the extra pulley fitted at some time followed by the timing cover. This revealed the gears which are much better than those on the full engine except for the magneto drive gear which has a tooth broken off. The sump was then dropped and the big ends released to allow the pistons to be lifted out. The main bearing caps were removed and the crank dropped using the chain block. The crank looks good but the flywheel is heavily pitted on the clutch face so we plan to use the other one instead. Finally, an attempt was made to remove the camshafts but although the locking bolts were unscrewed they refused to move. The only result of hitting the end of the shafts with a hammer and block of aluminium was that the governor weights fractured with the shock. Closer inspection revealed that the bearing locking bolts had both sheared near their lower ends leaving the stubs behind to lock the shafts. Steve plans to try drilling them out tomorrow.

Steve and Dad have spent the day stripping the Thorny engine. They tried to lift a block off but the big end jammed between the crankshaft and the crank case so they decided to drop the crank instead. The did this by taking the weight behind the flywheel with the chain block and then removing the bearing caps before lowering the crank to the ground. This was successful although there was a moment of puzzlement when the end hung up in the camshaft gears and would not drop. Fortunately, one camshaft could be encouraged to rotate enough to release it. After that, the blocks lifted off very easily and these too were laid on the ground. Unfortunately, the bores have proven rustier than we hoped so getting the pistons out is not going to be easy. Once the blocks were off, they could remove the cam followers and tappets. These are quite heavily corroded and will need some work to bring them back. Next move was to withdraw the camshafts. After removing the bearing locking bolts, these knocked through quite easily although they did manage to break the governor operating yoke. This was unfortunate but it was so corroded that it would have had to have been replaced anyway. The main cam gears don't look too bad but several of the cams are very pitted which is not good news. Work on the full engine stopped at this point and they started on the half-engine. The cam followers and what can be seen of the cams look much better on this engine so we will probably use these instead. They plan to carry on stripping it down tomorrow.

That was outstanding.

The machining of the four Locking Sleeves for the Inlet Valve Caps and the Dogs has now been mainly completed - all there is left to do here is to cut the flanges back on the Dogs to leave the "Tags" which will lock into the top of the cylinders. This could be done now, but we plan to leave that just for the moment and get on with the Dogs for the Exhaust Valve Caps - as although those Valve Caps are of quite a different pattern from the Inlet side, they have identical "Tags" and the machining and cutting back of all eight can be done at the same time. To lock the Exhaust Valve Caps in place, there is simply a 5/8" Whit Set Screw which goes through the Exhaust Valve Cap to hold the cap in place - a much more simple arrangement from the Inlet side which has to accommodate the Spark Plugs The set screw has a small head and screws as purchased have been machined back to conform with the originals. A drawing of the Exhaust Valve Cap Dog is included for you to see. Steve is joining Tony in Devon for a few days, today and they plan to get on with stripping the whole engine - and also the "half-engine" down as time permits. Quantities of "Plus Gas" have been injected into the engine during the past few weeks in the hope that this will free things up. Further reports to follow!

Thanks. Its nice to hear some positive feedback. I hope you find the pre WW2 vehicles post of interest. It is amazing what information this forum brings together on a subject which not a great deal has been written about. Thanks Tim

Excellent looking patterns. Well done. Tim

Hang on. There is a third one here. Same number as well. http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=169407&st=0&p=1647960&hl=baldwin&fromsearch=1entry1647960

This is the second one of these that i have seen come up for sale in a short period of time. At £209 the new owner probably thinks it original. What do you think 260951021565 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260951021565?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp4712.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D260951021565%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

You are asking the wrong person! With your skill in carpentry i would think that you could make a wooden pattern and get them cast.

This one?

That looks like the one that was at the Berliet collection. There is a fascinating froup of vehicles in the photographs below. There appears to be an FWD Model B in the background there as well. it looks like it has a US B Type body but the British fuel tank. Looks like a very interesting event. Thank you for posting the link. Tim

I think they only made three pidgeon lofts on LGOC's. I am not an expert on the subject but i understand that if a pidgeon is kept in the same location for more than two weeks that becomes its "new home" which is where it will return to. Ti

With the four Locking Sleeves for the Inlet Valve Caps made and out of the way, the next job is to make the "Dogs" also known as "Valve Cap Bayonet Sleeves" to hold them in place. These are made of cast iron. A 2" length of cast iron was was cut off from a 3" diameter cast iron bar, put in the lathe and the outside machining completed. A 3/4" diameter hole was then drilled into it. Ready for the boring tool, so that it could then be bored out ready for threading 2" x 11 to suit the Locking Sleeve. The threading was mainly completed with an internal screw-cutting tool and finished off with a Thread Chaser. The Locking Sleeves were tried in the freshly cut threads to make sure they fitted, and then the "Dog" was parted off from the holding piece in the lathe. We will get the other three to this same stage and then cut the superfluous parts of the flanges away, just leaving the bayonet parts which will hold them in position.

Yes, i can see that. if we needed one for the Thornycroft we could have paid that much for one that lookes so nice. Tim

That is a fantastic drawing. where on earth did you find that? tim

The four Locking Sleeves for the Inlet Valve Caps have now been completed - the next job will be to make the four "Dogs" - or Valve Cap Bayonet Sleeves to hold them in place. This is quite a different arrangement from the Dennis and the FWD which had simple, one piece threaded plugs which screwed directly into the top of the cylinder to do the same job. I wonder why Thorny opted for this two piece arrangement? The "Dog" has an internal thread to take the Locking Sleeves - the "Dog" drops through a hole in the top of the cylinder and rotates through 90 degrees to secure it in position. The locking sleeve is then screwed down hard on top of the Valve cap to hold that in position.

Steve has done a bit more to the pump by securing the impeller and pulley to the shaft. He has cut two keyways, fitted keys and then taper pins to prevent them from moving. The next part of the pump is making patterns for the inlet and the bearing carrier, for neither of which is it obvious how to do it. He is drawing them up at the moment to get a better understanding of them. Finally, he has finished off the valve plug locking locking bolts started by Father a week or two ago.

Nothing is leaping out at me on this one. Interesting to see that it has wooden wheels but is not chain drive. Fascinating chassis and i see the seller has set a high price. I will be interested to see what happens to this one. Tim