Great War truck

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

Excellent stuff. I will bring a packet of chocolate hob nobs. From what year did the British start using water carts like this? Thanks Tim

Thanks everyone. This has all been a great help. I will go along and see Scott and the Matadors soon. I will post up some pictures for you as i am sure you will be interested. Thanks again Tim

Half way there now!

That looks loveley. Will it be at W&P this year? Tim

Thanks guys. Although the Matador is one of my favourite modern lorries, these belong to Scott and i have to verify them for registration purposes. I am hopeing that someone has a list of chassis numbers which we could compare it to date them. However, i understand from Scott that one plate is missing which makes it a little problematical. Does Steve Ricahrds book have all the chassis numbers in it or just the post war ones? Thanks Tim

There is an Albion gearbox for sale on Australian E Bay. It looks like it is off an A10, but i am sure i can be corrected on that by a certain A10m owner. Also possibly suitable for anybody restoring a chain drive lorry at the moment. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320841780807&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en I thought i would post it here rather than in the for sales as the WW1 truck restorers are more likely to spot it. Tim

I am off to look at a pair of AEC Matadors soon. Where would i find the chassis number and is there any way that they can be dated? Thanks Tim

We have not posted anything for a little while but work is still going on! Attention has now been turned to making new parts for the Valve Cap Retainer fittings - you may re-call that we had to destroy all the old ones to actually get them out of the block and the pictures of the bits of those are on Posting No. 140 dated the 29th December. We have started with the Locking Sleeve for the inlet valve cap. The photographs show them first of all in embryo form and then with one completed with the "hex" machined on the top. So three to be completed. These were machined from 60mm steel bar, turned down on the outside and threaded 2" by 11 tpi., Whit form. The centre was then drilled and bored out to 1 1/2" internal diameter. The last exercise in the machining process is to put a "hex" head on them, 1 5/8" AF You will notice that the "walls" of the hex are quite thin and I guess that it is no surprise that the originals had just about rusted away. When these four items are completed then the Dogs to hold them down will follow - these will be in cast iron.

Coventry Transport Museum are restoring a 1916 Maudslay chassis as a WD GS lorry. They have a restoration blog here: http://friendsofctm.blogspot.com/p/maudslay-project.html I understand that it was very complete and original and they intended to restore it as a bus. The change of plan is to restore it as an army lorry for 2014 and then if funding allows they will convert it into a bus at a later date. In this unique occasion i do hope that the funding will run out.