Great War truck

That is awesome. i want one. i think a picture of something similar was in W&T many years ago. Tim

Yes, i would be very interested as i am sure most other HMVF members would be. Looking at the remains you have to work with I keep thinking what a massive job you have set yourself up with. The very best of luck. Tim

I think it sold on E bay. I will try and find out. Tim

This is a list of objects currently up for dispersal or disposal by the Imperial War Museum. http://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/public-document/dispersals_disposals.pdf It does not necesserily mean they will be sold, some may go to other museums. Quite a shocking list really. Especially the quantity of British post war armour. This may create a lively debate. I do hope so.

Whilst putting the axle away over Christmas, we were reminded that both it and the gearbox require a mushroom type breather. Steve went to see a chassis at Great Missenden many years ago and although the chassis had been well stripped, it still had the breather which he was allowed to remove. This was safely put away at the time and forgotten. Steve knew we had it and, quite remarkably, managed to find it again! He cleaned it up and then proceeded to make another which was a nice exercise in turning and filing. They are now to be put away once again ready for when they are needed.

Looks great. Well done.

That will make it tricky for anybody to try and steal it.

The next big job is to remove the two cylinder blocks - this is not likely to happen quickly as the "team" is dispersing again now at the end of the Christmas Break and that will have to wait for the moment. However, we have started to remove the big ends as the objective is to lift the Blocks right off with the pistons still in them. We will take the pistons out when we can turn the blocks upside down so that we can see which ones are stuck and then re-act accordingly to deal with them. With the bottom of the engine now opened up, it is possible to see the cams and the cam-followers. We must wait to see them properly after they have been cleaned up but they do not look over-impressive at this stage! None of our old lorries have a dip-stick to measure the oil level in the engine - when was the dip stick invented, I wonder, as that does seem to be the easiest way of measuring the oil level. In this Thorny, there is a float in the engine oil which is connected to an aluminum tube running vertically from the top of the float into a brass indicator fixed to the top of the crank case. This was totally corroded up and the brass indicator had been crushed so that the tube was stuck in it. There is no glass "window" in the brass indicator to protect the tube and the level is checked by seeing whereabouts the top of the aluminum tube is in the slot in the brass indicator window. We had to cut the tube to get it out but we saw after it was out that it was holed and damaged in any case so it would have had to be replaced.. This will be straight forward to repair and replace but the thing is very vulnerable. Hence my question - "When was the Dip-stick invented" - a much better and more practical gauge!

The first thing we did Saturday morning was to drop the sump from the engine. Fortunately, there was very little oil left in it and we guess that it must have been drained before we ever had the engine. We believe that the last regular use that this engine had was to drive a stone crusher and there is certainly a lot of stone dust stuck to the outside of the case. Mixed with oil, the dust had turned into a hard scale. The inside was wiped dry and then most of the hard scale on the outside was scraped off - the next job will be to get it in a paraffin bath to clean it completely. We are itching to get at the timing gears to clean them properly but it really is not possible to get at them in their present location. They have had a further slight scrape but they will have to wait as they are for the moment until the cam shafts come out. The Fan Belt and Magneto Drive shaft was attached to the front cover and it has been possible to remove that one. An initial wire brushing on the gear wheel there has removed most of the rust and although the teeth are not perfect, we are optimistic that if the other wheels prove to be in the same condition, then they will be quite useable. We do not think that water has actually got into the Timing Case and that most of the problem has been caused by condensation as the rust is quite light and almost superficial.

It is a US built Packard. Quite a handsome looking truck. It was used in fairly small numbers by the British and Russians and large numbers by the US and France. Tim

Just before Christmas, Steve finally had a go at the sunken float on the oil level gauge. The screws holding the gauge together had been sealed with solder so these were warmed and unscrewed allowing the float to be removed. He drilled a 1/8" hole in the float and drained the oil before injecting cellulose thinners and shaking it around to wash out the dregs. On cleaning, it could be seen that the whole float is suffering from corrosion and had a variety of pin-holes. After a gentle rubbing down, Steve tinned the surface using solder paint and placed a patch over the hole. He had to have three goes at this before there were no longer any obvious pin holes and the float would sit in a bowl of water overnight without filling. Finally, it was reassembled and fitted back on the engine. Time will tell whether the repair has been successful!

Congratulations and all that. Have you set a date for the wedding, or will that depend upon finding a suitable engine first? Tim

Just before we called it a day, today, a file was scraped across the edge of one gear wheel, just to see how deep the rust was - and initially it does not look too bad............ But we shall see when it has had a proper clean. The last photo shows the Governor - the lead weights have decayed somewhat!

That looks like the model for Krazy Keller's "Scoot 3", or am i really showing my age? Tim

The pictures here have become a little jumbled and includes the photos from the previous posts as well. A fresh day - and Steve returned to digging out the last of the two valve caps. Again, just a case of persistence in cutting, grinding and drilling until the bits became free. They are now all out with no damage to the actual cylinder blocks. Not a very nice job and Steve is just relieved that we are not dealing with an engine with more than four cylinders! We mentioned in an earlier post that one of the old spark plugs in the engine was a Mica one and it proved totally different to deal with from the other three. The last photograph in this sequence of three shows that plug after it was taken out, still screwed into its cap! With the Plug Caps out, we turned our attention to getting the cover of the Timing Case. The Pulley Wheel for the Fan Belt had to be removed first of all - there were two jacking points in it and after the threads in those was cleared, it was just a case of making up a simple Jack (30 minutes work) to easily remove the Pulley (30 seconds work!) At this stage, the Oil Seal had also to be taken off the Starting Handle Shaft so that the cover could be clear of any obstruction. With some gentle pulling, pushing, levering and tapping, the cover came off to reveal a sight that we hoped that we would not see!

Thats nice. I like that. So Olaf. using your extensive knowledge, what do you make of this one which has just been advertised? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350514539487&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123 Thanks Tim

They look excellent. Well done.

Yes, that would have made a good read indeed and we could have done it if we had to (much like Ben is doing with his Dennis). It is however much nicer and easier to have the original parts. Thanks again Mike. Before it was packed up Mike took some photos of the diff, so you can see what remarkable condition it is in. Thanks Tim Look at all that lovely black stuff.

We have the replacement. It needs a bit of a tidy up but looks ok. we are going to keep it in doors until we need it and be more careful about what we leave out.

Richard was quite correct in identifying the route of the ship having passed through New Zealand. What we have in fact is the culmination of 22 years of searching – the complete back axle and differential for the Thornycroft J Type. The last major component missing from what was to be Steves first restoration project. Since the Thornycroft was purchased we have in fact restored five other vehicles while searching for parts. Now we have it all. We just have to put the thing together. The axle and diff was very generously provided by Blaster Mike in NZ after he had followed the various postings on the Forum relating to the Dennis and then to the Thorny. Many thanks Mike. Without this the restoration would have taken years and years longer. Also many thanks to Jack and HMVF as without this we would never have got in contact with Mike in the first place.

Well, OK then. Just a sneak peak though.

We didnt know that the crate was going to come this morning and the first that Tony knew about it was the appearance of a forklift truck on the drive. This was closely followed by a large truck with crate. A little bit of manouvering and everything was unloaded: Then with it safely unloaded the truck reversed down the hill followed by the forklift: I cant wait for Christmas Day so we can open it, although i must admit the choice of wrapping paper leaves a little bit to be desired:

Christmas has come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I expect the guy reversing the Jeep into position couldnt get it right so they unhitched the trailer and pushed it in afterwards. There is an unattached Ben Hur just to the right of it i see.

A fine looking truck. I cant wait to get stuck in to ours. Well maybe in another 10 years time. Tim