Great War truck

Congratulations. I look forward to seeing it. Tim

Dear Auntie jack To my not inconsiderable annoyance my 7 year old daughter dropped my Canon SX120is digital camera today on its lense. It still seems to take photos ok, but the lense housing will not retract fully and then shuts down. It is a cracking little camera and i am very fond of it. First question is should i bother to get it repaired or just get a replacement? The same camera is not too expensive at £130, but i could always get the newer version the Canon the SX130is at £150. Are there any mid sized digital cameras that anybody would recommend? The Canon was 10 megapixel and 10 times optical zoom so i am looking for something comparable or better. The next question is what punishment should i dish out to my daughter? She has just turned 7 and with her birthday money bought a mobile phone. I am thinking of returning the phone and using the money on my camera. Also, i am contemplating taking her remaining birthday money and selling all of her presents to fund the replacement or am i being a bit too harsh? Yours anxiously Tim

Yes Jack. When i wrote that we had already been working on it for five years.

Wonderful job. Well done.

Final update for today. The Dennis arrived safely back in Devon this morning - courtesy of Roly and Timmy and was unloaded at the foot of the lane leading to Tony's house. Although yesterday's run seem to "lighten" the engine and make it easier to turn over, it remains heavy to start on the handle and Steve, Roly and Timmy together could not get sufficient impetus on the starting handle today to make it fire. A tow of just a few feet from the Transporter was sufficient to do the trick and off it trundled up the lane. The Dennis has to be driven past the front gate and then reversed into the drive. All the canvas and associated fittings have to come off before it can be reversed into the shed. A tight fit - and the driver has to mind his head as he goes in! The end of a great weekend -thanks, too, to Roly and Timmy for their help and support with getting it to Crystal Palace and then back from Brighton - and with putting it away.

The problem with the fuel tanks are that they are so big you need a lot of fuel to cover the bottom. If you go around a corner too fast the fuel goes to one end and the truck splutters to a stop. The new fuel is not good for the trucks. Too volatile we think and does not like it when the engine is hot. Here is Grahams FWD at Brighton which had to be tow started (click on the picture): We have done Brighton four times previously. Twice with the WD Autocar, once with the tipper and once with the FWD. The Autocars have generally been trouble free although the FWD was awkward as it gets too hot. The Dennis proved hard to restart so we had to tow start that one as well (click on the picture):

Thanks for all your positive comments chaps. Steve drove it the whole way there, but the impression was that it was a treat to drive in comparisson to the FWD which is very hard work and more comfortable than the Autocar which is a rather open to the elements.

I wonder which principle they were referring to. Great picture though, thanks. Tim

The WW2 carrier HMS Vengance was cut up in 2009 despite being in excellent condition on release from the Brazilian Navy. What a crime.

Well what an amazing weekend that was! The Dennis ran incredibly well considering we had only taken it out once before and then only for a mile, so doing the 50 miles to Brighton so easily was a real test which it passed with flying colours. We had to stop a couple of times on the way to make some checks and minor adjustments but none of the potential problems i had considered actually materialised. The emergency repairs to the radiator held and we lost hardly any water at all (we carried 17 gallons spare just in case) and the polyurethene tyres performed admirably and did not creep off the wheels (which was always a concern). On this occasion there were five WW1 vehicles in the run which was a real get together and i cant think of any time when i have seen that number together. Sadly though they all shot off at different times so we did not get to travel in convoy. The FWD left before 6:00, and the Pierce Arrow not much later. We followed the Locomobile for a while: but managed to get past it at some traffic lights, only for it to overtake us a few miles down the road. The superfast crossley overtook us time after time: The roads were generally clear, but we did have to stop for traffic lights which always gave me the opportunity to jump out and take another photo: As we got into Brighton Chris G jumped out and using his powers stopped the traffic with just one hand: Great to see you there Chris. I had been looking out for you near the pylons and assumed that you had gone on to the sea front. It was wonderful to see so many friends and I am sorry i did not get time to talk to you all. Thanks for uploading the photos and video footage though. Thats great. There is a lot more to write about the weekend but i will put together the full story in a day or so. Tony and Steve still have the lorry to unload take teh canvas down and put away. As for the winning of any prizes. Well ....... we won best Dennis and 2nd in the military class.

Down to the wire! Tony and Steve eventually called it a day at 10.40p.m. Thank goodness for fine weather and no rain! The first job today was to finish off the toolbox and hang it on the lorry. Then it was the 2 Gallon Tank Rack to be finished and hung. All the components were made and painted earlier and it was just the case then of bolting it to the lorry. The final job completed was the installing and fixing of the Driver's side panel - again all previously made and painted but fixing brackets had to be made today. Quite dark when they shut the shed for the night. The Low-loader arrives this morning and will set off for the first part of the journey to Crystal Palace. It will stop off over night but timing it so that it arrives by 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. It will be a long day for everybody, but it is the one that we have been looking forward to. The Dennis is still quite unproven so we just hope that it behaves!

Yes, thats right. When we started the project we had no dif and no leads to one or in fact little hope of finding one. But then one fell into our lap so to speak. The L to B really sped things up. A deadline really focusses the mind. If you go through the whole thread you will find different references to our anticipated finish date. I think we were supposed to finish three years ago. This is the longest running restoration we have done and the hardest - until the next one of course I spoke to Steve a short while ago and he was still working outside under flood lights. I will go down and join him tomorrow. "No sleep till Brighton" (with apologies) Tim

About 100%

This might be a picture of them in Venice: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:File1222_venezia_30aprile1945.jpg

Degsy, you have it. At the end of the war Popski loaded all their Jeeps in to a Landing craft and landed them all in St Marks Square. They drove around the square several times. The only vehicles ever to have done so. I think it is something that we should recreate. I suggested it to a Policeman in the square, but he suggested that i go back home. Yes, i have seen a picture somewhere of a DUKW in the Grand Canal. must be the same one.

Yes, you are right. But what vehicles and in what circumstances.

It is indeed venice - St marks square. As to Tetrachs, you might be right, but not what i was thinking of. Someone is bound to know so i wont give you the answer right now.

A busy day now behind us - the main objective today was to complete erecting the bows on the body to take the main canvas and then actually fit the canvas - all well planned out and a straight forward operation. Drilling the holes in the bows first of all to take the various bolts was made easier with two pairs of hands available to help hold the awkward shapes under the drill. The bows fitted neatly on to their previously installed mountings and the ridge bars were then cut to exact length, drilled and bolted to the bows. Martin and Jim at Allied Forces only finished the canvas yesterday, but it arrived courtesy of UPS Thursday morning as they had promised.. We must say again as very satisfied customers how helpful Martin and Jim have been to us and how they have really taken a great interest in what we have been doing and have bent over backwards to accommodate us. The two cushions for the seat were also fixed in. The canvas on the British lorries was quite different from the U.S. versions - as fitted to our FWD. The British version on the Dennis is just one rectangular sheet with eyes along the edges so that it can be tied down. Our American version is fitted and has draw strings. So the canvas was thrown over the framework, sisal rope was used to thread through the eyes which was then hooked on the various cleats on the body - and tied off. The final result is quite pleasing. Friday - really our last day - we want to fit the Toolbox and the two-gallon tin holder and fit the panel in the bodywork next to the driver. Rowley is coming on Saturday morning to pick up the lorry, to start its journey to Crystal Palace for the run on Sunday,

Here is a photo from my holiday snaps. The question is where am i and what is the significance to WW2 military vehicles.

I am taking it very seriously and will be watching the wedding live on TV then go to a neigbours house for a party. I will be wearing my Doctor Who socks.

What an incredible find. I guess from the extra wheels that someone has already had a bash at restoring it. I am sure you will do a fantastic job on it.

Steve and Tony are busy with the final jobs which must be done before the Dennis is taken to Crystal Palace for the Start of the "Brighton". The main thing now outstanding is the "bows" to hold the canvas over the main body. They consist of the two (front and back) which are of 50mm by 5mm steel angle and the centre "bow" which is just a flat section of 6mm by 50mm. You may recall that to get the bend in the steel angle, we decided to cut out a section of the angle where it does bend around and weld in a quadrant of 5mm steel which was laser cut for us. The photos show the angle with the section cut out and being bent to the correct radius, just by pulling it around and constantly checked with a wooden pattern. The angle and quadrant were then clamped to a stout plywood board and the quadrant welded in. All four came out quite successfully - although Steve would be the first to admit that he is not the best welder in the world! The centre "bow" was bent in a similar manner - again in two parts and bolted together in the centre. This has been attached to the body and we plan to finish off and fix the other two "bows" tomorrow. There are four longitudinal wooden ridge bars which are already made and painted and ready to be fitted. The endless painting still continues! As does the "brinkmanship"!

As we approached the turn around point on our road run there was a horrible dinging noise from under the bonnet. As we had turned hard, one of the fan blades had come in to contact with a radiator bolt causing it to bend and which then smacked the back of the rad. Not too much damage but a bit of an annoyance and some extra work. The trip back and up the hill was quite straight forward, but the gate really is too narrow and we may have to do something about that: All the low speed manouvering caused one of the front tires to creep off the edge of the wheel: This was simply pushed back on with a hammer and block of metal. To stop it coming off again though we made some new metal staples and tapped out the remains of the old ones which we had cut off to get the tire off and puched the new ones in. About 30 minutes work to get all four done: There was quite a bit of smoke as we started off. it appeared that all the heat resistant paint on the exhaust had burned off: All the problems we had were very quickly overcome with the assistance of our great group of friends. Thanks guys. I hope you enjoyed the beer:

Thanks for all of your kind comments chaps. Here are a few more photos and images. I am trying photo bucket instead of Youtube for the video. Please let me know if you have trouble with it and i will rethink how to do this. Please click on the images to start playing. This clip is of it being started. A real group effort: As you will see the clutch is a bit fierce, but after we stalled it a few times we readjusted it and it is much better: As before, the engine does run remarkably well: Here we go, down the steep lane test track just to make sure the brakes work. Graham is carrying a big lump of wood in case it starts running away: