Gordon_M

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Here you go then, an Admiralty Cowans-Sheldon built in Carlisle in 1927. It handled torpedos and ammunition at the Bandeath depot on the river Forth. It was originally powered by a mains cable which fed to the drum you can see on the rear, but that has been stolen over the years along with everything else that could be carried. There is an MLU thread on it here; http://www.class-five.com/~mlu/forums/showthread.php?t=3316&highlight=carlisle.

The HMVF forum members are now on the hunt for any 18" five-spoke wheel with a 5/8" square hole then:coffee: That's just the sort of thing that might turn up out of your search area, and it shouldn't even be expensive to buy becuase it'll be no use at all for anything else I expect. Is the rim coated with rubber, plastic, whatever or it it all just one casting? It looks like some sort of rubber or bakelite coating (too early for ordinary 'plastic' surely?) is cracking off in one of the images. Gordon

Your standard of workmanship, ingenuity, and "here's a part almost a hundred years old we happened to have on the shelf" are in distinct danger of making the restoration more interesting than the truck. I would suggest you redress the balance by posting some shots of similar trucks in action (as I'm sure you have a few more tucked away) so we can admire the truck as a whole rather than the very impressive parts you are coming up with one at a time. What about an outline of the truck as she stands today, highlighting parts to hand and parts still needed? I'm sure many of us on here would happily look out for some of the missing bits if we knew what to look for, and we could also spread the word even further than at present? We could also check up on any parts that may have been reported to you that you just don't have the time to get to. Any similar stuff in Scotland that needs researched / photographed? You've got me started thinking about a Dodge Light Repair Truck now, and all my WW2 Dodges aren't happy that my attention isn't on them.

I do semi-regular articles for the Power Wagon Advertiser, and I just type them out and e-mail them in. The editor does need reasonable quality photographs, with permission to use, so they are usually either mine or from someone who has specifically given me permission to get them printed, but no big deal. I've also done a short series of " how to's " on various bits of Dodge Carryall and Van, which are a pet subject of mine; http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/carryal4.htm ... and I run and contribute to a few online fora. I've never considered it would make me any money though. Gordon

Lincon (note the spelling ...) will do dry-charged by post with little hassle, I beieve it is the same sized unit for jeep and Dodge at 6 volt.

Well, my Ford-MH SnoGo was made in the US in '42, spent most of its working life in Scotland, and has just left for a sunny retirement down under - that should qualify for something ? All it has to do now is re-cross the Pacific and it has done its' own world tour.

Well there were various types and widths of tracks on them originally, and if they are making tracks one link at a time them presumably they are going for as close to the real thing as they can get. I'm not bothered about the weight issue either, as I'm sure everyone on here can appreciate, if you are doing something like this from the drawings up, then the first one has to be the difficult one. If you went to these folks now with a big cheque and asked them to build one at the original weight and HP i don't think they would find it any more difficult than building this one. Hats off to serious work here ... :sweat:

I remember getting some spare hull drain valves from one of these years ago for DUSTY DUKW. These are all hulls that are past saving, but with numerous very useful bits. I understood that Rex Ward had bought all Glynn's DUKW stock and would have thought that these were included. To be fair some are so far gone that sectioning them would be the way to get them shifted, but the parts do need saved. Sorry Rex, I've just been through the thread again and notice you have clarifed all this Gordon

I was there when they launched the Glasgow one, and did the TV interview as the DUKW person hereabouts. I believe it was run by the same company as does the Irish DUKW stuff, but I think it folded after a couple of years due to lack of demand, or not enough profit, or whatever. They wanted to drive further upstream from the city centre and sail down to it, faster and more fuel efficient, but I believe they got sited at Renfrew which isn't ideal for a tour. There were plans for a modern DUKW type vehicle tour through the Falkirk wheel too, but apparently the modern amphibs were tested and found wanting, so you are stuck with touring through it on a boat.

It will double curve within limits. If damp it'll probably double curve even more. My hard cab Dodge headliners were for pickup, Carryall, and van, and the pickup headliner was pretty similar to the GMC / Chev cab version I think. One restriction is that the sheets tend to be fractionally too small to do a complet headliner in one sheet, but when I found details of the original Dodge one it had been done in sections too, so no problem. Segal's of Preston, 1/8" black plastic faced mill board - that's the stuff. Gordon

Well that's the same function, but there's a couple of things wrong with that image .... The heads of the nails will be too small for the required support - basically they will just push into the core as the float force is quite severe. The shank of the nail is so thick it'll probably not fuse correctly into the parent metal, which will give a whopping defect or at least a severe weak spot at the point of use. The real thing has a decent surface area to support core and mould face, but is basically not much more than sheet metal as regards section thickness to allow it to fuse in. Still, more that we need to get into here, and the diagramme is correct in principal if a bit off in practical terms. I've got the "sheet metal" version of that book somewhere, quite handy.

I use the black plastic faced mill board all the time, and it is great stuff. I've made headliners, firewall liner panels, glove boxes, and kick panels out of it with very little problem. I've never actually done it deliberately, but the way to form it severely is just to get it damp. I stored a couple of sheets in a damp garage and you could virtually tie knots in it after a year or so. Once you have formed it, you either need to keep it dry, or if you are using it in large unsupported areas you need to provide some support or pinning to keep it in shape. When I get round to making another truck headliner out of it I'll get it in place and then stick some polyurethane builders foam between it and the metal roof panel, which is about a 3" void on my Dodges.

About 450 pounds at current pump prices .... :-D

As far as I remember chaplets were similar but square / box section, with stud being the cheap collar-stud type. Brings it all back.:-\

Erm, cut the thing in half, turn the drive axle round, install any sort of engine that would drive it long enough to go over a cliff?

Just a word about how to get cores not to float then, since we are on the subject. If it was straight, and secured both ends, it would probably be OK. If it had a high-strength reinforced temporary core that would probably be OK too. As it is, when the metal hits the mould, the core will tend to float where the bend is in the core, giving a casting that could look OK but might have a really thick wall on the bottom and a thin wall on the top. The way to get round this is to use sacrifical studs of a similar material to the cast metal - basically brass for this sort of stuff. They just look a little like flimsy collar studs, and you would put one or more underneath near the bend to support the core, then one or more on top to prevent it floating up when poured. There is so little metal in them that they are just absorbed into the final casting, but sometimes you can see the marks left on the cast surfaces, same way you can see screw heads and so on that were used to attach nameplates and number plates to patterns. I'd expect any non-ferrous foundry to have a bin full of them of varying sizes and of suitable metal for just such an occasion as this. Enough casting stuff - I'm going to read the M26 Pacific thread again and try to figure out how to justify one to my better half ...:sweat:

Is one I mentioned earlier, it's called an "oddside" Doubtless an experienced moulder will have no problem with it at all. The one thing that does stand out is the the core will tend to float when the mould is filled, so I'd expect the moulder to put sacrificial metal studs top and bottom at the bend to hold it in place. Waiting to see the finished castings....

Well, let's see what we have here. Absolutely standard mid-series production DUKW, no very early or late features. Every removable item has been removed, even the spare wheel (DUKWs have a LOT of removable items) USA number, bridge plate, and so on have been painted out. Screen looks broken, but apart from that I'd take this one home in a minute, actually slightly less dinged and damaged than the average DUKW, even at seven or eight years old. Gordon:coffee:

I think that's pretty much it. That's a soft material, so removing excess would be no big deal. I think I'd leave some extra raw material round the little flange, and maybe go for minimum bore on the core and clear it out afterwards, as I'd expect the core to move to one side on a setup like that. We need pics of the finished item...:-D

You could do it pretty much like that last image but still draw the ears with a little extra taper - soon cleaned off afterwards. The ears would almost draw as they are. Basically, add as little extra material as you need to so that you can cast it without megabucks pattern work, then just machine off.

It'll be hell to make as it is, but let's have a think about this. It would be relatively straightforward to fill in the section between the main pipe and the big flange, turning the thing into a larger 'lump' I'll admit. This would be relatively straightforward to make as a two-part mould with a single core. Once cast, the small flange holes could be drilled / tapped as required, and the filled-in section could be machined out, at least far enough to get the bolt hole and so on back where it belong. In other words - cheat. Cast it in a lump and machine out as much of the tricky bit as you have to. This is exactly what we would have done back in the day. Gordon

Very nice Mark, there are a few variants, and one of the GAS gauges (as opposed to GASOLINE or FUEL, is certainly worth a lot more money than the rest. Not sure how to identify the rare one though. Gordon

This little thing ? I know it well. It has been stripped of all soft furnishings internally, as its last job was as a fire engine. A fire engine, you say? A bit slow and heavy for a fire engine? Yup, but it was a fire engine at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Bishopton, where they make / made all that stuff that goes bang, so having a bit of armour around your fire engine comes in handy. It appears to be mechanically complete, but needs the usual gauges, glass, tyres, and so on. Owner even has a spare engine in a crate that he would sell if required. The rot visible on top is only the light sheetmetal curved sections designed to hold out the canvas and make it look like a conventional truck. It is for sale, but the owner is well-known for his dealing ability and would not be taking any bargain basement bids. The same location did have an Alvis Salamander (missing one wheel) but that had vanished last time I was passing. I do also have the drawings of the interior and kit lists for this vehicle - but not sure where though. Gordon