IAN_B

I know this is of no help, but this photo shows the plumbing on my Foden FD6 marinised engine. There are numerous copper pipes with bends. Those that I added (mainly in primer) are steel stock pieces from the exhaust shop, which in my case were OK as it is for water where I use an anti-corrosion additive. Ian

I completely agree with Andpugh, brazing is a two handed operation feeding in the brass rod (dipping it in flux as necessary), and following around the joint as it fuses and fills. The braze will solidify behind the flame as you go, which is often important to hold the job together, or if you are dealing with very thin material or bridging large gaps, like when repairing a fuel tank. I also do not attempt to heat up the whole job, just moderately, then apply intense heat at the point of application, and regulate progress so it does solidify behind you. I must confess I do not use goggles (don't tell my wife!), as my glasses are necessary for me to simply see what I am doing, and I cannot handle goggles as well. Since the flame strength is not sufficient to melt steel or cast iron, its brightness is not as damaging. Brazing copper or brass items requires quite some care not to overheat, as there is little margin between just brazing and total meltdown! I am completely self-taught, but seem to obtain reasonable success, and in many cases prefer to braze rather than weld, as I am hopeless at welding. Also, sometimes it is better to prepare the surfaces for brazing with something course like emery or a file, as grinding can sometimes cause the brass to fail to flow evenly. I also like to turn the job as I go to ensure the molten brass does not simply run off due to gravity. Does this make sense? Ian

I am really waiting on engine start up day! I suppose it is as frustrating for you as it is for your legion of followers, having to deal with all the peripheral issues beforehand. Ian

I am learning more and more about 3D printing! Hopefully it will stand me in good stead for the day when we plunge into it for pattern making ourselves. ian

I have a range of Morse taper drills, but my pedestal drill is only #2 and the tailstock of my lathe is #3. So I have turned down to 5/8" the ends of a number of them so I can use them in both places using a chuck, though they will lock in the taper. A couple of the larger sizes 1 1/2" etc were Morse taper #4, and this is the only way I can use these drills, mostly for starting off boring jobs. I don't think my drill likes anything bigger than 1" though. I don't have a milling machine. You probably consider this to be sacrilege but I have to be practical! Ian

Just for the record, here is the plate on my second engine.

There are absolutely no stampings on my three chassis in the region of the dumb irons. I have rechecked the scuttle (boy, it is heavy, or am I just getting old!) and there is only the one brass plate there, showing the chassis number and model only. So, as Doug says, perhaps the style of radiator was for the tropical climes. Ian

I had a brief look today in this position and saw nothing! Tomorrow I will try again with a bit of emery - I have three separate chassis including the part one mounting the engine and radiator. The latter one should have the same engine number as on the brass plate on the engine itself. Surely I will find something. I will also recheck the scuttle to check if there is also an engine number appearing, as I only photographed the brass plate with the chassis number I previously quoted (8997 type J). I am quite surprised at the absence of numbers in your photo. The words "vehicle" and "engine" are quite clear. Ian

The front view of my radiator certainly shows a broken flange on the front LH side as viewed. As can be seen, it is mounted on a short section of original chassis behind which is M4 engine number 7328 (perhaps you can date it from this) mounted on its original subframe. One of my two chassis (the J, I believe) still has its engine mounting sub-fame in place. Is there a position on the chassis where the chassis number was stamped by Thornycrofts? The point to this is that this engine (and radiator) is not from either of my chassis, so its association is quite speculative. The scuttle I have has a nameplate showing number 8997 type J, but again, this may not connected to either of my chassis unless the numbers prove to the contrary. Ian

One caution I would throw in is that there is no guarantee that the two radiators (or engines for that matter) actually belonged to the two chassis I have. I have what is essentially just a collection of bits gathered from a number of sources. Here is a photo of the X model taken at Maitland April 2016. I believe its radiator to be the same as my examples. The Top water pipe on this truck is very short - only 3" or so.

Here is a photo of my radiator (I have two and both are the same). The mounts are on the side plates. Ian

It's a low level radiator, with the crank passing through the bottom of the core. Ian

Just checked spigot on the radiator I have, and it is like the sandy bay photo shown, about 7 1/2" long (rough measurement against my hand) and not nearly as curved. Ian

I think the key is "getting the hang of it". Despite looking at a few Onshape tutorial videos, to an amateur who has never even used 2-D CAD (was a draftsman in the early 60's!), the learning curve looks mighty daunting. It's probably better to keep looking for original parts than to try and draw them up for 3-D printing of patterns, or simply use the parts from which to cast copies. Ian

How do you scan the object to be 3-D printed? Is it drawn on Autocad or similar first, or is there a simpler way? Ian

I have started dismantling my M4 engine in preparation for freeing it up. Two things I have found exceedingly challenging: one is that the heads of all bolts or nuts are dead size for size with my Whitworth spanners - there must have been an earlier standard than what I am accustomed to; the other is that every fastener is dead tight, and even when successfully loosened, the thread depth makes them very tight to undo - perhaps another earlier standard. Have others shared this experience? And another problem that adds to the difficulty - many nuts are so close to the casting that the corners bump when undoing them. A socket or ring spanner therefore cannot be used, so it is down to an open ended spanner which runs a greater risk of damaging the nuts. ian

I can confirm they came from Peter's sale at Bathurst. There were two chassis, both had been made into farm trailers. I am going out in a few days to retrieve the second and more complete engine, and will get a bit more information from Peter on their provenance. I will report in more detail later, particularly on the second engine, as I have no ID for it yet. Ian

I have been ploughing through this fascinating thread from the beginning - less than half way there so far. My reason for joining is that I have acquired a pile of Thornycroft J parts, and am researching as much information as I can. The nearest to a J locally is an X model not far away with the same M4 engine. I will keep reading and post further when I get to completion of the engine restoration. Ian

I have joined this forum because I have just acquired a heap of parts for a 1920 Thornycroft J truck, and my initial research has revealed a fantastic account of the restoration of one of these vehicles on the forum. These trucks are few and far between here in Australia, and so far I have just a couple of leads to existing vehicles. I have brought the loose items home today, but a reasonably complete M4 engine and two chasses are yet to be transported home. I have not yet decided what I might do, as restoration is probably out of the question. Initially, I would like to set the M4 engine up as a running display, to compliment my Gardner 6LX and Foden FD6 engines that I take to shows. I have no military related interests other than a couple of WW2 period stationary engines that were manufactured for the war effort. I do, however, own a 1960 Thornycroft model ML truck that I use for transport and . Some of my stuff can be seen at: http://www.cobahcastiron.weebly.com. Ian