Swill1952xs

Hi, Matador Steve, whereabouts in East Sussex do you reside. I'm in Uckfield and of similar age to you. I'd be interested to hear more about the history of your Matador. Are you in the timber business. Sorry for being a nosey git, but we could even know each other. No doubt we may well know the same people. Who knows?? Don't make the mistake I did, moaning about some grumpy git with a Scammell............. er, he just happened to be on this forum. Dooh!!

As an employee of the oil retail business; I occasionally see an explanation of why the oil prices suddenly increase. The problems in Gaza were expected to affect supplies of crude, so that was the justification for a price hike. The last excuse I heard was that city traders aren't dealing in crude so much now. Instead they are buying refined product and selling it back to the open market. Apparently some of the banks have jumped on the bandwagon too. The oil business is very corrupt; and no doubt Greedy Gordons newly acquired banks are in on this one. Brilliant idea......two lots of profit from a single product. Some for the ailing banks and more revenue from taxes. We sometimes get to hear of behind the scenes deals that the Government does with the major oil producers, like the one last year where they gave the big producers a tax concession to keep the price of diesel down to avoid upsetting the voters. We ended up selling diesel on our forecourts at a loss to compete with the big boys, and retain our customers. No doubt that is another reason why BP made such a big profit. They used the tax concession as intended, and upped the price of petrol to help compensate for the profit reduction on diesel. The oil business is so corrupt. Cartel laws don't seem to apply to them. The Government turn a blind eye to what goes on, mainly because you don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. :angry

I don't want to start WW3, but just wanted to say no.......... you aren't being cynical, because you've just hit the nail on the head. People forget that the Earth isn't mounted on a bracket......... it tilts and sways as it rotates so we are sometimes nearer the equator. Anyone who has read about the sun will know that it rotates in an eleven year cycle; and it aint the same temperature all the way round. There is also the effect of solar flares and periods when it gives off more heat than usual. Apparently in the days of the Romans; the climate of England was much warmer than now. There are many things which affect weather (El Nino for one) and it's a fascinating subject and we are only told what experts want us to hear. I'd like to know how the Earth is being surrounded by a mantle of CO2 when it is heavier than air. Dooh!!!! :yawn: As for melting ice caps........... anyone remember why Titanic sank. Where did those chuffin' great icebergs come from. They weren't supposed to be there. :shocked: I don't deny that we must conserve our fossil fuels, but new drilling methods have found considerable reserves of oil. We must look after our planet and not take it for granted. Well thats just my opinion, for what it's worth........ so don't send a lynching party round if you don't agree with me. :flowers:

I would rather listen to the sound of the engines from the shore. Never been too good as a passenger, and worse still on anything that floats. :nut::-X

Thanks for the interesting information, and I bet it sounds luvverly when it's wound up. Drool drool............sorry but I just love the sound of big engines. One of my favourites being the big Gardener single cylinder diesel that is often on display at vintage shows. I think the one I'm thinking of is about 90 hp. I stood beside it at Ardingly for about twenty minutes, completely hypnotized by the sight and sound of it. It amazes me the power they can extract from engines now. Eeee when I were a lad 14 litre Cummins engines produced about 220 :shocked: hp and that was a lot in those days. As years went by turbos were added and power went up and they reached their limit in haulage use at about 420 hp, mainly because that was about the limit of the fuel injection equipment. They were years ahead of everything else......four valves per cylinder, common rail fuel system and individual rocker operated injectors. The V8's they used in Ford trucks were the same set up. They also had a similar head gasket arrangement to the Cat engine in your boat. It had a plain steel head gasket (Like 20g), waterways were sealed with silicone 'O' rings and the head gasket sealed on what Cummins called a 'Fire ring' which was a raised lip on the liner. They were real screamers and revved to about 2800 -3000 rpm. We have a Foden with a Cat C10 (340) in it and that is all electronic. Sadly the installation and electrics don't work too well together. Injectors are about six hundred quid a piece. I also think that without the quality of modern oils and cleaner fuels, the life expectancy of many of the modern engines would be somewhat limited. 420 hp out of eleven litres is more normal now. Unthinkable in the good old days. Look at the early Mini's ...........40,000 and they were just about clapped out. Take a Metro, twenty years later; almost identical engine, modern fuel and oil and it will go 200,000 + without too much attention. Sorry I'm rambling again............I do this when something really interests me. :coffee::yawn:

I had a bit of difficulty getting to work this morning. (Uckfield to Lewes road). I left home at 2:15am and had to dodge several vans and cars that wouldn't go up the hills on the way. I managed to get there without stopping. There was about five inches of snow at our yard and one of our artic tankers had already left. He was panicking as he thought He might get stuck on Handcross Hill on the A23 heading for Theale. Mind you he had already negotiated Coldean Lane on the A27. He never did get to Theale, and it was just as well because had he got there he wouldn't have got back. I had an empty run to do to Coryton in Essex with the other artic tanker so I decided to go via Brighton town centre as this route is fairly flat. Brighton was a real Bu**er to get through due to snow, ice and some over enthusiastic so**ing traffic lights. Once I got on the A23 north of Patcham the roads were pretty clear and I had a good run up the M25 too. Got two more loads from Essex tomorrow just to keep me out of mischief. :yawn:

Hi dudes, tonight I've E mailed the Biggar Museum Trust, who have kept the Albion archives. I was hoping they could tell me more about my donor truck and I've asked them for any copies of manuals, specification sheets and wiring diagrams they may have from their treasures. When I wrote to them in about 92 (Just after I bought it) they said they had a manual for the civilian version of the HD 23 (Has any one ever seen one of these) which is very similar. At the time they offered to copy it for me for ten pounds, and hopefully they will still have it and possibly more. Something I didn't mention about the seized engine in the donor truck; is that I looked all around the engine for frost damage and couldn't see any. The parts I would have expected to have failed being the water pump mounted adjacent to the bellhousing at the back of the block, and the cooling jacket side plates. These engines are certainly very different from modern engines. The air inlet manifolds are built into the rocker covers, the dynamo is driven by a separate drive shaft on the bottom of the timing cover, and the compressor, injector pump and water pump are all driven by a common auxiliary shaft above that. There is external adjustment on the clutch cover but I'm not sure how the adjustment is made. Maybe this would be a good time to move this to a new home in the restoration blogs.........if anyone would be kind enough to do it for me. No doubt Energumen will be watching this with interest, so I'll do my best to keep the ball rolling with the restoration. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts. :coffee:

Just read all twenty six pages of this subject. Fascinating reading for someone like myself. (A mechanic of many years) If I was the one doing the engine, I'd be so peed off at having to do it all again that I wouldn't have been able to document it in the way you did. Top marks to you for all the excellent photography and having the patience to reply to all the suggestions and comments. I couldn't think why the problem occurred either but wish you all the best with this overhaul, and hope it was something freaky that caused it. I really hate it when there is no obvious explanation for a fault. Of course it would only happen when the engine is installed in this way. If it was a generator or something easy to work on; it wouldn't have happened. My biggest surprise was that the engine is indirect injection. Something I normally associate with small engines. I wonder why they decided to fuel it in this way. Is it a particularly high revving engine? Thanks again for a fascinating topic.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had thought about the diesel trick as I'm very reluctant to dismantle any of it, mainly due to the lack of spares. My other engine still runs reasonably well so I may at the very worst; have to use that one. I might have problems getting the injectors out. If I do, I may pull the rocker covers and empty some diesel down the exhaust ports. I can always wind the tappet adjusters down a little to lift the valves off their seats, but no more than is necessary without knowing how much clearance there is between the valves and pistons. I have to try this method as I have little to lose. Thanks for being helpful. :thumbsup:

Well............ Had a bit of a sad day really. I went armed with a pair of batteries to fire up "Arfur" (The front half of my donor Albion). I checked the oil which looked fine but a bit low. It had no coolant in it so I thought; if it starts I will only run it for a few minutes at a time. I put the batteries on it and couldn't get the starter to engage until I found a loose wire coming up through the floor from the starter motor. I dabbed it on the battery and it went "Clunk" and nothing moved. I tried to turn the propshaft with it in neutral, and couldn't turn that either. The gearbox appears to be stuck in gear although you can move the gearlever and select other gears. I wondered if this was the problem with the engine, and managed to free off the clutch to disengage the gearbox. The engine still wouldn't turn over, so I took the vent plate off of the bellhousing to try and turn it from there. One long bar, one squashed finger and bruised thumb later; I decided that unfortunately the engine must be seized. I did manage to move it by levering the clutch backwards and forwards by about four inches, but something inside the engine feels awfully dry, and it wont move any further either way as yet. It's a real shame as I was led to believe it was a good engine. I'm surprised it was seized as diesels don't normally seize through standing......unless water got into the engine before I bought it. I'm not too worried about the gearbox problem, but I did want to use the engine in my restoration. Sadly I doubt whether there are any parts available for this engine, even if I could identify it. Someone mentioned that it could be what is known as the "(900)" engine which has the compressor mounted in front of the injector pump. My other engine has a chain driven compressor mounted on the side. I had a good look around the cab; and although the roof is fu...... sorry, beyond repair; most of the cab and especially the front panel and windscreen frames are in pretty good condition. I suppose the next job will be to carefully dismantle the cab and start by restoring each side and the back first. I think it will be easier to restore these panels complete and then just transfer them to the complete truck. I saw something on the rear engine mountings that intrigued me immensely. The engine mountings have a right angled arm supporting the engine in a rubber bush. The right angled arms have coil springs on them acting as lateral dampers, but the strangest thing of all was the brackets inside the chassis which look like little dumpy hydraulic cylinders, and have interlinked steel pipes going to both sides of the engine. I haven't as yet found out where the pipes are fed from , whether they have air or oil pressure in them. No doubt as time goes by, I will find all sorts of engineering peculiarities with this beastie. The front of the engine appears to be mounted on a elliptical leaf spring arrangement. It's such a shame my donor truck was cut up before I bought it as this one was also an "S" (Short wheelbase) and the chassis number was 61218D and my original truck has the chassis number 61210K. I wonder why the suffixes were different. Well if you haven't fallen asleep yet........I'll keep you posted of any progress made asap. :sleep:

If you want to experience this legally.............try going to Diggerland in Kent or the one near Exeter. They have a bucket on a thirteen ton? digger that seats eight. It depends on how evil the driver's feeling as to what sort of ride you get. The Exeter one was called "Spin Dizzy" I didn't go on it; and although it looks fairly tame, those who did ride on it said it was surprisingly exhilarating. :shocked:

If you can get hold of some........... try neat Bio Diesel. It cleaned up the aluminium on the side of my artic trailer a treat. It isn't corrosive like some cleaners and is obviously oil soluble. All you have to do is soak it in submersion and leave it. It also cleans brass very well too.

Thanks for the offer of help moving my truck. The person who owns the land it is now parked on has a beaver tail six wheeler and should be able to move it for me for about a hundred quid. Another alternative was to tow it, but it has worm and wheel diffs so I wouldn't have thought it would be possible. This one does have the advantage of power steering which was fitted in Freshfield Lane brickworks workshop. I will take some photos when it is moved. Photographing it at the moment is impossible as it is parked between some trees and a barn,

As it doesn't need an MOT, I had actually thought about taxing and insuring it to move it to its new home to save the cost of haulage. (Just joking really) It is nearly roadworthy though.................. the headlights and the O/S semaphore indicator still work. The semaphore indicator works so well that I wouldn't want to get in its way when it comes out. It would be like a Karate chop :-D

Hi Dudes, Things may soon start happening with my dear old Albion. I paid it a visit today to prepare it for being moved to its new home. I think it must be somewhere in the region of eight years since it was last running and driven. It was looking very dilapidated with a green haze (Micro vegetation, sadly; not paint) covering over half of it. The cab windows were opaque, and the tyres were all nearly flat. :cry: Thank God mine's a diesel conversion, as I wouldn't like to try and start a petrol one after all this time. I put a pair of brand new Transit batteries on it and was rather despondent to find the starter wouldn't work. Fiddling around with the ignition switch soon sorted that little problem. I gave it a try before I put some water in the cooling system and guess what? It started like someone drove it yesterday............ bl**dy amazing innit. :yay: I filled the cooling system and started it again, connected up the tyre inflator and pumped up the tyres, pressure washed the outside of it and removed the front wings which have now collapsed and fallen from their mountings. After freeing off the handbrake lever, I drove it out of its parking space to finish washing it. It looks a hundred times better already just by washing off all the slime and dirt. I will take some pictures of it when I move it, which should be mid Feb. The engine is a bit smokey when it starts up (Diesel smoke) and accelerator response is a bit delayed, but I suspect the fuel filter is probably nearly blocked, and it has some old, if not very old gas oil in the fuel tank, which probably isn't helping either. Next on the list is a visit to my other Albion (Front half) known as "Arfur" and see if it is still where I left it, as I haven't seen that one for a couple of years. That was the one I bought from Crouch's at Husbands Bosworth. I would love to try and start that one too just out of curiosity, as it has a more modern and more powerful version of the engine fitted to the one I will restore. I'm led to believe this engine is a bit of a snorter. as Dave Crouch used it himself for recoveries. I will keep you posted on that ones progress .

Funny thought...........just imagine what they would look like if we had to rely on them for our safety now. They would have to be about ten times the size they are now so the kids could have some "Privacy" Each one would have a wind powered generator on top of it, Each would have to have a shower and flushing toilet, a kitchen and central heating, a place for the kids PS3. Just imagine telling the "Yoof" of today that they had to spend the night in the conditions shown in the pictures. Screaming and kicking comes to mind. :-D

That certainly gives you a lot to think about after watching it. How on earth those men lived and fought in those conditions is unimaginable. It also is a good reminder of how far we've come since those days. They never had the benefits of medical and medicine technology that we have today. The sheer terror they must have experienced combined with the atrocious conditions they fought and lived under, and their life expectancy must have been very demoralising for them. The will to live and the hatred of their enemies must have been about all that kept them going. I've heard of soldiers being shot for cowardice after fleeing the battle zone and wonder just how many did; as not everyone has the strength of character to endure constant battle. I remember as a child seeing and hearing men walking down the street, talking to themselves, sometimes shouting loudly and in an uncontrolled manner and having my parents explain to me that they were suffering from something called "Shell Shock", as it was known then. I would imagine that mild sufferers would have been allowed to integrate with society, but I wonder how many were committed to "Lunatic Assylums" and labeled insane. I often wonder how they managed without communication equipment that probably would have saved maybe hundreds of thousands of lives. They never had the benefit of airlifts to ferry the injured to surgical units, and no doubt most of us have heard of the horrific accounts of amputations carried out during battle. The war in Vietnam has some very vivid and unpleasant memories and the after effects of the conflict are still evident. The things which stick in my mind most of all being Napalm, the naked and horribly burnt little girl running naked down the road, and the horrific after effects of "Defoliants" used. (Agent orange?). What a bloody waste of time, life and money that war was. Sort of the 1960's version of Iraq. Never achieved anything. I was fortunate enough to miss WW2 by seven years and my only recollection of war affecting our country was the war in the Falklands. Some of the images and names from that period will always be in my memory. A least the soldiers who fought in that war had the benefit of modern medicine. Thinking in particular of Simon Weston and the way his face was reconstructed. How different wars are now, laser guided bombs, HSE saying soldiers are now no longer allowed to jump from moving vehicles, soldiers virtually have to face a murder enquiry for shooting someone...... now thinking in particular of the recent war in Iraq. (Would have been better had Blair not had his head up Bush's a**se and we didn't go there in the first place.) There will always be wars, usually caused by bigoted fanatics. All we can hope for is the gaps between them will get bigger, and that the lives of our fellow countrymen and women, will not be wasted fighting someone else's wars and crusades. Remember the words of Edwin Star's song, War,................ what is it good for?...........absolutely nothing................well apart from the development of future Historic Military Vehicles :-D

Well.......... I'm going to stick with posting in this section.........it's just right for me. Not "I may be stupid"..........I definitely am. So far, in nineteen days and seventeen posts, I appear to have insulted a member with a Scammell who was kind enough to display it in use at Laughton, and actually let me drive it. Everyone seems to know who this person is except me, although I have a good idea who this person is? Secondly I appear to have run down the FOT at Hellingly without knowing the background of this forums input to the show. Haven't exactly made myself too popular by the seem of it. I hope to see some of your vehicles at both shows next year......but I wont be proudly introducing myself. I will be the one shuffling past looking a bit sheepish.:-( I was going to cancel my membership, but being stupid, I couldn't find out how to do that........and to add insult to injury; my friends list is empty too. .

Crossing from Hayling Island to the I.O.W with a Stalwart is probably cheaper than going across by ferry. The worrying thing being the number of ships that have gone down on this stretch of water. It would be rather fun to race a ferry across, just to see the faces of the people on board. :-D

Snot you is it..............hmmm.....:-D. You can bet your boots he is, and it wont take long for him to find my post. Oh well..........spose I wont get to drive it again after this. It saddens me though that people exhibiting vehicles at shows are often rude and uncommunicative. Ok so they probably get peed off hearing everyones boring recollections of the one their great uncle had, but that's the name of the game, and what keeps these shows going.

I'm inclined to agree with the theory about the timber forwarder, but wonder what the origins of the steel arch would have been. Could it have been a mounting ring for a gun of some sort that has been cut up, or would it have been that shape originally. It certainly was built for a very heavy application. Any ideas?

Handy having a neighbour who shares your interest. I could do with chasing up my uncle from Shoreham, who I haven't seen for a good few years. He had a Leyland six wheeler cargo bodied truck (Beaver?) dating from about 1944 and his son Gary had a Scammell Pioneer in desert colours. The last time I saw them was about ten years ago at the Laughton vintage show which is held in September. I just love that show, and think it's ten times better than the Festival of Transport. Several years ago at Laughton, I met a miserable Scammell Explorer driver who was demonstrating its abilities over the mound of dirt they have there. I asked him if he was enjoying showing it off on the sort of terrain it was built for, and he replied that he was very bored doing it. I told him I used to drive a Pioneer doing recoveries with it; to which he replied "Everyones driven a Scammell..........you can have a go if you want to?" Miserable git! I asked him if he was serious and he said he was. I was in the seat by the time he'd finished speaking. I bet he thought I wouldn't have a clue what to do as he just sat there without speaking. After a brief look around I was off which shot him up the dirtbox and I went round two different ways having the time of my life. Unforgettable moment.

Many thanks for your reply. I'll give it a go next time I log in. Bed time now for me. Got a 2;30 start tomorrow morning. :yawn:

Bu**er me. I didn't expect a reply quite as quick as that. Many thanks for your reply and knowledgeable information. As for swimming with a Hiab version.............no way. I'd rather not go in the water with one. Swimming in an Argo Cat put me off that idea.

'Ere's sumfink that really gets up my nose about this forum. If I write a post or reply to one, go to the toilet, nip downstairs for a fag, (Wife doesn't allow smoking in the bedroom) or a cup of coffee; I come back and find that I've been logged out and have to log in again. :argh: It's doin' my flippin 'ead in. :cry: The other forum I was on allowed me to login for one hour, one day, or indefinitely. Is it supposed to do this as I understand you have had "Spam" problems, or is there a way to stay logged in until I shut down my old 'puter. Other than that, I'm really pleased I found this forum and some East Sussex members.