Swill1952xs

I couldn't say if the cylinder bores were the same size; but the Ford 'D' Series trucks of the early seventies used an airpack identical in design to that one. It was found mostly on the smaller models like dthe D300, 400 and 500, up to about ten tons gross. The governor valve is a very common one, again the 'D' Series used one identical, and they are also fitted to Leyland freighters. Above that size they used the same set up as the Bedford MJ's with a dual circuit hydraulic system. All of the smaller models were single line systems, which is probably why yours has twin airpacks. It would have been a lot easier if they had used the MJ type braking system with the tandem master cylinders, and no doubt a lot cheaper to produce. Sorry, I'm pokin' me nose in again. An old git with a head full of irrelevant crap.

As this vehicle has the eighties Ford cargo cab; there could be a good opportunity there for someone to import panels or even whole cabs to sell on the UK market. Ford cargo's had extremely good mechanicals and the one thing that let them down was the sh*t (Sounds like sheet, but more like the word I've used) metal they made the cabs from. No doubt there are many mechanically excellent Cargo's with horse box bodies on them, crying out for new panels. I assume they would be using press tools identical to the Ford ones as they are extremely expensive to make. They are also becoming quite popular with restorers. The cab floors and wheel arches are the worst areas for rust. Restoring Cargos with new cabs will, I suppose start off the old argument about originality. Does it really matter though. At least they wont become totally extinct. The Cargo that I would love to own is the very rare twin steer artic unit with the L10 Cummins. The cab in the film was a sleeper shell too. Another one of my dreams............. oh well. :-(

With regard to the roof repairs; I have to put a new edge on my Albion roof, the same as you are doing. I bought a tool called a "Rolastep" which when used on the edge of a repair section; creates a 17mm stepped flange on the edge of the repair panel. This enables the repair to be overlapped and give a fairly flush repair that can be spot or plug welded to the back of the panel. I haven't used it yet, but it should also overcome the tendency for the panel to distort when it's welded, which is always a problem with repairing large panels. http://auto.frost.co.uk/search?p=R&srid=S8%2d3&lbc=frost&w=Rolastep&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2efrost%2eco%2euk%2fitem%5fDetail%2easp%3fproductID%3d8462%26frostProductName%3d12mm%2bRolastep%2bEdge%2bJoggler%26catID%3d13%26subCatID%3d18%26FrostCat%3dBodywork%26FrostSubcat%3dForming&rk=1&uid=143594850&sid=8&ts=v2&rsc=2Dpuy-m7ud0lYA4V&method=and&isort=score&view=grid The one shown is a 12mm version, but they also do a 17mm which is identical, but has wider rollers. Jus' tryin' ta be helpful.

As it says in the title................ It's a Stallion by Ashok Leyland of India. This is made under the Leyland badge......... but I can't help thinking I've seen this somewhere before.

Jus' pokin' me nose in............. Another quick way of finding out what sort of fluid is in the brakes is to tip some on the ground and pour water on it. If it washes away then it's normal brake fluid. If it don't.......... its sumfink else. :-D

I don't know anything about the colours; but the SU registration was issued to a lot of vehicles regardless of where they were registered. It was the range of numbers DVLA issued under protest when age related numbers were made available. Being as they are; they wouldn't issue unused local registration numbers. It was from memory a Scottish origin, but here in Sussex we ran out of registration numbers in the late seventies, and ended up with loads of Sussex registered vehicles with Scottish numbers. From memory WV springs to mind. East Sussex was always PM , PN or AP until then. Lovely looking Scammell by the way. Lucky you.

Sex on wheels innit. You can almost smell it :cool2: Every time I see a Scammell with front weights, it reminds me of the one we had when I was an apprentice in Hove. One of our fitters went out along Brighton seafront in the rain, and didn't stop quite as quick as the bus in front of him. He left an impression of the front weights in the back of the bus........ ........... oops. :sweat:

See................. I told you so............ He hasn't done anything to his Champ at all, apart from putting an exhaust pipe under the drivers side to annoy rivet counters.......... He's made a three wheeler with a boat for the body.......... an' it's got a Ford Anglia engine in it. :-D

The ones plod don't like the look of and can't make up their minds about. You only find out which ones they are when they decide to book you, and it depends on whether it's raining or not......... dooh. :n00b:

Cor................ Er........... wassit look like then..........have I gone blind....... :-D

Many thanks for your kind comments and good wishes. It was such a fantastic day. We used to have an annual anniversary party inviting all the guests from the first time we married, but over the years that stopped. By popular request at the wedding, it will now be re-instated. Certainly worth celebrating. I'm really lucky to have found Karen. I've known her since she was fourteen, and we always were fond of each other. The love we share has changed from when we first married, and in some ways probably deeper than ever. She's my wife, lover and best friend........... all any man could ever need.

The scariest thing of all would be getting hit from behind with an agricultural tractor. Not long ago I followed a JCB Fastrac downhill towing a trailer at 58 mph. I was just waiting to see if he could hit sixty. He was doing 50 on the flat. :shocked: I recently asked some Albion experts about reversing the reduction box gearing on my Albion; to increase the top speed. They reckoned it wouldn't work as there was a ratio change of about 3:1. Now let's see........27mph flat out x 3 =.........er.........um...... 'bout 81mph flat out. Would I need radial tyres if I did that............. or maybe aircraft tyres? :-D To be honest, I'd rather stick to fairly local shows, although I don't think the ratio change is that much. It would be useless off road with that sort of gearing.

Just another little bonus we had offered on the day. The gentleman who owns the car was surprised at the number of us interested in the car itself. It wasn't long after we arrived at the reception that the bonnet was up and we had a guided tour of the car. He has offered to get me some free tickets for the Festival of Transport at Hellingly in August, and has offered to let me drive it round the display arena, and my wife to come round with me too. He restored the car from a box of bits in the mid seventies. He had the engine rebuilt and discovered that the fifty built for the English market had smaller pistons than the American ones. The U.S. ones were 28hp and the UK ones were 21hp, due to the way cars were taxed here. This particular car was at the motor show in 1930. A really beautiful car.

My wife and I had our sixteenth wedding anniversary on Friday. Last year we decided to re-take our vows as near to our anniversary as possible, and did so at the weekend. We hired a car for the occasion. It was a 1930 Plymouth Sedan. There were fifty made for the UK market and this is the only one left. The wedding took place at The Holy Cross Church in Uckfield. We were unable to have our original marriage there as we had both been married before, and The Church of England doesn't recognise second marriages. Fortunately they were more than happy for us to re-take our vows and bless the marriage after the time elapsed. The reception took place at The Barnsgate Manor Vinyard, near Crowborough. We had the Manor House for the occasion, which was ideal for the number of guests we had. (30) They did a superb job, very well organised and a lovely meal. They had two surprises we hadn't expected. Firstly they arranged a magician to entertain us during the meal, and the biggest surprise of all was a long forgotton tradition of a visit by a chimney sweep. A genuine one at that too! He arrived near the end, complete with a live black cat on his shoulder. He wished us well and gave us a card complete with a silver charm. Absolutely brilliant. Here are some pictures of the day.......... Entering the Church with my two step daughters and two of our grandchildren. We were very lucky to be allowed to photograph the service in this way. Most Vicars wont allow it. The moment they had all been dreading.......... the speech. The beautiful cake my wife made and decorated......... simple is best. We bought the cup cakes. The sweep with "Costya". So called because it's his wifes cat and when he wants to borrow it, she says it'll costya. :-D These pictures give you an idea of what a fantastic day it was. Here's to the next sixteen.

As usual I will explain that I'm not an expert on Pigs, just a mechanic of forty years. Banjo unions have a natural air pocket in them, sufficient to cause a total loss of the brake pedal after they've been disconnected. Allowing the fluid to drain through often wont clear air bubbles that will be trapped in arches in the pipes, or descending pipes. I would imagine the pipe on that would be 1/4" making it harder still to bleed an empty system. Bleeding should always start from the points nearest the master cylinder, working away to the furthest wheel. You will need someone pumping the brake pedal, another bleeding the cylinders and better still, someone to keep the master cylinder topped up. You will need a bleed pipe on the wheel cylinders immersed in brake fluid to prevent air being sucked back up the pipe when the pedal is released. Open a bleeder and get someone to pump the pedal fairly steadily (Otherwise the bleed pipe may blow off and spray fluid in your eyes.) Keep pumping until bubble free fluid comes out of the bleeder, and on the last pump, get the person pumping to hold the pedal down until the bleeder is closed. They can then, on your instruction, release the pedal. Repeat this operation for all the remaining bleed points. If the system is badly aired up, you may have to go round again to clear the last of the air. This is a standard procedure, but if in some cases the servo has a bleeder, this will be the first point of bleeding, before the wheels. Good luck, and I hope this will solve your problem.

I have a feeling this is another catweazle wind up...............why,...because he hasn't replied to a lot of the comments. No one can really believe he's going to do this conversion so there's an enormous amount of "Media Hype" and Mr CW is just sitting back and enjoying the ride. Now I don't know CW personally, but from what I've seen of him on here, he's a bit of a mischevious ol' bu**er, and he's probably laughing his socks off at the frenzy he's creating................ Hmmm. :cool2:

That thought had crossed my mind, but being a humble forum member with little knowledge of military vehicles, I hardly dared write such a comment about one so highly respected on this forum. :n00b:

It's a good idea to have a serious think about the type of fire extinguisher you have in a vehicle. I nearly choked to death in the cab of one of our tankers. I was going to tip the cab, so I grabbed the powder fire extinguisher from the back of the cab to put it on the floor. I should have looked at it first. The truck windows were shut and there wasn't a safety pin in the fire extinguisher. :shocked: Fuu...... er sorry they don't half bake a bloody mess and I nearly choked before I got out of the cab. Someone I knew had a Jaguar XK140 that caught alight when the fuel pipe broke next to the exhaust. He leapt out of the car to grab a fire extinguisher which he was unable to get to due to the location of the fire and stood by and watched the fire extinguisher explode and blow a hole in the side of the car. :argh: Apparently CO2 fire extinguishers create static electricity when the gas leaves the horn..........water fire extinguishers can only be used on substances that are like wood or paper. :-( Best take one of each with you,..............just in case :-D

Cool man..............that really shakes my tree.:cool2: :-D I like the idea of a luxurious interior, after all, you have a user friendly interior to drive it to shows, and somewhere equally nice to sleep in if that's possible. Not many people leave their vehicles open at shows so few will see it. No doubt there will be others whose interior may be open for inspection. I don't see a problem with a conversion like this as long as it can easily be converted back to standard. The outside can look 100% original without giving away the state of the furnishings. As the new President Obama said "You can put lipstick on a pig to make it look better, but at the end of the day......it's still a pig" har har har........ ..........snort.........now you've started me off with me posh laugh again. :-D:rofl::rofl:

The problem with accidents on the hard shoulder seem to occur as most people assume it will be free of traffic and just pull out of a line of vehicles without looking first to see if it's clear. By the time they have pulled off the carriageway and are confronted with a parked vehicle; it's nearly always too late to avoid it. I nearly had an accident this year in similar circumstances when pulling off into a layby. I was following a truck fairly closely and waiting to pull off into the layby. I peeled off from the truck I was following, only to find that someone had pulled up on the beginning of the slip road for it. I nearly rear ended him and started to jacknife towards it. Luckily I let go of the brakes and managed to steer round it. There was a similar accident on the M4 a couple of weeks ago. It looked as though someone had pulled out of the left hand lane at a fair speed and into the centre one, only to be confronted with a line of stationary traffic. I don't think the occupants of the car survived the impact. The lesson to be learned from all of this, is never follow too closely, never change lanes without a clear view of what is happening in the next, and never pull off on to the hard shoulder without checking that it's clear to do so. Maybe it isn't a good idea to take slow moving vehicles, ie under 30 mph on a motorway at all. Vehicles travelling behind them at the legal limit will be approaching them at 40 mph + and often have too little time to safely avoid them or change lanes, if the motorway is busy. Eventually when my Albion is finished, I will probably only stick to local shows, will be having beacons fitted for any journeys, and travel when the traffic is light. Hopefully that way I may avoid any of the sadness such accidents cause. :-(

The comment.........."A sad end of a lovely truck" just about sums it up. Why do people have to be so bloody minded when selling something as desirable as that. It's worth realistically about five hundred quid, bearing in mind the time it would take to get it out of the woods. He should be grateful that someone wants to take it away and use the parts to keep others alive. What is the point of being so greedy. Maybe that is the reason it's still sitting there. No doubt what's left of it will still be sitting there in another twenty years time. May it rest in peace as a monument to the greed of a small minded seller. :cry:

Nice looking truck. Looks fairly sound too. Good luck with getting it to run. Beware though.......... we are all as eager as you to see it running and will pester the life out of you until it is. You picked a good time to buy it; sort of in between silage and hay, so will you be starting on it this week....:-D See, we've started already. :cool2: It may be a good idea to check your video camera is fully charged and you are fully conversant with how to post video on this loony website. Cheers and good luck. Will. :thumbsup:

'Ere we go again............. it can sit in the woods for twenty years plus, looking at the trees, and be left there to rot away to nothing if undiscovered. All of a sudden someone wants to buy it and it "Wont be cheap". :???

Ref the hole in your rear cross member......... if it's within 30cms of a rear spring shackle and now the towbar mounting; it's an MOT fail. Towbar mountings are now another item on the checklist. The best way of dealing with a hole like that is to cut a hole in the crossmember, with an angle grinder, and flush weld a plate in there. Spray it over with stone chip and paint it in the normal way. No one will ever know.

Bein' fik is what I'm best at................ but how the hell do you steer something like that. Surely the tracks will tend to make it want to travel in a straight line, especially on soft ground. Does the front wheel actually steer the vehicle or is it there for another purpose. This is a serious question from someone who wishes to learn about unusual vehicles. Many thanks in anticipation of a polite reply.