paulbrook

Something a little - er - little now, making a change from Antars, and its a tidy little Tilly, this one a Standard, which came in for a few jobs but ended up with a completely reconditioned engine. The full story is here http://rustytrucks.tripod.com/id38.html and there are loads more pictures here..http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/RustyTrucks/Standard%20Tilly/ but here are some pictures to whet your appetite. Oh and that fuel tank by the way has been subjected to my special fuel tank cleaning system which should guarantee clean fuel for years to come....

Also try 17 Port and Maritime Workshop REME at Marchwood....

I couldnt agree more with checking both the guage and the pipe to it - and any junctions. I also agree with the idea of undong things and sacrificing a little oil to the garage floor. Top tip though - don't do what I did one with a Diamond T. I was being towed from one part of where it was stored to another and I thought ooo I wonder if it will start? So I bunged it in gear and eased the clutch out. It fired up a treat and about 2 seconds after striking gallop I realised that the oil pressure guage was out and the pipe was just poking out of the guage socket. The moment I realised this the oil squirted out. For some reason that I cannot recall my reaction was to stick my finger over the end. All that did was change the jet of oi to a spray of oil. By heck it took some cleaning up. Still. It ran and it had decent oil pressure. Also on the subject of Jeep bottom ends I ran a big end on the way to Carlisle (I was taking it to the DVLA to get its registration having imported it) No problem I though, carry on quietly and once things get too bad Ill call for recovery. It got me to Carlisle and the 45 miles back (about 65 miles in all) and when I stripped it expecting all sorts of carnage it was relatively easy to sort, just a 10 thou grind.

Chain drive! Perfect. I am a bit of a chain man myself - I have a 1920s Mack AC. Welcome along.

Its a great sound - I love the supercharger too. Yes please - a pair would be great if I may be so bold, let me know the damage either here or at rustytrucks@mail2world.com and I will square you away. I fabricated the whole stack and guard set up for the Leconfeild one but getting the real deal even for part of the system is excellent. If you have anything else Antar wise I would almost certainly be interested. By the way does anyone have any (blue) dry powder fire extinguishers? I have some but they are shot and I would again like to have as good as possible (ideally serviceable)

And if you want to know what its supercharged straight 8 Rolls diesel sounds like on open pipes try this....

And here it is.............

The tank transporter holy mantra - wheel nuts and tyre pressures

Oh I am sure it is a problem... But as I say that was the original idea (but it was the mid 1980s)

The system was utterly determined that it would meet C&U hence all the palaver with wheel sizes and stability issues. As I have said before the Scammell IMMLC was three axles not four, but the decision was that the much smaller numbers of IMMLC would cause less stress on German roads and could therefore be outside the regs. Like everything else the second axle was ok though once you understood when it was going to be a help and when it was going to be a hindrance.

It was - almost. You took a wheel off the second axle, strapped the hub up using a ratchet strap and ran on 7 wheels. We once sent a Foden MMLC off for a week and it spent the majority of it like that. It never missed a beat, although constantly cross loading the wheel with the flat was a pain. Oh and I think for civilian use this definitely falls into the "don't try this at home" category......

I am not sure it is still taught and allowed but in my day as long as you were on a reasonably level ground the get out of the mud drill was to unload the rack whilst remaining in gear. Sometimes the mere shift in weight off the front axles and onto the rears would be enough to regain traction, but if not then you keep unloading until the rack engages with terra fima then keep pushing - about 6 ft at a time - dragging the rack on and off till you were clear of the goo. Throughout this you remain in drive. The downside was that you could only go forwards so if matters were getting stickier then it could go a bit Pete Tong. Mind you as long as you were in drive the moment you got a bit of traction you could boot it a bit (top tip though - if you lost it again then you slowed right down rather than let the wheels spin) Now ask me how we managed without spare wheels and what the original drill was for dealling with a flat?

Its actually quite interesting looking up the definitions of Medium Mobility and Improved Medium (MMLC and IMMLC respectively). It was an attempt to come up with a series of specs that guaranteed certain things could be done. As well as our two DROPS contenders there was a LMLC (Low mobility) - the Foden 16 tonne - and a HMLC (Stalwart). The only difference in cross coutry related specs (ground pressure, power to weigh, ground clearance etc) between IMMLC and HMLC was amphibiosity. At one point we trialled a IMMLC 8tonne variant - the so called Big Wheeled Bedford with fast deflating (but very slow inflating) tyres. Central tyre inflation was too much for the beancounters. Thus the MMLC was supposed to have a decent capability off road - and it did, although not in the same league as the Foden or stolly or whatever. The fact that they are still cutting it in the sand (quote the procurement executive at the time in response to our we dont think its all that good in sandy conditions - "this vehicle is being procured for northern germany. It will never ever be deployed anywhere sandy") is testament to the fact that they are actually half decent when not on hard standing. Diff locks in early, plenty of momentum and no sharp turns were, and presumably still are, winners every time. Oh and always carry a rack so that you can caterpillar out of trouble in extremis...

Not saying a word.................... Actually MMLC were always not too bad cross country, especially with a load (pretty rubbish without) just hampered by that dead second axle. The Scammell IMMLC was a 6 wheeler and there was serious discussion post Gulf War 1 about either removing the second axle or fitting the hubs with hydraulic motors that could be driven in extremis from the hydraulic system. No-one was interested in persuing it though for obvious reasons. We used to worry about all the testing being done at Long Valley and similar though, as these locations gave folks a very optimistic assessment of cross country ability.

Is that Long Valley?

He is a top man and I am sure any input from him would be worth its weight. But he is a busy fella so patience required... His rates are very reasonable though tee hee!!

If I can be of any assistance (including moral support having restored something similar) give me a shout!

Had a bit of a shift around today - the civilian Albion Chieftain has gone in for some timber cab work, and the Humber Heavy Utility has had all the timberwork completed on the nearside and can now get its new steel skin!

Sadly just changing a gasket without checking why it went in the first place is a bit of a risk... I think I could write a book on the subject but I wont. Pop the head back off and have a really good look for cracks in the block and the head. It is well worth getting some crack testing dye penetrant off fleabay, and it is always worth getting a post-head gasket failure head skinmmed before it goes back on. If you find nothing and want to put it all back again make sure that all surfaces are spotlessly (and I mean spotlessly) clean and use some wellseal sparingly. Fingers crossed ....

Am popping down to Withams to pick some stuff up and bring it North next week (wed thurs). Anyone need any assistance?

I will be arranging some transport from the south coast to Cumbria soon - if anyone is in need of a large empty trailer for a north south backload then let me know!

Wheels and tyres. Hard work but it saves on gym membership.............

Tsk that Antar isnt loaded, its just carrying a bit of ballast to stop it bouncing........

All the initial trials vehicles had Allison boxes and taller gearing. The user trials vehicles had ZFs; they used less fuel, were quicker from the lights and better cross country and were much more reliable... Top speed was never a factor, after all TMs could easily outspeed their tyres (and their brakes). What was important was the whole package and the entire development of DROPS was an object lesson in finding the right balance - "improving" one thing normally meant cocking up another. So my advice is that the folks at Tolpit Lane and Sandbach knew what they were doing......

Mmm tricky Everything has to be just so and even then they still do it - 50mph is bang on the resonant frequency. Sometimes it would be easier stopping the bears from going in the woods... Try increasing the tyre pressures by 10 psi (and then try reducing them by 10...)