listerdiesel

Looks like it might be an early submarine engine, I'll post it on our engine forum with your permission? Peter

Screendump: Peter

Bit more in Episode 2, around 21 minutes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06tlrsj/air-an-smuidsteaming-episode-2 Peter

Haven't seen this mentioned, but it may be elsewhere in the forum. BBC Iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06tlwv5/air-an-smuidsteaming-episode-3 At around 24 minutes there is a Scammell 6-wheel 'something' in a shot of the boatyard. Probably used for pulling boats up the slipway? Might be of interest. Peter

A slight detour, but might be of interest: I let my Class 2 licence lapse as I wasn't driving or working on trucks any more. Then I got involved in a Mercedes 614D minibus which we are converting to a motorhome, and that will also be towing our 3.5 tonne drawbar turntable trailer, so suddenly my C1+E licence with grandfather rights is not enough (8.25tonnes GTW, against 9.5 tonnes Mercedes + Trailer) I contacted DVLA about reinstating my licence and they said yes, as long as you undergo the medical. £56 for a medical in Northampton, our Doctors wanted £175.50! It turns out that I have a heart murmur which is noted on the medical. Never had any heart investigations before, so off to Kettering for Echo-Cardiogram and hopefully next week I should have the news, good or bad. If reinstated, my C1+E apparently gets bumped to 12 tonnes GTW as long as I have the CE group valid on the licence. So hoping to get into the Doctors on Monday to see if all is OK and I can send the paperwork off to DVLA. Just goes to show, you think you're OK but a decent medical throws a complete curve ball at you. Peter

https://www.gov.uk/towing-rules https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf30-requirements-for-towing-trailers-in-great-britain As with all documentation, check that you have the latest issue. There are still versions of INF30 from 2011 if you do a Google search. Peter

Bit more information from the Specialloid catalogue: Bore 3-1/2" Compression height 2-7/32" Overall length 4-1/8" Gudgeon pin 7/8" floating Rings 2 plain 1/8", 2 RSS (Radial slotted) 5/32" It is described as a flat top piston. Peter

Scania. you can tell by the rear axle half-shaft caps, but it says so on the YouTube details below as well. Peter

Overrun brakes are indeed allowed up to maximum 3.5 tonnes gross trailer weight, but since December 2012 they are banned for new build drawbar turntable trailers. If you had a living van on that trailer, 'permanently affixed' you could tow it, but otherwise it has to be empty if you want to run under the pre-1960 exemption. That's my understanding of the current law. Peter

In my main interest/hobby. stationary engines, there is much the same discussion, with older guys dropping the size of their display engines as they cannot manage them any more, and while we do have youngsters joining the ranks, they cannot afford or handle the larger engines. We still get out to shows with our engines, and still enjoy them, but it is noticeable how many don't turn up like they used to. I'd love a Scammell Explorer, but nowhere to park it up safely, so have to be content with our show engines for now. The internet has made a huge difference to all mechanically-orientated hobbies, with online information being available at the press of a key, much as has been said previously. The top gas engine and tractor show in the USA has seen falling numbers for the past two years, we went to one earlier this year in Tulare CA and the numbers were much reduced from our previous visits in 2005 and 2008. I don't think that the interest has waned, but folks don't have the cash to take some of the larger and thirstier vehicles out to shows now. Peter

Ford Consul and other, larger vehicles them as well, but they had a vacuum pump on the bottom of the fuel pump to help the manifold vacuum. Also, a reservoir tank helps a lot with these things. Trico-Folberth was the name I rember from the industrial side, the trademark was always 'Trico'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trico Peter

I like 'documentary' types of war films where the plot/narrative is reasonably accurate, and backed up by literature of the period. One such film was 'They Were Expendable', about the PT Boats, based on a book by William L. White. The book is a good read and the film is too. Kelly's Heroes is another 'family favourite', we all like the 'Burning Bridges' theme and bought the CD of the choir (Mike Curb Congregation) I worked in the Film & TV industry for a while, mainly on lighting generators, and I had three trips out for 'Bridge Too Far', another for 'Riddle of the Sands' and we had equipment in 'The Eagle Has Landed', plus many others. The company I worked for supplied Panavision cameras and lighting equipment for these pictures, and one of the directors, Tony Samuelson, had a hand in the 'Battle of Britain', I believe that he actually owned one of the flying Spitfires at the time the film was shot. The politics and wheeler-dealing that goes on behind a major film is astonishing to an outsider, and of course big money is involved for such productions. I rarely see anything I have had an involvement in, having been behind the scenes, it never is the same on-screen! Peter

I used to work as a Tonibell ice-cream salesman :-D in 1968-69 and the vans were mostly Mk2 CALZ Bedfords, which were CA Long Wheelbase chassis-cabs with bodywork by Morrisons at Botley, Southampton if my memory is correct, there was also a Picador Engineering Company involved somewhere. Front axles we could get exchange from the local Vauxhall-Bedford dealer, Portslade Garages across the road, engines we reconditioned ourselves, dynamos were converted to alternators using the AC11 kit which was well before the ACR ranges that followed. Wheel rims had a nasty habit of splitting open due to the relatively high weight of the vehicle, and when Plating & Testing was introduced it was a real panic to get them below 30cwt unladen which was the threshold. 4-speed gearboxes were available on the Mk2 chassis, heaters weren't fitted, rear axles were pretty good, brakes ditto. The gearchange linkage was crude but if oiled regularly it lasted. We did change a few of the pivot brackets on the chassis down on the driver's side though. The gearboxes were pretty bullet-proof considering the stop-start moring these vehicles did. We had one old Mk1 in the depot fleet, driven by an old guy called Alf, that had a really old Taylor ice-cream machine from the USA, driven by an Onan CCK 3-phase genny. The newer ones had Carpigiani machines and Onan AJ single-cylinder engines running off LPG. I had two vans, 207HCR and 548HCR, got out of the game just before I got married. I've probably got some door hinge pivot balls in my toolbox still, and the driver's door opened at the front, no passenger door. Generally, the CA was an honest van built at Luton (possibly Dunstable?) but victim of no underbody protection so they rusted like hell. Peter

Bedford had a gearbox/bell housing setup that was a bit unusual, but on most you could move the engine up and forward if the mounts were taken off. Coaches were a regular for this treatment as inevitably the body builders never left room to get at everything. Many a clutch done by the side of the road! Peter

Cheers, Paul, I'm still ploughing through the paperwork, but it seems that your comments are quite correct. Ours was built in 2011, so we have missed most of the new legislation. Peter

My own tipping point is 3 years away, but as HGV (in old money) licences require a yearly medical once you're past 65 as I understand it, and to keep my C1 and C1E entitlement I need a 3-yearly medical, starting at 70, it looks like my Doctor is going to be busy! Peter

I don't think there is any problem with a turntable drawbar trailer with overrun brakes, we've built our own and it works very well. These are also very common in Europe. I think that the Type Testing requirement only applies to 'series production' trailers for sale, but when I spoke with the DfT on the subject, they were not able to absolutely confirm that. Overrun brakes are fine on a turntable trailer, you just need to think about routeing the cable for the rear axles under the front axle, and apportioning the braking force between front and rear if required. There's a building blog on our own trailer on our websites, from concept through drawings to finished item. Peter

Thanks for the comments, £250 - £350 a wheel seems to be the going rate, but I haven't got that kind of money for something that only turns a few rev's a year. In most cases the old rubber is perished to the point where it is disintegrating, so I'll have to persevere with the strip rubber for now. If I find a better solution, I'll post back here. Thanks again, Peter

I'm going to resurrect this thread to ask another question: Is there a supplier for re-tyring old wheels? I have another set of wheels (for another engine trolley) but after asking commercially about new tyres being moulded onto the rims, I had to go and lay down in a darkened room for a while! :-D The ones we did previously suffered from lack of adhesive adhesion as it were, although we have some new Bostik plus activator to try. The wheels only turn a few revolutions a year, so we may well persist with the rubber strips, but if there is a 'proper' solution that is within financial reach, I'd like to hear about it. First outing this year is to Nuenen in May. Peter

Inverkeithing was where most of the 'Britannia' class pacific locos were scrapped. Peter

I visit it daily also, seems that there are plenty of regular posts on there. It is unusual for you not to get a response, but Admin and Moderators for most Forums are purely volunteers, so often it can be a while to get to answer all queries and applications. I do my own Forum's business matters in the morning and evening, but try and log in to the Admincp during the day to cut down the waiting time for new user registrations or for moderated posts etc. If you haven't heard back in a few days, drop me a PM and I'll PM one of the Mods on the site for you. Peter

It is or was on Milweb last week. No price. Peter

There's a CAV alternator/charging manual on our website: http://www.stationary-engine.co.uk/CAV-Electrical/AltBatt.htm Not specifically for any one vehicle, but there's a fair bit in there about the separate charging boards etc that may help. 30 pages with the covers and it is in colour. Peter

Just to comment on the Scania 110 connection: When I did my Scania factory training in Sweden, we did a lot of chatting with the training guys, and the history of the company was laid out for us. SAAB-Scania as it was then was preceeded by Scania and Vabis, two apparently separate companies that formed Scania-Vabis. There is a lot of design commonality between the 680 and the DS11, but if you go back to the earlier DS/D engines, they do lose a bit of the connection, and I believe that while some design cues came from the 680, it was not copied for the DS11/D11. I had a 680 turbo to look after in my next job, that was on a generator, 100kW DC 110V for film & TV lighting. Yes it was similar to the DS11 but a lot different in other ways. I believe that the 690 was a separate design to the 680 Turbo, which was a bit of a wierdo and always a hassle to get parts for. Peter

Yes, I remember the B40 in my Champ (CJU394B - where is it now?) huge lump but quite comfortable to drive and the engine was pretty good, just juicy. Take your point about rev ranges, thanks for that oft-forgotten point. Peter