Piston Broke

The bed of rhe Bedford needs a few bits replacing and a re-paint. Given that it's timber with a load of metal fittings, any suggestions as to a good primer that will cope.with both?

Thinking about it, probably easier just to have a straight shaft between the bearings and clamp a thicker block to the pinion, otherwise the same principle. Less machining and the fiddling about measuring is closer to the top of the casing.

Hi Jerry, Thanks for that and thanks for the offer. My thought was to machine up a shaft that would fit between the diff bearings, with a section in the middle with a radius close to the pinion depth setting. Another plate would be machined that would clamp on top of the pinion and reach under the radius on the shaft, the combined thickness of shaft radius and plate being the pinion depth plus say 5 thou. I would then shim up until a 5 thou feeler fitted between the two. Sound feasible? If not, where are you located?

Having obtained my Jeep as a bag of bits, I've got to the front axle rebuild. Looking at setting up the pinion in the axle casing, the book (TM 9-1803B para 26) tells me to use "gage 41-G-176" to check the distance from the face of the pinion to the centre line of the diff case bearing. As I failed to find a gage 41-G-176 knocking around in my garage, I was thinking about how to make up an alternative. I noticed however that the book stated that said gauge should be used to check that the setting between pinion face and bearing centre line is 0.719". It's quite obvious though that the distance between the two is something over 2" (as of course it would be, given the diameter of the crown wheel). Can anyone explain this, or am I being stupid and looking at this competely the wrong way?

If anyone else needs to know, turns out it's 7/8" BSF. Why this on a vehicle that was produced with Unified threads pretty much throughout, I don't know. So the standard British army wheelbrace of the time fitted the nuts? As for the offer of the taps and dies Jiver, thanks very much but I managed to get hold of a set. Appreciate the offer however.

Thanks for that. I'll bear it in mind.

Can anyone help me with the thread size on the split rim studs on a Bedford MW? The nuts seem to take a 5/8" Whitworth socket, but the thread looks to be more like 3/4" UNF. The thread on one of the nuts is a bit tight so I want to run a tap through it to clean it up. As none of my taps are that large, I'll need to buy one, and obviously want to get the right thread. If it is indeed a mixture of Whitworth and UNF, was this to enable the use of a standard British army wheelbrace of the time on a vehicle with the new-fangled unified threads?

The old tyres on the Bedford MW have reached the end of their natural. They are bar grips, marked 900 x 16 CC "for British wheels", which is correct according to the manual. I have a set of part worn replacements, which I am assured cam off an old Bedford. They are however marked 900 x 16 C and are noticeably smaller. The tubes are smaller and the bead angle is obviously different, as there is a slight gap at the edge of the rim. They'll do the job and with a max speed of 40 down hill with the tide in the right direction, I am not concerned with them being unsafe. I am aware of the change of bead angle on British rims compared to modern/US examples, which I guess accounts for the slight gap around the wheel, but why the difference in size? Can some tyre afficionado advise on the difference between C and CC tyres?

I've read a number of reviews on Richards, and they are varied to say the least. Some people swear by them, but others list a shedload of fit problems. Seems to be luck of the draw! I spoke to Marsland today and they are apparently getting their SII chassis back up and running in about a year's time, which will include the military spec. As this project is in the queue along with the Jeep and K6, I may well wait until then. Most Marsland reviews seem positive, but does anyone have a different experience?

I don't have Mike Starmer's book on the desert campaign camo schemes, but in his "Sicily & Italy 1943-1945" (well worth having) he states the following,: "carried over from a June 1942 instruction to the 8th Army in the Western Desert. All vehicles were to carry an Air Recognition Sign on the horizontal surface. This new sign was to be a roundel, 2 feet 7 inches radius, with a central red disc of 10 inches diameter and blue and white rings each of 10 inches width together with an outer yellow ring 6 inches wide. Where the vehicle to which this mark was to be applied was too small for this optimum size, then it should be painted as large as possible and in the same ratios. This marking was intended to be applied to a permanent surface such as a roof, bonnet or hull top but not on canvas. Naturally where there was no alternative then a canvas top was utilised. This marking can also be seen without the yellow surround." Hope that helps.

Apologies if this subject has already been done to death, but my ex-military 1969 SIIA 109" needs a new chassis. Many people recommend Richards chassis, but a friend of mine bought one for his Series I and found brackets and holes in the wrong places, plus the the gearbox cross member not square with the side rails. When this was pointed out to the manufacturer the attitude was basically "there's nothing wrong with our chassis, mate". This was however about ten years ago and I accept that things may well have improved. With all that said, where's the best place to go for a replacement chassis to the military spec for UK delivery?

Advice please on the best way to treat a chassis during restoration. Having read the pros and cons I've decided against powder coating, mainly due to the prospect of rust creeping under the coating. What therefore is the best way to treat the chassis before applying the top coat of camo paint?

Problem solved; a friend of a friend had a couple of the nuts knocking around. Thanks for the offer though John, much appreciated.

Thanks for that. However, I believe they are hardened, although I couldn't be specific about the spec. I'll measure the thread length and give them a scratch test with a scriber over the weekend, just to get a feel for the hardness and get back to you. Meanwhile, if anyone can suggest an off the shelf source to save us the hassle, please drop me a line.

Whilst torquing up the nuts that hold the flywheel onto the crankshaft on my Jeep, one of then stripped out (just the nut, not the bolt, fortunately, otherwise it would have been crankshaft out!). Mine is a French bitsa, and at least some of the engine, flywheel included, is of WOF manufacture. There are six bolts that hold the flywheel on, two larger fixed dowel bolts and four smaller 3/8" UNF bolts. The nut that has stripped is one of these smaller 3/8 ones. On wartime Jeeps it would seem that these were 9/16 AF nuts, as normal with a 3/8 UNF thread. However, it would appear that the WOF engine (and possibly the M51?) has chunkier nuts. Although the thread is still 3/8, the nuts are 5/8 AF. I have tried all my usual suppliers (Jeeparts, Dallas etc.), but they only stock the smaller 9/16 nuts. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement 5/8 nut? I suppose if push comes to shove I could replace them all with the smaller nuts, but I'd rather not mess around with the original spec if I can avoid it, as I guess they were that size for a reason.

Thanks for that. Supalux does look to be horribly expensive, but there seems to be a cheaper alternative called Enviroboard. I'll give that a try and see how it goes. The heat shield has a slight curve at one point, so I'll have to see if the board will take that. If not, I guess it'll be a case of a bit of a mosaic around the curve.

There are some very good booklets on WW2 British vehicle colours, self published by Mike Starmer. They are aimed at modellers, but contain all the info and painted colour chips. There are four, covering the desert campaign, Sicily & Italy, the Caunter scheme and NW Europe, all priced at arounf £15. If anyone needs Mike's contact details, I have them filed away somewhere.

I've just had the crumbling asbestos removed from the exhaust heat shield on the Bedford MW. Can anyone suggest a replacement sheet material, about 1/4 - 3/8" thick, I can replace it with that looks something like the original, rather than resorting to aluminium covered glass fibre?

Inserting the photo obviously didn't work, but the address will take you there if you're interested (many thanks to Haines Garage).

The M201 engine rebuild continues and we get to the sump oil float and its support tube. The float and cover were soldered together, so I thought I would just clean them in the degreasing tank and have done with it. Having then read somewhere that all sorts of horrors can accumulate inside, I thought I'd better bite the bullet and unsolder the cover. Turns out that whoever wrote the article was right and despite vigorous cleaning in the tank there was still a load of solidified gunk lurking inside. So, if you're in the same situation and are tempted not to take the float apart, it really is worth making the effort. I then found another article where the writer detailed replacing the O ring in the moving joint between the float and the support tube (with a photo of the O ring in situ as shown below, which I hope the author doesn't mind me borrowing for the purposes of research). Nowhere can I find an O ring mentioned in the parts lists or manuals and the few people I have spoken to who have taken the joint apart have not seen one (and there was not one on mine). However, there is a fair bit of end play in the joint when the retaining split pin is inserted that would indicate room for an O ring, and it would seem sensible to seal this joint as well as possible to ensure no air is sucked in to mix with the oil being fed to the pump. Does anyone know if there should be an O ring or not? I am tempted to put one in, figuring it probably can't do much harm and might do some good. http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r683/HainesGarage1946CJ2A/29F57116-BCA3-4D3C-B3DC-6D0199C33DCB_zps5n7jyj0l.jpg

Regarding my original question about oil pump tolerances etc., I found this M38 manual online http://jeepwillysworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/M38-Engine.Clutch.pdf which contains all the necessary info should anyone else find themselves needing it. Thanks to whoever who did the original upload! Still need a shear pin for the pump drive gear though, if anyone knows of a source.

Having located a replacement drive gear for the pump, I need a replacement shear pin to hold it onto the pump shaft. Does anyone know a source, to save me trawling all the local engineering firms?

Thanks for that. One question answered, just the oil pump to go (until the next problem!).

I've stripped down the oil pump on my WOF engined (having trashed the drive gear driving out the cotter pin. It sounded so simple in the manual!). I find that it's innards are different to the original MB version covered in the manual; has a four spur rotor, same as an M38 I believe. Can anyone direct me to a site or manual that will show the acceptable clearances and tolerances for this model, so I can check before re-assembly? I also see an oil drain pipe from the rear main bearing shown in the original MB parts diagram. This is missing on my engine, just a hole. Can anyone confirm that this is correct for the later engine?