Centurion

:whistle: Sorry about the previous this may be better. http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/centurion_photos/whatis2.jpg[/img] http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/centurion_photos/whatisit.jpg[/img]

Heres a puzzle for you. Its right hand drive and appears to have been hit by the ugly stick. I havnt a clue but someone might. http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/centurion_photos/?action=view&current=whatisit.jpg http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/centurion_photos/?action=view&current=whatis2.jpg cheers Centurion

I am currently using Halfords Advanced protection Antifreeze which is also a summer coolant in my Hotchkiss. The antifreeze, not the jeep is pink. The container reads" a silicate free organic acid formula" plus the usual blurb on how good it is for your engine but goes on to say older engines can further benefit from its improved heat transference properties. The contents include ethylene glycol. It seems to run fine and hasn't eaten any of the engine components yet. I know in rally cars they use cooants which include chemicals which are water wetters to improve the performance of the cooling system. Would anyone like to comment on the suitability of Halfords product in case it is eating my engine from the inside. In the Pink at present , Centurion

How about this which is apt for most elderly MV,s The stopping distance from 30 MPH is NOT 3 Feet. or as I have said before observe The three rules of braking, Brake, Brake for f***s sake brake. Not that we had much trouble on chariots just throw a slave or gladiator off the back attached to a rope. Centurion

Ive remembered one from a course I was on some years ago. Which was about Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) it was during a film of a derailed Gas tank train in the USA where one tank reptured and caught fire superheating the next one creating a BLEVE or boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion. Which caused the whole railcar and tank it was carrying to set off like a Saturn 5 rocket. Unfortunately the blast took out most of the fire crew who were tackling it. I think the expansion rate of compressed LPG is something like 1Kilo of liquid = 25 cubic metres of gas. be careful with your conversions and cooking stoves Centurion

And theres more, for those of us whose grey matter is supposedly fading with age there are CRAFT moments Cant remember a ****ing thing. Or KISS.. keep it simple stupid. there are more but ive had a craft moment regards Centurion

Hi Chris The Hotchkiss timing marks are almost identical to the Willys as you might expect. The engine should be timed on number 1 cylinder thats the front one in this case. As you rotate the engine clockwise there should appear IO which is Inlet open IGN the position at which the points should begin to open, TC top centre of the cylinder that firing followed by EO = exhaust opens . Mine had a version of these and if you rotate the motor and watch the lines in relation to the position of the distributor rotor arm you should be able to work out which line means what. One thing you should be aware of which I discovered and was confirmed on here. The flywheel can be bolted onto the crankshaft in any position which means when the timing marks appear in sequence they may not be coinciding with number one cylinder on its firing stroke. Mine was timed on number two which caused a lot of non roman language until I worked it out. To do that I watched the appearance of the timing marks in the window and then as it came up on ignition put my thumb over each of the plug holes in sequence to see which was on compression. good luck Centurion

Hi all, One for the Dorset boys I am hoping to go to the Royal Signals Museum, Blandford Forum in early July to drop off a copy of the of the Old mans war service record, apparently if the Museum wants one they have to buy it from the Army historic service records dept the same as anyone else. As its a fair trip from Hadrian's Wall I will stay overnight possibly two and fit in the Tank museum while I'm down there. Are there any recommended B and B pubs or small hotels you can think of. Any info appreciated secure parking for a motorcycle would be a bonus Thanks Centurion

Thanks for that Baz I probably know in the back of my mind that there tubed but was hoping to save the cost of new tubes if the old ones are U/S regards Centurion

I am going to fit some newish Goodyear radial tyres to a couple of my hotchkiss wheels which are French non combat ones. Are they tubeless? before I consider buying new tubes for them. thanks Centurion

Good luck with that George. I see elsewhere that your looking for a Malt plate. Have you found one yet? If its the glove box one I dont have a spare but the original on mine is plain aluminium sheet with the details stamped on so you could probably make a replica with the appropriate details on. Ive moved e-mail addresses and I cant seem to be able to get into yours. If your interested PM me and i will take some pics of it which may help. regards Centurion

Having retired from wearing the blue suit into data protection for the same organisation albeit further north. I have to agree that quite a large number of officers hide behind data protection because its to much work to do it properly or they just dont know how to. If they found your wallet would they not look in it to see who it belonged to in case there were other addresses. No dont answer that some probably wouldnt :dunno: Dont get me started on the other things which wind me up centurion

Hi George I tried painting my hotchkiss with MOD paint I was given, after two coats I gave up because it was apparently anti infra red and was really weird like it dried to a dusty finish. After advice on here I gave up and bought some new paint from RR motors which goes on a treat with a roller. It might be easier to bite the bullet (wallet) and buy new. regards Centurion

Seems a bit crazy when most of what comes out of Norway was imported there in the first place. Just who's heritage is it ?

My original insurers wanted valuations and photos etc and still wouldnt give an agreed value. So when the renewal came up I moved to Footman James which was cheaper and they believed what you said ie no valuation by an independant regards Centurion

Hi all, I think I must be having one of those am I halfway up the stairs going up or halfway up the stairs coming down moments. Sometimes described as a craft moment ( cant remember a f Thing). Anyway when the ignition is switched off the temp guage needle is sitting about in the centre of the dial. When I turn the ignition on the needle drops to the bottom of the scale at the left and as the engine warms up it rises with the temperature which seems ok. Even with the batteries disconnected the needle sits in the centre of the scale. Is this normal otherwise everything else seems OK ,its a 24 volt system. Any Ideas or is it just that over the winter when I have been working under it rather than on it I have forgotten what normal looks like :? :? regards Centurion

My mate took up grass cutting as a business and now seems to have facination for lawnmowers etc. His wife accuses him of searching the internet for lawnporn. Well I suppose some of them are Green. On the same sort of thing does anyone on here collect Miitary lawn mowers they must have had them to keep the camps and airfields tidy. Or was it just squaddies etc with scissors when they were in the sh one T just a thought.. Centurion

The French fitted 6.50 x 16 radials to the Hotchkiss. It lifts the ride height slightly and supposedly gives a smoother ride and I am told it steers better in the wet than bar grips. I havnt driven bar grips but right hand corners in the wet with radial, s is interesting enough :shake: regards Centurion

Hi, I made a top gasket for the carb on my hotchkiss from cereal packet card. It was recommended on a website when I was looking for gasket paper. It seem to work fine and wasnt too difficult to do. I was concerned that the thickness of the card may have altered the float height but all seems well. I was so impressed with it I have made other gaskets for the oil pump and they are ok. regards Centurion

Well once a King always a King in some cases once a knight is enough, I think its an age thing :? Im not sure about being a Centurion though

I have used a Castrol one in my Hotchkiss which was ok . It comes with or without an octane booster but I didnt notice much difference. It seem expensive but a little goes along way. Im using the redex one now cause it was all that was available but its difficult to tell if its better as I have just set all the valve clearances and done the points and plugs. cheers Centurion

As you may have seen from the topic timing marks I set out to put new gaskets on the oil pump ( as they say when your knee deep in alligators you tend to forget you set out to drain the swamp) Anyway the motor in my Hotchy has the later type of oil pump with the three studs holding the topcover on plus the two thru bolts to the crank case. I found it easier to fit it back into the crankcase without the top cover it gives more room to get past the chassis rail and you can turn the internal rotor as you fit it to get it to line up with the camshft and distributor drive you can the hold it in place with the bottom stud which only goes thru the lower case while you put the top cover back on remembering to put the other rotor in first. When you do this you cant fill the pump with oil to prime it before you fit it. Result on engine start up no oil pressure :-(. Short panic to turn the engine off before it goes bang. I solved it by removing the oil feed pipe from the crankcase to the oil filter at the oil filter end and using a pump oil can pump engine oil back down the system till it filled up . Run engine oil pressure restored :-D I know have clear swamp and the alligators have moved on. Centurion

Thanks for that Karoshi. I suspected that was what may have happened but it helps when someone who knows tells you. I suppose that in the Engine rebuild shops they did that many they set them up on any cylinder as a matter of course. Thanks Again Centurion

Hi all This should probably be in the I may be stupid section but here goes. I have had the oil pump off my Hotchkiss to put new gaskets on it. Somewhere along the way I turned the motor and lost the ignition timing :-( .No problem I thought look in the Willys manual Ive got and reset it. BUT having finally found the marks on the flywheel they only seem to line up properly when no2 cylinder is on compression. The manual says that they should line up on no 1 The motor appears to be a WOF unit possibly last rebuilt in 1984 any ideas :? Should I just set it up on no 2 and see if it runs. Has anyone had similar anomalies with Hotchkiss motors any help readily accepted. Centurion

I got some IRR paint given and used it,oops not great :?. However I did manage to overpaint it with Nato green eggshell from RR trading as Warpaint. Its oilbased and takes some time to harden properly but is good and tough when finally dry. I used the Jack method and put it on with a roller. ;-)