Jessie The Jeep

September 19th - Rough Running Investigation At the start of the trip to Fishburn Airfield on the 17th, the Jeep was mis-firing and wasn't picking up properly. It seemed to sort itself out after a couple of miles and the rest of the trip went without problems. Starting for the return trip took a few goes, but the drive home was fine too. It still warranted some investigation. I wanted to check all the valves were moving as they should and also that their gaps were ok. So the first job to access them was to remove the fender to get better access to the valve cover. Due to the wiring harness being fastened to the fender, it couldn't be completely removed, so after all the bolts were removed, it was left hanging low, balanced on top of the wheel. This was enough to give better access under the carburettor and manifold. I didn't want to remove the manifold in case I damaged the gasket, so left it in place and worked under it. It was difficult working around the exhaust, but with virtually no time to order replacement parts, I wanted to disturb as little as possible. All the valves were moving ok, the springs were fine and I checked the gaps. Only the number four cylinder valves had gaps slighly less than I wanted, but they were still within tolerences. With those adjusted, the cover plate edge had Wellseal applied and after a short while to dry, it was refitted to the engine. Before I re-fitted the fender, I was going to give the engine a short run in case I had an oil leak around the re-fitted valve cover. I went to prime the carburettor with the fuel pump manual lever and as I did so, noticed fuel leaking from the inlet pipe into the carb. Had the engine been leaking fuel and sucking air in through this joint, messing up the mixture and hence causing the rough running? The joint was dismantled, cleaned and then the copper washer was smoothed off with some fine wet and dry to clean up both of the mating faces. It was then reassembled and the bolt nipped up. Another prime test showed no signs of leaking so I went for an engine start. The engine started ok and was idling smoothly. A few blips of the throttle showed the engine picking up ok from idle and higher RPM checks also showed the engine running smoothly. It was time to take the test to the next step - under load.

There were around a couple of dozen vintage and modified cars on show and this one caught my eye. There were also a number of living history groups, not just from World War 2. The engine behaved on the way home too, but I need to look over a few things before Tanfield next weekend. My friend with the Dodge had been having a problem with his plugs oiling up since the covid lockdown break, so we drove back in convoy for mutual support. More pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/fishburn.htm

Being on the top of a hill ( and an airfield ), it was of course cold and blowy. I'd seen the forecast before going and put the full door kit on the Jeep to stay warmer. In addition to the doors and checkered roof, I also fitted the light box, "Follow Me" sign and flag. I hadn't had the light box and sign on for a while, as the Jeep won't fit through the garage door with it fitted. Looking back at older pictures, I surprised myself to find that it is actually three years since I've had the full flying control set up fitted to the Jeep; at Sandtoft airfield in 2019. 'The Spy Who Loved Me' - The Bond Lotus affectionally known as "Wet Nellie".

The event was a mixture of classic cars, some military vehicles and dioramas, plus some displays from other periods of history too. There were several stalls of various things, plus live music and some kids entertainment. There's a small aircraft museum on site too with this Meteor being the most recent arrival, moved from Tangmere.

Fishburn Airfield "Wings & Wheels" - September 17th We took the Jeep to Fishburn yesterday, but didn't think we were going to get there. I got the Jeep started up and then warmed up outside the garage. When I tried to pull away, the engine sounded a bit lumpy and as we drove out of the village, it was intermittently mis-firing, particularly when accelerating. We only got a mile from home and I decided to turn around and go home. By the time I got half way home, it was sounding better, so I pulled into the manor turning and alternated between idle and revving the engine. It seemed to be picking up ok again, so I turned around and set off for Fishburn again. For the rest of the trip there, it ran fine! Odd!! I'm wondering if the plugs oiled up with all the slow, low gear driving at Beamish. A friend from the next village had arrived not long before me with his WC52.

They just hold the disc, which in turn holds the wheel in place. The three bolt brackets go through the wheel stud holes.

Pretty sure mine all are.

Beamish "Dig for Victory" - September 1st~4th We took the Dodge and a Jeep to Beamish. The full write up and pictures are in my Dodge thread, linked below.

We moved around a few more times across Saturday to different locations. Here we are back at the colliery. Passing traffic at Coffee & Cake Corner. At the end of the day, the museum was providing a meal in town for all those attending. We were going to take the vehicles until the rain set in for the evening and everything was covered up. Sunday September 4th The last group of four pictures from coffee corner were a selection of just a handful of pictures from Sunday. We did the convoy and morning coffee, then went back to the main show field for lunch and then to started packing up camp. Five days on site under canvas was exhausting, both due to the fresh air, lack of sleep and the heavy steering on the Dodge giving me arms like Popeye! With the Jeep and the Dodge, Lynne and I managed to burn through around 19 gallons of petrol in four days of driving. However, it was still a cheap holiday and the highlight of our 1940s calendar. Further pictures can be found on the following links..... https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/beamish2.htm https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/beamish3.htm

Saturday September 3rd I began Saturday with a wander around the second show field ( site 2 ), taking a look at the vehicles and dioramas there. That was followed by the 11am convoy, followed by morning coffee at the usual spot ( site 5 ). This time we were joined by a friend's Jeep for a while.

From there, we headed back through the pit village ( site 9 ) and around the road to Pockerley Manor ( site 6 ). From there we drove down past the church and towards the wagonway sheds ( site 7 ). We past some British paras heading the other way. From there it was back on the main road to town ( site 4 ), where we ended the photoshoot. While in town, the British paras turned up again.

Friday September 2nd We hung around the show field until the 11am convoy and continued on another lap after everyone else pulled back into the show field. We followed the route again, back to town and stopped at Coffee & Cake Corner ( site 5 ). In addition to being close to the cafe, we got a good view of convoys and other vehicles going by. We headed on to the rail yard ( site 3 ) and after bumping into Lynne's parents there, she headed back to camp with the Jeep while I stayed to get some photos of the Dodge up against the loading platform. We were back in town towards the end of the day as the trams were waiting to take the last of the public back to the entrance. Before food that evening, and with Derek and Paul around, we had a six vehicle convoy around the site again for more pictures, starting with a group shot at the far end of the colliery yard ( site 8 ), making use of the building's steps for a good vantage point.

On Thursday evening, we took four vehicles for a drive and on a photoshoot around Pockerley Manor ( site 6 ) We left Pockerley past the old church and headed towards the wagonway ( site 7 ) before re-joining the main site road and heading for the town ( site 4 ). Derek hadn't yet arrived and Paul had gone out for food but caught us up in town, joining the front of the line for some pictures.

There was more than expected, so we radioed Chris to bring his Dodge down to assist. Right at the end of the day, my daughter went for a last ride on the Helter-Skelter and took some pictures of the two show fields from the top ( sites 1 & 2 ). Below is a video compiled from several trips around the museum site, with the camera mounted on both the Dodge and Jeep.

Not long after that, it was time for the second large convoy of the day, so we headed back to assembly point at the main show field. Later in the afternoon, we walked up to "Home Farm" so my daughter could do a Land Army photoshoot around the farm buildings and animal pens ( site 10 ). Later in the day, Andy and I took the Jeep and Dodge to the Rail yard ( site 3 ) to collect some ammunition and aero engine spares just in on the afternoon train.

Thursday September 1st The first proper show day was September 1st. After the 10am briefing, there was the first of the large convoys around the site. They are seen here in the colliery yard and passing through the pit village. After this, following our on foot scouting, we took the vehicles to what became known as "Coffee and Cake Corner", just on the edge of town. It was a spot nobody had used in previous years and was close to the cafe and toilets - an ideal spot for morning coffee ( site 5 on the map ). Later, we moved on into town, parking outside the Co-op. After lunch, we took the vehicles down through the pit village and into the corner of the colliery yard, near another cafe. We set up there and had a game of "Craps" until the Military Police came ( Paul ) and busted the game.

Wednesday August 31st Neil, Chris and Andy were also there on Wednesday setting up our camp ready for the start of the show. Paul was there too, but staying in his motorhome in the staff car park. So six of our seven vehicles we on site before the start of the event. Chris had his Dodge. The Weasel was going to be there but had a stuck clutch. Neil's Jeep has only recently been restored making Beamish its first big show. Paul had his Jeep and bike and Andy brought his Guinea Pigs! There was nobody to babysit them at home for the first couple of days of the show. It took Chris some time to assemble the latest version of his field shower; the most refined version complete with petrol powered water heater and electric pump to send the water to the shower head. It's come a long way since the bucket with holes in. According to the forecast in the days leading up to the event, the weather threatened to be wet for the full show. Thankfully, over the five days, there were only a few showers, mostly outside public open hours and at the end, we got the tents away dry. Wednesday morning however was raining and it lasted almost until noon. We sat under our shelter, looking at different forecasts in the hope that one would give us good news! Eventually, it dried up, allowing us to explore. The event didn't start until Thursday so there we no vehicle movements on Wednesday. This gave us a chance to have a look around the site on foot and to check out recently opened areas such as parts of the 1950s town and also the Quilter’s cottage which we hadn't seen before. It also gave us a chance to look for possible display locations that we hadn't used in previous years.

Beamish "Dig for Victory" - September 1st~4th Beamish is a living history museum in the North East of England. Original and often derelict buildings from around the North East have been dismantled and rebuilt on the site to tell the history of the area from the 1800s to 1950s. The picture below shows the museum site with various locations numbered to correspond to the numbers on the images. With 350 acres of rolling landscape, period buildings, olive drab vehicles and the freedom to drive them around the site; the Beamish Museum "Dig for Victory" event is a unique 1940s show in the UK. I packed the vehicles across Tuesday 30th while Lynne was at work. As soon as she came home, we grabbed a bite to eat and set off for Beamish. We towed the Jeep so that we've have a normal car to run out for supplies. It was dusk by the time our camp was set up, so the first pictures were on Wednesday morning.

Numbers were down on previous years, some perhaps down to the cost of living crisis and high fuel costs. However, the club always seemed to have quite an old membership, so I suspect some members will have passed on and their vehicles sold, moving away from the area. A few more pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/ryhope.htm

It was only around a ten mile drive there and we hadn't been there long when a sea mist blew in, dropping the temperature. It cleared again by noon, leaving blue sky and a surprising amount of heat in the sun. So my morning walkaround pictures were a bit washed out, but the sun brought out the colours in the afternoon ( olive drab always looks good in the sun! ).

The last pictures are of the trophies, judges and competitors, the hangar party and sun set behind two of the Jungmeisters. More pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2022/breighton_aero.htm

On Saturday, my Jeep was joined by a friend's Jeep, both parked next to the airfield gate guardian. At the end of Saturday, the two Jeeps moved to the apron for the hangar party and prize giving ceremony. As usual, the setting sun gave a great backdrop for some pictures. A number of Jeep rides were given to Breighton and visiting pilots.

The last two competitors. Mike Rottland flying a Bolkov Monsun B209 Richard Stirk flying a dHC Chipmunk Towards the end of Friday, Stuart took the Miles Gemini twin for a spin around the airfield, beating up the airfield with a series of passes and wingovers, which looked great in the early evening light.

Peter Kunast flying a Zlin 526F Stephen Stead flying a Bucker Jungmeister "Taff" Smith flying Bucker Jungmeister Rainer Berndt & Bernhard Drummer flying a Bucker Jungmeister

Each competitor flew two flights per day and a break around lunch time. Amongst this were the visitors and Breighton based aircraft, coming and going, so there was always plenty to see going on. Dietmar Poll flying a LF109 Lunak glider Thomas Sachse & Jan Schiedek-Jacht flying a Bucker Jungmeister Maxim Schelfhout flying a J3 Clipped Wing Cub Benoit Dierickx flying a Modified Bucker Jungmeister