Pete Ashby

Nothing moving here I'm afraid for the foreseeable future Howard. When the current situation eases give me another shout I have a number of them and they are not going anywhere fast and then I'll work out a price for you with shipping included as usual at cost. cheers Pete

I have a few Howard, getting it to you at the moment may be a problem in the current climate. Pete

Taking advantage of the warm weather a sealing coat of gloss black was sprayed onto the inner and outer rims and locking bands that had been cleaned and undercoated in the previous post Inner rims Outer rims and locking bands Pete

So for the past eleven months effort has focused on getting the the D15 up to the rolling chassis stage but now it's back to working on the Leyland. This phase is all about wheels and tyres and working towards getting the truck moving under its own power for first time in nearly 60 years. A journey into the unknown at the back of the barn was in order to unearth the rear wheels and tyres that had not been touched since I bought the truck nearly 30 years ago safe to say they had not improved with keeping however the rats’ mice and spiders had found them most accommodating. The Retriver runs on 900.20 tyres mounted on split rims held in place with a locking ring like a ginat snap ring this type of system is known in the trade as the ‘Widow Maker type’…….. well there’s encouraging then. First job was to remove the valve core completely and after the tyre had deflated poke a length of wire down the stem and into the tube cavity to ensure that there was no blockage that could result residual pressure in the tube. If everything works as it should the outer rim is pushed down a little to start to free the locking ring from the groove then using two tyre levers the locking ring is prized out of the groove in the outer rim, turn the tyre over and the main part of the rim just drops out…..oh how we laughed!.....the only way to do it after 80 years was to cut the tyres up with a Fein saw fitted with a course blade which actually made very short work of them to be fair. Here’s a tyre after having a close encounter with the Fein saw This is the pile of inner and outer rims and locking rings ready for de-rusting After rust and residual paint removal an undercoat of zinc rich primer has been applied Pete

If you don't have access to a small flame gas torch for the stubborn fixings try using a hot air gun, the sort sold in DIY stores or on line, use the narrow nozzle in the kit you'll be surprised how well it works with a little WD40 while the nut or bolt is still hot Pete

For anyone who has not picked this up already on Milweb to see details go https://www.milweb.net/classifieds.php?type=21 Malvern postponed until June 28th Keep safe everybody Pete

Pleased you've got it sorted Jim and it was something simple, thanks for coming back and letting us know it's always useful to know the outcome. Pete

Your welcome Jim, I'm basically lazy so I do all the simple stuff first. Your problem particularity as you say it ran fine before you changed to gaskets suggests a fairly large air leak on the induction side of your engine that's why your not seeing much in the way of vacuum. Vacuum = absence of air or something lower that atmospheric pressure if you like, so to be pedantic your problem is not lack of vacuum it's too much air leading to low or no vacuum it's perhaps easier to think of it this way round so check the hoses and connections first. Then with the engine running spray a little WD40 around the base of the carb/inlet manifold joint if the engine speeds up the leak is there and then do the same on each inlet flange/to block joint. The vac gauge, compression gauge and a cheap multi meter to measure dwell and engine RPM are your best and most used tools on these old engines using them you can diagnose mechanical problems, set timing, set dwell and fault find your ignition and lighting circuits. Good luck and come back and tell us what the problem was it's always useful for all of us to hear the result. Pete

It would be worth checking the rubber hose connections to your wipers and/ or advance retard diaphragm first for leaks or splits also the joint between carb and inlet manifold. If they check out it would be worth investing in a a vacuum gauge ( the non damped version from the usual sources on e bay or your local car factors) don't spend huge sums of money £10 to £20 max should get you what you need, you are looking for trends not definitive numbers. Temporarily connect the gauge to your vacuum wiper port or any other suitable location below the throttle plate on the carb or inlet manifold. Run some diagnostic checks (google how to read a vacuum gauge if you have not used one before). This can all be done in the workshop no need to take the truck out on the road. Depending on what you find with the vacuum gauge the next test would be with a compression gauge on each cylinder again google how to do this if you have not done it before results need to be done first dry then with a small amount of oil down the plug hole. In both cases check the results with the diagnostic charts, it could be one of a number of issues or a combination of them the combined results from vacuum and compression will point you in the right direction. A little time spent now while the engine is complete and running will save you endless hours of grief and quite possible 100's of £'s wasted on doing unnecessary work or going round in circles. Pete

This is the connection to the radio outlet box (just a plain metal junction box) located on the inside of the body below the passenger all ACM 1 and 2 bodies were fitted with it as standard from MB 217543 March 1943 onward GPW's would have followed on at about the same time. Pete

That is impressive full marks for that. Pete

The Complete WW2 Military Jeep Manual ISBN 9781855201217 Pub by Brooklands Books, this will give you everything you need it's a reprint of all the original war time TM's for the jeep. Just be warned when rebuilding the engine the instructions for fitting the con rods to the crank are wrong this was not corrected until after the war. To read about the correct assembly and the reasons why the war time TM is wrong do a search on the G503 forum( I sent the link earlier to you). Pete

It's all fairly straight forward stuff, read your manuals take note of the tolerance specs for bushes and bearings and don't be tempted to cut corners on the mechanical work it will only come back to bite at a later date. If you haven't found this site already it would be worth having a look and putting it in your favorites folder there is a huge repository of knowledge from around the world of Jeeps here https://forums.g503.com/ some of the posts need a bit of filtering but it's well worth looking through the technical section particularity the engine and transmission rebuilding blogs that have been pinned at the top of the forum. Look forward to following your restoration blog Pete

If your' interested here's a link to a blog on a GPW I did a few years back click on the title and it will take you to it Pete

Looks like a good basis to start from, others have given you some sound advise there's plenty of good reliable help available on HMVF or a number of other very good jeep related sites if you haven't found them yet shout and I'll post some links for you. Suggest you start a restoration blog in the restoration section of this forum it will keep your project in one place and makes it easier for people to follow it and comment on. Pete

Yep, brake spring pliers Richard as 11th Armoured confirms. I bought these probably more than 35 years ago they are US military issue. Makes a difficult job both easy and safe for removing and/or replacing the brake return spring. This set has a flue machined into the bottom of one handle so that you can leaver the hook of the spring out of the hole in the hanger during removal. Pete

Well we’re still here in the Wild West despite gales and biblical amounts of rain, keeping dry was high on the agenda so it was shut the workshop door tight and get on with the D15. The last entry in the blog showed axles and back plates fitted since then I have honed the rear wheel cylinders and fitted new seals and pistons. The rear brake hangers and linings were in near new condition so they were reused and fitted after the anchor pins and adjusters were cleaned with the threads chased and greased with copper grease so that everything worked as it should. It was a different story with the front shoes these were worn and contaminated and the cylinders seized in the bores new linings and hangers and cylinders were obtained and fitted and again the anchors and adjusters were cleaned and greased before fitting. Next job was to clean and check the brake drums which were all good with no scoring or pitting and then clean and check inner and outer wheel bearings and races for each hub, everything checked out just fine so it was repack with new grease and fit onto the axles then fit the wheels and new tyres onto the hubs. To finish this phase of the restoration the steering box was cleaned, taken apart, checked for condition and once again found to have virtually no ware so it was painted and bolted onto the frame. Effort will now be switched back to the Retriever until the beginning of summer when work will focus on the cab. Pete

No I think your correct Wally but it means the requirement for petrol/ diesel will decline steadily towards that point then fall away rapidly as older cars are scraped, the result will be a situation where it quickly becomes commercially uneconomic to produce carbon fuels. Pete

Ah right I see what you are trying do sorry for all the previous blather then. I find matching RAL numbers a difficult and not very fulfilling exercise to be honest it should be easy these days but experience tells me it's not. Pete

The quick answer is by adding black this will always darken any base colour but you need only a tiny amount. The difficult bit comes when you want to alter the shade then it gets more complicated so if that's what you need to do I suggest you do a web search about how to go about that. I had a look at RAL 1019 on the screen but I can't decide if it's a light shade of grey/ beige or very light flat brown/green. The best thing to do is invest in some cheap plastic water colour pallet trays from your local art shop and buy some 5 ml and 1 ml polythene pipets of e-bay for a couple of £'s for 20 or so of each and experiment taking a careful note of the volumes of base colour to darken agent you use until you get what you are looking for then you can scale it up to the full size can. Word to wise at this point the top coat will be effected by the colour of the undercoat you are using so paint up a series of test strips with the same undercoat as the main job. Also when you do your final large scale mix do a larger volume than you think you'll need as it may prove difficult to rematch later on. Pete

Well done you I'm guessing it's a motor bike ?? don't forget to start a new restoration thread when your ready Pete

I'm very sorry to hear that you've decided you can't continue with your project. You certainly seemed to have the right driving force and an eye for detail, it is a sad fact however that cost and space are often a problem and defeat the best intentions. I hope you'll not give up on MV's completely and perhaps try something a bit less challenging to your circumstances for your next project I keep a look out for it here. Regards Pete

It is a shame but not uncommon I'm afraid, have a look on e-bay under the military vehicle parts sub section there are NoS parts from this project appearing on there recently, if your interested in particular items give the chap a shout you might be lucky Pete

Your last point Ian about lobbyists is something that has crossed my mind too. I have been surprised that in recent years at some of the bigger shows around the country we have not seen some placard waving going on at the gate with regard to how we are destroying the planet in the name of entertainment or some other equally misguiding notion when the real problem lies with expanding fossil fuel power generation in other countries and multi national companies who see no return in investing in alternative transport technologies. This is probably starting to stray into the political arena which has no part on a forum like this so I'll call it a day on this particular line of thought. Pete

Having just re read this thread I'm aware that I have gone off on something of a tangent from the original question posed by DFC1943Fl Lt which was as follows: My question is what will happen to all our military vehicles. Will this mean the end of our rallies to shows and the enjoyment of showing them off to the general public. Will we have to transport the vehicles everywhere. Will there be a concession brought in to allow us to still drive the MV's on the road. If not, there will be an awful lot of military vehicles for sale Fair question and one that is more complex to answer than at first glance. I think having thought about it a bit I'll give my perspective bearing in mind it is from observations and information available at this point in time, as others have noted the situation is now moving faster than anticipated. So to break your question down into digestible chunks : My question is what will happen to all our military vehicles?, I'm not sure, it is wholly dependent on the individuals motivation for owning them I suspect. People come in all shapes and sizes and so too are the reasons for owning and collecting MV's, is it a social thing? is it the historical aspect? could it be a family connection? or is it just for the pleasure of driving them or for the majority I suspect a combination of all those factors. So it will depend on the individuals primary motivation as to whether they sell up at a knock down price and move onto to something new or stick with it. Will this mean the end of our rallies to shows and the enjoyment of showing them off to the general public? Will there be a concession brought in to allow us to still drive the MV's on the road. . The point to bear in mind here is this impacts on all forms of classic and vintage road transport that uses the internal combustion engine it's not just us in the MV world it's the rows of shiny cars, vintage tractors, classic commercials and the motor bikes. Taken at face value the answer would have to be... 'yes that's it boys pack up and go home'..... but I think the movement as a whole is large enough to warrant small scale commercial interest in supplying fuel although for various reasons not necessarily in it's current form. Vintage transport shows still seem as popular with the ice cream licking public as ever they were so I would hope any Government would not take the unpopular step of turning it's back on this countries motoring history, although we live in strange times politically and perhaps the public would just slump onto the sofa and reach for the game boy or mobile phone instead. Will we have to transport the vehicles everywhere? That predisposes that you have an electric transport vehicle able to carry them which currently (pun not intended ) does not exist. If not, there will be an awful lot of military vehicles for sale , Yes and no, back really to my point at the top of this answer to you where I pose the question about the individuals motivation. Some will sell and move on others will convert to other forms of fuel and still others will shut the doors on their workshops and go in occasionally to sit in their beloved vehicle and smell the smells of canvas, oil and rubber and dream of the good old days. Will it impact the market values? probably I think is the answer to that one, does it matter? I suppose it does if your motivation is just to keep it as an appreciating asset. So there you go that's my take after 47 years of collecting and restoring MV's for what it's worth. A good thought provoking question that will effect younger collectors significantly and to which I don't think there are any definite answers currently, which neatly ties in with some of the other discussion I and several others have had at the expense of your original question. Pete .