Pete Ashby

Very nice indeed, particularly like the shots out in the desert, looks very authentic as the gun motor carriage first saw action in North Africa I believe ? Pete

Hoppy as you can see, ask a question and get a multitude of answers which can seem to contradict and confuse your original question. The fact is there are sometimes a number of ways of doing a job or several answers to a problem, some better than others, some more expensive, some more time consuming and some dependant on conditions of use. None give you a definitive answer and I'm afraid it can be an elusive beast to track down so I suggest you take on board all the comments you get from questions asked on forums such as this perhaps ask the same question of one of the many vintage forums on the web and compare the answers in other words see if there is a consensus, read the manual or advert blurb (in the case of a product) then apply some common sense. Never be afraid to ask the question in the first place... and then have a go.....it's the only way to gain experience. Pete

At the end of the day you can use what ever you want. The different sealants on the market all have pros and cons but in nearly 40 years I to say I have never put sealant on on a head gasket, providing both surfaces are decked correctly it should not be needed and can cause problems when torquing down the head. As for the use of silicone I agree with you it can look awful, however if used sparingly and a good quality purpose made product (not BQ cheap trade bath sealant as I have seen used) is used you won't know the difference. I do hold my hand up to using exhaust paste on six cylinder exhaust manifolds but only as a get you home from tour bodge. Pete

Deadline is absolutely right this isn't a rope around the shoulders job :shocked: you'll end up being pulled through the floor plate the weight distribution is not even. I've done it with a trolley jack, ratchet strap and small engine hoist it gives you the ability to move the box back out of the clutch hub while taking the weight on the hoist then lower away and pull out from underneath Pete

Yes it should be copper but some times you'll find that has been replaced with a fibre washer don't put any gasket sealant on that it also should be fitted dry. Pete

Morris straight 30 is very good it's what I use in both shell and cast bearings and it's used through out the vintage world. Having said that good quality modern oils are far superior in terms of viscosity stabilisation to anything that was available 70 years ago so I suspect as long as its a recognised brand it will do fine, stay away from detergent oils and anything that is recycled. Pete

You need to replace all the removed gaskets with new ones. As for sealants, use either good quality silicon sealant or red hermatite or blue hylamar on both surfaces with the exception of the following, exhaust/inlet manifold to block and head to block these should be fitted dry. Pete

Been trying to source a pair of new 9 leaf front springs for a GPW in the UK without any success any one have any suggestions I've tried the normal sources. I'm not fussed if their are Ford or Willys rebound clips. I keep being offered Indian made springs that are not the same profile as the originals and have very different rebound clips. Does anyone have any experience of using this type of spring in terms of fit and road handling, I can change the rebound clips if need be but I'm more interested in the performance of the spring in terms of road handling and ride. Thanks Pete

To put your question into perspective a brand new split rim is £120 currently Pete

Agree whole heartedly Ray......... it's down to us...... those of us who operate larger trucks should always have been aware that the buck stops with us. When plod pulls you over the first place you will be going to is a ministry test station and woe betide you if you are not road legal. The move to include pre 60s regardless of weight is a very positive one for the preservation movement as a whole. Its up to us as individuals to step up to the mark and police ourselves. Clubs also need to play a part in making the basic requirements clear to members and taking action if breaches are found to be happening. Pete

Hello Gordon No the WK60 still forms part of the to do fleet in David's workshop. He has most of the small parts cleaned and painted and stored away and has been slowly collecting some of the hard to find bits and pieces. He is at the stage now where some major investment is required in both time and cash to rebuild the major mechanical units. As he's getting married this year he's a bit short of both commodities at the moment, there is also the little matter of the C30, C15A, GuyFBX, and James all making demands on time and money I think we are all the same........ to many projects not enough time or money. Pete

This for once is victory for common sense......... we need to ensure that this right is not abused it's up to us chaps. Pete

looking very nice Rob, your putting me to shame with the rate of progress. regards to Father Pete

1 gallon MoD oil tin with a copper pipe soldered into the bottom corner with a union nipple and nut on the other end connected to a turn tap with a short spout then a length of re-enforced PVC to the carb and bit of binder string round the handle to hang it up on a handy nail.........works for me. Pete

Thank you , The contract card states it was bodied for a search light which would have included a PTO generator which never appears to have been fitted. At this point in the war contract cards can be misleading as the need for trucks of any sort was desperate so I am not sure what type of body it had. By the time I saved it from the cutting torch the body was long gone. I intended to build a replica machinery type 3 body as I have all the measurements and drawings for this type of body. I should say that this truck will probably win the prize for the longest ever restoration as I keep starting and stopping as other restoration projects come along. I bought the truck from a scrap yard in Leeds in 1991 so you can see that progress is not staggering although it is an ‘every nut and bolt’ job with a lot of the parts and fitting having to be made from drawings and photographs. Most of the mechanical work is now complete and all of the cab has been rebuilt along with the frame so things are moving in the right direction. I keep thinking I should start a restoration blog for it if I get some time in the next few weeks I’ll see what I can do. Work has stopped again as the workshop is currently full of jeep bits all needing putting back together, but by the end of the summer I should be back to the Leyland. Regards Pete

Chris The Mk 1 Hippo was indeed in use 1939/40 as a long haul 10 ton primary load carrier with open cab configuration although the prototype submitted by Leyland had the standard commercial closed cab of the day powered by Leylands very successful 6 cylinder commercial oil engine The Retriever came out a desire to uprate the the Army's range of 2 ton load carries to 3 ton in the early 1930's in the case of Leyland the Terrier had been used as stop gap. The MoD went to the main truck manufactures of the day with some basic requirements with regard to performance and capabilities and asked for submissions. Leyland came up with the Retriever, as with all things concerning Government bodies they thought they new best and rejected Leylands offer of the option of the well tried 6 cyl oil or 6 cyl petrol with conventional ignition and decided on a 4 cyl magneto petrol engine that was out of date even in the mid 1930's. It would appear the first Retrivers started to go into service around 1937 although I have seen some contract information that would suggest 1938 was the first order delivery. My truck was ordered under contract V 3929 and has build date of May 1940 there were in the order of 6500 trucks of all variants produced with the last contracts placed in November 1941. Through out the build period minor changes occurred most notably in the cab area and spare wheel arrangement. Three types of radiator were fitted 'commercial', 'bus' and finally the much smaller and to my mind ugly so called 'scammel' variant. The MoD relented eventually with regard to the magneto ignition system and later versions were fitted with conventional distribution systems some of the earlier ones being field converted either while still in service or after demob. They are altogether excellent trucks very much along the lines of 'hand built' with quality parts and excellent engineering all be it admittedly dated even by the standards of the day. To my mind they represent the last of this type of vehicle construction, even after 72 years 30 years of which was under a sheet in a scrap yard parts can be disassembled cleaned and reused.......... quality. here are couple of pictures of mine as found and under restoration Pete

That is one nice truck and looks to be fairly complete, in the e bay link note the early speedo in the dash shot, I also like the guy in the photo he looks like he should be from Zee Zee Top...... probably showing my age now and taste in music..... sorry Pete

This is a tricky area, I had a case recently where a potential buyer contacted me form Italy full of effusive praise for a truck I was selling and offering top price with no negotiation.......... so far so good, but then as the deal unfolded he wanted my bank details so that he could transfer a hefty deposit (he suggested the figure well above the 10% I expect) into my account. Now comes the deal breaker he would then send a carrier to pick up the truck and on the same day someone unspecified but not the guy I had been dealing with would pay the balance plus 15% extra into my account I had to then transfer the 15% to the first guy as a finders fee. Obviously this was a real no no, so I told the gentleman to 'go away' and put it down to a one off poorly executed bad scam I mentioned the approach to someone I know in the banking world and they said that this was a common ploy used by money launders and in fact not only does the 15% go but a little while latter the rest of your account could follow it. There is a sequel to this story a week or two latter another collector contacted me who was selling another truck and asked me if I had been approached by the same man claiming dealing with me as by way of justification. Was he for real ? and just on the make or was he a scammer I don't know. My wife has been the victim of identity fraud in a case that is still under investigation so I am very wary of anyone I don't know on the web...... If you don't know them or you don't know someone who knows them be aware is the watchword !! Pete

Your right about the truck being a Retriever but not a Hippo, that's a different truck altogether. The truck in your pictures is from the last production run of Retrievers in 1941, late style 'Scammel' radiator and solid sides to the cab. Nice truck and looks a fair start to a good project, nice find. Pete

Dave I think you may find that WLW2 was the classification for 'Machinery House Type' there was a body like this for sale on Milweb recently I think it was in Belgium and seemed to look fairly complete. This type of body was used for light repair instrument and electrical units ect, I have only ever come across one similar body about thirty years ago it had been used as a shed on a market garden and was completely derelict. Pete

Hello Simon everything out of the factory would be sprayed post war Deep Bronze Green. As the Champ was not in service for very long my guess is that there would not be a lot of field repainting going on, the few unrestored Champs that I have come across seem to have only the factory coat. Unlike for example Land Rovers that seem to have had endless coats of hand painted gloop ladled on by bored and disgruntled Janger Wallas. There are a number of Champ owners on here so they will be able to give chapter and verse. Pete

Vulture read through this thread some of the discussion is relevant to your question http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?30857-Jeep-conversion-to-12v-(I-finally-got-fed-up-with-6v-!!). Listening to your video clip the cranking speed does sound a little slow to me. I think I can hear the motor stalling as it comes up on compression for each cylinder, this could be due to a whole heap of issues as you will see in the thread above. If you are certain that your feed and earth are up to standard I would start to look at the starter motor bushes and bearings. Worn bearings and or bushes can produce that stalling effect as the cylinder compression builds the torque on motor shaft increases. Worn bushes/bearings will then let the shaft twist this has the effect of pulling the starter dog deeper into mesh with the ring gear and in effect stalls the motor. I am assuming that you are sure your static engine timing is correct by the way. Pete

Thanks for posting this, is there any information on who made the film?, I'm guessing it was unofficial? very rare to find such comprehensive coverage. It occurs to me that the footage taken from a vehicle travelling around the village and countryside cries out for a comparison then and now sequence to be shot. Pete

From your description the truck would have a build date of 1944/45 Pete

Thanks for looking Rick, 750x16 is all I seem to be able to find, odd not so long ago there was no problem. Wish I hadn't cleared out a load of old flaps I had hanging in the store for years, bit rust stained but would have done a turn. There's a moral there I suppose !, anyone else got any leads on 60x16 tube flaps? Regards Pete