Old Bill

That's useful information too. Thanks for your thoughts Chaps.

We have found a few hours to have a play. First job was to clear the decks and then put the crossmembers into place to see how they look. Makes it tall and wide!

I had forgotten to cut some steel for the rear braces so we started with them. Dad's bandsaw saves an awful lot of graft!

Drilled them through and bolted them up.

Ready to fit.

Under the rear cross-member is the corner gusset and rivets which I had forgotten.

A bit of hand work to make it fit properly.

Then a trial fit.

Notches were then cut to dodge the rivet heads.

The brackets were also notched to clear rivet heads and have been clamped into position ready to drill the chassis rails.

A job for tomorrow!

Steve🙂

Brilliant idea! I can get that locally too!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Steve  🎅

Hi Hedd.

Many thanks for that. As we have the chain completely in bits, we can make sure that every joint has grease put in it. I have a tin of grease, described as 'heavy grease' which is more like a block of lard that we picked up somewhere. That may be the one to use. I would have to use a knife as you can't smear it with your fingers! Looks like a good winter's evening job.

Just packing up to get on with the Christmas project. Hopefully, we can make a bit of progress towards our goal of being out next year.

Steve 🙂

Quite right Barry. It is easier and I am getting lazy!

I have heated up chains in semi-solid grease before but they were chains I could lift with one hand and they were put into a gallon tin with the side cut out. These things are monstrous so I need to make up a big pan to play the same trick. Thinking about it, the bottom of a 5 gallon oil drum might do the trick. I wonder if I can get 'Link Lyfe' on Amazon?

Steve  😁

We are getting close to a point where we are going to want to try the beast so our thoughts have turned to the drive chains. We have half a dozen chains in varying states of repair.

Dad started looking at them some time ago and got one of them sand blasted.

It cleaned up quite well but the sand is a bit brutal and, of course, all of the joints need to move so the sand will have got into them. Dad pickled another in the molasses barrel and that came up a treat.

A couple of them didn't look too bad so they were left alone.

As the joints were all seized or very stiff, we felt that every link should be taken apart so Tim started removing split pins.

I had a go too but I struggle to work on the ground these days and had to resort to the vice!

The pins just wouldn't come apart, even from the joints that were moving. Fortunately, you can see in the pic, that one link plate is marginally bigger then the other so I made a support plate to hold the links whilst I pressed them out.

This worked well and I soon had two boxes of bits.

Unfortunately, the chain showed signs of its former use with missing rollers and a broken pin.

The chain is put together with short tubes pressed into the side plates. The rollers run on the outside and the pin goes through the middle. Unfortunately, when I pressed them, I disturbed the tubes, pushing them slightly through the plate and pinching the roller in between.

Sorting them turned out to be quite straightforward and I just made a plug to tap the tubes back with the plate sitting on top of the vice jaws.

It worked well.

Eight missing rollers and a broken pin in one chain.

The solution looked simple. Take another chain and use a few links from there. Unfortunately for me, the third chain that I brought with me to press is of a slightly different pattern and the two plates are exactly the same size so my backing plate has nothing to push against. I can get some of the links apart but not enough to use as spares. Going through my photos, Dad has another chain of the original pattern so I can rob some from there. I must remember to bring it back with me after Christmas.

For the time being, each link needs a good wire brushing and lubricating before reassembly. Once we have 2x78 links they can go on the lorry. Christmas is going to be busy!

Steve    🙂

Now there's a question. They are all generally about four tons. However, with a winch, crane and recovery tools this could easily top five and a half. It doesn't help the performance!

Steve  😀

We have been getting ready for the Christmas project. The timber has just arrived.

Piles of the stuff!

Our chippy friend, Mark, has very kindly sourced and prepared it all. We just couldn't have done it ourselves.

Dad has been busily painting the ironwork in the mean time.

I have been drilling the rear body braces for bolting up.

These hefty pieces of ironwork go underneath the crane and would not appear on a normal GS waggon. We have just chosen to make life difficult for ourselves!

You need a good project at Christmas and we always make some serious progress over the break. I am looking forward to getting stuck in!

Steve   🙂

Thank you for the clarification. We have been having some discussion as to what it should be called. 'Front board', 'fire wall' and 'scuttle' have all been considerations. 'Dash board' seems to work quite well and preventing one from being 'pebble dashed' is very logical. There is always something to learn here!

Steve

I cut off some of the steel angle to make the side braces which are 90° bends. They were probably forged around but my blacksmithing skills are not up to that so I elected to cut and bend the angle before welding a gusset back in. First job was to makke a slot at the bend.

Then out into the forge one dark, wet night and I bent them around, hot, with the assistance of my bending block.

Then I welded some pieces into the corner. This was the best example of my welding. As you know that is a skill I have yet to master....

Some work with the angle grinder and I have six acceptable angles.

The tailboard is secured to some bent flats at the back of the body.

These are the tailboard catches which I proceeded to weld into position.

I am not showing my welding of these. Suffice to say, the angle grinder and Isopon filler are very much my friends with this type of job!

All ready for paint.

The body is coming to the top of the pile of things to do. The timber is on order and we hope to make a start over Christmas.

Steve   🙂

We had a nice time over the weekend. ad has been painting the dash board and the time has come to fit it.

We carefully manhandled it in without scratching it.

And then bolted it to the braces using some coach bolts previously cut down by Dad.

Looking good!

I made up an adaptor and pressure tested my oil relief valve. It cracked at around 5psi which I deem to be perfect. A very lucky guess with the spring!

Then we fitted it.

It was something of an intelligence test as the elbows all foul each other and it would only go together in a very specific order. Pleased with the result though.

We then drilled through the new brace to fit the throttle pedal and floor support casting. It really is a weird pedal but exactly correct.

Dad has had a load of steel for the bodywork delivered.

He has also had the front corner braces cut and bent.

He has drilled and painted these and they are ready for fitting.

He has also picked up the back plates for the side braces laser which were cut with the help of our friend John for which many thanks. The square holes are to accept the heads of the coach bolts.

These pieces are parts of the tailboard hinges and the main hood bows, ready for when we get around to them.

Something else we have been puzzling over is how the bump stop springs are attached to the rear axle beam. Well, it suddenly became obvious when we spotted these rather rotted bits.

The springs are clamped to the axle with some bent hooks. Father made up some replacement clamp plates

And bent up some new hooks.

Simple in the end!

The hooks just need trimming to length.

Another tick in the box!

Steve  🙂

I have told the story of how we came to acquire the fuel tank a while back. Dad has painted it and I have overhauled the tap and the time has come to install it. Dad has bought some screws of the correct length so these were fitted and finally tightened.

Dad had made the tank mounting straps some time ago and turned up the pins. I glued some rubber to them and then they were fitted.

A nice new gasket and the tap was fitted.

A rare event! We pushed the chassis outside in order to get the tank under the chain block. It isn't heavy but there is no hand space around it inside the seat box so we had to drop it in with a rope.

It does look nice in daylight!

Tim steadied whilst I pulled the chain.

The top straps were then placed on top and the pins wangled in. Getting the split pins in was difficult, however!

Once the tank had been secured, I trial fitted my new tap handle. Fortunately, I got the length just right!

Another tick in the box!

Now I must puzzle out the pipe routing.

Steve    🙂

Another item that has been simmering for a while is the change speed mechanism. I measured up the selector rods and Dad turned them up. 3/4" diameter with a 7/16x20 LH male thread on one end and female RH on the other.

An adjuster sleeve goes on the LH thread end with a RH thread on the end of the selector forks allowing the sleeve to be turned to set the length. Unfortunately, the sleeve bound up on Dad's new threads. In the end, we decided that the pitch was out. Dad had cut the threads with a die and on a long thread the slight inaccuracy was cumulative to the point where it wouldn't function.

To get over this, I screw-cut some LH studding which I finshed off with the die. The screw cutting set the pitch and the die just followed it but gave the thread some form.

I cut the old ends off and drilled and tapped the rods before screwing the new stud into place with some Loctite.

Then we just trimmed them to length.

Then we installed them. That was a bit of a performance! If I had designed the sleeves, I would have made them from a bit of hex so that I could turn them easily, Unfortunately, Peerless made them round!

The selectors located nicely and we have a functioning gear-shift!

Dad will have to get his paint brush out!

Steve   🙂

Hi Barry.

The lube system was a puzzle to me too! The engine is splash lubricated and the pump and sight glasses just provide a top-up function. The other oddity is that the sump is divided into two so there is a front sump and a rear sump, hence the two glasses. The engine drives a piston pump through a worm off the cam shaft so it is quite slow. It feeds a gallery at the top of the sight feed which is connected to both metering valves and the relief valve. If there is an excess of oil, then the relief valve opens and lets the oil return to tank.

Once the dash is finally fitted, I will mount the sight feed permanently and then plumb it in.

More jewelry!

Steve

Hi Alistair.

The planks were 12" wide and have been brought down to a finished thickness of 7/8". I have not yet seen the bill!

Cheers!

Steve

Well, it has been some time since we posted anything which looks like we aren't doing anything. Well life has had a few excitements recently but we have still done a bit. I have drawn up the bodywork and the timber is on order and the steelwork stored away. We plan to have a blitz on the body over Christmas. In the mean time, I have finished off the oilers.

The elbows that I bought were slightly longer than the originals and fouled when I screwed them in so I had to make two of the stub tubes longer than the others. Always something! Then I set about the pressure relief valves with some eccentric turning.

I sketched these up from the parts book and photos and the springs were in the drawer. I have yet to calibrate them though.

The whole assembly is quite a lump!

Mark has finished off the dash panel. It is made from Sapele and is beautiful. Far too nice to paint.

Dad has brought it up to the first top coat and we have had a trial fit. It really gives the lorry some size and allows us to do a lot of other bits.

It should have a half-round edging and we made this from aluminium. We bent it before drilling all the screw holes and it went surprisingly well.

We first pulled it around by hand.

And then found a bearing of about the right size to get the radius just so before drilling.

Another trial fit and a chance to set up and drill the floor panels that Dad has been painting.

The bonnet rest in position set the location for the oiler.

The floor panels in position and drilled through.

The panel has been removed for finish painting and we are looking at other bits.

More shortly!

Steve  🙂

Back on the exhaust system! A pal has kindly welded the extension onto the end.

And dad has given it a coat of black.

I bought a small sheet of 'exhaust gasket' and cut some joints.

And it fitted! Another lump ticked off.

Dad had painted the floor support angle so I drilled the seat box and fitted it. However, as you can see, it came out with the underside of the floor lower that the change shaft.

I did quite a bit of head scratching and cursing and then today re-drilled it higher up.

It has all worked out OK and you can't see the spare holes but it was very annoying.

Mark, our chippy, has started on the bulkhead panel. He managed to find 12" planks of hardwood somewhere and has tongue and grooved them together. It didn't faze him at all in the end!

Once that panel is done, it will set the floor position, pedals and bonnet so it is a key item. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Steve    🙂

Thanks for that Chaps. All good tips. I liked the way of getting localised heat into the score using a heated glass rod. I could do that with the propane. Otherwise, oxy acetylene seems to be the tool which, of course, I don't have. I have cut all the glass I need to for the time being but it is good to have some more tools in the box!

Steve  🙂

The glass tube I have used is really quite thick in comparison with its diameter which I don't think helps.

I had thought of heat but couldn't see how to apply it as the propane flame is very big. I hadn't thought of the glass rod to put really localised heat in so that might well be worth a try. Thanks for the clip. I hadn't found that particular one.

Another skill I didn't know that I needed!

Steve  🙂

17 hours ago, Asciidv said:

They look lovely! What a super job!

Thanks Barry!

I have had a few days off and have spent the time between drawing up the bodywork and making some oil sight feeds. in our wanderings, we have found that there is a twin oil sight feed on the dash like this one on the Banfield example.

The top left is the feed from the pump and the top right, the pressure relief valve. The two lower fittings each feed one sump. The rate should be four drops each per revolution of the pump.

We had nothing original but were fortunate to be able to see how it works in the manual and have the opportunity to measure up the one at Bovington. First job was to find some bronze. We have had an octagonal lump in the drawer for many years. Using it was a bit wasteful of bronze but we did have it already and so decided to use it up.

Squared up.

Then drill and tap all the holes. NPT and UNEF this time!

Then just set about them with the mill.

That was the mill work completed and they remained to be finished by hand.

First the cross ole was plugged up by screwing in a bit of rod with some Loctite.

Then quite a lot of file work, just going at them until they looked about right.

The glands were mosly a turning job.

As were the gland nuts.

The spindles are turned from stainless with knurled knobs silver soldered onto the top.

Not sure what the orifice plates are made of. The material was in my bronze drawer but they are a funny colour!

Then I came to the glass tube and this was my biggest headache. I had been given some water gauge tubes but had the challenge of cutting them. As they sit between rubber washers, the ends need to be reasonably flat. I saw this tube cutter advertised and thought it worth a go.

I scribed all round and snapped the tube but I kept getting jagged ends.

I then invested in a cheap diamond disc and set it up in the lathe.

I should have bought the expensive Dremel disc as this one wouldn't cut it and was very unbalanced. Frustrating!

In the end, I used an ordinary cutting disc in the same set-up. It was very slow but gave me some lengths good enough to use. if anyone can recommend a better way of doing it then I should be pleased to hear it!

I punched out some rubber washers.

Dropped the tube in wath a washer on the top followed by the nozzle plate fitted with an O-ring.

Then the gland on the top with a short spring to hold the nozzle plate hard against the tube.

A bit of graphited yarn packing in the nut.

It works!

And then there were two.

I have made two so that we have one in stock for the second Peerless. Next job is to do the fittings on the back.

Steve   🙂

Wonderful find!

Steve    😁

The Chippy says he will do it!

In the mean time, another puzzle. This rather odd casting has been in the pile of bits for a while, defying identification.

I have at last realised that it is part of the floor and carries the throttle pedal

The throttle pedal is quite unconventional, however!

We don't have one so time to make one up. This piece of steel came out of an office I worked in over 25 years ago. I knew it would come in handy one day!

A bit of filing to give it some finish.

A new pivot pin.

And we have a throttle pedal.

Another job ticked off!

Steve     🙂

I have been down to Devon and had a chance to play further with the exhaust pipe. First job was to cut the rotten end off.

dad had some 3" tube in stock to replace it.

Then a trial fit but it really didn't look right!

We took the silencer off and rotated the end and it looked a whole lot better, especially with the replacement end in place.

That has gone off for welding now.

Whilst looking through our photo collection, i turned up this one of the Sandstone Estates lorry before they did very much to it. I reckon that dash board is original and appears to be two very wide verticals with horizontal pieces between.

They have replaced it in very similar fashion so that is what we will do.

Decision made!

Steve 🙂

I hadn't thought of that one. I am going to have a closer look at the two original planks we have and have a word with our chippy to see what he can do for us. It is becoming an imminent requirement!

I have been giving the exhaust pipe some thought recently. Dad cleaned up and painted the manifold some time ago and it is currently loosely hung on the engine.

The pipe itself is the next obvious part. We have an original which is salvageable.

It has had some interesting repairs in the past. This is a bronze fire hose coupling!

A sheet steel patch has been wrapped around the end.

That is due for some attention but another day.

The other end is also looking a bit ragged.

It was a flare on the tube end, trapped by the cast flange.

Dad gave it a clean but it has seen better days and needs replacing.

It could do with a chunk of steel clamped around the 3" dia tube but I didn't have anything big enough in stock and so settled for a piece of 5/16" plate with some timber to back it up.

My efforts at trepanning the centre did not go well!

Once I had bored the hole and given it a radius, I drilled a 3" hole in a piece of timber and cut it in half.

I squared up the end of the tube and normalised it by heating to red hot and allowing it to air-cool. Hopefully that relieved some of the stresses and reduced the chance of it cracking further.

I clamped the flanging block around it.

Then it was just a case of tapping the tube outwards a little at a time .

Ten minutes later it was done!

I am very pleased with the outcome although one crack which was already in it did extend. That can be welded up another day.

A perfect fit (more by luck than judgement!).

The last step is to replace the other end. Dad has picked up a piece of tube so I will trim the end back and he can have it welded on.

It will be nice to fit that and get it off the floor!

Steve   🙂