Old Bill

Rollforming sounds interesting. How would that work? I think of it as a progressive folding process for producing long, two dimensional sections such as gutters and haven't seen it produce cylindrical items. I'll try anything which gives me the results I want! Yes, annealing is essential and if anything, I do it too much. In the clip above (Thanks Chopa!) the spinner carries out a tremendous amount of forming in one hit whereas I tend to remove the part, re-anneal it and then put it back for another go. My concern about getting the piece off the mandrel is that I want to remove it, anneal it and put it back a number of times. The difficulty is that it is parallel and has to slide the whole way along the mandrel. The split mandrel in the clip above is tapered two ways so once loosened, the part comes off. I could make the mandrel out of aluminium which would prevent the brass from getting a grip but I don't want to go to that much trouble. A nice piece of oak or mahogany will do the job well, as long as I can get the thing off! Waxing the block and then gently warming the brass sounds like quite a nice approach. Incidentally, what is 'Spelching'. I've not heard that one before and my dictionary isn't being very helpful either! Cheers! Steve

Thanks Jake. I must admit that it desn't look a good solution. It is how they were made though so I must try it first. The worst that could happen is that the nut backs off and takes the load off the ball race making the steering very stiff so I should soon notice it! No doubt time will tell. Very pleased to hear that you are enjoying this. It is the only reason for doing it after all! Steve

That is a good thought and should work well on a wooden former. I'll try it! Steve

Hi Ian. This lorry, like so many others of the period, had a speed-limiting governor. With experienced drivers so rare at this time, there was a tendency to see how fast the vehicle would go by holding the foot down until something broke! Governors were fitted to prevent this and should limit the vehicle to about 14mph. Our engine was missing the governor so we made up a replacement (page 61 onwards). It works by bob-weights swinging out against springs and actuating a butterfly in the inlet manifold to throttle the mixture and limit the speed. From a driving point of view, I don't want that function. It's bad enough driving in modern traffic without sudden unexpected reductions in power output so we have put everything back just to make it look right. If some future owner, many years hence, wishes to have it, the butterfly can simply be fitted once again. Cheers! Steve

I think that is the most likely reason. The grease would come out the sides as the stauffer was screwed down. On that front, I shall screw in a Tecalemit grease point and prime it with a gun before fitting the stauffer. Much less messy! Steve

Yes, that is an option. A second string to my bow I think. I like a bit of a challenge as you might have guessed, and would like it in one piece if I can. I have never had the opportunity to talk to a spinner but I am sure there is one on this forum somewhere who can tell me how to do it! Steve

Quite right. I don't want anything to limit how fast I drive! Steve

It appears to be a deep drawing like a cartridge case. I will have to spin it, however. It is about 4" tall and parallel so getting it off the hardwood chuck will be tricky. Any suggestions would be welcome! Steve

One of our great finds at the Banfield auction last year was an inlet manifold complete with governor section. The tube and spindle were there but the butterfly was missing and the spindle was well-corroded in. We decided that we would like to fit it and connect up all of the linkage but would not put the actual butterfly back so it would only be for show. First job was to get the spindle out. This was done with some heat and persistent knocking with a mallet. Hit it one way and then another and then back once again, Eventually, it began to move and after a liberal application of Plus-Gas, it eventually came out. A stiff wire brushing revealed that it was a much more complex component than expected with a flat, oil grooves a split pin hole and a line across the end to indicate the butterfly position. It was a nice turning exercise in mild steel. A new 3/16" BSW nut was turned up to complete the components. Another part ready to fit.

None but the very best!

Speed Merchant!

The main ram in the ground is safe but if it froze, then the table would simply lift. The tank is cast iron so the last job today was to syphon the water out. The press itself is a wonderful piece of equipment of 1915 origin. Exactly the right tool for the job! Steve

Quite right David! Yes, I partially drilled the boss the pipe size but just went through with 1/8". A copper rivet dropped down the hole located in a similar hole in the main body. You can just see it at the top in the centre. After cleaning up, it was simply a case of putting the drill right through. The parts would have balanced but would undoubtably have moved just enough to be annoying! Steve

I have been doing a bit of work on the oil pipes this week. We are fortunate in that they have, in the main, survived although they are a bit battered. Father has a die nut which I ran over the threads which came up well. However, the short extension pipes were rather beyond hope and we determined to replace them. The end one had had an interesting repair in that it had been wire wrapped at some time and then sealed with solder. I un-soldered the stubs and then annealed the main tube before just straightening it in my fingers and giving it a good clean up. The tube is half-inch and quite heavy in section. Fortunately, we had a short length which had come with the Dennis so I straightened that and cut some short lengths to replace the originals. I sweated these in using solder paint. This is wonderful stuff to get the solder right into the joint. Rather expensive but well worth it. We need two more union nuts so, rather rashly, I bought a set of 5/8" BSP taps and a die. They will always come again and there is such joy to be gained in using brand new taps in brass! Finally, there was a rather fancy Tee to be made. The orignals were castings but I just fabricated ours using silver solder. Finally, a set of parts ready to assemble. I will cut and bend the pipework to fit on the job the next time I am in Devon. Governor next!

I stand corrected. I always understood that 20mph was the limit for two-wheel brakes. One lives and learns! Steve

Of course, there is a blanket legal speed limit for solid tyres of 12mph anyway! Steve

I have just had a quick Google looking for fork truck tyre ratings. Haven't turned anything up yet and will look some more but generally, they have a load/speed/distance index. Fork truck tyres are often very heavily loaded but only go short distances and not that fast. Our wheels are about twice as big so we can go twice as fast for the same rating. Also, we are not loading them quite as heavily as all of our vehicles run around unladen. The Dennis is four tons unladen so I expect the fronts are carrying up to a ton each. Your Garrett must be about two tons on each tyre but they are twice as wide. I expect you would be running at the top end of the rating but will get away with it. I'll see what else I can find. Good luck! Steve

If it is the one I think it is, it was used to carry a piece of grain processing equipment, a huller or a winnower, and spent most of the year in a barn, only being brought out for the harvest. It is in wonderful condition with little wear and deserves to be back on the road. Steve

Actually it does look like an original repair. One of our gearboxes has something very similar but not quite so neat! Whatever you call it, the Dremel is a very useful tool for this kind of thing! Keep up the good work. It is great to see how someone else does it and we are all looking forward to seeing it on the road. Steve

Thanks Hedd. It looks nice at the moment but it will go off soon enough once we start it! Yes, we do machine the heads. Once the lathe is set up and the toolpost positioned, it takes only a moment to skim them. You can rattle through a jar of 100 in no time. We did file a few at first but the bolts still looked as if someone had filed them rather than that they might have been made that way. The king pin slot is an interesting one. The Dremel would do it. At the moment, I am thinking of taking an old end mill ( with four flutes) and deliberately blunting the side edges before gently feeding it down the hole in a pistol drill. The blunted edges should reduce how much it wanders and the multiple cutting edges should reduce the opportunity for it to 'grab' and break. Once through, I can use an expanding reamer to clean it up and then turn up a fitted pin to drive in. I think the originals failed because the pins did not fit tightly enough allowing the king pin to fret. That is the theory anyway! I should be pleased to hear any more suggestions. I turned up the king pin spacing collars this afternoon ready to be fitted the next time I am in Devon. Steve

Difficult to see but I would suggest that the axle is from an Eagle trailer or similar. Steve

Christmas is a great time for doing things and also for seeing family and old friends. We have spent a bit too much time doing the latter and, what with returning to work yesterday, progress has not been as fast as we would have liked, However, with a deadline of May 2018, we are not panicking yet! We have done a little more. Here is the missing photo of the inlet manifold, now installed. We wanted to get the front axle installed complete with stub axles. We had previously hung the axle roughly in place to see how it fitted but had not finally secured it. First task was to trim the bolts to length, machine the letters from the top and drill for the split pins. The rhs was fine but, of course, the other side would not give in without a fight. It took a lot of leverage, jacking and judicious use of G-clamps before the bolts would go through the holes. Success at last and all pinned up. We also split pinned the shackle pins at the same time to prevent them from being forgotten. We looked at fitting the stub axles but found that the locking pin slots are not correctly positioned and the king pins need to be lowered by 1/4" as well. We couldn't resolve those in the time available but two collars are to be turned up to space the pins downwards slightly before new slots are cut. Cutting the locking slots is going to be tricky. The king pins are secured by a 7/16" dia round pin, driven through the axle, half in the axle and half in the king pin. The holes in the axle are already there so a drill fed into the hole will only be cutting on the side where it hits the king pin. It sounds like a recipe for a broken drill but we shall see. When we fitted the repaired water pump, everything was fine until the nuts were nipped up which held the two castings together. There is a bearing in each and obviously, they are not quite perfectly in line so the shaft tightend up. To relieve this, I used one of last year's Christmas presents to open up the bush slightly. This is an expanding reamer. A bolt down the centre can be used to spread it just a couple of thou and it made all the difference Once that had been sorted, it became obvious that there was far too much end-float in the shaft and the bearing can be seen protruding by 3/16" To alleviate this, two washers were made up to take up the slack and the shoulder on the spindle was machined back by 1/8" to reduce the distance between the bearings. These all worked well and the pump is now finally fitted, complete with it's greaser and the screw to lock the gland nut. We even hung the fan on temporarily to see how it looked. It still needs cleaning up. Happy New Year everyone. I am off outside to turn up some king pin collars! Steve

I think you are right Ben. Judging by the amount of effort Father put into lining, rebuilding and sealing our radiator and the fact that it still leaks like a sieve, don't waste your time. New castings are the only option. The top tank does make quite a nice ornament in the living room though! Happy New Year! Steve

We have had a nice day today although I have managed to lose a couple of early photos. To start with, the inlet manifold was hung. The gaskets had been prepared some time ago so after cleaning up the studs with a die nut yesterday, it was quite simple to mount the manifold. Each stud was coated with graphited grease to ease dismantling at some future date. I have lost the final picture of this but the manifold is now fitted and ready to carry the governor and carburettor when they have been overhauled. The next job was to fit the exhaust manifold, again using gaskets which had been cut and were in stock. Unfortunately, two of the studs which we had replaced were a bit crooked due to the remnants of the original studs still being present. These were dug out, the studs replaced and the manifold finally secured. The next task was to hang the rear springs. Father has spent many an hour turning up new shackle pins and bushing the springs as well as painting them so now was the moment of truth. First task was to remove the pins. The pins were oiled and the rear shackle was fitted. Then, using Father's lifting table to raise the 150lb spring, the first pin was fitted. The lifting table and engine crane we have are worth their weight in gold and were very good investments. The table made this job very easy to control the alignment and there was no temptation to feel inside the bush with one's fingers. This is most definately not a good idea as one slip results in the trimming of one's fingers! Something to avoid. The pin was rotated to bring the feather into line with the slot and the nut was fitted to the back to secure it all in place. One down and one to go. The left hand side was approached in exactly the same manner. Both rear springs are finally hung on the chassis and there is space to walk around the front of the chassis once again! The next two tasks are to finally fit the water pump to the engine and to install the front axle with stub axles fitted as well.

Progress has been a bit slow today but we have done some more. The first part was to fit the timing case cover. A bead of silicone gasket and it went on perfectly. However, the bolts were a real fight. Firstly they had to be cleaned up and then they were found to be too tight so each had a die nut run over it. Eventually, they all went in and the case was closed up. At this point it was noticed that the three fasteners for the crank seal bush which is a white metal casting, were odd. Hex screws had been fitted in the past but they should really be cheese head screws so I shall have to make some up in due course. The next item to fit was the oil pump assembly. This had been in the cupboard for some months awaiting installation. The later style pump that we have is mounted low down on the sump with a skew gear and shaft drive taken from a slot in the end of the camshaft. The early pattern pump had been mounted directly onto the end of the camshaft and required priming each morning which drivers were inclined to forget to do. This was a fight to fit again due to small misalignments and it took considerable time easing holes and adjusting bolts. Eventually, it went and all was well. The oil pipe was found and cleaned up before fitting and we finished the day with it all looking very pretty. Tomorrow, we will make a start fitting the manifolds.