Old Bill

On the subject of solid tyres, had you thought of using polyurethane? We had the rears on the Dennis made up by a polyurethane specialist who also does fork truck tyres. We took the rubber off the old bands and he simply moulded the material onto them before machining a suitable profile. They were surprisingly cheap and have proved to be quite acceptable. They are a bit shiny but have dulled down very quickly and are well worth considering. You are quite right. Dan is very fortunate! Steve :-)

I think that is a symptom of not having enough space! We can only get to one side of the engine. Fortunately, Father had the bright idea of putting it onto a wheeled trolley so that we can get it out and turn it around before putting it back inside. A lot of our work is carried out outside using a trailer as a bench! Other people's sheds are always fascinating! Steve :-)

Something seems to be starting here. No, there are no plans. However, I think it would be nice to do something special for centenary year and it is more fun in a crowd as there is always someone to get you out of trouble! Perhaps we should put out a few feelers to see if anyone else might be interested. Steve

Hi 'Cel! Great to see progress starting again! As far as piston rings are concerned I am sure that making some up would be nothing to a man of your calibre. I would take some SG iron hollow bar and turn the rings to size plus a little bit to allow for cutting. The diameter would be (Bore + (Cutter thickness divided by pi)). Cut through one side and spring the ring open by 10mm or so and wedge it with a piece of steel. Then heat the whole lot bright red and let it cool slowly. On removal of the steel, it will stay sprung. Alternatively, you could make them oversize, say 4mm, and then cut out a section Pi x 4mm and squeeze them into the bore. That would avoid any unwanted heat distortion. These work for models but I have not tried them for full size lorry rings! In your situation, I would use this chap: Clupet Piston Ring Co. Factory B. Solway Industrial Estate Maryport Cumbria CA15 8NF Contact: Mr. A.D. Smith Telephone: 01900 818 361 He is a one-man-band and extremely helpful to the likes of us. He has made rings for me and quite happy to make just one. His rings are unusual in that they go around twice with a dog-leg in the middle so there is no open joint at the ends. Goodness knows how he makes them! He runs them under a surface grinder as the last part of the process so they are flat, true and accurate. His prices are very fair too! Good luck! Steve

We haven't done 'Quads' (Nash and Jeffrey) yet. How about this one which lives somewhere in France? It is fitted with a US ammunition body. Steve

Switzerland might be a bit keen. How about the railway on the Somme or the Menin Gate if we can persuade someone to go with us? We aren't really very adventurous! Steve :-)

It's a real pain. The anvils are not irreplaceable as both were well used. However, now we don't have one and the replacement will cost! The last substantial metalworking job on the Dennis is to forge up the steps for the body sides and I was looking forward to having a go over Christmas. Now I am stymied! Steve :angry

About the right sort of size for Dan's Halley, perhaps? Steve

Hi Robert! We are so pleased that you have enjoyed it. After all, that is the whole object of the exercise! I have recently read it through again myself and the question that keeps occuring is 'Did we really do all of that?' My favourite part is that through this wonderful medium, our many friends here posted a running commentry of our trip to Brighton. It was like being followed by the BBC! Steve

Here! http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?13514-WW1-Thornycroft-restoration Progress should start moving again shortly. We seem to have spent the Summer catching up with all of the things we didn't do whilst trying to get the Dennis ready! Steve

Tim will confirm but up to 1915, military vehicles were painted grey with black lettering. I expect he will be able to find a photograph for you. Steve

The hook on the back suggests a Great War provenance. I have a contact in Ireland who is doing a Napier but his chassis has rotted out completely. I have just printed off the details and they will go in the post to him this afternoon. Let's hope that the chassis finds a good home. Steve

On the subject of FWDs, I picked this picture up many years ago. It show an example owned by the late Tom Redburn. It went out and about quite a bit and appeared in a number of movies. However, it disappeared about twenty years ago and has not been seen since. Does anyone know where it went? Steve

Yes, that is Graham Attwater's as shown here on page three of this thread, just above the Foden. He has done a very nice job on it but he has been unfortunate in running it. On his first Brighton, his magneto failed and on the second, he ran the big ends. We saw him set off this time determined to finish. He rolled off of his tender, bump starting it on the way and was off! We didn't see him again until we arrived about three hours after he did! Steve

At the time we painted the Autocar, we took some Brasso to a remaining patch of black paint on the Thornycroft chassis and found some original khaki green. This demonstrated that the Autocar is a very close match. Unfortunately, we have no direct evidence for the colour of a US army vehicle. We are also still keen to find out what colour the British used in Mesopotamia as we have yet to find any reference at all. We suspect that vehicles were shipped out khaki green but may have been repainted locally. Steve

Hi Matt and Niels. Many thanks for that one. No, we haven't tried it but it certainly looks worth pursuing. I wonder whether it might be used on the cylinder blocks as we can't get inside them at all? Very good for fragile parts I should think. Incidentally, does anyone have experience of using molasses in water as a de-rusting agent? It has been suggested to us by one of our Aussie friends and he swears by it! Finally, don't worry about hijacking the thread. The common factor is the lorry but any related side issues are always welcome. Anything to make the job easier is good! Steve

Isn't that the depot at Rouen just after the war? Tim knows, I am sure! Lots of nice Liberties in the front. Steve

I think that one goes into the second group of ex-military rebuilt for civilian use. I didn't know about that one and must add it to my master list. Than you for showing it! How about a few FWDs. Here is ours, rebuilt about ten years ago. Genuine ex-US Army of 1918, it spent its working life in France hauling circus trailers around up until 1970 when it was laid up in a scrapyard near Nice. After fourteen years there, it went through several owners until we got it and gave it a thorough overhaul. We also built a new body to the original USQMC pattern using drawings published in 'The Automobile' just after the war. Steve

That's an interesting one. Our American built Autocars and FWD are also right hand drive. We believe that with so little traffic around in the early years, they were more interested in avoiding the ditch than other vehicles! British built Foden steam wagons of the same era are left hand drive. The Americans seemed to go LHD from about 1920 onwards. Steve

Nice job. I wish I could weld like that! Steve

Well, the Dennis is now safely home again. We went up to the rally field to find the poor thing completely alone in a large empty field. It did look lost! After a top up of the water and a walk round, I gave it several winds but it didn't want to know. Whilst I was getting my breath back, we took the plugs out and gave them a good clean. They didn't look bad but the engine started instantly on the next try so I think our problems lie in that direction. For two days, the lorry has only been pottering around a field or sitting and idling, neither of which are good for combustion. The drive home was nice and Tim noted that we hit 22mph at one point. I am getting more confident now but managed to upset a tanker driver by pulling out in front of him very slowly. I had left the handbrake partly on and just could not move fast enough. He definately wasn't pleased but there was no real harm done. Today, I have been making up the headboard for the body and good progress is being made there. I really want to finish the job before getting stuck into the Thornycroft. Steve

Yes, the whole fleet, and I am shattered now! Dennis will come home again tomorrow. Steve :-D

Well, we are safely home although the Dennis is still in the rally field. As you have suggested, we are short of drivers. Our joiner friend, Mark, took charge of the civilian Autocar. He is a big lad and can't get into the FWD which is made for really quite small people. I am pretty ordinary size but certainly can't afford to put on any weight or I won't get behind the wheel myself! On the field, Tim took the other Autocar, Dad the Dennis and I had the FWD which was fine. I took the FWD up the day before with Tim driving tender in the Land Rover. Coming home, I again brought the FWD with Dad and Mark in the Autocars and Tim driving tender. Those three are safely in the shed and we will make another trip tomorrow to bring the Dennis home. Taking four lorries to a show is surprisingly hard work and I expect to sleep very well tonight! Starting has been a problem all round this weekend. The Autocar has simply stopped a couple of times and has had to be wound up again. FWD has been fine cold but once warmed up has taken a lot of effort. I stalled it reversing into the shed and it just would not go. We pushed it in the end. Dennis has been strange. I have moved the starting handle around the shaft by 90° to make it easier to swing and so, now, with some extreme effort, I can pull it over and keep it rotating by hand. Last weekend it started every time, more or less, and was fine yesterday to go to the show. Today, it has been awkward and it took a good few goes before it ran first thing this morning. As the day went on, sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't culminating in a refusal to go into the ring to receive the 'Best Military Vehicle' trophy. All very annoying. A reliable start is most desirable as I seem to have spent the day swinging big engines and am absolutely done in! I have taken the 'Slick' impulse starter that Dad found on Ebay and have made the adaptors to fit it to our spare mag. That is away being rebuilt at the moment but once it is back, I can set up the trigger-pin positions and we can see if it makes it any easier. Unfortunately, the original mag which is on the engine at the moment, doesn't have any mounting holes for an impulse device so for the time being, it is brute strength only. I am getting too old for this! Steve

That rope looks terrible! Must do something about that before we go! Steve

Nice pic. Pre-war I should think. Thanks for posting! Steve