Old Bill

As Father says, we need categories to answer this one. Tim (AKA 'Great War Truck') and I have made a list of all (well, as many as we can trace!) of the surviving solid tyred commercial vehicles up to 1918 which exist or are rumoured to exist in the UK. Off the top of my head, there are of the order of 100. They can be sub-divided into military and civilian vehicles and sorted by current state. For example, there is a very nice McCurd van painted in Tate Sugars livery. This has always been a civilian vehicle but McCurd did make some for the military. Our Dennis is restored as a Subsidy 'A' class lorry as close to military spec as we can get it. However, it has been built up from bits and was never a single vehicle with a definite provenance. We have enough bits to put together a Thornycroft J type but at the moment, it is only a pile of bits with undefined history. We plan to make it a military lorry but do you count it at the moment? To our knowledge, there are about fourteen military lorries from the Great War in this country which are in military guise or which are to be rebuilt as such. There are also a number which have seen service with the military but which are now in civilian livery. I think, perhaps, we need to more closely define the question! Just my two penn'orth. Steve

Has it been out on the road in recent years? Steve

Hi Barry. I could make up a coil and battery in a box to clip on to the plugs when we want to start. However, two questions occur to me. The first is if I clip to the same plug as is being driven by the mag, will the HT given by the coil and battery upset the magneto? The second is how do you disconnect it once the engine is running wthout giving yourself a belt?! (The second, I can resolve, one way or another!) Steve

Hi Alastair. I am so pleased that you have started your project. Getting started can be hard but if you really want to do it you will succeed! Good luck with it! Steve

Thanks Tom and Ben! Steve

It is rather nice. The steering is so much lighter than the FWD and the lock is very tight. Interestingly, the engine is light on bottom end torque and I found that I had to rev it a lot harder than I expected. Hitting a hill flat out in top meant that I didn't have to change down whereas going at it a bit half-hearted left me soon dropping a cog. The throttle pedal is very high so I will be fitting a heel block to take the pressure off of my ankle. I also plan to fit a floor on that side so that the draught no longer goes up my trousers! The gear change is nice but the clutch brake needs a bit of adjustment to function properly. All in all, it is a pleasure to drive and I hope to persuade Tim to have a go this summer. Steve

Hi Chaps. We could fit a starter but that rather goes against my ethos. There are few things more satisfying than starting a recalcitrant petrol engine by hand! Of course, the fact that we all drive desks most of the time means that none of us are really strong enough to do it! When we resorted to the tow, we were well aware of the risk to the differential and won't do it again. It got us out of trouble but we will get caught out sooner or later if we keep doing it. This engine drove a fire pump originally and had been set up with dual ignition, a distributor and a trembler coil for easy starting. We could go back to that but it wouldn't be right for an army lorry. The alternative, which I favour at the moment, is to fit an impulse starter. This is a device which fits onto the magneto drive and winds a spring as the crank is turned. At the correct point, the spring lets go and turns the mag very quickly giving a good spark in spite of the low crank speed. All I need to do now is to find one but unfortunately, they are rather like hens teeth. Failing that, I hope to borrow one to measure up so that I can make one. Do any of you chaps have a spare please? Steve

Thanks Chris! Yes, there are now two Dennis companies and I have worked for both. Currently, I build dust-carts at Dennis-Eagle in Warwick. There is some interest from my colleagues and I was intrigued to find that our MD has been on the forum having a look. I am under orders from our sales office manager to come up with some photos and a story for the company newsletter next month. Once that happens, everybody will know! Steve

Thanks Rick. You are so kind as is everyone on this forum. I am beginning to feel just a bit like Prince William must be feeling! The radiator repair is very temporary and the screws are 2BA steel. The shell is just paper thin along the joint line and is not worth messing around with further. You can see how much effort Father put into it but to no avail and a new tank is the only answer. That will test my pattern making skills again! More later. Steve :nut:

Well the pressure is on and there is still plenty to do. I am in Devon again this week (not getting any more holiday this year!) and have finally finished the magneto and throttle linkage. What a lash up it is with fourteen ball joints, two lay shafts and three rocking levers. I can certainly see why all of the original bits we have show signs of modification. Anyway, it all works now so that is another item ticked off. I have cut the floor to fit as well. We fitted Mark's leather straps to hold the hood forward and they are perfect. The canvas has stratched out over night and really looks the part now. Martin did a great job with that getting it spot on first time. He really cares about making it right as we had a telephone conversation yesterday about the direction that the seams should follow in the main sheet. A man after my own heart! Father spent some time drilling out some of the leaks in the rad and then tapping them and fitting screws, well pasted with sealant. Sadly, I think these tanks are destined for a short life which is a great pity after all of Fathers efforts. Oh well. We have learned that lesson. Hood bows today ready for the canvas sheet which is due tomorrow. This is a good exercise in just-in-time project management! Cheers! Steve

Gosh Tom, you are having your fair share! Why do these things always become apparent just before a major outing? We only do this for fun and I am finding it more stressful than work! We are really looking forward to meeting you and seeing the Crossley so we all wish you every success. Brighton should be a good 'do' as I understand that as well as the Crossley and the Dennis, there should also be present an FWD, the Locomobile 3-tonner and the Pierce Arrow. If we all get there, it should be the biggest gathering of Great War Transport in over sixty years. Fingers are crossed! Steve :laugh:

Thanks for all of your kind comments chaps. It was quite an exciting day! Still a lot to do though. Actually, we are still on the original 90 year old clutch lining. As the engine drove a fire pump originally, it has suffered very little wear. The clutch is, however, sticking in the flywheel and needs a mighty kick to get it to let go which is why I stalled it pulling out of the shed. I really wanted not to drive onto Mother's lawn! The clutch has three coil springs pressurised with a nut and locknut. Barry and Graham went underneath and removed the locknuts to allow the springs to relax by another half an inch and that made it a lot easier although it is still sticking. A long run will do it a lot of good giving the flywheel and linings a good polish and making it easier to let go. Well, at least I hope so! I see this morning that there is a patch on the driveway underneath the fuel tap. Something else to look at. It Works!!!!! Steve :-D

We are now working towards the big start-up on Sunday. To that end, I have been making up some more ball joints for the throttle linkage. I thought that only ten were required but there are actually fourteen of the things! There must be an easier way. Anyway, I turned up five balls (one replacement for a worn original), the four housings and the end plugs. The housings have slots in them to trap a split pin and there are slots and a cross-hole in the plugs as well so they are not just simple turning jobs. These four joints represent about eight hours this week. You can tell that I have not been spending my time gardening or dusting! Down to Devon tomorrow to install them ready for Sunday. Steve :cheesy:

One of the few things preventing us from running now is the throttle control. We have a variety of bits from various sources and a picture from the parts book. We also have a couple of assembly drawings and the detail drawing of the scuttle but everything seems to contradict each other! I have been puzzling over this for some time and decided, after making a few bits and pieces, that the time was ripe to have a go at putting it together. The photos above show how far I managed to get before realising that I didn't have a drop arm on the pedal shaft. A rummage in the bits box found this original item but as you can see, it is a bit poorly! I also found the remains of a drop arm where the arm had been sawn off leaving only the boss. I first turned a shoulder on the boss and roughed out a plate to be the arm. This, I silver soldered onto the boss after which it was just a case of filing it up which I have done this evening. One more piece down. Now I have realised that I am also short of rod-end ball-joints so I must make four before I return to Devon on Friday. The first outing is planned for Sunday so I really must finish them. The pressure is on! Steve

As Dad says, it is great to pick up snippets of information, offered in a positive manner. We are always pleased to learn! After all, the only way a big job can be right is if all of the little bits are right and one can't know everything, although we do try! Steve

I hadn't noticed the box, Doug. You are obviously tuned to the letters 'NZ'! The '1 NZ' is as close to the original photo as we can make it. You will have to take it up with the original signwriter! I shall look forward to seeing another picture of the emblem. Getting the right info is so hard. The definitive answer invariably turns up just after the job has been done! Back to it tomorrow. A day and a half of my holiday remains and we are still behind. I had hoped to have the throttle linkage done by now but haven't started. There still remains the footstep and side panels too. It's all getting a bit tight! Steve

Yes, it is all getting very exciting. Unfortunately, the wing brackets took far longer than I had hoped and we are getting very tight for time. We still have a floor to make, footstep brackets and the throttle linkage along with all sorts of odds and ends. I have to go back to work next week, 200 miles away, which also isn't helping much! It won't be finished for Brighton but hopefully won't look incomplete. I anticipate spending the rest of the Summer touching in bolt heads and just wrapping it all up. Keeping the momentum of such a project going can be very hard but the three of us keep each other going and, of course, so do all of you. If we don't put something up for a few days, we feel guilty! Steve

Well done! A horrible job successfully tackled! Steve :-)

Welcome to the forum. You do seem to have a nice wide range of interests! Liberties seem to be pretty common so I am sure that you will have no trouble in finding one. Will let you know the next time we come across one. I guess that your biggest problem will be getting it home when you do find it due to the distances involved. Let's hope that one turns up close to home! Steve

What a super project. What is its story and how did you find it? At first glance, it looks to be in very nice order but no dout you will find some horrors on the way! Good luck with it all. I shall look forward to seeing the progress. Steve :-)

I hate that sort of job. Good luck with it! Steve :wave:

Thanks Chris. We have been very fortunate in finding such superb craftsmen to help us. I did try signwriting some numberplates once but they looked as if they had been done by a four-year-old. I like to try my hand at most things but sometimes getting an expert really pays. Steve :-)

Ours is 75" wide with a seat height of 23". Any wider than that and it is too big for a lorry. My money is on its being a pew but it is interesting to see what there is about. Steve

Hi there! We can certainly help with subsidy info. What are you doing and what do you need? Cheers! Steve

Ah yes, but your tender is poetry in motion......