David Herbert

Looks great but if it rains, any rain stopped by the windscreen runs down it onto your feet ! I am glad things have moved on ! David

I think we just have an issue of how the dimension is shown on Rania's drawing. It shows measuring from the studs at 10 to 2 o'clock. Continuing the LH dimension line down to the 8 o'clock stud changes nothing as it is directly below the 10 o'clock one. If one wanted to show the dimension from the 12 to 6 o'clock studs one would take the dimension lines out horizontaly and then mark the vertical distance between them. If one wanted to show the distance between the 8 and 2 o'clock ones one would draw the dimension lines at 30 degrees to the left of vertical and mark the distance between them. Alternatively one could just say that the centres of the studs are on a circle (known as the pitch circle) of whatever diameter, which would apply regardless of how many studs there are. The explanation of measuring odd number studs in the left image above might serve if you were roughly comparing wheels but it would be idiotic to use it to specify what you need as it is very inaccurate. How inaccurate depends on if there are 3 / 5 / 7 etc studs but that is not mentioned. It is just wrong !! And they are not always in inches either, nor round numbers !! Grrr... David

Rania, Just to be clear, in your drawing above, does the 'D' dimension refer to the pitch diameter of the wheel studs (in which case it would be the distance between opposite ones), or does it refer to the distance as shown, from one to the next but one ? It is much more conventional to specify the diameter of the circle that the studs are on, ie from one stud to the one furthest from it, ie directly opposite it. If you are going to modify wheels to fit your hubs you will need to measure both the pitch circle and the diameter of the hub that locates the wheel rather more accurately than you can with a tape measure ! Sorry to be pedantic ! David

You need a CAD system (Cardboard Aided Design) ! David

I think that the plain (front) wheels look better than the rears. If the two rows of wheel studs offend you why not cut out the centres and weld in a new centre with just the six stud holes that you need. you can fill the two holes in the RH front wheel at the same time. David

That front axle was clearly fitted with brakes but they have been unbolted from the stub axle, the flange remains. David

I bet that gets some look on the road ! Looks to be a very professional build, much better than most film vehicles. I would have thought that a H registration Bedford van would be a CF and they had independent front suspension and I don't think that six cylinder engines were offered but it is possible that ambulances or police vans were offered with sixes. It should be possible to find the engine number and from that the original application. Similarly there may be a chassis number stamped into the chassis (possibly the front third of the outer face of the LH chassis rail) which would tell you what that came from. I would suspect a 7.5 ton TK light truck. David

If you know a dairy farmer it is worth talking to them about the product used to remove calcium deposits from inside the milking machinery. This is actually phosphoric acid and as purchaced is strong enough to fizz if a tiny amount is spilt on concrete. The instructions warn that it will burn on contact with the skin and tell the user to dilute it 200 : 1 and circulate it through the system for ten mins after milking while the system is still hot. Then flush with clean water. Phosphoric acid is almost ideal as a rust inhibitor as it converts rust to ferrous phosphate which is stable and is the active ingredient in rust inhibiting primers like Bondaprimer. It is not a good idea to inhale it or get it on your skin but good ventilation and rubber gloves and a good supply of clean water in case of spills should avoid most problems. I have not used it to treat items that have been in molasses but have used it on sand blasted items with great success. I would suggest that this is the ideal way to stop the almost instant rusting that occurs after de-rusting with molasses. As I said, phosphoric acid CONVERTS rust to ferrous phosphate but does not remove any amount of it, you need molasses or blasting for that first. David

I think that a CVRT transmission would be ideal if it can be fitted into the shape of the hull. CVRT final drives might solve that problem too. Good decission to use the Jag engine. It will sound right and fits nicely. David

Thank you John for challenging my memory of events 42 years ago ! I certainly never saw a STANAG or anything resembling a specification for the eyes. However that is not evidence that there wasn't one so if John is certain that there was an actual standard of design details rather than recovery assesment tests that had to be passed (functional tests) after the pilot vehicles were submitted to the MOD then I think that the explanation must be as follows. I was asked to design the front bumper , initially for the 6x6 limber vehicle. I had had quite a bit of experience with off road vehicles and was convinced that the conventional one piece bumper was too easily damaged, usually by just one end being bent. Also the range of vehicles that were being considered would need variations to the bumper that could be accomodated if a modular design with seperate sections inside and outside the width of the chassis were used. If the connection to the chassis was made big enough there would be no need for a brace from the end of the bumper back to the chassis and the centre section would form a massive cross member, stiffening up the front of the chassis. This concept was aproved and while drawing it up it became clear that a seperate flat plate incorperating lifting / recovery eyes could be sandwidged between the outer bumpers and the chassis. This could easily be adapted to different needs and would be simple to replace if damaged. Again this was aproved and I drew up what I thought was suitable and it was aproved (by my boss) unaltered. It is possible that my boss had a specification for the eyes and had not shown me because I was only supposed to be designing the bumper but I never saw it. I am sorry that this is not as clear cut as my original answer but I have great respect for John's views and as he says we need someone to find a copy of the STANAG . It will be interesting to see its date and detail level.

I like the idea that the photo of the van with the serviceman in front shows marks in the indented part of the rear body caused by paper adverts being pasted there. Not necessarily for recruting but there were many campaigns to sell war bonds or avoid gossip or collect scrap metal etc. David

I was working in the drawing office of Fodens when the 8 x 4 and 6 x 6 tactical trucks were designed in the '70s. It was me that designed the front bumpers and front lifting eyes and certainly at that time the only requirement was that "lifting eyes were provided". It was left up to us to decide all dimensions and the general style, the only requirement being that they were strong enough. I was also responsible for the transfer box mounts on the 6 x 6 versions if anyone wants to complain about them ! David

This is why god gave us adjustable spanners (but not Stilsons !). 😁 David

Sorry all, Mike is quite right ! David

Different weight class four wheelers. David

In WW1 the army had workshop wagons on the two foot gauge railway networks that served the forward areas. The bodies of these wagons were very similar in style to the truck mounted ones and came with different internal equipment depending on role. Obviously these were significantly narrower than standard gauge wagons so it is entirely possible that this is an explanation of the railway wagon theory. David

It may well be that the MOD specified features on machine tools that were not usual on civilian production. David

Please do ! David

Well done Dave ! At last a bit of real evidence which must have taken some time to find considering how many lots Sotheby's sell. Note that "Tank Infantry MkIV" is what became known quite early on as the Churchill tank, which went from MkI to MkXI as gun tanks plus many derivatives. It seems that the sale lot 148 above contained a total of twenty Churchill plates of various marks. Is there a suggestion that this is evidence of lots of US sourced tanks being buried though ? David

I have many years ago used a Locktite thread locking product that was not affected by oil on the parts. It literally got under the oil and pushed it away from the surface. You could even apply it after the bolts had been torqued up and it still worked. Great stuff. It works by wetting the surface better than the oil does in the same way that oil wets the surface better than water does, which is why water will not wash oil off a surface completely. Excellent idea Richard. David

Hi Tim, Was it a tipper in military service or was that a post war civilian modification ? David

I could be wrong but I am afraid that I think that is a black and white image that has been coloured. The selections of colours are too few and rather simplified. For example the colour of the roadway is the same in the entire picture. That doesn't happen in real life. David

Well done BSM. This should have been done years ago ! David

It is not impossible that it was a bad casting and that repair was done when it was new ! David

What on earth happened to the left hand one ? That is pretty comprehensively destroyed. Sherman ones are different depending on the engine instalation but the ones in the photo are not any kind of Sherman ones. I do not have any M18 books so can't look them up but air cleaners for radial engined Shermans (M4 & M4A1 and their derivatives) come with either a round or a square body (equivalent to the lower half of the ones in the photo) and a round oil pan that clamps up to the underside. Unlike the ones in the photo the mounting brackets are separate clamps that go all the way round the body of the air cleaner, not welded directly to it and there are two air pipe connections, inlet near the top and out below that, both about 4" diameter. The ones in the photo have louvres that let in the air to be filtered, the Sherman ones have a sloping top and no louvres. The round or square Sherman ones are mearly different manufacturers. Each factory would tend to use one type at any given time but they were both used from early on and are fully interchangeable. As I said I can't say if the ones in the photo are M18 (I guess the M18 in the background is a hint !) but they are not Sherman of any kind. It might help you to know that basicly similar air cleaners were used on large construction plant post war as they were a fairly standard commercial item. David