Zero-Five-Two

A short while back we fitted the top half of the cab back on. Took about 4 hours in all, and the whole lot got shot on video. It's taken a while but I've managed to edit out all the standing around, arm waving and shouting at each other and got it down to 15 min of action. Hopefully this is the link to the youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mit4QEZtc3I

Absolutely! It's the old cart before the horse thing, and has been for the past year. Spare wheel came off to get to the back of the cab in the first place. Back of the cab needed to be done before the top half of the cab went back on, and so on. No point in painting just the back of the cab, better to do the whole thing at the same time, hence the radiator and oil cooler sorting so it can all get top coat at once. There is a sort of a plan, honestly!

I use a gang called Autohome, costs £110 per year for my Militant. Thankfully I've never had to call them out, but I know a couple of people that have, and they appear to be very good. When I signed up with them, there were very specific questions about the type of vehicle, size and weight etc, including any regularly towed trailers. Worth giving them a call for a price. 0800 371280

Fortunately the good wife is quite supportive and like everyone else is looking forward to that first run out video. Hopefully that is not too far off now, things are coming together quite well. So long as we don't get too many bad weather days in this and next month, another six weeks or so and we'll be on it.

Happy New Year to all our readers, hope 2019 will be good to you. Time to catch up with the Christmas tankering. Brake linkage is all finished, cleaned, freed, repaired as necessary and then given the repaint treatment. Ready to fit back on when the time comes. Moved on to the spare wheel carrier bits that have been lounging behind the shed since the cab top moved out. Most of it started like this. Complete, just badly corroded and in need of cleaning and repainting. Several hours of wire brush in the grinder, then paint shop washing line and we get to this Brake drums got a coat of green at the same time. More bits ready to go back on. Quick question for those with significant others. Could you get away with putting truck parts on the posh oak dining table? Answer, only nice clean ones, and after asking very nicely. Cupola hip pads being retrimmed Had to borrow her sewing machine too! There may be a substantial price to be paid for this, later. Anyway, had some cloth left over from the seat recovering, so thought I'd have a go at retrimming the Hip Pads. Original ones looked like this, but were so rotten...…... They just fell apart like this. So, bit of guesswork with the calculations, bit of string as a compass to draw the curves, cut out and sew together. First attempt went into the bin, but a few adjustments and the mark 2 version looks quite tidy. First one off the press, and 2 more to do. I think they'll do nicely

A general discussion at the bar the other night, which is better? Brushing or Spraying. I wondered what forum members preferred. For myself I use a mixture of both depending on what is being painted Tankers engine cover here, needs that mirror like finish. So max effort in the prep, spraying all the way, flatting between coats and so on. Bits of the spare wheel carrier here, big lumps of iron, roughly welded together, and now quite heavily pock marked by rust to boot. The overall finish will never be anywhere near as smooth and shiny as the engine cover, and wouldn't look right if it was, anyway. For me brushing is by far the best option, on this. You can really scrub the paint into the corners and pock marks, ensuring good covering for rust protection for the future. The final DBG gloss coat will be sprayed, mainly because I've been using 2 pack and brushing that just makes a mess. But the next coat of primer will most likely be brushed like the red oxide. So do other members have a preference/opinion?

I was about to say the Royal Engineers had them too, but looking at my photo, the Engineers version is much bigger. Seen here with a Hydra Husky, Coles 315 and a cherry picker Cab might be the same, but crane half is a different story. I couldn't tell you anything about them, never worked on them. I would think the Clayton air brake system, would likely be similar to the Militant, and should be fairly easily repaired

Welcome aboard, Rich. Look forward to hearing more about this crane of yours

Successful couple of days Every thing stripped down, all linkage joints undone and freed off. Then cleaned and stacked ready for painting. Drums have a coat of hammerite already. Rest will get done one evening during the week Did have a close call with the wire wheel at one point, it had me glove off

Which EMER are you reading? Is that the Tech Manual that was on fleebay a few weeks back? If your front screens need new edge seals, I've just got a near enough equivalent for the Tanker from seals direct (www. etc) Their part number OWS778

They look like standard bus and coach emergency door handle fittings. You should be able to find that sort of thing at any bus breakers. You could even try your local bus company, most will have an old scrapper at the bottom of the yard that is being stripped, might only cost you a donation to their tea fund Try Trevor Wigley (Barnsley) 01226 723147 (Biggest Bus Breakers in the UK) If you want new, try Carlyle Bus Parts 0121 524 1200 Or PSV Transport Systems 01992 479950

Give this guy a call, he is an absolute master of sourcing and supplying AEC bits. Martyn Callaghan 07765 404403 Or Email: martyncallaghanaec@gmail.com

Day 2 of the great brake strip down. Bit of a fight to the death with most of the linkage, it's all pretty much seized solid. General spraying of WD 40 all over and careful use of a Mapp Gas blow lamp. I say careful, I'm very mindful that I'm underneath a fuel tanker. I'm sure 'elf & safety would have forty fits about it, but it's been the only way to get some of it apart. Anyway good result on the day, all linkage and back plates removed. Hubs look like this now Everything back home now for reconditioning. Wife's car has been exiled for the foreseeable, at least until I can get some semblance of order going on. As you can see I managed to get the rear rods undone, but the front half of the linkage had to come out in one bit, couldn't crack any of it off. That's the park brake rod that is still attached to the right hand brake chamber. First patient please. Off side rear actuating arm. This was as far as I got trying to get the pin out while it was still on the motor. Half an hour later and a vast improvement. Clevis bolt released, ball joint inside cleaned up, then whole thing wire brushed over ready for a coat of primer. Neighbours are going to love me tomorrow and Saturday, the grinder will be going all day. Unlucky.

Three days off work, finishing up this years holiday entitlement, Wife at work though, so 3 days solid Tankering! Who could want more. First job, check out the new windows for leaks, after the recent rain. They're all nice and dry. Cupola leaks badly though, despite the new plastic lid, so need to check that out. Repaired oil cooler was fitted, but batteries were too flat to start up and test, so that returns to the "to do" list. Rear brakes time. Jack up and remove wheels. At this point I get slated for poor quality jacking blocks, but they are good timber and better than crunchy concrete blocks I used on the front axle. She's quite stable on them too, even when swinging a big bar to get the wheel nuts undone. The 1500 tyres are a size bigger than the Timber Tractors 1400's and they are a surprising amount heavier to drag about. The secret is balance, don't let them fall over, and if one does decide to wander off on it's own, just get out of it's way til it stops. These two should be safe enough up against the fence Drums and shoes off next. Rear axle ones came off nicely, even the split pins that hold the shoes on came out easily. Middle axle proved a bit more of a challenge, both sides were stuck tight. Off side held on by seized linkage, and Near side by both linkage and tight "S" cam. I was planning to leave the linkage and brake chambers until tomorrow, but had to undo some of it today to release the shoes. Needless to say the small bit I did do required lots of penetrating fluid and a good deal of local heat. Finally all drums and shoes off. 40 Squillion spiders now seeking alternative accommodation. Back plates will come off tomorrow, but the hubs will have to wait a bit as I will run out of space in the home workshop. Queued up for transport home. You can see here 2 of the drums are well rusted, which you would expect after so long parked up, but the other 2 are well oiled, and so are the shoes. A pair of hub seals now required as well. Fortunately I know a supplier of NOS items, so no problem there. Only 2 drums had anti-squeal bands on them, which have fell off anyway. The other 2 show no evidence of ever having them, so it will be interesting to see if they are noisy once we get on the road. Loads of cleaning and painting to be getting on with now, when the weather gets too bad to be out this month. Good news is, forecast for this area tomorrow is dry so look out for the fun and games getting a seized linkage frame out from between the axles.

Couple of pics of repaired oil cooler. Coat of fresh paint makes a world of difference too You can see the extra width on the repaired pipe.

Many thanks for the advice guys, I think I will have a go at the warming and straightening with clamps first. Photos to follow as it progresses

Nothing like a good bit of fabrication to boost morale, especially when it comes out nice. You can step back and say, "I made that" Even better when you get it fitted back on the wagon.

Shoulder is still a bit stiff, 2 weeks on, but we are managing. The fairly easy repair on the oil cooler turned out to be anything but. Straightening out the pipe was OK, but repairing the crack has been a different story. Being steel, I thought it should take a weld and had visions of a nice little low amps MIG seam running right round, but the pipe itself is quite corroded around the crack and even with the welder turned down to nothing it was just blowing the metal away. So had a go at brazing it, lower temperature, and all that, but braze doesn't like corrosion much either. Got plenty of brass on it, but every time I tested it there was at least one pin hole letting through. Took 2 whole days in the end, braze a bit, then test it, clean it braze some more and test again and so on. Finally got a good seal. Doesn't look pretty and pipe is now about a quarter of an inch wider with the amount of brass on it. It will clean up and with a coat of paint it'll be fine. Forgot to photograph it though. New front screens arrived last week and as usual I spent more time cleaning off the smeared sealant than I did fitting the glass in the first place New rubber seals around the edges of the frames finish the job And they look like this when on the truck With the rear glass in place too, that's her fully glazed and water tight enough to do away with the tarp cover. Got three days off next week so weather permitting, the back brakes are going to get what's coming to them, and we are then getting close to a drive round the block

After a bit of advice from anyone who knows better than I. I've got a small issue with the cast aluminium radiator surround on the old Tanker. It's had a bit of a dink on the off side that I would like to straighten out Depending on which photo you look at is how bad it looks, but in the flesh and up close it looks awful, and the centre grill wont sit flat like it should. Now if it was made of steel you would simply whack it back into shape with a suitable hammer and possibly a bit of heat. But this is cast aluminium and I'm not sure how to treat it. I'm assuming if I give it a fourpenny one with a big hammer bits will just break off. Anybody got any experience of such stuff?

Bit of an 'elf an' safety issue this weekend, but made some good progress none the less. Tanker has obviously had an oil cooler leak at some point in it's life, because it has been disconnected and bypassed. So, one of the jobs on the to do list at some point is remove the thing and have a look. Started on Saturday with plan A to finish off the "in Cab" electrics, but failure the bring test lamp and other kit to site meant a move to the back up plan. Bumper off and attack oil cooler. Bumper came off quite well. big bolts needed a big crack bar, but plenty of penetrating fluid and a large hammer soon got a result. Bumper on the deck. You can see the bypass hose at the bottom of the radiator. Bumper had to go to get to the rad grill for cleaning anyway, and it could do with a quick go with the needle gun itself. So 2 results in one Quick inspection reveals the leak It's had a whack at some time, pushing the pipes back and cracking the weld. On the plus side, cooler is made of steel so shouldn't present too many dramas to straighten and repair. Thought I would get rid of the bypass hose first, but it was on well tight. Big spanner and a pair of Stilesons should do the honours. Not quite. It was actually a big spanner and a pair of cheap Chinese looky likey stilesons. And they went like this!! Needless to say I went backwards, tripping over the bumper that was still just where I'd left it. Showing a clear presence of mind in a time of crisis, I remembered that the cargo truck is parked quite close, and I tried to twist away to avoid cracking my head on it on the way down. Got that bit right, but my right shoulder and upper arm took the full impact with the concrete floor. A funny scrunching noise and instant pain told me it wasn't a good landing, but there was no claret leaking from anywhere so perhaps not too bad. Carried on like you do and got the grille and cooler off, packed up and went home, didn't feel too bad. This morning was a different story. Can't lift right arm at all, so obviously pulled something. Plenty of pills and deep heat is helping, but looks like I'm off to the vet first thing tomorrow if it's no better. Lessons learnt, then. 1. Don't leave big lumps of truck lying around where you can fall over them, and 2. more importantly, stop buying cheap Chinese tools off the boot fair.

Lot of hard work to get it fixed, hope it works after all that effort. OC-600 is just a heavy gear oil. The OC bit stands for Oil Compounded. You don't need to be looking for anything too fancy, a straight forward 75W-80 will do the job. Your local commercial motor factors should have something in stock

Reconditioned compressor refitted with it's shiny new belts And it works very nicely too. Takes about a minute and a half to build from nothing to full air (110psi) on tick over. So very pleased with that result. The nice red panel in the picture deserves a mention too. The original one had a few too many holes in it, and it was easier to make a new one than try and patch up the old. Rest of the cab is coming on Side windows are all in on both sides Front screens have been sorted and a plywood template made, for cutting new glass. So they'll be on in the next couple of weeks. It's all coming together nicely.

Another issue reared it's ugly head again as we tried to move her for fitting the top. She really doesn't like building up air pressure. I've cured several leaks, which improved things, but still not what you would call serviceable. Must be a problem with the compressor, so off it comes for a strip down. I knew it needed an oil change at the very least, having seen the gunge that was coating the bottom of the dipstick. But having read the Bedford RL thread by Tamber and seen his compressor issues, I wasn't sure what I would find. Drain the worst of the gunge out first Pull the head off. Much carbon on the top of the pistons, so much that it all but stops it going past TDC Head itself is not much better, valves are well caked in the stuff. Outlet valves are the square shaped holes and the inlet are the ring of smaller holes in each cylinder Bottom end appears OK, just full of slime. Really need a bigger parts washer. Sloshed out as much gunge as I could, then refitted the sump and filled it with clean diesel. Invented a socket holder for the hand drill to fit on the pulley and gave it a good ten minutes spinning over to circulate the diesel round the inside, which cleared out a load more. Repeated this a couple of times to flush out the rest, then ran through some clean oil to finish off. Sump off again to check all cleaned out, then refit with new gasket. On to the head, now. Outlet valves screw into the top of the head, and are just a simple flat plate under a small spring. Again caked with carbon, but in fairly good condition under the crap. Cleaned of and polished, and with the seats done too and they seal nicely. Took a bit of thinking on how to get to the inlet valves. I tested them and both were not sealing at all, so something had to be done. Worked it out in the end, the middle hole is a 1/4" BSF thread. Screw a bolt in and pull the whole thing out with this little invention Underneath is the same sort of flat plate and spring set up as on the outlet side. Clean, polish and refit. Pulling them out was a bit nerve wracking. They weren't keen on moving and I was concerned about damaging them. Having cleaned them up, they refitted a bit too easily, and I could see one dropping out onto a piston one day with results you don't want to think about. Glued them in with a good smear of locktight, so hopefully they will stay in place. Reassemble the whole thing and give it a test. Just spinning it over by hand, you cannot hold your finger over the outlet pipe, there's too much pressure building up. Put your hand on the inlet, and once it has got hold the vacuum won't let go, so I think I've got a result here. Finished off with some bondaprimer all over, ready for some of that green colour everybody loves A fresh pair of belts are on order for it, and with a bit of luck she'll be up and running next weekend

Been busy, busy people since the last update, and finally found time to put a few pictures up. Remember this? Top half of the cab stowed behind the home workshop, much to the disgust of herself. Looks like this now! Cab top gone! Herself very pleased, and I'm quite chuffed as well, 'cos it's back where it belongs. Back on the truck. Getting it out of the gateway was a bit more difficult than getting it in. More good metal this time, less rust and holes, this time made it a darn sight heavier. All hands on deck for this one, and the timber crane for the lift Went on quite well. Did video the whole event, but editing down 3 hours of mainly standing around having a fag and discussing what's next, into 10 minutes of good watchable action is proving a bit of a challenge, so you;ll have to wait for that. Anyway top is on and a few bolts in place holding it down. Doors were hung, but would not close properly, leading to thoughts of issues with tape measure when rebuilding etc. The sharp eyed may notice the off front corner doesn't seem to be sitting down quite flush, and this is a clue to the doors not shutting. But it was getting near the end of the day so we called that done for now, put the cover back on and adjourned for a lager. Back the next weekend with a fresh pair of eyes to finish the job. First thing, sort the doors out. There's two rubber locating blocks on each door which fit into cutouts on the corresponding pillar, and I didn't do the cut out when I made the new panel. So trimmed them out and it was better but not right. there's no adjustment on the hinges, and I still couldn't see why they wouldn't shut properly. So, stop farting about with that. Will come back to it later. Will bolt the top down first, and investigate why that corner is still up a bit. In the end the answers quite simple, but took a while to notice. Few weeks back I fitted the engine covers, so much easier without the top on. The front cowling, bolts through the front frame, which is what I did.. Two bolts in temporarily, thinking at the time to remove them before putting the top on. But I forgot about them. Plonked the top on and of course it rocks on the bolts one side up and the other down. Getting them out was another story But managed to get a big enough gap to get a thin cutting disc in and chop the heads off. Little bit of podging with a screwdriver to get the holes to line up and it all bolts down nicely. Funnily enough, after that both doors shut quite sweetly, just as you would expect. Next mission, get the windows in.

Would suggest he's not finished trying yet. Whole thing looks like it could live again to fight another day. With a bit of patience and skilled engineering, it'll be good. Loved the bit in the vid, earlier on, pouring petrol straight down the carb to get it to run. You might need a better supply if you are planning a run out somewhere, perhaps a fairy liquid bottle. You can just squirt it in when you need to put your foot down