FRAFM

We have now re-registered the K2 as XBV 445 from the beginning of this month. Now it is road legal the Museum is able to run it around the car park and hopefully at some external events in the future. We are planning to take it to the City of London for the annual "Cart marking" ceremony in the summer. We displayed the Museum's Ford Model T tender and it's Crossley tender there in the last 3 years. The Sotheby's catalogue entry says it was used on Rochester airfield prior to it's sale. After we completed the registration process we were given a photo of what we believe may be it with a registration number of 3263D or 3283D - the photo is small and the number isn't that clear. However such a number would be consistent with being registered in Kent in summer 1964. Has anyone any recollections of seeing it at Rochester?

Found a copy, but apparently the vehicle in the photo isn't the vehicle in the sale.

Thanks. I'll be grateful for that. Ian C

I am tracing the history of the RAF Museum's K2 Ambulance. I believe it was bought by the museum at the Southeby King and Chasemore Auction at the Warnham War Museum on the 25th April 1980. Does anyone have a copy of the original catalogue from which they could scan the entry for the K2? For some reason any information that came with the vehicle in 1980 has been lost and we are now trying to fill in as much history of the vehicle as we can. We contacted Sotheby's but they no longer keep back copies of their catalogues, they are actually archived by the V&A museum. Unfortunately as this sale was through a subsidiary it has not been archived with the main Sothebys catalogues. Thanks Ian C

Well done Tom. A fitting convoy for the occasion.

Re: Crossley RFC Tender And a certain Mr Simpson didn't come up and tell me until I was going home :mad: I feel left out :-( I Hope this doesn't cause any grief then ..... http://vid766.photobucket.com/albums/xx308/iwvc/RAFVehicles.mp4

I'll get hold of some more photos later but this is one of arriving at the cart marking to get Branded (!) confirming we'd paid our Tax for the year (5/-)

You know he had a ride in it didn't you .....?

The RAF Museum's Crossley tender now runs! After a year of work, including the repair of severely cracked and damaged cylinder blocks we finally started and ran the tender around the Museum car park today. Hopefully I'll be able to post some videos soon. I can't thank Tom enough for the loan of his spare mag which enabled us to get it running while our mag is being rewound and refurbished. No one expects to see old vehicles at the RAF Museum so many were surprised to see both our Ford Model T and Crossley Tenders being driven around the car park this afternoon!

Thanks I'm hoping we can arrange to have both of your Crossleys and the Museum's one together one day. 3 running on the same site will be worth a look! Just hope I'm fit enough to start the Crossley when it is finally back together. The Ford Model T is bad enough and that has a smaller displacement engine.:red: Ian C

Some of you may be aware that the Volunteers at the RAF Museum have been working to get their Crossley Tender back into running order. Although the vehicle is complete there were a number of bits that needed repair or replacement due to the lack of use for 40 years. The water pump, itself a modification from the original 20/25 spec which would have been fitted to the timing housing, needed freeing and the timing chain needed to be replaced. due to wear. All the suspension greasers had been peened in place (presumably to prevent theft) and had to be carefully removed straightened and re-tapped before refitting. Oils which appeared to be clean and new on the surface had congealed into a grease like substance in the sumps of the engine and gearbox and took a lot of effort to clean out. However all these were minor issues compared with the state of the engine cylinder blocks. The museum records state that the tender was driven from Cecil Bendall's premises in Hitchin to RAF Henlow – about 5-10 miles. From there it was transported to RAF St Athan in S Wales where it was refurbished and the current replica RFC body fabricated and fitted. Because of this we didn't expect to find major mechanical problems after resolving the congealed oil, water pump and timing chain. There were signs of successful weld repairs to the tops of both blocks but that was all. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. When we filled the cooling system with water to check the rebuilt water pump we noticed a drip from the rear block, over the valve chest. As there is no join in this area we looked more closely and discovered a crack from an attempted weld repair. Further investigation uncovered many more cracks, unsuccessful weld repairs and several applications of “JB Weld” or similar. Nothing prepared us for the biggest problem though when we discovered that both blocks had been cut open. The rear had been unsuccessfully welded back and the front had had the excised plate refitted with caulk or similar. It was clear that the engine would not run, or would only run for a very short time, with these problems. At this stage it seemed that it would not be possible to restore the Crossley to running condition as major repairs had not been included in the Museum's project budget. However with the aid of an extremely generous donation from one of the Friends of the RAF Museum (himself a volunteer) the blocks were recently repaired using a cold, metal stitching procedure. The engine has now been substantially rebuilt and is on course to be run before the end of the month. If there are no more insurmountable problems we plan to run it at the Worshipful Company of Carmen's cart Marking Ceremony at the Guildhall, City of London in July. After that it will join the Museum's Ford Model T Tender, which is already running, and the Triumph H motorcycle (another rebuild to running condition project) supporting the Museum's major 1914 – 1918 exhibition in the Grahame White Factory due to open at the end of this year.

The Museum have taken on a lot! I'm not directly involved in this project but will be helping out as and when asked. The chassis are currently at the back of the Bomber Hall but the mechanical components are elsewhere and not readily available for photos. I understand the plan is to restore two chassis, one hopefully a runner and the other for display only. I'll try to find out what bits are missing and keep everyone posted. Ian C

If I was up there I'd definitely need the toilet - disabled or otherwise. About 6 minutes in there is a comment about checking possible lightning as "..there is no quick way down." Oh yes there is ..............:shocked: Ian C

Sorry I hadn't seen that this one had been posted. Yes the Crossley is being brought back to running condition. We had to move it out of the Grahame White Factory as there wasn't sufficient space to work on it once the RE8 and Albatross DV arrived. As you may see from the photo above the rad is out while we replace the timing chain and clean up the couple of valves which are corroded from 30 odd years of being left open while it was on display without the engine being turned over. The Model T Tender has been restored to running condition but at the moment is not insured to operate in the public areas (car park) of the Museum. It has been run around the back though and there are a few clips on You Tube (search using RAF Museum Model T) It's back in GWF now for "winter hibernation" but we should be able to get it back out again on working display in the Spring. Although not present when Rlangham's photo wa taken there are now a couple of Leyland 3 ton Subsidy chassis behind the Crossley which the Museum intend to restore. Ian C

I checked with the RAF Museum but, unfortunately, they don't have a copy of the original. Ian C

The vehicles were those used extensively by the RFC and later RAF. As the original document has an AP reference which implies an RAF one, I'll ask the RAF Museum if they have any information on it. Ian C

Tom Excellent that means I can renew the chain without the engine out! Do you think it is possible that it is the split pin that has failed on our existing chain? Until I remove the old chain I can't see if there is a split pin hole in the broken link pin. I find it hard to believe that a properly riveted pin would fail in the way ours has. I've done enough motorcycle chains with riveted split links over the years and never had a failure of the factory links or the home belted over (!) one. And never seen a timing chain fail even on Japanese bikes that rev over 10,000 rpm. Ian C

Managed to remove the water pump pulley with a bigger puller and on removing the timing cover found this underneath... The guide plate has become detached on one side. So as I have to remove the chain anyway, we may as well consider a replacement as it is already on the maximum adjustment. However that really depends on whether we can get a split chain. There should be enough access through the back of the timing case once the water pump / magneto shaft is removed to support the back of the chain to peen over a pin from the front?. Ian C

Thanks Tom. Like you we had removed the outer pulley and it is the centre boss that is stuck. I can't use heat because of the location - too many expensive aeroplanes nearby ! We'll try a larger / stronger 3 leg puller next time. Interesting tip to remove engine, if we need to take it out it may be a way forward (or rather upward if you follow my drift) Thanks for the help, I'm pretty sure I'll be back for more. The Museum is very keen to get it operational for the 2014-2018 commemoration period along with the model T (already running) and possibly the P&M and Triumph bikes. Ian C

Discovered that the screw was missing - and the tube was definitely an interference fit (even though it wasn't designed that way!) Managed to get it out after rotating it back and fro with plenty of WD40 to loosen it then withdrawing as originally planned. Wouldn't have tried it though if you hadn't told me about the fixing method. After that the radiator came out easily - by God it's a hefty lump. I was planning to check the timing chain but couldn't get the fan drive pulley (or the water pump drive flange on the other side) to pull off it's shaft. I needed to get the pulley off to remove the housing shown on the left of your photo before removing the timing chain cover. My small 2 leg puller won't shift it so I'll have to try something sturdier next week. However if the chain is U/S there doesn't seem to be any way of removing it over the nose of the crankshaft with the engine in the frame. I don't have any heavy lifting gear (and no hope of bringing anything into the area where we're working) so that may be the end of the back to running project. I'm hoping that given the size of the chain and the low engine speeds used it may be OK for a while - even though it is at the end of it's adjustment. How bad was yours before you replaced it? Ian C

Tom Thanks, that has probably saved me hours of puzzling over it! Will have a look tomorrow as I will be at the Museum anyway. Ian C

Tom I'm looking for advice. The Crossley has now been moved temporarily to the main Bomber Hall in the museum. There wasn't enough space to work on it in the Grahame White Factory given the arrival of the Albatross and RE8 (both of which have yet to be reassembled to their wings so a fair amount of "elbow room" is required) but we have a couple of months of breathing space in the back corner of the Bomber Hall. We had a bit of a problem with a puncture when moving it from GWF but a new tube has sorted that. I'm now starting to look at the work involved in bringing it up to running condition and need to have a closer look at the timing chain. I've spent an hour looking at it today and it seems it would be best to remove the radiator to reduce the risk of damage to it and get more room to remove the timing cover. But it has the starter handle tube running through it to the nose of the crank case which in turn has the engine mount located on it. This tube has to be removed in order to remove the rad. Working on the principle it is always easier to ask someone who has experience of a vehicle's layout before trying something which may damage it could you tell me how this tube is fixed. Is it an interference fit in the nose of the crankcase, a screw fitting or located by a pin or grub screw (under the front engine mount cap?)?. Ian C

To be honest I don't know since it isn't my money!!!!!!!!! Send me a PM with some details and I'll try to put you in contact with the appropriate people at the Museum. Ian C

Hi Tom Thanks for the very useful information - keep it coming! As volunteers we only work two Sundays a month and have to look after the other vehicle exhibits so progress may be a bit sporadic. However we think we will have to look closely at the timing chain drive since there seems to be some excessive and inconsistent backlash at the water pump / magneto drive shaft. The adjustment plate / bearing housing looks as though it is already at its maximum adjustment which doesn't fill me with confidence that it is an easily solved issue! Ian C

I was hoping you would be able to enlighten me..... The Off Side container appears to have engine oil and a metering screw and we'd assumed it was a form of direct oil injection for lubricating the top end of the engine. We haven't finished researching a lot of things yet - which we'll have to do before starting up! As you suggest the Near Side is an exhaust flame trap / regulator part of the fuel system pressurisation. I'm not sure I like the idea of exhaust gases being close to fuel vapours so I don't think we will activate this system fully. In any case if we get it running we will have to empty the fuel system before it goes back into the display areas of the Museum so we will probably fit a gravity tank with quickly detachable couplings on the fuel lines so the whole system can be easily isolated and removed (as we have with the Model T) Ian C