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Phil. Thanks for the info. Doing a bit of a web search onwards from the address you supplied reveals that felt isn't just felt apparently. There is wool/blend or polyester to decide as well a grade (density). I would assume the original was wool, but polyester may have its advantages as it would be less likely to retain moisture than wool. Always learning. Thanks Doug

Robin - please let me know if you find out, I have the same problem. Regards Doug

Well, that makes it official, the Gosling clan just qualified as HMV royalty. ;-) London to a brick (or is that Brighton?) you would never have predicted when you started posting to this forum that your quiet restoration efforts would grow to become something avidly watched by people all over the world. Or that the Thorny restoration would prove more popular than the Dennis. I wonder which is the bigger surprise? Carry on chaps, the end is in sight, time to start planning the next restoration.

Match it is a symptom of old age, resistance to new things, be they good or bad.

Steve. Pyramid is a possible guess given the shape. But "nosing" has to be industry jargon and very unlikely that even with the wealth of knowledge on this forum, anyone would have come up with that term. "Banding", "trim", "grip" maybe, but "nosing", nope, just too obscure. I am also very surprised the product still exists a hundred years later, who would that predicted that? The weirdness, seemingly impossible finds and coincidences in our MV hobby never cease to amaze me. eg. I was talking to a bloke today at the local rubbish dump and he was telling me how he has collected the saddle and accoutrements (sp?) for a light horse soldier. The one thing he had not been able to find despite a long hard search was a mess tin. I said to him that I would be of no help as I would not know one if it fell on my foot. "Well actually one nearly did, you would have walked right by it at that garage sale we were both at 3 weeks ago, I was standing there looking at all the junk and realised at my feet was one in good condition and got it for a couple of bucks". It is amazing what is still out there, as you have shown many times with your finds. Regards Doug

Steve. See attached photo please. What is the purpose of the dingle dangle? Something to do with damping vibration perhaps, but it seems too small? Regards Doug

Andy. Ah, I see. The British polycarbonate equivalent to double glazing. Makes sense given your climate. Steve. In Oz, the old fibreglass skylight material was lucky to see more than 15 years due to our high UV index. If it wasn't that, the birds pecked holes in it to steal the fibres to make nests. 30 years is a very good life span for that type of product. Regards Doug

Steve, great to see you are making the desired progress. The translucent roof in the first photo caught my eye, in Oz we are used to seeing corrugated profile in polycarbonate products for strength, but that roof is flat. What is the material? Would it not have to be quite thick and thus expensive in order to withstand rain, hail and its own weight? You are very naughty using that drill press without the permission card being signed!

Bob FV 432 pattern, single casting in L and R versions.

I am told someone was advertising these on ebay.co.uk some time back. Does anyone know who that person is and their contact details please? Thanks Doug

Steve Excellent attention to detail for a temporary fitting. In your photo of the Carlton Lorry (IIRC) the cup looks to be copper rather than brass? On the far side, there appears to be 2 "fingers" clipped over the edge of the cup or lid? Regards Doug

Steve I think we briefly mentioned this once before, but you really do need a serious shed upgrade. Up being the priority, but I do see a nice amount of vacant space to the left in the photo. .... Being in England, I take it that there are all sorts of legalities that prohibit additional shed-age? I have just doubled my shed and am still reveling in the luxury of no longer having to imitate the maze runner just in order to get from the front of the shed to the back.- which I can see is your problem. ---- I wonder if mechanics used to modern vehicles dream about the accessibility and simplicity of the engine bay on that Thorny? Regards Doug

That appears to be identical to one of the boxes in my Ferret. Looks like a No36 grenade box.

Ha, another perfectionist! Mobile phone cameras held vertically drive me up the wall too. That and the fact so many people appear incapable of keeping the subject of the video in frame, but instead wave the phone/camera around, point it at their feet, the sky etc. I do note, that in the videos I have seen from the Goslings, none of those bad habits appear.. Regards Doug

Ian I take it what you are saying is that you are creating effectively a type of varnish, but I would imagine that has a dull finish? Regards Doug G.

Steve I stand in awe of you, your brother and Dad's abilities. Especially when it comes to your milling talents and pattern making talents. The Thorny adventure (and likewise Dennis) have been very educational and I eagerly await each update. I do wonder at your get-it-done-for-X-rally timeline. Very satisfying to have it ready in time. But does mean you are working to a self enforced deadline. However, perhaps that is your motivational strategy, so an observation rather than a criticism. Regards Doug

Doug to Doug You will need to get them to tell you how much to use or research that on the internet. It really is a case of more is not better. My Dad was a carpenter from New Zealand, I suspect it was over there that he learnt to use Terebine. What I do not know is if you have to vary the quantity due to climate/humidity. Regards Doug

Tomo I am sure Steve has just learnt more than he expected about paint. However, our Terebine discussion may be useful when it comes time to preserve any shovels or axes that are displayed on his vehicles. In the UK, you probably only need to linseed oil the handles once ever couple of decades. Over here in Oz I find myself having to do it every 2 or 3 years even when stored under cover. Our dry heat where I live really does age timber surprisingly quickly. I feel confident that my 500ml tin of Terebine (smallest I could buy) should see me right for at least the next 50 years given the amount of use I have for it on wooden tools. I await the next Thorny installment...... Regards Doug

Andy Mineral Turpentine is as stated a cheap mineral based substitute for natural turpentine (from the Turpentine Bush I believe). You would not use it in anything that you wanted to last for a long time. Real turpentine is used by artists using heritage category oil paints. This type of paint has a life in the hundreds of years and thus has to last forever. That longevity is also an indication that they don't degrade. The fumes are not compatible with good health either...... Mineral Turps does not have those properties. Sort of think Leonardo DaVinci works of art - his paints pre-dated what we are discussing, but you get the idea. Regards Doug

Andy Terebine is otherwise known as "dryers". If you don't have a drying agent in paint, especially linseed oil based paint, it takes ages to dry. Have you ever used linseed oil to preserve wooden tool handles? Without dryers it can take multiple weeks before the things stop sticking to your hands. Turpentine is used as a flowing agent (slow evaporation). Thinners on the other hand is used as a fast evaporating flowing agent. The secret to Terebine is to use it VERY sparingly. More is not better. Regards Doug

Tomo Thanks for the paint information. I am familiar with the use (minimal quantities) of Terebine in linseed oil based paints but did not know it was also used in mineral oil based paints. Regards Doug

Steve Once the Thorny is done, what then? I know you blokes have long ago run out of shed-age and if I recall correctly the Dennis is out to "agistment" so to speak: so space is not only at a premium, but I am guessing you would have to pay a significant sum were this also to be the case with the Thorny? I encountered the same problem. Being in rural Australia I had just enough spare land that I could double the size of my shed and added an extra 144 sq m, but now have very little bare ground left. I am under orders that 5 vehicles is the absolute limit - actually it was 4, but one was already on an 8 year acquisition saga so it snuck in under the bar. So do the 3 of you then go into care and maintenance mode or are there further adventures ahead if you can resolve the storage issue. Hobby farm with some barns? Regards Doug

Steve. Out of curiosity, how was the paint done originally? Spray or brush or something else? What was the original paint? Just real turps, tinter, linseed oil and a bulking agent such as titanium dioxide or say Nitro-Cellulose? Regards Doug

Sean As Ian said above, 1/2 million km is easy peasy in Oz. The distance from Sydney to Perth is 3,934km one way! Companies doing what the Yanks call "line haul" ie. a regular freight run, have trucks dedicated to that route, often road trains, so are constantly worked hard. Where I live in Broken Hill in the Outback is a driver change over point. The trucks are left running, the drivers swap over and it takes about as much time to do as it took you to read this. It is 41 hours driving time plus fuel, eating stops and mandatory rest breaks Sydney <-> Perth . So roughly 2 days. Thus they can get in a maximum of 2 1/2 trips per week. If we average that as 2 trips per week (to allow for maintenance etc) then that is close enough to 16,000 km per week. So 1/2 million km takes about 9 months. They use "for life" coolant (realistically it is probably changed once a year or perhaps twice a year) which along with the oils is tested for chemical failure and metal products by the smarter companies to forestall breakdowns. Some companies just change at stated intervals without worrying about the testing. What did amaze me the other day is that it is not uncommon now for the roadtrain trucks to have such heavy spec gear that the drivers do not even attempt to change their own flat tyres but call in a tyre company from the nearest regional centre whose service trucks have air driven ratchet guns and small hydraulic powered jibs (mini Hyab arm). This is due to wheel nut torques as high as 500 ft lbs!!! I have not heard what the average working life span in km of these vehicles is. Thus I leave it to you to imagine the logistical nightmare of having a truck blow a hose and cook its engine somewhere on the Nullarbor Plain in 45°C temperatures hundreds of miles from the nearest regional centre (ie. town big enough to have a truck business) and what is needed to recover the prime mover and 2 full sized trailers. The hassle of then sending another prime mover to resume the trip and relocating the dead prime mover back to base for an engine swap. Much easier to pay the cost of silicon hoses.

Steve. I had not realised 2 things when I made my suggestion about the silicone hose. 1) That the Thorny cooling system is not pressurised. As you say, some tape will suffice to get you home if you spring a leak. Perhaps also some self-amalgamating tape just to be sure? 2) That the silicone only comes in blue or red. I suppose that is a known feature so that people don't discard it as rubber when doing more involved work. It is way too expensive to throw away. Given our huge distances in Oz and that getting stranded can be not only a massive inconvenience but also life threatening in the wrong weather, cooling system integrity is a concern. I am told that it is now common practise for the long haul and remote truckers that when they buy a new truck, the first thing they do is cut off all the rubber hoses and replace them with silicone. They can then ignore the cooling system for at least 1/2 million km until such time as say the water pump needs replacing. Regards Doug