Kufra Kiwi

Here is a floor panel from my 1942 Chev truck after the mollasses treatment at 6:1 mix. This panel was quite badly rusted and you can still see a bit of residual rust in top right hand corner. I tie the treated parts to an old bedstead for waterblasting.

I have had good results with six parts of water to one part of mollasses, but I understand you can dilute it further to 9:1 and still get good results. Don't be in a hurry though - at least two weeks immersion is necessary for 6:1 and probably 3 to 4 weeks for 9:1. Then waterblast after removal. It works quite well and there are no toxic fumes or voltage issues either.

Thanks for that. Standing it upright is a good idea, but would an external anode work internally? On reflection perhaps a more practical solution is to replace it with a modern fuel tank of about the same dimensions. As its out of sight hidden under the seat no-one would ever know. Safer too.

Anyone had any experience removing the rust from a petrol tank by electrolysis? The petrol tank from our 1942 Chev truck is rusted inside and out. I have previously had good success with mollasses but for obvious reasons I don't want to introduce any kind of sugar into a petrol tank. I think with electrolysis the main difficulty would be getting a large enough anode inside the tank (and then out again) through the narrow filler neck?

Photographed at Hood aerodrome air-show NZ on 21st January. I think the replica tank and original Thornycroft are owned by Sir Peter Jackson, who also owns most of the 21 (yes 21!!) WW1 planes on display.

When I was a kid growing up on a farm in Taranaki, New Zealand we had boxthorn hedges around our fields. Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) originally came from South Africa where I think it was grown around native kraals to keep the lions out. Boxthorn is an extremely tough plant with long sharp thorns that can easily penetrate a tractor tyre or go right through a man’s tough leather boot. It was excellent as a very thorny stockproof hedge but trimming it by hand was a nightmare and eventually the hedges were neglected and grew up to 20m wide and started to encroach on valuable pastureland (stay with me guys, this post is about historic military vehicles!). In the early 1950s the innovative Taranaki farmers found a solution to the boxthorn problem by converting ex-army Stewart tanks into mechanised hedge trimmers. They removed the tank’s turret and replaced it with a shaft on the end of which was mounted a huge 12-foot-long rotating blade, with flails of one-inch-thick hardened steel. When the hedgecutter came to trim our boxthorn hedges there was great excitement, as an army tank was not something we boys saw every day. It rumbled ponderously along, clanking its tracks and shaking the ground as its rotating blade slowly build up speed to about 500 rpm. Then it simply drove into the hedge from one end, “whack-whack-whacking” into the branches and throwing them a hundred feet into the air. Any onlookers had to keep well clear in case they were hit by flying branches and once one of our sheep dogs was killed when the whirling blade chopped his nose off. The largest boxthorn hedges were so big and wide that the tank could be completely hidden inside them. The hedge-trimming contractor also had two bren-gun carriers with a buck-rake on front to sweep up the trimmings into heaps for burning. The drivers were protected from the thorns by a heavy steel mesh and they certainly needed it when the bren carrier charged full-tilt into a length of cut hedge, peeling it off and pushing it out into the paddock to make a heap. Sometimes we saw a huge house-sized heap of boxthorn moving along as though under its own power, with a bren-carrier buried somewhere in the middle, growling along in low gear. These machines became a common sight around south Taranaki, but we never tired of watching them when we were kids.

Thanks for that - I did not realise you were trying to restore them to their appearance in the movies that they originally starred in. But in any case I think having a longer nose helps with directional stability compared to the original planes, and building or restoring old planes usually involves some compromise in the interests of safety anmd convenience. Good luck with your restorations.

Sir Peter Jackson has several 7 Dr1s. He owns about 30 WW1 aeroplanes altogether, including many very rare types that still have the original WW1 engine and most in his collection are still regularly flown. PJ is obsessed with accuracy and authenticity and he is now re-manuafacturing "new' WW1 aeroplanes that are identical in every miniscule way to the original WW1 planes, including the rotary engines which he has reverse-engineered and now produces in his own factory! (just Google "The Vintage Aviator"). New Zealand is the only place in the world where you can see a flight of 7 Fok Dr1s flying alongside an authentic rotary-powered Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Pup, Avro 504K, Nieuport Bebe and Fok D8. He also has a Mercedes-powered Albatros DVa, a Beardmore-powered FE2B, two Bristol Fighters, a DH5, two BE2's, a Breguet and three Hispano Suiza-powered SE5a's! His museum at Omaka is widely recognised as the best in the world and his annual airshows are simply mind-blowing to any WW1 aero nut like me.:nut: His next airshow is on 21st January at Hood aerodrome and I can't wait! :-D. The Dr1 and SE5a shown in your picture are both innaccurate, as their noses are far too long, to accommodate modern engines.

Thats a Harry Tate on the back

I suggestion from past bitter experiene: Don't ever say that to anyone, especially if you are referring to restoring old vehicles. :cheesy:

One of the rarest must surely be that lone Chev WA ex LRDG truck in the Imperial War Museum and its two derelict mates still sitting forlornly in the south Libyan desert. And as far as I know, not a single 1942 Chev 1533X2 ex-LRDG truck exists anywhere.

It is well documented that at the end of WWII about 400 Corsair F4U fighter planes (and also other types) were bulldozed into a heap and burnt at Rukuhia airfield near Hamilton New Zealand. I have seen a photo somewhere of them all lined up waiting to be disposed of. Some were also bulldozed into a gully and their remains are occasionally dug up by local enthusiasts. It beggars belief that no-one considered any of them worth keeping. Also, I understand that there are still places in NZ where you can find GMC trucks lined up under hedges rotting away, although I have not seen them myself. Surprising, when you consider the number of enthusiastic restorers here.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. I was using a nickname, so maybe that is the problem. But if so, you would think the forum administrator would have the courtesy to respond to my emails. I must have tried to contact him at least six or eight times, each time asking why I am not allowed do anything in the forum. Just to clarify, they have accepted me as a forum member, but when I try to post a message or blow a thumbnail photo up to full size or respond to a post I always receive the message that I do not have authority to do that (can't remember the exact words, but something like that). Very frustrating!!!

Hi all, I have tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to register in the MLU forum, following all the correct procedures but I still cannot actually partake in forum discussions. I have repeatedly emailed the moderator/owner asking what the problem is but never even receive a reply. Am I right in assuming its now dead? If so, it will be a great shame as it has so much really useful info. Anyone else having these problems?

I am getting excellent results from using one part mollasses to 6 parts water in the restoration of my 1942 LRDG Chev truck. I leave an object in the tank for 2 weeks and its amazing how well it works. Its also a safe, non-toxic, cheap and environmentally friendly substance! Surprisingly, objects don't start rusting again after removing them from the tank and water-blasting off the gunk. After leaving them out in the sun to dry, the rust still has not reappeared even a month later. Regarding warmth: my outside tank worked well during our 3-month NZ winter through several frosts and a snowfall, with daytime temps averaging about 10 degrees C. I am completely sold on the idea.

G'Day from NZ, I am a Model A Ford enthusiast and have heard that the Russians carried on production of the Model A (GAZ) car for many years after Henry Ford sold them a complete Model A factory in 1929. I also heard a story about a US soldier coming across a 4WD Russian jeep during the Vietnam war and when he had a proper look at it he discovered that the engine, gear box and much of the running gear was recognisable as Model A! Until now I have always discounted this story as being just another one of those unlikely and fanciful myths, but when I saw this post my jaw dropped a full six inches, as that motor and gear box are instantly recognisable as pure Model A Ford!! So what year was this GAZ jeep made? Cheers, KK

In research for my 1942 LRDG Chev 1533X2 replica truck, I notice that modern replicas almost universally have a "flat" dashboard. I am wondering what this is based on, as I do not see any flat dashboards in any of the period photos in the four LRDG books that I have. Some of the photos in "Kiwi Scorpions" and other LRDG books come very close to showing the dashboard, but I cannot see any picture that provides convincing or conclusive proof. Does anyone know of such a photo or know of any other evidence supporting the flat dashboard for the 533X2s?

Building a 30cwt 1533X2 - will post a pic when I get the hang of it. KK

Waikato

G'Day from NZ, I am restoring a 1942 Chev truck and converting it to LRDG configuration. This looks like a good sort of place to find out things and make new contacts. I am impressed by the huge amount of info available just by reding the forums. What a great website!! Cheers, Kufra Kiwi