Don Robert

As an update to this earlier post, and in case it has dropped of your radar I can report subject to CAA approval Maurice Hammond will be displaying his P51 Mustang over Harwich Harbour on Monday 4th May 14.30 hrs approx. This will be supporting "Operation Badger " an event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE day at Harwich Town. Approx 25 WW2 Vehicles are committed to this event camping FOC 3 miles from Harwich , with Campfires and BBQ Sat+Sun Evenings. there will be Convoy run outs Sat and Sun to local areas of WW2 interest. Owners can pick and choose what days they want to attend. On Monday ( bank holiday ) we will run into Harwich and park next to the Air display area. Further entries are still welcome so please feel free to contact me. Ed Abbott 07798 768088

A successful meeting with our District Council has given tacit support for this event and funding for possibly 2 x P51 Mustangs to display. Mustangs over Harwich would have been a common sight during WW2 from neighbouring US bases... With very few 70th VE Events planned nationally or locally anywhere for reasons beyond me...but the Election on May 7th has a large bearing on this...even the Government are now scrambling to get an Event together because someone forgot...it is National disgrace that this Anniversary will almost past by un-noticed in the UK...its a National Holiday in France and other European Countries... Our Event will now develop as a organising team get cracking to get local WW2 Veterans involved as they are a finite resource and won't be about much longer.. Owners of WW2 Vehicles and re-enactors are welcome to be part of this event and I would urge you to check your Diaries and see if you can make it...I was part of the massive Anniversary 50th 20 years ago, in the UK and Holland and it would be nice to try to re-create some of that spirit in 2015...while we still can...

It is true a P51 display is provisionally booked, but funding for this and other elements of the event are yet to be finalised. Several people have already confirmed support for this unique event that will make a great family w/e on the sunny East coast of England.

Tim, welcome to the site, and whilst it is a great site you will find a 100% WD bike site on the WDBSA site..Google it.. its not all BSA,s . I have sold my 3HW but still got the Triumph books if you want a gander. I can not be far away ,I am nr Manningtree and have still got several WD bikes..

From the Team that brought you "Operation Bolero " 2007 . Plans are in progress to Organise a 70th anniversary of VE Day at Harwich Essex 4th May ( Bank Holiday Monday ) this year. Harwich Harbour was an important port during WW2, and has much history to explore . Allied Military vehicles from WW2 are invited to attend this event and camp over the w/e from Friday 1st May on a 3 acre meadow 3 miles from Harwich. It is envisaged a convoy run out on the Sat and Sun to local points of interest will be undertaken. This is an "heads up " of an Event very much in its infancy, but needs to happen "Lest we forget " . I need to know what level of interest there is in this event either for the 4th only or the w/e camping as I am in talks with our local council officals..!!! please e-mail me at edd@abbottracing.com. for further info.

I am glad this thread is nearing resolution, I suggested an electromechanical fuel pump way back on thread no.7 would work fine, I thought we had already decided a mechanical fuel pump works at 1.5-3.0 psi depending on the type and condition of the pump. Fit the new washer and that should be cure the leak...

This thread seems to run and run, since I posted thread no. 7..!! a few bright sparks have given the correct simple answer, other,s wan't a computerised fully engineered NASA solution. 6volt neg/pos earth SU pumps are readily available new or used on E-bay...with filters built in 1.5-5 psi. Buy a pump fit it. End of problem .simples... If the engine stops switch off the ignition, SU pumps stop if there is no demand anyway.

I don't know why everyone is making this so complicated. A standard electro-mechanical or solid state fuel pump SU. pump, pumps at 3-4 psi...broadly compatable with the output of a good AC type engine driven pump. Millions apon Millions of British cars from the 1930's to 1970's ran either into a SU or Solex type carb with a bogo float chamber and needle valve . From my own experience these did not flood at the drop of a hat or needed "Pressure damping " or additional filters. Filter kings etc were intoduced into the market initially to help "extreme " operation vehicles such as Land Rovers or Competition cars which experienced high "G" loads that could cause temporary unseating of float chamber needle valves and subsequent "over rich" operation. A SU pump readily available new or second hand will work fine. If you need a filter sort the tank out. If it floods sort the carb. out. Keep it simple.

Thanks for posting pics..very interesting,, makes my 10,000 lb GMC winch a bit weedy... could have done with your winch here a few days ago in rural North Essex.. , a fully laden HGV artic , veered off the road into a ditch, resting at a 40 degree angle parallel to the road,,well stuck...Its recovery involved 2 x 600 BHP HGV recovery vehicles lots of winching, strops round mature Oak trees , snatch blocks galore ..chains ..large shackles...and cups of tea ( my Job ).. A fascinating exercise in solving a tricky recovery that took 12 hours !!! ( the first recovery truck had to call for more help after he failed after 5 hours )

Graham I went through this exercise on my own 353 truck a year ago....firstly looking at your top bows,,,they don,t seem very " bowed ". to me to get my new metal corners or bows to work I needed 6" inches of "bow " in the wood to get the angle correct. this is from the underside of the bow to a datum. The top bow by the way need to be 68 1/4 inches long. I steamed new ones from Oak to work. The correct metal bows are available from the normal Dutch suppliers or Rex Ward sometimes carrys them or can get them in. If the top bows are straight or straightish the corners bend to suit ( they are fairly flimsy ,,I put 3 tack welds on each new corner to strengthen them ) and the side strakes bulge outwards, reducing rear vision and making the tarp sit as a 3 sided box, rather than having a pronounced bow or radius at the top at the top. Most trucks seen to be in this catorgory as over the years the top bows collapse due to tarp weight. Look at pics of trucks during WW2 and you will see a pronounced roof radius... Hope this helps.

By my calculation at 7.0 mpg Petrol ( what I got to Normandy and back last year ) and 16.00 MPG Diesel which sounds a bit good to me, and current fuel costs, Richard is going to be £375 better of every 1000 miles travelled. Having had my transfer and gearbox out prior to Normandy last year I am only to well aware of the effort required to move these heavy lumps let alone resite them. The engineering job to get the Diesel job to work is first class...and I am well impressed, however its certainly not for me. part of the GMC CCKW thing is the sound and feel of that 6 Cyl Petrol engine, AND that's what went to war in WW2....

The illustrations in my 3SW handbook 100/T.C.3 are drawings of the spanners and therefore impossible to ascertain the type of finish. ...however in keeping with all WD bikes the toolkits would have been a mix of Manufacture specific tools., and generic supplied tools such as pliers, spark plug spanners and adjustable wrenches. Most of these if not all were not plated but etched black, a semi rust free process called Parkerising which was easily done in house as a cheap finish. It is always tempting to have and carry an authentic tool kit, but on the road any breakdown/puncture is far better dealt with with modern tools especially combination spanners that actually work in the heat of the moment. there are serious experts on The WDBSA bikers website covering all makes of WD bikes if you want further opinion etc.great to see a bit of interest in a fairly rare bike.... Ed Abbott.

I am glad you have got to the bottom of it...I posted way back on post no.45 that I had similar problems on my GMC that was fuel related and a strong contender for your fault. Cleaning 70 years of silt from the system has been totally successful. and needed a variety of wires to push down the pipes to dislodge all imbedded debris..on the tank side of the filter... The GMC comes with a fairly sophisticated fuel filter as standard...easily serviced with new filters readily available.... I don think "Modern Fuels " should be confused with poor quality fuel/ old pump diaphrams that will fail irrespective of which fuel is used. Ethanol/alchohol was widely used in Petrol in the Uk from the late 1940,s to the late 1960,s when most cars had mechanical fuel pumps.

When I examined all my "staves " back in March this year, I kinda came to the conclusion that the really original ones I had were 47 1/2 " ,, but then I thought who is going to specify a fairly low tech piece of engineering to a 1/2 " dimension ?? and decided 48" must be the length... I then had to chop them back to 47" to get my tarp to hang right...!!! I would like to know what the official top bow dimension is..i got new ones steamed to 6" to get the metal bows and staves to more or less join up without to much tension...

The trick is to make lots of local journeys before a big one to gradually build up confidence and reliability before a long journey and get all the bugs out. Before taking my GMC 353 to Normandy this year..i did a lot of local trips.. encountered fuel starvation which stopped the truck ...had 5th gear break ...the headlights die in the dark etc... The actual 975 mile round trip to Normandy was a 100% reliable experience and hardly used any oil ! and of course carry all the correct spares... I made the mistake of coming back using Motorway,s which already mentioned is a drag and stress producing...older vehicles soon get their engine oil very hot with dire consequences. I have had my fair share of coming home on ropes in the early days in my Jeep , but I always say to myself ( even now ) what is the worst that can happen from a breakdown?? get cold/bored.....at least with mobile phones now its no big deal...its not as if you are crossing the Sahara or getting shot at !!! and liable to die !!! Ed Abbott