Richard Farrant

I remember being on holiday in Pembrokeshire in the mid 60's and seeing the soft cabbed German lorries going to and from Pembroke Dock as well as the Mungas. One day we were out and were stopped by German soldiers in a lane and Leopard tanks crossed in front of us, the swept the road before letting us pass.

Hi Martin, Just found the attached page in a 1981 MoD publication for MVEE Chertsey, it shows that the Limber did not have a winch, but could be used as a tractor. Note the use of FH70 Limber and FH70 Tractor in the description.

I was given some photocopies of a list of Rootes contacts for war period, it was originally typed with dates and amendments written in, it will not scan as it has obviously been copied before and rather feint. I picked out the Q2 contracts for you and typed the above list. Dates can be vague as there is date of contract and date of completion, which sometimes can be a long time after the first date.

Supplying as chassis/cabs is not unusual as the MoS would have contracted another company to make the bodies. What you need to find is Q2 parts lists as Commer / Rootes usually listed the range of chassis numbers for the particular contract, then it will narrow your search down. Usually a different parts list for each contract.

Hi Simon, The seller has not been on this forum for 5 years.

Looking at wartime contracts for Commer Q2 30cwt, there are far more for the RAF, but very few for the Army.

If the base colour is SCC2 Brown, and then there are blue coats over it, this could indicate post war RAF service. It is not unusual for vehicles of that period to have been transferred from Army to RAF or Navy. Do you know the Contract number for this Commer?

Hi Mammoth, Have you tried contacting the Hampshire County museum in England that hold the Thornycroft company's records? Here is a link; https://collections.hampshireculture.org.uk/transport-vehicles I did this for several Dennis vehicles of similar age through the Surrey museum and got copies of the build sheets and these were for lorries exported to Australia, they were very detailed. regards, Richard

Good hear you have it fixed now. I am pleased that I remembered a similar problem so you did not have to do any unnecessary work.

Hi Bryan, You mentioning the date on the lamp at that it might be a bit late for Paraffin, reminded me of something. About 15 years ago I was in the local Morris OIls distributors and they had 5 gall drums of Railway Lamp Oil. I quiried it but was told they still used oil lamps at that time, and may still do.

Here is the full story on the knock engine although it does not look quite like the object in the photo: https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/resourcefiles/aboutasme/who we are/engineering history/landmarks/50-cooperative-fuel-research-engine-1928.pdf

Austin K5 4x4 being built and finished lorries on the road were Austin K6 6x4

I bought a few prior to the auctions in the 70's and I think they were only about one shilling, so good investment. Would never have realised it at the time.

Reading the description, it seems to explain well that it is a film prop, built for a Dunkirk film but not used in it. No surprise there as they were not around in 1940. Some museums have replica items that are visually correct on the outside, so cannot see too much wrong with the description.

To be precise, the vehicles are actually Morris Commercial CD 30cwt trucks, built between 1933 and 39, note they have single wheels on the rear. The picture Rick has post is a D, but a 6-seater car, built between 1927 and 1932.

It is all coming on well. I have been looking for photos of the WOT6 I worked on as just found two photos that may show details for you. The picture showing the whole vehicle, if you zoom up to the top of the windscreen I can recollect a canvas strip inserted between roof and screen,it is basically a flap to stop water getting to the windscreen top hinges. The others shows the cab interior. The others are saved on a hard drive or memory stick so will see what can be found. regards, Richard

Hi Ron, You said you got the filter from India, well the picture here could be an India contract M20 as it has the oil pressure 'tell tale', and I know that was part of their spec. regards, Richard

Hi Potless, I think you are right about it being a 6kva now I think about it. The army did have 3.5kva Onan sets, but these bigger ones replaced the Coventry Climax unit and they were usually mounted in trailer with jerricans and batteries.

Maybe this is why the original diaphragms were destroyed? I do not have any info here for the Foden gearbox to help you on this, but feel sure someone here will know.

Hi Dave, Onan was bought out by Cummins some time back. They have a helpline to identify Onan generators and I believe they can email you copy of manual. Try this link: https://www.cumminsonanstore.com/howto/

I have been following your thread and luckily the one we were involved with was not as bad as yours, but there was problems with the roof at the front I think, but another chap took the roof away to repair, I worked on the lower cab and mechanicals. I have a feeling the top of the window assembly was welded to the cab roof. Will search out my photos to see if there are any clues.

It is about 25 years ago since I last worked on one, but you maybe right about 24v starting, but please double check first otherwise you may cause damage, I cannot remember positively, but thought it was only 12v. The starting is done by part of the generator armature wired as an electric motor in effect. I cannot recollect the model designation of this particular type as they came in service later. It look like the makers plate is missing I think it was below the suppliers plate that you showed. regards, Richard

A 3.5kva Onan, very good sets, the army used them for many years, I have worked on a good many, but only on the engine side, we had electricians who dealt with the electrickery. Most issues were down to lack of use and stuck valves, carburettor and fuel pump. Nice thing on these was the electric starter, working from the generator. Just realised that is the later one, the most common one were flat twin engines.

There are several points to consider. One is wire thickness, you may need to use a thinner one when doing work on these thin panel. Also the type of gas you are using, I use an Argon mix and it gives you a flatter weld. Balance of wire speed and amps is essential also gas pressure settings.. Regarding the fillet welds, I find that weave welding works well, I learnt this with gas welding 50 years ago. Then we were only taught gas and arc welding, I learnt MIG by trial and error much later, but I always remember what a welder once told me, if someone is welding with MIG it should sound like sizzling bacon and that is very true, best to do a test on some scrap if you have changed settings.

It is about 23 years since I worked on these, so cannot remember, but an old Volvo truck in the yard where I work has to have the "ignition" switch turned on to bleed through the injectors, try that.