Richard Farrant

Tim, I know you had no real problems, but I did wonder if there were any fuel related ones? Remembering your troubles with another of your fleet, was it an Autocar?

Well done with the prizes, the icing on the cake :thumbsup: Best Dennis is also an achievement with all those shiny fire engines on the run.

Nick, I thought he was towing you when you went by me

Here are photos of the Crossley, Locomobile and Pierce Arrow passing through Handcross today. Did not see the FWD unless it was very late.

Lubrication is at the root of this, or lack of it, hence why levels should be checked and kept to levels. You might be able to retrieve your tracta shaft and knuckles if not badly damaged, cannot judge from you photos what damage there is.

Seen coming in to Handcross this morning, hope all went well.

Seem to recollect an article on Berg Truck and Parts Co in Wheels & Tracks once. He was a big name in surplus at the time. That fire Jeep looks like a CJ2-A..........and I agree with Tony, nice girl as well

Not an unusual failure on a Fox. Tracta joint picks up, spot weld between a fork and knuckle, something has to give and tube breaks away from sphere on the challis.

Not this Richard, must be another one :undecided:

Tony, you will not believe this, but the EKA nuts still worked loose and our REME recovery crew carried a torque wrench to regularly check them. Mainly rears and I think it was possibly due to when bogie blocking was actuated. This all came to a head when early one morning they were returning to the Workshops and were amazed to see a wheel overtake them on the inside, cross the road and dissappear into a wood. They chained up the rear most hub and hobbled in on five wheels. Then had to go back in daylight to search for the wheel

Chris, I think the challis (spherical Tracta housing) is from the rarer Mk4 and Mk5. The tubular part of it is shorter, and the number is not the same as Mk1 and 2.

They should be much tighter than 75 ft/lbs. Just looking at the Scammell EKA handbook and for 7/8" BSF nuts, they should be 325 - 375 lbsf/ft

In the late Sixties, when I was an apprentice with agricultural engineers, we used to go to a farm where a forlorn looking D2 stood in nettles, with US army numbers and star visible under flaking paint. Was not even contemplating private ownership of such things at that time :-(

Thanks Tim, I did wonder if it might have been moved as I've not been to Wainscott for many years now. As you are the man on the spot, is it a post war D4 as I cannot recall now? regards, Richard

hi Rob, Was that the same D4 that was on a plinth at Wainscott..........around about 1980-81 ? If so, then I had to refit the steering clutches in it, so the CO could drive it up on the plinth as his farewell. I was at Plant, Roads & Airfields Wing on a plant repair course, and the particular machine being taught at the time, I was more than familiar with, so was found something else to do !

Had a Bedford MK or MJ come in to Workshops, broken down on the road and recovered, driver said it had a history of fuel problems, since the tank was repaired. I took the tank off and had a look inside.......guess what, it was a delivery note from Serck, floating around inside. Some numpty had rolled it up in the neck I guess.

Oily, You will want to take the engine right out, once you move it away from the gearbox, there is no sense struggling to work on it still in the vehicle, besides, you will find it easier to drain the oil off when out. I cannot see why you would wish to change the whole flywheel, once you have taken the cover assembly off and the driven member inside, there is only a ball race in the flywheel and that is probably in good order, unless the flywheel had run dry. You can put away your metric sockets too, all AF sizes on these vehicles

Going by the rad grilles, they are both postwar / late 40's civilian models.

No worries, that was constructive discussions As it was around 25 to 30 years ago when I was working on these wagons regularly, the mind dims a bit, but something you have just mentioned has made me think. The bellows spring on the seal may well have settled, because I recall having to change these seals, but not because there was visible damage. You could ask the person who has stock of these seals, to measure them, on the pretext that you want to check they are the correct ones, and if there is significant difference between yours and the new ones, then there is the answer, the spring has settled.

OK Mike, thanks. The seal / gland may well be worn, because the felt is not fitting properly. Rob, what is the condition of the mating surface to the bellows gland? If at all scored then this would be cause of leakage. I cannot remember if the bellows gland is supplied with its mating surface as a set, this is how they are supplied for crawler final drives, and sealed together as surfaces are mirror finish.

Mike, I did not suggest the felt was an "oil seal", but did suggest using "oil seal quality felt" to make a new dust excluder ring. You are correct in saying how these bellows seals ( or glands) should be carefully handled, I have had wide experience of them, not only on AEC, but CAT and other vehicles. The Militants in army service had often been axle deep in mud and this would find its way straight in to the brake area, so not only asbestos dust to contend with.

Congratulations on a superb restoration, and as it carries NZ markings, very appropriate as it is Anzac Day in NZ at this present time. Hope all goes well next week, and I am sure it will.

Rob, You need good quality oil seal felt, which is usally a dense white material. There is a company in Whitstable ( or nearby), who supply this material. I wanted some felt rings cut out for a similar application, or though, I was able to source the correct part elsewhere, so did not pursue it further with the company. Looks like is a parallel strip with a scarf joint, and has shrunk. As for the bellows gland, these are oil seals in themselves, this type of seal is fitted in final drives on dozers (CAT, etc) and the like and are more reliable than lip seals when working in a harsh enviroment...........so long as the faces are not damaged.

.....or you could use one of these, just like they did in the old days !

I carried out some work on Wickham trolleys from Lydd Ranges, many years ago, mainly on the engines, which are JAP V-twins, with fluid flywheels. I seem to recollect the trip levers actuated from stops on the track, applied the brakes and knocked the throttle off, not sure about reversing the drive.