Richard Farrant

Hi Andrew,

That is an achievement, your father must be pleased.

regards, Richard

 

but how to source a ............. correct Wilson transmission would be quite a task?

 

 

There is new or as new one available, I have told Rick, and it is in NSW...... 'no names, no pack drill'

Well, finally got to the bottom of the poor compression: EVERY valve clearance was tight but No.1 inlet valve was the main culprit, with no clearance at all. How pouring a bit of oil down the bore masked this I don't know but slackening the adjuster half a turn brought the compression right back up to match the others. This on a vehicle that has barely been run since the cylinder head was supposedly overhauled! (Note to self: remember to never take anybody else's work on trust ever again). Checking the rest of the inlet valve clearances was straightforward but I'm not surprised that exhaust valve clearances get neglected; it was bad enough adjusting them in the relatively accessible fire engine, never mind a Saracen or Stalwart.

 

 

Thanks again to Richard and everybody else who offered advice.

Glad to here you have got to the bottom of this. It was no surprise that the oil sealed the exhaust valves for the compression test as the plugs are above the valves and oil would have gone over them before running down the bores.

regards, Richard

Dear All,

 

The Rolls Royce part number I have used in the past is ST 81712 but unfortunately whilst it is recognised by Perkins it is no longer supplied and there is no alternative.

 

Has anyone worked out what to ask for from a transmission specialist, ie cross section and length?

 

Note that the manual states that it is very important that the belts come from the same batch of manufacture.

 

John

Hi John,

It is many years since I was working on Crusaders, but re. belts, I would expect the belt to be made to a British Standard and probably in the B cross section, it would be just a matter of measuring the inside circumference and going to a local bearing supplier as already mentioned. The quote from the manual would be about ensuring they are matched lengths, the reasoning for them coming from the same batch.

I quite often get belts for some old and obscure military vehicle and come away with a suitable one, never tell them what it is for as they will immediately say 'no stock'!

regards, Richard

Well done, Rick

Your tank's census number T18656 falls into the following groups;

[h=2]T18361 - T18660 CovenanterI, II, Bridgelayer[/h][h=2]T18661 - T18760 CovenanterI, Bridgelayer

[/h]These numbers are from the pre-1948 A Vehicle census list on the MAFVA website. Not sure where it means these groups were gun tanks and bridgelayers or just the latter. You will have to look for unusual fittings on the hull to ascertain if it was a bridgelayer.

regards, Richard

Seen them fitted as spotlights on army crane jibs and recovery vehicles as well.

As far as I can remember the only major differences on the Mk 10 to its predecessors were the addition of IFCS and Stillbrew composite armour. Maybe Richard F knows more??

Neil,

I am afraid I am no expert on the Chieftain, but young Eli could tell you more, watch this;

Love his comments on the L60, reckon his father was a crewman.

B card found too, not sure how to get this on as a picture

Cheers Chris

Hi Chris,

From the record card this Martian may have had a charmed life. It appears that it was in storage for 4 years before being issued in Jan. 1962

It later spent 14 years at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre Workshops at Bovington before being passed to the RARDE research establishment at Chertsey. This would seem about the time that Leylands were withdrawn when the Foden recovery entered service. It was finally passed over to the Procurement Executive, but no date of final disposal on that card.

regards, Richard

Not sure if it will help but I fitted a new thermostat once and it caused the engine to boil up initially then work ok after a while.Turned out there was a small 1 to 2mm hole to give some water flow when the thermostat was fully closed ..BUT..in the hole was fitted a Y shaped piece of copper on the the one end of which was a 2 to 3mm plastic ball which blocked off the hole when water was pumped round ???!!!!!...hence no flow at all!! Engine got hot real quick and boiled up but would settle down when I assume the thermostat finally opened. Removed said "thing " from the thermostat to small flow even when cold and everything worked fine from then on.

Hope this helps

Andy

Andy,

The little ball valve is there to release air when filling the system, once full the valve will float up and lock off flow. Once engine is warm, thermostat opens.

If the thermostat was fitted upside down as Tony says, then the ball valve would stay open, but thermostat would not open very quickly as it sense temperature of coolant from the lower side.

No one has mentioned this yet, but in my long experience on B Range engines is that the Exhaust valve clearance are often not checked due to the limited access in a number of applications, especially anything armoured. The clearance can decrease over time so worth checking. I know you put oil down the bores to seal the rings, but the exhaust valve is a side valve and the oil may well have helped seal a blowing valve.

Hi Jon,

I am sure I can see a vertical weld on the nearside chassis rail behind the spring hanger. This probably means that chassis has been cut off at the rear at some point then new pieces welded in, so you have lost evidence of the towing arrangement being fitted.

NEWS FLASH!

 

This problem has gone all the way to the engineers at the BBMF. They say "it's the coil".......apparently they had a similar problem on a Spitfire recently although I suspect that it wasn't discovered mid-journey!

I thought a Spitfire had a magneto :undecided:

What spark plugs are you using? I recommend Champion J8C for the Bedford 28hp. If you are using NGK, beware as there are fake ones on the market and sub-standard.

regards, Richard

On the Leyland Retriever I the last photo I wonder what the white circle marking is; a faded Bridging plate?

I would say the photo is possibly a black & white and has been coloured. The grass looks too green. Whoever done it may not have known the plate should be yellow.

After a perfect run to this weekend's event, we had problems getting the our Bedford MW to run properly from the start of the return journey.

Several stops and a lot of head scratching showed that there was no spark on the front two plugs EXCEPT (and this is the nutty bit) when we held the plug cap in close proximity to the terminal of the spark plus.

The spark could be heard arcing from the inside of the plug cap to the nipple on the end of the plug, when this was happening the engine ran fine. However as soon as the cap was pushed onto the plug the engine ran rough as the plugs stopped sparking.

To get home we secured the two plug caps just off the plugs with wire so they could arc to the top of the plug.

 

So why would a spark plug fail to work when properly connected to the HT lead but work well when there is an arc between the plug cap and the plug?

Did you remove these two plugs to look at them? They could be fouled, oil possibly. By holding the cap away from the plug it seems to intensify the spark, hence the old trick of a shirt button in the HT lead.. Something else you can do is to swap these plugs to another position and see if the problem moves with them.

my guess militant with coles crane on it worth scrap unless some body on here wants it

Looks more like a CMP Chev or Ford with a No.13 cab to me.

We are probably all nuts but my question regards the nuts that connect the con rods to the camshaft on the Bedford 28hp engine.

 

I'm presuming they are the same for the MW, QL, etc (I have a QL) and need a new set of 12. Easy enough to get hold of I thought but when I checked the parts list it describes them as Nut, special, connecting rod cap stud.

 

Does anybody know what is special about them (my guess was they are hardened?). Also, does anyone know the size and thread off the tops of their head as I don't have the con rods with me.

 

Many thanks,

Mark

Hi Mark,

I advise you to use the correct nuts for the big ends. All 28hp engines use the same ones. They are slightly deeper than a standard UNF nut if I recall and have a better locking face on them. Contact Bygone Bedford Bits, I am sure Norman will have stock.

I'm fairly certain the the 35RZFAIPO came in different configurations for different vehicles (not just Bedford).

 

40RZFAIPO as others have said, is for the Ford V8 (and possibly others as well).

 

The jets are accessible from the outside of the carb, without need to strip it down.

 

If you're feeling adventurous, there's a Solex instruction book called "Self-starting Solex Carburettor 35 & 40 RZFAIP downdraught governor type with accelerating device instruction booklet", this covers tuning. There's also some coverage in "British Solex Carburettors" published by Speedsport Motorbooks which is easier to find (out of print, but second hand). This indicates that the O in RZFAIPO indicates a zero starter, though I'm afraid I don't know what that means in practice.

 

Otherwise just go with the Bedford manual

 

 

 

Unfortunately none of the info I've found lists what the other stamped in letters and numbers mean (or which relate to what vehicles or configuration).

Lauren,

You are referring to a specific model of Solex carb, the 35RZFAIPO, there are only a small number of vehicle types use this particular specification and they would have jets to suit as well as a variation on the fixing for the Zero Starter cable.

Vehicles this one was fitted to were;

Bedford MW, OX, OY and QL

Austin 3 ton 6x4

Ford WOA1 and WOT range

there may be others, but not show in in Vocab.

As for the 40RZFAIPO, that was fitted to the Austin K5, Dennis tipper and Albion BY5 and FT11

The letters each denote a feature of the particular carb and some engines will have a different combination of letters to others.

To take an example of 35RZFAIPO

35 denotes choke tube size (this is nothing to do with choke as in starting, it is the venturi so to speak.

R Governor assembly incorporated in throttle tube

Z Dustproof

F Generic term relating to diecast carb.

A Bi-starter

I Downdraught

P Pump accelerating device discharging straight into choke tube

O Zero Starter

You questioned Zero Starter, this is a device on the side of the carb with a disc valve in it operated by what you might call the cold starter cable ('choke'). It works with closed throttle.

Just a warning. The same carburettor fits a Ford V8 as well as a Bedford, but all the jet sizes are different. Make sure you have the correct one for your Bedford with the right jets.

Robert,

The British Ford V8 was fitted with the 40RZFAIPO carb, and the Bedford had the 35RZFAIPO carb, different choke tube sizes (ie 40mm and 35mm for aforementioned carbs), not the same carb.

Correction ..... it was the Ford WOT1 crash tender that had the 40RZFAIPO, the WOA1 and other WOT models had the 35RZFAIPO

Finally got to see this episode. I liked it I do, however, remain curious as to where the hell he got the Panther from!! As stated on the program - they are as rare as rocking horse dropings......

You have been walking past it for years .......

Are you sure that's a UNC thread? I would have thought more likely to be Whitworth. Same 16 tpi but a different thread form. I would also think that the finer thread for the nuts will be BSF. Just a thought. Ron

No British threads on a Bedford, all NF and NC

I've recently bought a portable two-stroke petrol generator circa 1969

and I'm pleased with its overall condition and military look.

However , getting it to produce a useable output is going to be my biggest problem .

Details that I have are :

 

Generator Set , gasoline engine, AC 5KVA 208/115v 3 phase 400 Hz

Maker Air-Log

Part No. X2-6115-99-199-0598

Engine JLO L372

Two 5 pin star output sockets one rated at 25 amps and one at 16 amps

 

Believed to have come out of Wellington Barracks.

 

was there ever a splitter/transformer box that went with this to provide more useful outputs ?

can a modern adapter be used ?

 

hope someone can help.

much obliged

 

Steve

Hi Steve,

I remember working on these sets when they came in to Workshops, the were commonly known a 'high cycle' gennys. There is no transformer box that I recollect, it is for power tools and I think they plug straight into it. The engine is very well made, I did have to change a crankshaft on one, they probably did not use any two stroke oil. When you stop the engine on the button it is best to hold the throttle shut as they are apt to backfire if you release the button too early. I had our electrical inspector on his hands and knees one day checking readings, he told me to stop the engine and I purposely let it backfire, I think he left the ground!, then said 'do it again!'

I recall the cycle indicator is a number of vibrating needles and you adjust the revs to get the right cycle reading, think it was 500 cycles?

Hi

 

Does anyone know the the thread that is used on 1940's lucas generators ? According to the parts list it is 'special' which probably means that it is an odball size.'

 

I had to cut mine so that generator could be taken apart to be repaired, so I am after a replacement.

 

It is not 5/8 UNF (18tpi) , it is more like M17 fine (20tpi), if it is this any ideas where I can get one

 

 

Cheers

Richard

Richard,

I take it you have measured OD of thread and that it is 5/8" ? If so it could be British Cycle thread (CEI) as on 5/8" size there were two, one being 26 tpi and the other 20 tpi, (thread angle 60 degs) I recall Lucas using CEI thread on some components in those days.

Certainly would not be metric in those days.

regards,

Richard

 

The only unanswered question now is the name of the test missile, although I have given what clue I can :-D

Was it Red Shoes ?

Clive,

Is the photo of the recovery operation of the rocket/missile? It would appear that the Commer is just a transporter, and also the white object, is this to show where it landed?

Some years ago I drove a Willys jeep up through South Australia and found one of the camera tracking points for rockets fired from Woomera and not far up the track stopped the night at the very remote pub at William Creek. Outside the pub was a large section of rocket recovered from nearby, it was I understand, the 1st stage of a Black Arrow. There was part of a smaller one as well, but nothing there to identify it.

As an aside, the pub had a filling station out front and light aircraft would taxy up from the airstrip to the front of the pub and fill up alongside any vehicle there.