N.O.S.

Jack, S/H at £20 x 5,000 = £100,000! S/H in large quantity ought to be well under £10. But for that quantity you need to be talking direct to the manufacturers. Other dealers are Jackson or more likely Leavesley at Alrewas. Try Mabey & Johnson (the makers of Bailey bridging). They know that market and will be able to put you in touch with the right people I'm sure. Tel 01189 403921. If you buy new it will have a substantial resale value too. You could be selling it on HMVF for decades to come!!!

So does this mean that Friday's Scammell Explorer CULL is cancelled?

Very much with you on the grease thing. I'm so envious of anyone who can refill a grease gun and remain grease free. Even a change to cartridges and new guns made no difference!

I've just read that he was a Dana engineer at the time he invented it - but that was off the internet and we all know of course that is no guarantee of accuracy :-D Then again, was there perhaps a connection between Ford and Dana?

Did anyone see a TV programme (part of the BBC2 'end of steam series') before Christmas? I seem to recall they looked at the possibility of a strategic reserve, including reviewing these facilities by the tunnel, and I believe their conclusions blew this idea clear out of the water.

I'm not convinced - what do you think?

And the purpose of the 3rd pin has not yet been established. Could it be for earthing? These vehicles used an insulated Negative return system (i.e. all negatives wired back to battery), so the idea of a wired earth would make sense. Is the pin earthed on your socket Mike?

Well done Hanno, that link describes a brilliant piece of detective work!

I've just been lent a dvd "WHICKER'S WAR", looking at the wartime exploits of Alan Whicker with the British Army Film & Photographic unit, as he followed the Allied advance through Italy. Will let you know....

Oh yes, Jim - more is good! Looking at the shape I can see they lend themselves well to shipping - maximum metal for minimum cube!!

The 8LW is a very rare engine indeed. This variant did not appear until 1946, and very few were produced - fitted to a few Atkinson 8 wheelers and Foden heavy haulage units (I only know of one in a vehicle - Gary Grysa's 8 wheler Foden Pickfords truck) And the prototype 8LW resides not far from me in its original wooden crate, (well it got me excited when I saw it!).

That Dodge (?) shunter (note front bumper) in the foreground of the second pic - reminds me of the Landrover "shunters" at MVS Lichfield :shake::shake:

He was getting mighty close to that row of containers - reckon H&S might have something to say about increasing the stand-off zone........

If anyone is looking at 12 or 14 ply tyres, beware of new / nearly new looking tyres removed from Stalwarts being scrapped some years back. I've come across a couple of large batches of these and although at first sight they look really good ('yes, always been keep out of the sun in this dark shed'), most had sidewalls with very bad cracks - be careful!. There may well be some still floating around looking for an unsuspecting buyer.

gps - don't forget that , with the exception of 1/2"dia., UNC threads are reasonably compatible with Whitworth (but perhaps not advised for "critical" joints). The bolt/nut hex head is slightly smaller. If you have a John Deere main dealer nearby, they can be an excellent source for high strength UNC, especially the unusual longer lengths, in up to 7/8" dia. And very reasonably priced too compared to fastener suppliers (you obviously pay a slight premium). May be worth a try if you are ever stuck.

Joris, how on earth are you going to be able to get them out of the museum in time to catch the flight home?

Thanks John, it certainly needed someone very dedicated to get the cab/body back into shape!

Let's face it, the govt is not going to start restricting air travel or force realistic environmental charges on passengers, so we will continue to have access to unrealistically cheap air travel for the foreseable future. Who cares if we can't afford the £30 of petrol or the £70 train fare to get to the airport for our £4 flight to Europe? So meantime we have to expand the facilities, and I've just read in the paper that once the 3rd runway is operating at full capacity (oh yes?) they plan to increase night flights by 30%. Cynical? Me?

In the Boniface and Jeudy GMC book there are several pics of jimmies with rail wheels too.

Sounds about ready for a road run, but do tax and insure it first :-D

This is the Austin 5th Wheel Coupling fitted to the Autocar U7144T. As well as the usual front/aft pivot (as on a modern artic coupling), it has lateral pivot typical of off-road tractor units. Seems a good idea. However, note the cross shaft is cranked, which allows a pendulum-effect forward / aft movement of 4 inches. Oooh....now why did they have to do this? :argh: Surely this will lead to a see-saw effect when pulling a trailer, a bit like pulling a tanker with no baffles :confused::confused::confused: p.s. the pipe wrench is for a bit of cosmetic straightening of the baseplate.

No. Not even to work the wipers. :n00b:

Some interesting photos on there, Mike. The Frodsham Motors ex MOD 5th wheel tractor went to Kibworth for a short while (it was in typical seaside motor condition :shake:) - I wonder where it is now?

How's this for a link with Warton - Just had tea with a neighbour and he got talking about using Amazon for books - at my mention of Warton in Wartime he told me the following story: He had an op. at the RAF orthopaedic hospital in Ely in mid 70's and met a pilot who had been there for 2 years. The pilot was test flying a Lightning from Warton, out over North Sea climbing, turn around and come over at max altitude and speed. All ok, then as peak speed was reached the plane started to vibrate and then break up, so he ejected - the main seat chute shredded instantly but the reserve chute lasted for at least a while (they think). They found him sitting in the ejector seat in the centre of a 30 foot crater on Morcambe Sands - they had estimated his landing spot from the trajectory and found him quickly - and amazingly he had survived. He was 4" shorter than before the incident, and was expected to remain hospitalised for a further 2 years. Wow.

Thanks, Andy - the advert (in Vintage Plant/Earthmover) says owner gone abroad. The alternative is to buy one needing a fair bit of work at £4 - 6k, but you can get a lot of work done for £20+k....and of course it wouldn't have the PUC pedigree.....but as has been said, to the right person the cost is not important - lets hope it goes to a good home. Lottery? You will have storage problems at home, so you will be needing me to stable it for you, which I will of course gladly do on the basis that it will need a quick run out at least twice a week to keep it in good fettle, and you will be too far away to do that.....:-D