N.O.S.

Oops! After D-Day, 450 Transporter Co RASC were on the move inland. This outfit suffered a trailer puncture and was left behind to catch up as best it could once the wheel was changed. They were directed to take a short cut to save a bit of time.......

OK if you mean the setscrews which clamp the two halves of the metal bow curved sections together, they are 5/16 UNC. Unfortunately I have only just enough for a full setof bows which I will need in the not too distant future, so I'd like to hang on to them (well actually I'm 3 short!). On every bow I have - new or old, the thread is just a little bit tight, but after a few turns soon loosens up. Thread profile is just a smidgeon out on outer diameter I think. I tried 5/16 Whit but worse. Being U.S made they would have been UNC for sure. I decided on stainless steel but can't remember after only 12 months if this was because the only decent head profile was available in s/s (don't want to cut the canvas :cool2:). Anyway they are a socket head dome profile. If you look at a new pair of bows you'll choose 1 1/2" length like I did, but when you've assembled them all on the truck you may decide you'd have been better off with 1 1/4" length as they all stick out 1/4"inside when they've squeezed together around shrunken wood.......may need the odd longer one or a clamp and it is n absolute sod getting the holes lined up to get the thread started (but hey that's GMC ownership for you;)). Also I can't find the invoice (pity 'cos they were good value - I seem to think it was A-1 Stainless or something?), but there are loads of s/s fastener stockists out there on the web, so you'll need to hunt around to get sensible price. This is a typical one from ebay and shows the head profile, not a bad price either for 20 pack (also 3 pack available): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-UNC-Button-Head-Bolts-5-16-x-1-1-2-20-Pack-/370244274575?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item563447498f#ht_2255wt_1159

Who me? 45 psi front, 40 psi rear. Having said that, at 35 psi the rears do not flex in the slightest. The fronts do need more than that though. Reminds me, I must get my tyre kicking foot re-calibrated :-D How you drive, where you drive, and how fast, are also factors. (Found those canvas bow setscrews - more later)

I can barely believe that's the same truck in such a short space of time...

Agreed Deadline, but doesn't lower load = lower sidewall flex? Hey guys, help me out here, he's winning.....:-|

Deadline - running the trucks unladen, it is possible to get away with a slightly lower pressure than the recommended 55psi.

Welcome Mr. Rollseagle, do Cummins to the clubhouse. It's a much Petter place now that the Dorman doesn't so Crossley tell you to wipe your shoes on the mat as you enter, but will instead politely DAF his cap at you. The view from the bar terrace is so much better since the Gardner made such an AEC job of cutting back the Leyland hedge.

I've just finished putting all our clocks forward by 2 hours (yes, ok - I put them all back 1 hour on Saturday evening :blush:)

This morning I passed a nice Jeep bumbling along the other way towards Snetterton Heath. It was a bright sunny morning and the lane was covered in dappled shade (or is that dappled sunlight?....) from the tall hedgerows. Surprisingly the jeep was almost invisible, the light and shadowed areas of O.D. blending almost seamlessly into the verge and hedge. Well it would have been, were it not for the large yellow convoy flag sticking up above canvas height, and (as I looked in my rear view mirror) the rectangular orange/yellow reflective board in the centre of the spare wheel. If ever you wanted a good example of both how dangerous O.D. vehicles can be, and how to make yourself more visible and thus more safe, this had to be it. 10/10 Sir, whoever you were!

Or maybe the secret is out.......

You posted a colour image, and I was green with envy back then. Now I've turned grey with envy! Very nice.

Paul, in all your studying of base vehicle photos, have you come across any generally adhered to policy for markings? Would it be a general rule that vehicles allocated to a specific squadron show that squadron number (e.g. 561), others which show the BG or FG number would presumably have been allocated to units which covered the entire base maybe?

Looking at the very weathered white on that truck, you can just make out the inner edge of the white bumper ends (if you want to find them that is......).

You'll be mighty relieved to learn that despite a thorough search I cannot find that garbage truck photo, so you'll just have to label her up as something else :red: As for white bumper ends front and white bumperettes back, I think they look really good - sort of give the truck a defined edge, and are very effective as a safety measure too. Some bases painted the entire front bumper which I don't like - too much white. Not all vehicles on any one base were painted the same either. Here is a 388th BG Chev I posted on the appalling stencil thread, showing that anything goes really. Instead of 388Bg it has 136STA (Station 136, the base designation). Note the MacChevrolet burger logo where the 8 should be, also lack of white bumper ends unlike most 388th trucks, but with small white sections on wing tips. I think that's the nice thing about USAAF finish - it can be whatever you fancy!

The fact that they are both male names is a positive sign at least.....

1). Speak to Jim Clark at Allied Forces, he has sets c/w the metal lugs- great value (can you please remind him to send my jeep seat-back satchel back.....) 2) ISTR UNF - I got some stainless steel ones with suitable flat domed head off the Internet last year, I have a few left but will have to check this week for size when I find them, there may be enough for you if so can send them over. 3). Not tried sourcing these but you'll probably get some small coach bolts / square nuts from fastener stockists.

That first photo of the fabricated side step and curved wing lower rear, Paul - are those blobs of weld below the step recess to straighten distortion of the panel? If so that's a neat trick!

Wow - if you'd said it was 1/35th scale I'd have believed you!

Somewhere I have a photo of a 388th BG garbage truck - now wouldn't this Chev look the business with a load of galvanised bins in the back? :cool2:

:thumbsup:

There's also the replica FLYING Spitfire now for £200,000! Saw a news piece in The Field this month (these are the 90% full size ones - odd thing to do?)

I once rushed a tie bar replacement job (the rubber bushed type). All wheels were off and the truck frame was blocked up so the axles hung at funny angles. Wheels on and lowered to the ground it looked like a lizard on hot sand with the rear left and centre right wheels well off the ground. :blush: Had to then undo tie bar nuts and get tapers free so it could be lowered onto level surface before tightening.

Belgium!

Actually it was a fair while ago now, and they were being collected :blush:

OK, I sent the photos you posted to a friend who has compared them with his own photos, and has decided he is 98% certain it was once his truck. I think I'm more certain than he is!! It was worked as a wrecker by a company (he thinks called Thurlow?) in Stowmarket, Suffolk. It had a reputation for breaking down whenever it went out on a job. It was bought by a recovery operator at Needham Market around 1982 who removed the TFL gear from the back and put it on an AEC, and sold the chassis cab to my friend. He sold it on around 1993, and it moved on again not long later. He is trying to confirm the name of the company who used it, will let you know. Of course you do realise there is a 2% chance this information is not correct!