Simon Daymond

ok, first of all I rang the number, it's for a chap called Charlie, who turns out to be quite a sound bloke :-) Unfortunately he didn't have an unloader valve, but he is the owner of yet another mk1 militant gun tractor! Thought I'd let you know the progress so far, http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/Inthebeginning.jpg[/img] this was before I started, the union the spanners were on came undone, however the remainder required heating and plenty of it. http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/strippeddown.jpg[/img] after removing the unions, I decided that the unloader valve bolts were too dodgy to attempt to remove it from the bracket, so I opted to remove the bracket from the chassis. It was a bit awkward, but there was one bolt I couldn't quite manage, but there's always one isn't there? After 5mins struggling it was off. The unloader assembly stripped easily, but the unloader valve was solid, so I tapped it out, this sticking valve along with all the cack is the problem I hope? http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/fullofcack.jpg[/img] I removed the felt filter carefully :whistle: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/feltfilter.jpg[/img] then set about trying to dislodge some of the cack inside the body http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/fullofthis.jpg[/img] all went well, and the body is soaking overnight in a paraffin bath, which I hope will dislodge the rest of the muck, and will blow through with the airline tomorrow. The only thing I'm a little worried about are these. http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/bellowsslightlycracked.jpg[/img] they are the bellows but they are badly cracked, they will refit, but I could do with a replacement sometime if anyone knows of any? More to follow later.

thanks for that :-)

yep that Matador looks very fetching :-)

on the other hand.... when I brought the militant down to work the other week, I had somebody from work follow me, to pick the pieces up etc! He said that I was causing chaos, not because we were travelling down the motorway at 30mph, but because all the traffic passing us, and the stuff going the other way, were slowing down to have a better look! :-) My favourite were the workmen on a new bridge, who nearly commited suicide leaning out of their 'cherry picker' crane to get a closer look, as we passed underneath :-D

if it goes well, I'll post some pictures, if no pictures, assume the worst :-)

go on, you know you want to :-) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1955AEC-MILITANT-6X6-GUN-TRACTOR_W0QQitemZ320142573386QQihZ011QQcategoryZ122307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

should we send flowers? Pink perhaps ? :-)

that's something we thought, that grease was avoided because it was sticky and dirt, sand etc would have loved it, so hence oil was used? I'll give it the once over tomorrow, we've one of those airpowered grease guns and I'm all for an easy life :-)

many, many thanks guys, I'm very good at taking stuff apart! - but I get worried if I don't have any spares, to replace the bits I sometimes lose/break! :-) I will give that chap a ring tomorrow. Whilst I have your attention :-)..... the workshop at work is a golden opportunity for me to do some maintenance, in paricular getting the militant lubricated. However, I notice that some of the nipples, according to my book, are for oil not grease, will it do any harm to grease or does it have to be oil?

seeing things like Spitfires in flight, particularly a Lancaster really is the reason why we should preserve the old junk we do!1 :-) You can look at pictures etc, but when you actually see something in the flesh, like the Lancaster flying over you, that really is the mutts wotsits, you can hear it coming for miles, then stand transfixed (well I did) when it flies overhead. A couple of months ago, a Hurricane and a Spitfire flew over our work. I could hear their engines ages before they came into view, then watched for ages until they flew out of sight, still occasionally catching the throb of their engines, brilliant! :-D

my mk1 militant has an air problem, can you help?... a weeks ago now, the militant moved from the farm, a resting place for the last few years, down to my place of work. She started fine, and built air straight up. Then on the 5 mile journey to work, she built air up to over 160psi, basically of the clock, I pumped the brakes a few times, and the gauge settled at 120psi. However, after a few minutes, the air pressure started to drop, finally reaching 40psi. As work wasn't far away by this time, I continued, as I was easily able to stop her on the ratchet handbrake when required. Last week I stripped the compressor, the oil in it was like mud! I removed the sump and cleaned it out in the parts washer. Then removed the compressor head. I found that the inlet valves were roughly 50% blocked, and the exhaust valves were badly seated. I cured the inlet valves with the aid of a soak in the parts washer and an airline. I removed the exhaust valves, and found they were badly pitted, so here I cheated a little, and turned them around, which worked perfectly! I rebuilt the compressor, filled it with fresh oil, then refitted it to the militant. It worked loads better, building up air really quickly. But it would only build to 80psi. Also, I found that when I stopped the engine the air is escaping from the system, not back through the compressor as I had originally thought, but from a pipe connected to the unloader valve. I am assuming that the unloader valve is u/s, and is constantly unloading, which is why the militant cannot build pressure fully, and why it loses air when idling or stopped? I have briefly examined the unloader, by taking the front cover off, it seems full of foreign matter, bits of seeds, rust etc, I think this is because the air system had the air filtration removed for the cab rebuild, and has been sat on the farm for several years without it, allowing water and assorted muck into the air system, clever I know. Am I right to assume the unloader is the problem, if so do they come apart easily, or do I run the risk of bits flying everywhere if I undo the wrong bolt? The unloader is made by Clayton Dewandre, I do have a book, but it doesn't go into much detail, and the diagram isn't very clear. Any help/advice gratefully received.

HI, nice pics, which one was you? :-)

body looks right, actually its better than the one I have, I don't think the tilt is correct though, but it will have protected the body. Cab condition looks very familiar, mine looked ok from about 15 feet away but on close inspection... http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/sdaymond/36BM01summer19941.jpg[/img] that was taken when we started taking the panels off, back in 1994, what an absolute nightmare :-( Don't know if I could go through it again, ( I say that every time!) I wonder if he'd take £500 ?

you'd probably need to be very brave to take this on, I've seen it advertised before, with the same pics, and that was a last year, so perhaps its worse now? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1955AEC-MILITANT-6X6-GUN-TRACTOR_W0QQitemZ320142573386QQihZ011QQcategoryZ122307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Happy Birthday, hope you got what you wanted :-)

my Militant was originally bought for spares! But thankfully it was never required. I couldn't break anything for spares, I've tried and failed miserably, always ending up with more vehicles than I can work on etc. I'm sure this will turn up again, hopefully not in a scrap yard though.

I would say that by wearing the uniform you are in fact showing respect, in that you are intending to wear it at an event befitting it, and presumably behaving in a reasonable manner ? :-) Respect is a personal thing, if it isn't your intention to be disrespectful then you wouldn't be in my book. In my opinion, for what it's worth, you wouldn't be doing anything wrong at all. (Unless your dancing is as chronic as mine) :-)

how's the stripping going? slowly?? :-) It'll be worth it in the end though.

HI, I went to Bradford Uni as well, its a small world.

Very sorry to hear your sad news, condolences to you and all your family.

Hi, can we get a translator for Jack-speak? :-D

you've seen my work then :-D

if you want a hand with your spraying, just give me a shout, I find a mini radiator roller better than a brush for tackling paint runs. :-)

thank you, it seems to have lasted well, (well most of it) Two people saying the same thing is good enough for me. General Mayhem, don't worry about the avatar :-D.

yep, very well done, any pics?