Stormin

Thanks again N.O.S. Contacted John Christensen at Cummins as you suggested and received an e-mail today from one of his colleagues. It gives the full build sheet details for the engine as shipped 30th Jan 1945. Great testament to the records kept at the company and the dedication of the staff there for researching this information. E-mail came back titled "Historic Engine" :-)

Great stuff! That's the one from Montes in Durham. I see it's come with the weights on the front. I was told they weren't there, I guess he's since found them which is a bonus. I heard it running when I had a look although it did seem to be up and down on the revs as though the governer wasn't working correctly. I'm sure someone on here will know how to sort that out. I seem to remember a lack of coolant in the radiator too. There's been a few times over the past month of trials and tribulations with my Ward La France were i wondered if I'd made the right decision in buying it instead of the Scammell. Now at least I know I can't reverse my decision. Good luck with the project.

I think the picture makes it look worse than it actually is. May have lost a tiny bit to corrosion but once the high spots of flaky rust were removed all vanes seemed to be similar height. The shaft bearings were OK and there doesn't appear to have been any rubbing against the rear face of the pump. Here's a picture before the puller was used to draw the impeller off the shaft. Not very clear but a fairly close fit.

Having got the engine running Trying to move the vehicle under it's own power was next on the agenda. No air piping to brakes at the moment so the handbrake was adjusted up to provide a means of bringing things to a halt. First attempts to move were unnsuccessful. Tried checking all levers were in gear but there was no drive through the gearbox. I left for home on Saturday night fearing the worst or at least a gearbox out and maybe clutch replacement. Returning on Sunday morning I quickly discovered the problem was simply that the clutch mechanism had been incorrectly assembled and was holding the pressure plate in. An hour or so of adjustments later and I've had it moving albeit slowly under it's own power for the first time in what must be years.

All this work to the bottom end of the fuel pump made little difference to the running. The engine would now run for longer but did not respond to throttle movements Further strip down of the top of the pump was required and revealed more corrosion and seized parts. Luckily a quick clean up and some lubrication was all that was required. Actual wear didn't look to bad.

An unexpected piece of good fortune during the week. A Cummins A series diesel engine manual dated 1945 appeared on Ebay. Bit expensive but I had to have it! So far I had only been able to run the engine for short burst before it dies out. Fuel starartion seemed to be the cause. The manual was a great help in remedying some of these problems. Below you can see the results of thirty plus years inactivity. The fuel float chamber was full of muck and corrosion. As soon as I touched the float it fell off :shocked: A clean up revealed the float was also dented and cracked. Out with the soldering equipment again to repair the float. The fuel inlet valve was also found to be stuck this prevented fuel getting to the float chamber. The engine had only been running on priming fuel which bypasses these valves and the float chamber.

Got the water pump re-assembled early in the week and re-fitted. Having stripped the pump there was no real seal. Found out it relies on graphite bush lapped to the rear face of the pump. This rear face was heavily pitted with corrosion so was cleaned up before refitting the pump. The graphite bush was heavily worn so was reversed on refitting to present a better face to the cleaned up pump body.

The new display case for the Bart Vanderveen award. Measurements in metric as it's only recently constructed.

Don't think so Jack. The Duel one is all faired in around the wheels and over the delivery pipes. No side ladder on the Duel one either and the rear locker is not present. But one old Amercian tanker looks like another at first glance.

Depending how the civvy crossmember has been fitted it could be a lot of work to replace it. Most civvy crossmembers tend to get fitted with extensions onto the chassis rail, short or long depending on chassis condition. It'll be hard work to grind these off again. Most Military crossmembers seem to come without extensions from what I've seen. Unless the replacements rotten I'd be very tempted to go with Tony B's solution. Done well it should be almost undetectable.

Could just leave it to rust a few years and stick something with a longer bonnet on the front. :evil:

You can still buy bits from it. http://www.trinitymarine.co.uk/viewproducts.phtml?category_id=8140076013ee489dbfc6aaa54fa942ae Wonder how much was made from all the artefacts of interest on board?

Wouldn't the mounts for the stabilising outriggers distinguish a gun carrying chassis from the rest?

Let's hope for an end to this sunny weather then so CW is forced to keep the canvas on his champ!

This is what you have to do when you bid on 3 trailers at Witham's and win the lot! 19ft Ifor Williams hired for the day, towed home 120 miles no problem. Two shouldn't be too difficult.

:rofl: Why don't you use one of the specialist insurers as advertised on this forum? I insured my Bedford MJ on the chassis number alone for a few months before getting is tested and then road registered. No problem whatsoever with Footman James insurance.

Radiator installed ad time to start filling up with water. First few litres and no problem then I could here a drip! Not from the radiator this time though. Turned out to be the engine block drain tap open. A few more litres and another leak this time the bottom hose drain tap! All fine to about the 20 litre mark then a huge leak. This time coming from the water pump. I've now taken the water pump off and stripped it down at home. Now just got to try and find some suitable seals for a 1940's Cummins water pump. :-(

So Saturday came and time to refit the radiator and give things a try. A new piece of bottom hose installed. Modern silicon I'm afraid but at least it's black and not a bling colour.

Next part was to remake the bottom frame. Unfortunately the radiator is 3ft wide and my folder is only capable of bending 2 1/2 ft. I could have waited a week until my friend is back from holiday and used his 8ft folder but I'm impatient to get the thing up and running.

I remade a blanking plate that was rusty and bent. Improvisation was required to pressure test the radiator.

Well tried a few places for radiator repairs. First place said about a dozen leaks :cry: and needed a new core, total cost £1000 :eek: :eek: :eek: Tried another place and they said they thought all leaks were from the bottom tank, they could replace it for £250 but couldn't guarantee the core would be good afterwards. It would be extra to remake the rotten frame. After due consideration I decided to try and tackle repairs myself. The fall back option would be to try and source a secondhand radiator. Here's the radiator cleaned up showing the source of a few of the leaks.

Oh dear! What can I say! See for yourself:- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320301370463

I'd get most upset if I was called a Frenchman. :angry: Have I missed something? How does this subject relate to military vehicles?

I'd be surprised if it was used for water. Aluminium tanks tend to leave water with a nasty taste after a short while. Wouldn't be allowed now certainly as aluminium disolved in water is linked to alzheimers. Parkinson and Cowan the makers have long been associated with the manufacture of gas cookers. Like many companies they may have been forced to diversify during the war but I wonder if there is some link still to the catering side of things.

Be good to see yours fitted out at some stage. Unsure what to do with interior on mine yet but it's a while off until I get to that stage. Looking at the second crane again. Given the overhang of the jib, it can't possibly return the drawbar to it's mounted position on the nato hitch so the crane would have to support any load whilst towing. Presumably a front axle on a spectacle type frame. This would be some distance from the rear axle and impose a massive leverage on the towing vehicle. Can't really see it working except for very light loads on suspended tow. If it's for a rolling load then I accept it could be upto the full 3.5 tonnes. Wouldn't it's real use to be to lift a vehicle axle onto a recovery dolly, (not shown) ?