Minesweeper

Well, Steve will certainly want to have his "two-pennyworth" on that one Barry - I don't expect that he has picked up your posting yet! But I can only believe that the governor is designed to keep the engine revolutions down so that it does not self-destruct if a zealous driver tries to over-rev it! I am sure that it is not designed to limit the speed of the lorry on the road!

Aluminium might be the correct material for the new bits - but I imagine making them - and bronze for me will be a much easier material for me to deal with as it can be easily brazed or silver soldered!

We need to take both sets of the governors right down to have a good look at them to see exactly how they are designed to work, but at this stage, none of us is quite sure! I shall not take that any further until Steve is in Devon some time next week and we can take the governors to bits together.

It will interesting now to see if Steve contradicts his father!

Tony

Thanks for the info I can say that I have fired something like this when I was in the army it was a Energa anti-tank rifle grenade which I fired from my SLR and I can say it had some kick back and yes one of the lads put it to his shoulder and went arse over tit :nut:. Cheers Bill

I remember seeing the Energa fired, too. The SLR had just been introduced but the Energa was still being fired by us from the Mark 4 Rifle. An over standard length Rifle Sling was used to partially support the Rifle and was "wound" around the man firing it but the rifle butt was placed on the ground when the rifle was fired, so it was the ground that was taking the impact of the recoil. Impressive to watch the trajectory of the missile through the air!

Tony

Thanks for all your help and advice - I spent some time on trying the various things you suggested this morning but so far, no complete success. I need to spend more time on it and do it properly - I will come back to you with the final results in due course!

It is now just the Choke warning light and the lights for the two dials. Everything there looks OK - so I am obviously missing something quite simple! Everything else working just fine - no trouble in starting and running.

Tony

Presumably it is possible to cut or grind back a little of the material surrounding the valve seat in order to minimise the "well"?

 

Looking closely at the last photo, I hate to say this but isn't that a crack in the valve seat, at about 11 O'Clock?

 

Just in case that sounds a little negative, may I just say that I think you are doing magnificent work with this restoration and I very much enjoy following this thread.

Well, I hadn't spotted that - and I just have not been able to look at it again today - will go ouside in the morning to have another look! If it is a crack - then it is yet another challenge to take on - but I am quite sure that we will get there! We will keep you posted!

Tony

Many thanks to all three of you for such helpful advice - and for the wiring diagram which has come through fine!

The answers to the various questions are:-

Yes, the Fuel Gauge is still working OK - for each tank when switched over.

It is a Water Temperature Gauge

The Choke Warning Light has failed as well - sorry forgot to mention that!

The side lights are working OK and yes both dashboard lights have failed.

Yes electric - not vacuum.

You have set me up very nicely for the weekend to have a proper look and thank you all once again! We don't have these problems with WW1 Trucks!

Tony

I have a 1983 ex RAF Regiment Land Rover Series 3 109 - 12v - only done about metric equivalent of 27K miles since new. Not terribly well looked after but has always been there when I wanted it since I bought it nearly 20 years ago!

The Oil Pressure warning light, the temperature gauge itself and the dashboard lights have all failed - all at the same time. Fuses all look OK - anybody else experienced this problem and can aim me in the right direction for the cause of the problem and for a quick fix please?

Even when the Gauge Lights were working, they were always very dull and did not glare. I was never sure if this was intended or if there was a problem with them then.

Tony

Did you consider boring the roller out further so you could fit a thicker wall bush? I know you consider the load on these parts to be negligible but on my Dennis the roller shaft pins have to be nitrided or they last no time at all.

 

Barry.

Well, you saw the state of the pins that I removed, and I certainly agree that they did show signs of heavy wear! The ones that I am putting in now are EN8 and i thought that they would be tough enough to do the job. We shall see on that one. I did not consider a thicker walled bush, and again I guess time will tell. Steve might want to have "two pennyworth" on this - but his computer is down at the moment.

Tony

None suitable there - they are all heavily pitted - so an alternative is to "bush" the original one with the over-size hole in it!

Tony

Really nothing to add to Richard's comprehensive reply - ours are 45 degrees! With previous engines, we have lapped in new valves to give the nice final smooth surface on the valve seat. When we recently ordered the new valves, we did send one of the old ones to the manufacturers so that they a pattern to work from.

Tony

What effect would this 1/32 slop have on the operation of the valve?

Others may want to comment more fully - but to me it means that it will not be possible to obtain a fixed and precise adjustment to the Cam Follower - and also, only one small part of the circumferance of the pin will be taking the "hit" each time the valve is opened and closed instead of the whole , causing more concentrated hammer blow on the pin - and thus excessive wear.

Tony

"Dave was not happy with the method of Tony’s manufacture of the Valve Guides".....

I have just been longing for someone to ask 'What did Tony do wrong'?!, but everyone has been polite enough not to ask. Were the outer diameters turned first and then the guides drilled and reamed rather than the other way round?

 

Barry.

You have it in one! I should have known better!

Tony

Referring to the Pirates of Penzance for some reason??

 

 

 

http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/piratesofpenzancethe/iamtheverymodelofamodernmajor-general.htm

Well, I hadn't thought of that one - but I am still unsure of the connection..........

Please explain :confused: am I missing the joke here ?

That one is over my head as well - can somebody solve the puzzle?

That is absolutely fascinating!

 

 

I'll get my coat...:nut:

Don't do that - all very interesting!

Tony

I have more if they are of interest ? ...several featuring vehicles in ditches, so that may not have been the only bottle of White Horse involved... :-)

Yes please - post them for us to see!

Great stuff - wonderful to see!

Well done - and good luck with it!

Tony

Bonjour bien. Nous sommes toujours très heureux de rencontrer des gens intéressés par les camions de la première guerre mondiale. Comme vous avez déjà vu, nous avons plusieurs exemples de ces véhicules fascinants. Deux des nôtres venus en Angleterre, de France et j'ai toujours pense que la France est le meilleur endroit pour obtenir des véhicules non restaurés originales de la première guerre mondiale. Un ami a récemment rencontré des exemples de Pierce Arrow, Packard, Saurer et la Liberty en France et j'espère que quelques-uns d'entre eux feront leur chemin dans les mains d'un restaurateur.

Quel est votre intérêt particulier et vous avez des camions de ce temps ?

The first of the four Exhaust Valve Cap Retainers has been machined back to leave the locking tabs – the other three still to do.

I think it best to appoint an Agent to act for you if you are not accustomed to doing this. I bought a 1951 MG TD from a Dealer in California who was used to dealing with exports to the UK and he was able to suggest an Agent to me.

The Agent will "hold your hand" through the whole process and point out any potential problems before hand so that you can deal with them before you are faced with them at the last moment. In my case, for instance, the Agent said that whilst my car looked like an MG and had MG written all over it by way of badges and so on, Customs would not believe that it was an MG unless I had a letter from one of the UK MG Car Clubs certifying the age and that it was a genuine MG, which could be presented to them as the car came in to the UK!

Depending on what you buy, you could be faced with VAT and also Import Duty - together with all handling fees and so on. When you have decided what you want to buy, you can telephone Customs and Revenue and they will let you know on the phone what rate of VAT you may be faced with on the age of the car that you are buying..........

There is more to it all than this brief note - but good luck with it!

Tony

Hi.

 

it maybe to do with it being a fixed head engine, a thread failure could lead to replacing cylinders and pistons, where as on the other engines, the head alone could be changed. It dose seem strange though!

 

Regards, Matthew

Yes - that does seem logical, Matthew - if you look again at the pictures towards the bottom of page 14 of this thread, then it does stand up! All of these parts on the Thorny are either cast iron or steel - whilst on the Dennis which has a much more simple arrangement, the caps are made of bronze - so no rusting problem with them!

Tony

I am interested to know what keeps the cap from turning (loosening up) in the recess.

 

John G

Simple "stop plates" are screwed into the top of the cylinder blocks between the "dogs". These were missing on the engine when we got it but they are just pieces of steel plate and can be easily replicated. You can see one of the threaded holes (the smaller one) in the previous pictures to hold them down.

Tony

Any news of the Burma Spitfires? It all seems to have gone very quiet...............

Tony

Chased the Company asked to provide the Cylinder Liners today as they seem to be taking a long time over them - but I think that probably due to a misunderstanding, they had not started to process them yet! Anyhow, the order confirmed (again) today and delivery now promised within another four to five weeks........... We really do want to get on with the engine now.

Tony

Travelled to it from East Devon on the Saturday, just for the day to see the Show - well worth the 400 plus miles there and back in the one day to see it. Without doubt, one of the best - if not the very best Traction Engine Rally that I have ever been to.

Tony