Minesweeper

Yes, please do that! It will be most interesting to see! Tony

With the new back axle safely tucked away yesterday, Steve turned his attention to the engine today and to getting it stripped down. The next job on it was to remove the Valve Caps - but that was easier said than done as they were corroded to the extreme. They consist of what was once a hex headed threaded section which screwed into a mounting with a bayonet cap type fixing. The Hex head in all four cases had completely corroded away with nothing left and the bayonet fittings on the other parts were either corroded or broken. Our usual procedure of heat and Plus Gas failed to work and the only alternative now was to cut them out. This was achieved with some difficulty on the first two with the use of a drill, a grinder on the Dremel and the good old hammer and chisel which broke them up The photographs tell the story but you will see the extreme amount of rust on these fittings - especially around the threaded sections which made them impossible to unscrew. If things go well and with some perseverance, the last two will be out tomorrow!

As part of our re-shuffle, we moved other engines around. We have a Dorman engine which is ear-marked for our second Peerless when we get around to it and an old FWD Wisconsin engine which is really past its sell-by date but good for spares. We wanted to move the Thorny bits to the front so that we could get at them and these two other engines have taken a step backwards until they are wanted! We would be very happy to swap the Dorman Engine for a suitable Peerless engine if anybody has one! All done! The Thorny engines in the front with the Dorman behind. Now just to get the grey civilian Autocar back in the Shed and then it will be job done. Hopefully tomorrow, we can get back to stripping the engine down!

Our prime objective today was to get the Thorny Axle, complete with "diff" still in it safely stowed away until we are ready to deal with it. It is a fair old lump and with really only our Engine Hoist to move it, it was a case of proceeding with caution! We are always short of space and it meant moving things around to find a safe home for it - but we took the opportunity then of bringing some other Thorny bits to the fore as they had been well tucked away whilst we were dealing with the Dennis. Firstly, we wanted to turn the axle over on the pallet so that it was the right way up - it had travelled on its side from NZ. The "right way up" axle was then lifted and dropped down onto the legs of the Hoist, and like that, was wheeled to the back of the Lorry Shed where a space had been cleared for it in front of two Peerless wheels. Here it does not interfere with any other activities in the Shed and it is safe and out of harms way until we are ready for it. The Thorny project started some 22 years ago - we had no engine, no complete chassis and no "diff". In the early days of the project, we always thought that it would be a "piece of cake" to find all the bits that we wanted but it did not work like that! Following a "Wanted" advert for an engine - it must be about 20 years ago, we were offered a half of an engine - a Thornycroft M4, which was the correct engine. Sometime in its past, the two cylinder blocks had been removed and lost so there was the crank case, crank and pistons and some other attached bits and pieces. We jumped at that offer and thought that another engine would follow shortly after so that we were ready to go. It must have been perhaps another 10 years before the complete engine turned up and that acquisition is described in an earlier thread. With everything being moved around today to accommodate the new axle, we dug out the old "half engine" as there are several bits still on that which are missing on the complete engine. That will be required shortly to work on so it was the appropriate time to bring it out. Interestingly, one of the feet on the complete engine through which it is bolted to the chassis is broken off so we had thoughts of doing another "mix and match", using the crank case from the "half engine" as a replacement. That will be fine, but it is interesting to see that the matching foot on the "half engine" is also damaged - but not terminally so we wonder if there is a problem there with the engine fouling something as it is lowered in or taken out. We shall find out in due course! Other things brought forward include the Gearbox and the part of the Gear Change quadrant.

It would have been nice if the first wheel would then just slide off the axle but it was quite tight and slightly fouling the brake linings. A crow-bar and small hydraulic jack eventually got them moving and we were able to slide them off. These wheels are extremely heavy and we used the Engine Hoist to take the weight of them. Unfortunately, a Brake drum on one of the wheels cracked during the dismantling process. We really hate breaking original parts - but we have a couple of spares in stock so can replace that one.

Boxing Day - and time to open the Box! Inside was the complete Thorny Back Axle with the diff in it. We then had to take the wheels off so that the axle and the two wheels could be stored safely and separately. First job was to get the two half shafts out - straight forward and both half shafts are in excellent condition. These three pictures reveal the excellent condition of the half shafts Then to get the wheels off. A series of jacking bolts and a specially home made spanner to remover the big retaining nut did the trick. This primitive spanner was just an old bit of steel bar with two prongs bolted to it, to fit across two opposite flats of the big nut. Everything was nice and oily and really none of the fastenings gave us any great deal of trouble to undo. More to come in a moment

Google it - and it will all be clear!

Did a short - two weeks only - Army Driving Course in one in 1959 - 13RE80 - that was in Sussex. Happy memories of driving it! The Driving Test was driving from Maresfield to Bognor Regis. When did they finally go out of service with the Army? Tony

Do you think that there is even more dishonesty around at this present time - compared with just a few years ago? You hear so often that years ago, people would not even think of locking the doors of their houses when they were not there - knowing only too well that they would be quite safe. Things change - as some of you might know, I had two heavy anvils stolen from my premises - I live in a remote area - and my lane is almost a cul-de-sac so the thieves were also in danger of being trapped at my place if I had come home during their thieving "operation". I guess they knew that they were taking a chance in "lifting" the anvils so that they knew that they would have to be quick. My parents never locked their doors - during the war when my father was away, my mother continued with that practice initially of leaving everything unlocked and was very startled one night when the door opened and two American Servicemen came in as they had been given an address where they could find "certain facilities" - but got the wrong house in the blackout! I think that it was right after that, my mother locked the front door! I must add that the two Yanks were full of profuse apologies when they realised that they had gone to the wrong place! And nowadays with so much going on with computers, it becomes yet another opportunity for thieves and rogues to have a go at the ordinary honest person.

I've had this call as well - "You are having a computer problem?" And coincidentally, yes I was at the time so it would have been so easy to fall into the trap. I ended the call after a minute or two when I guessed it was a scam - but the guy immediately rang me back to learn why I did not wish to proceed with his help and to find out what was bothering me.......... I am guessing that a lot of us have a computer problem of some kind or other which is probably ongoing so it would be so easy to fall into this trap.

And we all think that we are going to have more time when we retire - not true!

That really is no time at all for that job - well done! Do you fancy having some more practice - perhaps doing a Radiator! Tony

Yes, that is a fine piece of work, Ben! How many hours on those patterns - it certainly does not look as if it was a quick job! Tony

Tim has mentioned how grateful we are to Mike for his kindness and generosity - and for all the trouble that he has taken for us with this. I hope that one day that he and his family will be able to visit us here - and drive the Thorny! We have been fascinated, too, in following the journey that the crate took to reach us. It was placed in a container in Tauranga, NZ and as far as we knew, it was to sail directly to Tilbury. But it seems that Container Ships don't work quite like that. After leaving NZ, it crossed the Pacific, went through the Panama Canal and then headed for Kingston Jamaica. The ship stopped off there for just a few hours - presumably to offload and load other containers and then it sailed for Savannah, Georgia in the USA - again stopping off for just a few hours there. From there it sailed to Philadelphia - just a few hours there and then on to Tilbury. So, thinking of its first journey to NZ all those years ago, would the axle - presumably as part of a complete lorry then, have gone through the Suez Canal - and if it did, the axle will have travelled right around he world in its life time. Since it left the axle at Tilbury, we have just for interest continued to track the ship - it has in the last two weeks called in at Rotterdam, Dunkirk, Le Havre, New York, Savannah again and is now once more heading for Kingston Jamaica! The crew don't get much time ashore. Mike had a good look at the "diff" before it was despatched - Tim has some photos of it which no doubt he will post in due course and from those you will be able to see that it really is in superb condition! What a tremendous shot in the arm all of this is! Tony

Remember saying this last July, Gordon? Well, wait and see the results - all very shortly, now! We make many great friends on the HMVF - all very wonderful and we are grateful for that and to them! Tony

Yes, a lovely clear picture of a Peerless! Notice the "Peerless" Makers plate on the front cross member!

This was my maternal grandmother's family - but the family name was changed over a period from "Tripe" to "Tripp"! My grandmother's maiden name was Mabel Clara Tripp - she married my grandfather in 1900 and lived until about 1965. So she must have known Alfred King Tripe - but I knew nothing of him until another cousin started to dig into family history very recently. Would I have thought of asking my grandmother about Alfred, I wonder, if I had known about him all those years ago when she was still alive? I think that every one of say - or has said at some time or other - "I wish I had asked whilst he/she was still here". Tony

Well, that's an interesting one - would never have thought of that one............. Tony

Thanks, Richard - will come back to you! Tony

Thanks for the suggestions, Gordon and Richard! However, silver soldering is not an option - it has already been soft-soldered in its original construction - so the heat required for silver soldering would make the whole thing fall to bits! I guess Steve will have something to say about that when he picks this up later. But it will have to be drilled to let the oil out - and we can assess it again then. The brass is only paper thin so we must proceed with care! With regard to your suggestion, Richard, then we picked up one of those at the Beaulieu Auto Jumble just a few years ago and paid £25 for it - brand new and described as "surplus". Should have bought more than one as there were several on offer but we had no purpose for it in mind when we got it - rather just thinking that "it might come in handy". And come in handy it did. The Dennis was never fitted with a fuel gauge on the tank but it rather looks as if the tank may have been of a standard design and construction for perhaps fitting to any make of vehicle - and there was provision in it for a fuel gauge just like this - although blanked off. With just a tiny bit of surgery - it had to be shortened, the gauge fitted like a glove and we have a fully operative Petrol Gauge on the petrol tank! Tony

Yes, we are all really looking forward to getting going with it! As you may have previously read, we started this one some 22 years ago with very few bits, but over the period we have continued to collect things as they have come up. We had no engine and another collector always kept his eyes open for anything commercial and old, not only for himself but for any like-minded enthusiasts - and it was he who found the engine for us in NZ. He got hold of it - and asked us afterwards if we wanted it! It was still in transit at that time from NZ - so it was immediately diverted to us instead of going to him at his place and I remember the Shipping Agent in Tilbury telephoning me to ensure that I had a Forklift here to unload it! Something that I had not given a thought to as I assumed that the lorry bringing it here from Tilbury would have a HiHab or a powered tailboard - but I was told that it was my responsibility to unload it. A telephone call to a friend in town who did have a Forklift - so that the lorry carrying the engine was diverted yet again to there! It was taken off the lorry there - put right on to my car trailer and we got it home that way. We are still tidying up one or two things on the Dennis and want to get that totally out of the way before we start properly on the Thorny. Quite unexpectedly, Steve is coming down to Devon again this weekend on another errand when we did not expect to see him here until Christmas and we plan to do what we hope will be the final Dennis Jobs. I bolted the Silencer on to the exhaust pipe when I made it where really it should have been riveted - we have lost a couple of nuts from that so that must come off and be put together properly. There is also a super Engine Oil Level Gauge on the Dennis - but it appears that the float on that has sunk so that it is showing "zero" - so that assembly must come off. Unfortunately, one of the manifolds is in the way so that must come off too! There is no such thing as an "easy job" when you get into this lark! Tony

Yes, very moving - and well done the Canadians!

Steve and Tim - what have you started!

It appears that a lot of HMVF Members participate in other forums in other countries with similar interests to ours. I know of Maple Leaf UP and the Dodge Forum but what other ones are there? I guess that there must be at least one "down under" covering vehicles of the same makes as ours with lots of things in common with us. Tony

A great intoduction and a lovely story! Good luck with it! Tony