Minesweeper

Thanks again for all your kind comments and wishes! At the moment, 2145 on Monday, we are all shattered after taking the three trucks to the Honiton Hill rally today. Problems with the FWD coming home where a woodruff key fell out of the magneto drive - and we could not find it! Quick improvisation - a temporary one cut out of a piece of mahogany with a a Stanley Knife and fitted - that did the trick and we were safely back to base at about 1930. So although there is work to be done on the FWD, we shall not attempt that tomorrow but give full attention to the Dennis. We look forward to hearing it go - but must admit that we are just a little apprehensive that there will be a problem that we have not thought of! Keep your fingers crossed for us! Tony

Thanks Micha - but no thank you! I guess that that one would be good for somebody who is already doing one of those - but just for spares. There is an awful lot missing if you want to use that one to start off with! We have been to a Show today with three trucks - and going again tomorrow - but in between, have started putting the final bits on the Dennis before we attempt to fire it up on Tuesday. Water now in the system for the first time - a couple of small "weeps" which we have mainly corrected - loose hose clips and fittings not bolted down tightly - but there is a pin hole in the top tank of the radiator which we did not spot before and although we can ignore that for the moment, it will want fixing properly in due course. Steve has been turning the engine over. just to see what the compression is like now that everything is on it - and it is "weighty" - so if it does not fire up quickly on Tuesday then there will be three "knackered" guys here at base! Will keep you informed! Tony

A wonderful idea - but perhaps we could leave that for the next Dennis that we do! That would be after the Thornycroft and the two Peerless' - and at the present rate, it would mean that we would be starting the project in about the year 2034! That would make me 95. Something to look forward to! Tony

Thanks for the pipe-bending tips! Tim and I have fitted the "trial" one this morning so that we have one to go on with - and will be ready for any possible event that we might have in mind - possibly on Tuesday morning after the Bank Holiday! A nicer one can be made up later on. We are taking the three "Runners" to the Honiton Hill Rally on Sunday and Monday and if any HMVF members are there, then please make yourselves known to us! Tony

The time is approaching. What we ideally want is a weekend when everyone is down. A Bank Holiday is the ideal time for family get togethers.......

The filter element was unsoldered and inspected. It works by fuel coming down the central tube, going around the outside and then back through the gauze and up through a hole in the main body. Unfortunately, the casting carrying the element had some porosity in it such that the fuel could bypass the gauze altogether and we suspect that it had always been that way from new. Steve therefore made a new central tube with an extended thread to cover the hole and you can just see this in the photo. He completed the filter element by replacing the gauze. Finally he made some new union nuts, copying the surviving original and reassembled it. Job done!

First item to be fixed was the sump. Steve used the nylon brush to clean it up and then pickled it in old battery acid for an hour before tinning the inside with soft solder. This was successful. Next item tackled was the replacement of the cracked centre tube of the filter casting and then he made a new spindle and handle Thanks are due to Ben for measuring his up for us so we could get it exactly right.

Last weekend, Steve went over to Cambridgeshire to pick up the fuel filter which had been turned out by our good friend Mick. As you can see, it was pretty poorly and the handle had rusted off completely. A bit of judicious heat and it all came apart except for the valve spindle which had to be drilled out. The filter element had corroded away and the sump had cracked through.

The last piece of plumbing to be completed is the pipe from the Water Pump to the Inlet manifold. This is just a short piece of 15mm copper pipe which has to be bent in different directions to fit. Had a trial run this afternoon with an old piece of copper tube, just to get the shape of it - the pipe had to be annealed many times to get it soft enough to bend, but the finished item does have one or two "dinks" in it. It does fit and would do the job quite adequately, but the next job now is to do it again, now that I have the size and shape, but to do it without "dinking" it!

Heard them here in Shute (Axminster) but couldn't see them! Wondered what I was missing! Tony

My memory of it. VE Day in Penryn Cornwall - wild celebrations with bonfires in the street. I expected similar celebrations on VJ Day (I was only 6) but was very disappointed when in comparison with VE Day, it was a non-event. Perhaps another example of this, the "Forgotten Army? Tony

Nice one! Tony

The Railway is 7 1/4" Gauge and circles the house - about 350ft or thereabouts around. Has given us a lot of fun and we use it to help raise a few shillings for village charities. Does not get a lot of use at the moment as the Dennis has rather taken over............... Tony

Nice one - I enjoyed that!" Tony

Wonderful Richard - love it! Tony

Alan It looks very similar. The hubs certainly look spot on, however the dumb irons look wrong for a subsidy lorry. Bot of course Belsize did not make just subsidy lorrys. Tim

Hear hear! Tony

Wonderful! Tony

Lovely - all very familiar! "Old Bill" and "GWT" setting the pace in East Devon!

Come on Roy - tell us more! Tony

Thank you, Sean, Tony and Richard for your thoughts and comments about the paint! All very helpful and reassuring! We have been at this now for about eight years and it is amazing to think that all of those original tins of paint have been on the shelf for that length of time and that we started painting all that time ago! We purposely ordered it in one litre tins so that most of the paint would be left in unopened tins over the anticipated long re-building period and would not be spoiled if left in partially-used bigger tins for a great length of time. The early painting (for instance - on the chassis) has already weathered and has dulled down - and yes, we did think that it would not be a bad idea to use the "gloss" on things like the engine where the gloss would be more repellant to oil and grease. We are just very fortunate that the two lots of paint match up so well. The scuttle and the bonnet are painted with the "flat" paint and they look fine. If my calculations are correct, we have ample of that stuff left to paint the bodywork when we have made it. Tony

When we first started the restoration of the lorry, we ordered sufficient paint from Masons - all in one litre tins to see the project right through. The original correct colour had previously been exactly identified on the Thornycroft lorry now at Duxford when it was stripped right back by a professional restorer - and a "flat" paint to that specification was ordered by us for the Dennis. The paint was received here in Devon but it was sometime after we received it that the first tin was actually opened and we found then that although we had specified "flat", it was somewhat glossier than we wanted. Too late to do anything about it after we had had it for so long. And paint is not cheap! So we opted to use that paint on the chassis, engine and other under parts not readily visible - and then ordered a completely new lot of "flat" paint from another supplier - Masons having gone out of business, we understand. Fortunately, the new paint is a wonderful colour match with the first lot and that has already been used on the scuttle and on other parts that will be clearly visible. We shall continue to use the original paint where it will not be seen and the correct flat paint on the bodywork and as we have already done on the scuttle. All a bit annoying! Tony

That Star of the Silver Screen, Jack Beckett, on the BBC Devon and Cornwall News Programme this morning.

Great stuff! Look forward to hearing more! Tony

No, I don't have an Email address - but I do not think that you will have a problem in phoning him - a very approchable guy. His phone number is published in "Windscreen" as the Wessex Area Secretary!