andypugh

8 hours ago, alsfarms said:

Nice Thornycroft lorry!  It may have been asked before, but I am new to this forum....what is the history behind the name "Thornycroft"?

Named after the family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Isaac_Thornycroft

The shipbuilding part still sort-of exists, and built: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabella_V

2 hours ago, Old Bill said:

 

Some interesting markings in the back of the casting which we eventually decided were 'chills' to freeze the metal and force it to draw more in from the riser rather than leave a void at this point.

Did you consider that they might be chaplets? 

If time is more important than money, RS components hold a surprisingly large selection of gland packings:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/pneumatics-hydraulics-power-transmission/power-transmission-gaskets-seals-packings/gland-valve-packings/?sort-by=P_breakPrice1&sort-order=asc&pn=1

18 hours ago, Rootes75 said:

Yes it is hard to imagine. I wonder how many Transits will be still around in 100 years?

There are a fair few that are 50 years old. 

In 1955 the student union I would later join took on a 40 year old fire engine. When I joined it was 70 years old and the transit vans were fairly new. Now the fire engine is 100 years old and those union minibuses would be getting on for 40 years old (if they still existed)

Time just keeps happening. 

(numbers for illustration only,  some rounding has taken place) 

28 minutes ago, Great War truck said:

The first step today was to line up the linings on the liners in their correct places

This line was a line of "lines" all lined up. 

How would you damage a ladder without damaging the paint? 

21 hours ago, Foden7536 said:

From what I have been told the lorry and it’s contents have been found, Apparently in a layby and no damage to the cargo.

I was hoping (and rather expecting) that that would happen. 
If they are in the truck-stealing game then they are likely to know that there is no way to sell a steam wagon without it being recognised, and it makes most sense to abandon it and run. 

35 minutes ago, Doc said:

You may well joke about pre-rusting, but...

Not really, it will blend in a lot better. I was joking about it being deliberate as I imagine it was serendipitous. 

I love the attention to detail, especially the careful pre-rusting 🙂

I found this rather interesting article with tables that allow you to make a good guess at the specification of a gear (including the pressure angle) using only a digital caliper. 

https://www.geartechnology.com/articles/0992/Base_Pitch_Tables/

This Unic engine is different in detail, but does hint at the possible purpose of the extra cam follower holes. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/RNmcY5iHDjkEkm1F8

Though actually I don't know what those extra levers do. I did think possibly low-tension sparkers ("long mingling spark") but there are (maybe conventional) spark plugs. Albeit with weird HT connectors and possibly some levers. 

> I think that you are probably right. Despite her slight frame she is very strong, just the sort of person we need

> to help put the axles and wheels on. She seemed to enjoy herself as well which was a bonus.

Is she likely to end up studying at Imperial College? Or Southampton? 

13 minutes ago, Alastair said:

I have a 1911 Renault and the exhaust manifold has a female thread for attachment of the down pipe.  The thread is almost non existent and obviously a very non standard size.

If it's non-standard then re-cutting it to a slightly larger non-standard size might be an option. 

(I have the technology....  https://youtu.be/i4fTythQj5s?t=60 ) 

2 hours ago, Rootes75 said:

Out of interest, how would you intend to fill the pitting on the radiator top?

Lead would be traditional. 

53 minutes ago, BenHawkins said:

The pattern took around 13 hours to print, the core box will take about double that.

I wonder if there is a way to print just a thin shell then fill with expanding foam? 

Or maybe use a very sparse porous fill pattern and pour in 2-part resin. 

Don't forget to leave a hole to glue a dowel in so that the moulder can insert a screw to pull the pattern out of the sand.  (CAD makes it trivial to put that at the exact centre of gravity)

33 minutes ago, 8_10 Brass Cleaner said:

I've been saving Grover washers, from other peoples restorations to fit on my Fowler roller. Fitted some yesterday

Ben found a source in India:

28 minutes ago, Old Bill said:

Did you put the spring on any sort of pad? I have often seen springs seated on a red fibre pad but never understood why this should be. I have had great difficulty in sourcing any sort of replacements for them and have generally done without.

The 1916 Dennis fire engine has blocks of oak between the spring and axle, but these might not be original.

I assume that the red fibre is somewhat thicker than the normal fibre washers? 

3mm is available here: https://www.rhnuttall.co.uk/materials/vulcanised-fibre/

On 5/21/2020 at 12:43 AM, andypugh said:

I keep meaning to design and build a CNC slotting head for my mill. Perhaps this is the excuse? 

Of course, you have a shaper with a slotting tool for it, so just need a dividing table that can be mounted at right angles to the shaper table. 

On 5/17/2020 at 9:16 PM, BenHawkins said:

What force do you think the springs need to apply to the pawls to make it work reliably?

As-drawn the torque times the tangent of the angle of the face from a line from the centre point. (times  µ)  

If you sweep the extension of the pawl face to the other side of the centre point, just a bit more than the weight of the pawl. 

I keep meaning to design and build a CNC slotting head for my mill. Perhaps this is the excuse? 

Recently uploaded to YouTube, the Top Gear piece about the 1987 Brighton Run. 

https://youtu.be/3KiARdTBmVA

I remember the Lancre roadsweeper from back then, but haven't seen it for a while. 

Ditto the Chocolate Express bus. 

The 1916 fire engine is still around, you can see a very youthful me at 209 seconds in. 

Found via a YouTube channel that I frequent:

I think he plans to have more videos in the future. I imagine he could make replicas for our vehicles. 

11 hours ago, radiomike7 said:

Not HT but it will give you a fair belt when the points open and the magnetic field collapses in the primary.

It shouldn't, it is a light-switch and should be insulated to at least 241V 

27 minutes ago, David Herbert said:

I once drove a beautiful 1920s bus that had an old fashioned brass domestic round light switch as a magneto switch. It looked great but when the engine was running it had HT voltage on it

LP8389 has a square of 4 of those porcelain and brass light switches. Original as far as we know. 

Head light, side light, trembler coil and magneto. 

There isn't any HT at the switch, it shorts the LT side of the mag to earth. 

🎵Picnic time for White and Poppe🎵

21 minutes ago, Old Bill said:

Ah, yes, we had a flange put on the liners so they couldn't go up.

And I imagine that the OD of the flange also stops them dropping down into the crankcase 

I am not sure how big a peg would need to be to cope with a piston picking-up. But if that happens you have other problems. 

If the liner dropped far enough for a piston ring to pop over the top, then that would be bad.