andypugh

Interesting coincidence that the modern chase vehicles were Ford, Mercedes, Renault and Dennis.

I think that the idea is that a tank full of water is verifiably not full of petrol vapour. You can then arrange the tank to allow you to work in a bubble.

Also:

I think it is worth pointing out that this isn't just Steve's widely publicised lack of welding skills. A number of professional welders have had a go with WW1-era Dennis crank-cases and sumps and have never been successful.

Pity that yours is CP&Co, the Brasso van would be cool.

Talking of acetylene generators https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Acetylene-Generator-Welding-Machine-1920s-1930s/113173171128?hash=item1a59a58bb8:g:fTEAAOSwlOJbU0ga Not right for lighting, but for a mobile workshop it might be just the thing.

I pushed the seized pistons out of my Ner-a-Car engines using a grease gun. Obviously this is easier with a 221cc 2-stroke than a several-litre 4-stroke, but if you can close the valves this might be an option if more conventional methods fail.

Sticking EGR valve 🙂 (More seriously, perhaps a leak into the inlet air warming path)

I think that the post says that it is just a hole in a piece of plate. That certainly works. You can use the original plastic end nut / spanner, but it looks like Steve has machined a metal one with the right thread. If you have a 3D printer then there are some designs that might help: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2846032 as a random example. If money is no object: this machined aluminium routing adaptor might be a good starting point. The correct thread, with a split-clamp is probably optimal. If you are going to do a lot of grinding then it might be worth getting something with better bearings to make a dedicated grinder. One of the cheap eBay router spindles perhaps.

I am trying to work out if there is any point in the knob at the end being spherical. It seems like all the location should be on the bronze blocks, so a simple T-shape would have worked just as well?

I just measured the angle of dangle of the wings on LP8389 and the answer is 18 degrees.

I don't have one of those angle blocks (how embarassing) but might be able to sort something out at the weekend. Looking on Google, LP83989 seems to have a few degrees of flare: https://goo.gl/images/fRX49c But FA1075 (One of Asciidv's ) seems to have completely flat wings: https://goo.gl/images/1oKCos Barry can probably do a statistical analysis, he has an infinite number of N-types (for statistical purposes)

Is that a Dennis / White and Poppe engine? It does suffer from the common crank-too-high problem mentioned by Ben, but does look to be fairly narrow.

There are some photos here of me bodging together our brass radiator (A neater job has been performed since, I feel the urge to add). https://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/rcsmotor/gallery/index.php/2010s/2014-15/Fresher-s-Week-inc-Radiator-Rebuild/20141008_183443 I was hoping that there would be pictures of the back of the top tank, but there do not seem to be any good ones. However working from memory I would say that your existing top-tank has all the normal fittings, and might well be a modified original brass radiator top tank mated to a later core and side members.

That doesn't look like a cast top tank, apart from the bolt-on flanges. Is it brass or aluminium?

Barry has one, but I imagine he wants to keep it with its pumping set. Our 1916 has the later Tomini(?) pump (1920-ish, Dennis No 2 I think they call them) and it looks the part, despite not being right. (It has been there rather longer than original pump was by now). https://goo.gl/images/ZyZX8i They made a lot more of those, though they switched to aluminium at some point, and that wouldn't look right. We have a reversing and speed-up gearbox mounted where the priming pumps should be, though if I was doing it now I think I would look at changing the ratio in the transfer box and flipping the pump rotors instead. (It's nice that you still have the transfer box) If you happen to find two Gwynnes in your search, we will take one off your hands. 🙂

The vehicle I play with spent 19 years as a fire engine with the LFB then 20 years as a fire engine at a Chemical plant. Then 62 years (and counting) taking students on pub crawls 🙂 (But it hasn't ever really been "restored" so the question of what to rebuild it as is moot, It has, however, had the "wrong" pump a lot longer than it ever had the "right" pump)

I think that this might make sense sometimes, and arguably is not done enough. But I suspect that this engine transplant was done when the vehicle was being used as a mobile (probably agricultural) pump and anybody with a fire engine is (quite reasonably) most likely to want to restore it as a fire engine. Because Fire engines are the Acme of the preserved commercial world 🙂

It seems to be widely reported, so may be true, but I very much doubt if it had any effect.

You will (probably) need the paper version of the Nova form, the online form doesn't allow you to cross things out. Here is a write-up of what I needed to do to get my Ner-a-Car (no registration _or_ chassis number) registered: You have a chassis number so ought to be able to skip the V55/5 form (which is an application for a chassis number) How to register a vehicle with no VIN or chassis number I tried to do some web research about how to register a vehicle like mine, with no chassis number while making sure to get an age-related plate, tax exemption and MOT exemption. Firstly it is very much easier if there is a chassis number. The DVLA do not appear to have an exhaustive list of chassis numbers. This is a hint. However, I didn't have a chassis number so the process is this: 1) Get a dating certificate from an owners' club. I got one from the VMCC and it took a little over a month. 2) Send off the V55/5 form. This is a paper form that you have to apply for on the DVLA web-site and takes 10 days to arrive. You can save time by sending for this in advance. 3) Return the V55/5. You will need lots of supporting info, including an insurance certificate. You might need to shop around. Footman-James were adamant that a bike could not be insured without a frame number or reg number, Adrian Flux were happy to insure on the engine number. If you don't have a chassis number the form will come back to you with a new VIN to have stamped on the Chassis by a garage, a demand for the £55 new-registration fee (new VIN = new registration) and a demand for a NOVA declaration reference. 4) Send off for the NOVA paper form. This is an HMRC form for imports. You can do it all online, except if your vehicle isn't actually an import. In which case nothing fits and you need the paper form and a covering letter. This also takes 10 days to arrive, so send off for it in advance. You can read the HMRC guidelines and end up convinced you don't need a NOVA for this situation, and you would be right, but you do need a reference number and letter to prove it. 5) Get the chassis stamped then send off the NOVA letter, V55/5, dating certificate, photos, £55 cheque, letter confirming chassis has been stamped, proof of address, driving license photocopy and insurance certificate then wait 3 more weeks. 6) Shiny new V62 arrives with a registration number to use.

It's actually the fault of the forum, not the URL, apparently. (looking at the page source) I wonder if links done via the editor work better? (No, they didnt)

The odd thing is that the URLs seem to be forwarded by Getty to Viglink. It's a bit strange. A bit of digging suggests that it _might_ be an attempt by Getty images to make money from their content.

I suspect he is in the workshop constructing the patterns to cast a new computer.

Leaving castings to age was (and, to an extent still is) normal in the machine tool industry. A Google search "seasoned site:www.lathes.co.uk" finds a few lathe manufacturers using the phrase (none seem to use "weathered" on the same site)

Age-hardening is a deliberate feature of many Aluminium alloys.