Tomo.T

As can be seen from the pictures, these cylinders look to be in superb condition. However, nothing is without its problems and in the case of the front set, we do have a small crack to deal with. At least, it could be a crack. Further investigation is needed here. Incidentally the odd reflection is from an infrared heat lamp, which I find indispensable for painting in the winter months.

With work being rather difficult to find recently, coupled with some rather expensive engineering work to pay for, I have found myself plumetting towards the festive season with insufficient funds. I have therefore taken on some highly decorative fairground work, which is outside my normal scope of operations. This has been taking all my attention recently, leaving little time for project Thornycroft. However I have now recovered the refurbished cylinder blocks from Paynes, which have been bored and linered to Standard A. (4.5") the valve guides were sleeved and bored to suit the new valves with seats recut to match. Paynes have also supplied new rings including 1/4" oil scrapers which will be taking up residence in the newly ventilated third grooves. The following pics show today's progress on the front block.

My long awaited valves have arrived from G&S and will be taken directly to Paynes at Evesham where they are waiting to finish the cylinders and valve guides. Also back from Rob Foreman ( Mr Solex ) is my MOV 35, newly re jetted and refurbished. This magnificent bronze carb is slightly later than the original, but has many improved features, including butterfly throttle, idle mixture adjustment and a choke. These are also easier to find and a fraction of the price of the early ones. This particular example came from the south of France, where it was previously employed on a vintage Bentley. The enormous main jet it had, would appear to support this assertion.

Chemical assistance- (Belzona) after a thorough soda blasting, and turd polishing. Full story page 3 Update page 4

It would be good to see some bits going back on I think. Here is the steering box taking up residence in its new work place. It needed a little persuasion as the holes didnt quite line up, (different parents) but a little file work soon sorted that. However, I am not convinced that the end result is quite vertical and it may need a shim to straighten it up. The sump has come out nicely. If any one needs one of these, now is the time to scan this one and get a pattern 3D printed. (Just saying.) I will just include a couple of 'before' pics of the moonscape I started with.

Due to a lack of work, I have been able to catch up on a bit of painting. (Anyone requiring proper signwriting or brush painting, please get in touch ! ) I found the sump languishing on the shelf and decided to lavish further attention on it. This ugly duckling will soon re emerge swan like and will hopefully repay my efforts by remaining contenent, once filled with oil .Various other parts are also making progress. Progress has also occured at the airfield and the project has moved to an independent workshop where I can have free access. This is a major improvement and much appreciated.

Got somewhat diverted this morning with the rugby ! 🤗 but back on the case this afternoon for some filing. Miserable weather and poor light for the pics, these are the best of them. The mating surface is pitted and not very flat, so will need facing up and a thicker gasket. Otherwise the braze cleaned up well, I clamped and bolted the other faceplate back to back, to drill the hole, it remains to be seen if that was a good idea or not.

Yes Ian, we recovered the part from the remains of the second engine. Repair is mainly cosmetic.

I'll ask Stan, in the meantime I'm on with the file tomorrow, I'll post more pics if I don't cock it up !

I was promoted off the floor today ! Stan has cleared the promised shelf space and I have taken up residence in the stores. Several parts are now ready to be reunited with the chassis, with more on the way. Very satisfactory. The water jacket connector was cleaned up manually a while back, with good results and has been awaiting one of Stan's free moments to build up the missing corner with braze. It turns out Stan is a bit of a star on the brazing front as well and a new corner was created freehand after carefully preheating job and firebrick to ensure a nice slow cooling down period. It only remains for me to file the surface flat and re drill the hole and that's another bit ready for paint.

Prep time for rusty bits has improved considerably and we are honing the technique as we gain experience. Good connections to bare metal are important and any loose parts (nuts and bolts etc.) need seperate connections to be included in the process. The brake arm and adjusters were put through the mill and after a light brushing with the rotary whizzer, came up like this. The hidden adjuster screw threads did put up a fight and most of a day was spent freeing them up, but Bonda Prime was duly applied at last orders and the brake rods will now join the queue for paint. The previous batch has now had a 2nd top coat of Service Colour.

Presumably about the same as charging a battery, maybe more on the higher settings ? We found the 24 volt input to be the most effective and did most of it on that with the amps on minimum ( 5 or 6 ) . Advantages over acid include faster progress, no damage to bright areas or brass bits and it does not smell like somethings died in there.

We have been experimenting with an electrolytic rust busting device, which has been showing great promise in early trials. Made from good solid (free) scaffold boards with a 1000 gauge plastic liner , the tank contains about 12 gallons of water with 6 cups of soda crystals for the electrolyte. Various anodes have been tested and the best was a length of box section steel, this was connected to the positive terminal of the power source. The negative end connects to the job in this case the steering column and this forms the cathode. At first results were disappointing , with a small battery charger struggling to provide 2 amps to the rather cold mix. Stan then produced the heavy artillery, a monster starter charger which soon got the party started and the bubbles flowing. We explored the full range of options which included a flat out setting of 24 volts and 28 amps. This was proper motoring and was restricted to short periods of boost when required. Amongst other beneficial effects this began to raise the water temp and we achieved 24 degrees C which was much better for the reaction. The results shown here after about 4 hrs show the rust mostly gone and replaced by a black substance which cleans off easily ready for paint. The rust was deposited on the anode which was growing a fine set of Titannic whiskers. Various modifications are at the planning stage, but initial results are very encouraging. received_698195273996100.mp4 received_698195273996100.mp4

It's identical to Steve's one he found for the Dennis. I'm guessing they are about 18" tall. Proper job, as fitted to all British WD lorries I believe.

Look what turned up at the workshop today. A genuine Radmore acetylene generator, complete with W /I\ D stamp and internals unused as new. Having made a rapid, positive identification, I had to work hard to keep the drool off it, but my hopes were dashed by the owner's flat refusal to sell . He has offered to lend it to me if the J Type makes it out, providing I restore the outer surfaces to the original appearance. ( the inside is new and unused.) I took him up on the offer. How could I refuse !

60 (CS) Sqn. RLC, the modern day successors of 60 Coy ASC, have now evolved into a Gurkha unit and a parade was recently held to commemorate the occasion at Dalton Barracks. The Army, of course, takes great pride in its history and John Marshall was invited to attend once more with his J type lorry 2282, to represent the units long involvement with mechanical transport. We were on show as the centre piece of a static display of more current vehicles, which formed the backdrop to the parade and took place in a most fortunate break in the weather under a clear sky. The parade was expertly choreographed to cater for the different ( light infantry ) drill performed by the Brigade of Gurkhas and John and I were given VIP seats to watch the proceedings. We were guests of the Sergeants Mess this time and were made very welcome, with much interest in the J type and our Great War uniforms from all ranks, including the General who took the parade.

Op. Camshaft has concluded with the replacement of the two locking bolts. Stan made short work of these on the big Myford and also turned down two off 1/2" Whit full nuts to half nut thickness for the lock nuts.( I did spot the burr and it was removed before fitting.) We are regrouping for the crankshaft fitting and prep for this will need to include a custom built engine stand. The current job is not considered man enough to take the rapidly increasing weight. More parts undergoing prep for paint. The remains of the steering wheel can be seen behind.

Found the end caps lurking in my deisel bucket where they had been consigned after dismantling. Months of this treatment had created a liquid version of the sludge and carbon which had built up on them, which although truly filthy, wiped off quite easily and just left some light rust to deal with. A coat of primer followed .......... .......by a fitting. To cut a long story short, I mixed up the caps and on final tightening one of the camshafts tightened up as well. As I had prematurely applied Heldtight jointing compound, this had to be removed, replaced and the whole exercise repeated with the end caps in their correct holes. I am delighted to report that both camshafts are now rotating smoothly. Various lessons have been learnt from this I hope ! We also have a working valve train, with all the cam followers bobbing up and down in a most satisfying manner. Having primed the inlet manifold, I then discovered the inside passages were quite fouled up with oily carbon deposits. This was quickly rectified by Stewart with the steam lance I had enough time left today, to apply some Service colour to the manifold, which is now looking very dapper, both inside and out.

Steering box is ready to take it's place on the chassis. The keyway fought us both to the last and I for one was pleased to see the job finished. I decided to make a start on the crank case and first up was the replacement of the camshafts. This went well until I tried to replace the locking bolts and it was Stan, once again, who came up with a special ground down pry bar, which was used to finally align the holes in the bushes as they are apt to wander off course when the bushes are pressed home. Very pleased to see some bits going back in. It only remains to replace the end caps and make two new locking bolts. I also cleaned up the inlet manifold which is in excellent condition and a beautiful example of the art of casting iron. Pics by Stan.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I arrived armed with 1/2" imperial key steel to fashion a quick key for the steering box. The previous incumbent was a stepped key bodge up which had been working in it's hole for some time and had caused a fair ammount of damage to the keyway. The only way to tidy this up was to clean out the slot by hand and use the full key width. This has been partly completed and the day ran out leaving work in progress.

Oh that's interesting. The Thornycroft will probably get a BF registration as we don't have a record of the civilian No. I had thought it would stand for 'British Forces' but perhaps 'Bloody Fool' would be quite appropriate !

The annual pilgrimage to Beaulieu was endured on Saturday. Once famous for it's copious quantities of old tat, I have to say I was disappointed this year. Not one grease pot, Rotherhams or otherwise did I see all day. Perhaps somebody else was hoovering them up before me ! I did manage to find something of interest and almost fell over a very nice acetylene generator by Thorn & Hoddle. This was the first decent sized generator I have seen which was of British manufacture. Although not a" Radmore" as supplied to the WD for vehicle use, this was part of the "Incanto" range of lighting equipment made in London and used for illuminating hospital tents and the like behind the Western Front. Most importantly it is complete and fairly serviceable, the inner container still carries it's last charge of carbide crystals and I rather liked the look of it. The asking price of course was 'ridiculous', but was haggled down to 'fairly expensive' and bought with a shake of the hand in true auto jumble style. I hope to make some subtle alterations and use it to power the lights on the Thornycroft. Here are some pics of the latest project. Special mention for Caspar who lugged the thing back to the car for me and spared my aching feet !

Mike has produced a perfectly fitting bush for the steering box bracket. It is now painted, assembled and ready to take up residence in the chassis, along with the drag link arm. One last task before this happens is to make a new key to hold the steering arm on to the taper, to replace the shimmed up version which was previously fitted. The track rod, has also been attended to and the only thing holding up the prospect of actual steering is the column and a new cast 'Gosling' steering wheel, both of which have been elevated to poll position on the grid.

I had claimed a few desirable bits from the two chassis and engine that went North and these were duly delivered via the Dorset Steam Fair, by John Marshall The first of these to receive attention was the water jacket linkage which came off another incomplete M4 engine. The original part came badly damaged and unsaveble. Incredibly the two parts were separated by hand after a minor struggle, penetrant and a rough clean up. The jointing surfaces will need some feckling but are not too bad, however one of the corners has been knocked off and that will be a challenge for Stan.