Motleyholt

Back again, work is such a nuisance, but have made a few steps forward and a few steps backwards. Been working on freeing the crane leg pins. Some are stiff, others completely seized and turning in the wrong places. Made this little gizmo to inject penetrating oil into the joints.

A couple bolts modified to make a heavy duty syringe, fill with oil, insert plunger, attach to crane leg grease nipple and hit it with a hammer. Work the hydraulics and wait for the rusty soup to emerge. Re-injected and left to marinade. Hopefully when the time comes the pins will be a little easier to extract. 

The leg locks have been seized since I've had the truck and probably a long time before that. So they were removed for overhaul.

This one behaved and only needed the top of the piston cleaning. Pushed piston back on the press and then it turned with a spanner and plenty of oil. The other side did not behave. After cleaning the top of the piston and pushing it down it was still stuck. Took several hours or trying heat, cold, oil, big spanners etc. Because its a spring return I couldn't push the piston back and couldn't take the spring out without the piston moving. Eventually pushed the piston right through from the top. Bending the spring plate slightly. But once everything was cleaned and greased the pressing back together straighted the spring plate. Apologies for the absence of pics.

To reduce future problems where water can sit around the pistons I made some cups to keep them a bit drier.

Cut some discs with a hole saw.

Used the press, an old bearing race and a pin to form the cups.

instant rain caps.

More paint

New bolts and all back together.

Now just need to swap the grease nipple in the above pic for a 90° type so the leg lock can actually be greased!

Now whilst carrying out the annual grease up I was wondering what the grease nipple on the centre of the front hub was for? One side had a grease nipple in when the truck arrived and I assumed the other side had snapped off so fitted a new grease nipple to that side aswell......error.... out of curiosity I was looking through the parts diagrams to see what I was greasing. Part description "pressure relief valve". So I should have taken the grease nipple out as the broken one wasn't a broken at all. 

found one on the auction site and will be rummaging in the bottom of the scrap bin for the origonal unless anyone has one?? 4820-99-835-0416

Also need to strip the front brakes. Still have a bad judder even after a good few miles driving.  Have a suspicion the drums have distorted after standing for years with the hand brake on. So am looking for drums potentially. 2530-99-828-6460. Shared with Bedfords which I assume used Kirkstall axles aswell?

Total transformation I would say, what a difference from what little you started with. 👍

Over cleaning and polishing head and block faces can be detrimental. The roughness is is intentional as it literally grips the head gasket. Where I used to work we machined Jaguar and Rover ally cylinder heads, we used a planer which was hand operated mill. Had something like a 300mm cutter with about 30 ceramic inserts in, running at a ferocious speed, and the cutting head was moved by hand over the cylinder head as fast as you could move it! Each cutting insert cost several hundred pounds.

I digressed a bit but careful cleaning is better and if it needs more a quick trip to the engine reconditioned will restore the correct surface.

Lovely work so far 👍

On 1/6/2022 at 10:05 AM, john1950 said:

24 GN 09 was used driver training in Yorkshire for some of its time in service. I wonder if yours was as well. 

Mine was 24 GN 61 which I'm assuming was one of the last? I haven't had the chance to research its history yet but with 4011 miles it couldn't have been many places. Does have a nice old tape sticker on the dash saying the crane seat must be lowered before being driven into the depot. So lived in a building only just high enough for the cab.

21 minutes ago, 67burwood said:

it’s just hibernating 😁

 

Went to a very good home and I am sure I’ll see it again. 

Maybe  the camouflage was better than I first assumed? 🤣

🤔 hmmm that's a very Matador shaped hedge you have there! A bit like trying to hide a mountain in Lincolnshire....

It's not been a productive Foden Christmas as I've been busy installing a decent heater in the workshop. Have managed to clock up a few miles with friends and family. It has been found to be perfect for setting off car alarms.

The brake lights decided to stick on but by the time I got back they were working again. So today I had a look to see what could be wrong. I don't think there is a relay so can only be the switch or the air pressure isn't dropping at the switch. 

Decided to check/service the brake switch first. This turns out to be three switches, one for each air circuit(each axle). Not sure why three are necessary? Bridged each switch in turn and brake lights operate on all.

The brake switches are the ones at the top...behind the pipes....just below the heater pipes....only accessible with finger tips! Can just about get a spanner on the front two. Once they are out you can reach the rear one which doesn't turn as it hits the mounting bracket bolt.

it's in the middle at the back. Easier to see on my spare parts.

but the spare doesn't foul the bolt. To remove mine I had to undo the pipe from underneath and unscrew the fitting lock nut to tip the switch enough to undo it. The pipe fitting is another random size.

so we have a metric cab on an imperial chassis with Whitworth or BS pipe work. Lucky I have a lot of spanners!

The fitting and nut are behind yet more pipes.

Switches finally out

Cleaned the outside with a wire brush and marked the top and bottom for later reassembly. 

Found a part number label still on one.

Stripped.

Contacts a little burnt. 

Cleaned.

Rubber grease applied and reassembled.

Fiddle the bits back together and reconnect the wires.

Job done. Also climbed on the roof to add a bit more sealer around the cupola. It's a temporary job but it will stop the inside getting any wetter before cab rebuild takes place.

Also managed to replace the dash captive nut. I thought it was a blind nut to a hollow section but after a closer look at the donor cab I realised it was just a section that over hangs the engine tunnel. There is a tiny gap under it though which I could just fit some angled long nose pliers and grip the old rivet nut. Nut held I unscrewed the bolt.

The culprit.

New rivinut fitted and dash Refitted.

Very nice indeed, superb find.

Absolutely lethal and I'm sure they claimed a few fingers in their day! Can you imagine what the HSE would say now🤣.

where I used to work the owner of the buildings had a flat belt drive drill and lathe. I was the only person brave enough to use them!

5 hours ago, andypugh said:

Another vote for this. It's a fairly standard way to remove inner races. 

Third vote manual chisel or air chisel. Would be surprised if it doesn't split. As a side note a good set of carbide burrs and a die grinder will make mincemeat of hard bearing races for this job. I've had some that have lasted years and still cutting well.

39 minutes ago, Motleyholt said:

My 2 pennies worth would be repeated heating and cooling and hammer the bearing inwards to break the joint. A tubular drift and sledge or air chisel being my weapons of choice. When the joint breaks apply the puller. There should be enough free play in the bearing for it to move inwards and you can apply much greater shock therapy that way. Or last resort gas axe or plasma cut carefully through the inner race working inwards to save the axle. Assume the inner race will just stay on the axle if it is stuck?

Inner race should read inner bearing. 

My plasma will cut 35mm but still requires a degree of care as it will cut anything you point it at. In theory if you get 80% through moving in towards the centre then you will be able to split the bearing with a chisel in the cut you have made. Hopefully with all the suggestions you will get the right result soon. Good luck.

My 2 pennies worth would be repeated heating and cooling and hammer the bearing inwards to break the joint. A tubular drift and sledge or air chisel being my weapons of choice. When the joint breaks apply the puller. There should be enough free play in the bearing for it to move inwards and you can apply much greater shock therapy that way. Or last resort gas axe or plasma cut carefully through the inner race working inwards to save the axle. Assume the inner race will just stay on the axle if it is stuck?

On 12/12/2021 at 10:25 AM, attleej said:

I don't know about FH70 but lighter vehicles would have:

Jack (jack handle would probably be have to be stored elsewhere (passenger footwell?) due to length

Wheel brace but might be too long for box so stored elsewhere. (passenger footwell?)

Jacking block?

Tyre inflator hose

Tyre pressure gauge

Adjustable

Pliers?

Screw driver

Wire rope and chain assy?

 

All this kit would be listed in the CES (Complete Equipment Schedule) for the vehicle.  Of course, there would be much more for supporting the gun but that would be on the gun's CES.  User handbook might give stowage instructions.

John

Had a look through the handbook and manual but nothing in either so CES is what I need, anyone have any leads for finding a copy? I know I need all the usual pick, shovel, extinguishers etc. Also I'm assuming there will be some lifting tackle for the hiab? There is storage for blocks for the crane legs that I can see on photo's on the Web. There are only a couple of jerry can holders in amongst the crane. I have plenty of jerry cans but would be nice to have some dated 1979!

I've found a couple of correct lens for the cab markers on flea Bay today.

Went for a drive yesterday to clear the cobwebs and see how the gear changes are after the box was taken apart. It's an improvement and range changes are much smother. Just need to work on the driver skills, only lost my gears once though when I missed a down shift 🤣.

Rust proofed behind the dash and went to refit the dash panel. Last bolt decided it would snap the weld nut from under the dash and as sods law dictates its the only one that you can't get at from the other side. So I'll need to get a cutting disc to the bolt and fit a rivinut. 

In disgust I abandoned that for the moment and headed to the opposite end to repair the locker box doors that flap around due to broken hinges.

Unbolted the bits

assembled a suitable selection of tools

straightened the hinge, cooked it and worked it until it all freed off. Quick trip to the blast cabinet.

And a bit of cleaning to the other half if the hinge

Out with the small mig as the big mig is too heavy handed for this kind if job

I've had this inverter mig for about 12 years and apart from the rubbish power switch, which was swapped for a proper rotary switch, its been superb. Lightish weight, 200 amps and lives in my van. Will weld 0.5mm up to 6mm and thicker with some pre heating. 

Clamped the patient to the bench and used an offcut to level up the pieces

Carefully weld the right bits....

oops got carried away...out with the die grinder to remove the excess weld and release the hinge again 🙄

Weld the back for good measure

Grind it all back, clean and prime

Repeat for the opposite side locker.

What would have been in these lockers?

Any one know what tools were originally in the Foden? I assume I should have a cab bar, wheel brace, jack etc? Lots of clips in the passenger foot well but no idea what should be there.

On 11/30/2021 at 3:46 PM, Citroman said:

This thing is more complicated as my car's engine 😂

Probably cost as much as the engine to manufacture too, would be so much simpler with an electric motor 🤣

Fitted the longer screws and tested the wiper motor. 

Success no more air leaks. Then spent an hour fitting, removing, fitting, removing to adjust the travel. Now I have wipers that clear the whole screen and park somewhere near the bottom. Dash to refit once I've dealt with a couple of rust spots. And then reconnect the heater hoses. A few more steps complete.

Today was a day of discovery taking part my first trico pneumatic wiper motor. Had no idea what was inside. Took plenty of pics as had an inkling that it would pay dividends on reassembly.

Removed the arm and top cover to reveal the travel adjuster.

The top section is supposed to be locked to the shaft with a grub screw but the plastic is cracked. The second piece under it has serrations which lock into the top and is held by a spring underneath. The two sections have lugs which operate the shaft at the top of the pic which changes the wipers direction. I assume a special tool is used through the slots in the outer casing to depress the lower ring against the spring and turn it to adjust the travel. This will be handy as my wipers don't have enough travel. 

Under the next piece of housing are the pilot valves, one sliding and one rotating. Rotating attaches to the top shaft in the previous pic and the sliding one I believe is the speed change.

next I took the round hosing off. I hindsight I should have taken the next plate off and removed the shaft first but it worked the same.

next plate and shaft removed.

Later I discovered the main shuttle valve but I'll need a pair of pliers and compressed air to extract and we don't have either in the kitchen. In my ideal home this would obviously not be the case 🤣.

After some cleaning a couple of candidates for air leakage were found. The main piston case.

Had quite a few lumps and bumps. Took some fine wet and dry to it and came back nicely but this did show up a potential crack or cold shut from casting.

Second possible leak, but shouldn't leak from the exhaust, is the sliding pilot valve.

bottom right corner not quite flat. Out with some tooth paste and lap the two surfaces together. A process my dad used on mammod steam train pistons to get a perfect steam proof fit.

Being a plastic moulding it didn't take long either.

all the seals were good and flexible still. The gaskets are cork so will hopefully seal again as I don't fancy cutting them out! I popped the cover off the spare motor to look for a not so cracked travel adjuster....

....nope same as mine, cracked where the grub screw goes through. Must be a weak spot. Still functions though so it will have to stay.

Reassembled with the usual rubber grease and ready for a bench test back at the workshop tomorrow. 

There is a tensioning roller that holds the rack against the shaft, top centre above, that is held in with two screws. They are a bit on the short side and screwed into cast holes. One of the threads decided to give up but hopefully a 5mm longer screw will fix this.

I'll also pop out the valve, clean and regrease it.

Just incase it doesn't work I found a new old stock motor on the auction site. At £20 it had to be purchased. Much more fun repairing mine though.

Evening all, thought I should reconnect the heaters for the rapidly deteriorating weather. As with all simple jobs it got out of hand! One of the previously working motors decided it would now pop the trip after thirty seconds running. A quick shop at Xmod had a new motor in the post.

the fan had stuck on solid somehow, in the space of a few weeks. Came off with a little persuading and the new motor was fitted and given a bit of green.

Put it all back on the truck and discovered the second error. Can you spot it?

yep I managed to swap the fans during the rebuild! Should be rotating forward at the top but were running backwards. So out with both motors and swap sides. Finally two fully functioning fans. Just need to reconnect the water pipes to the engine. 

This can wait for a dry day and in the meantime I've addressed another air leak that's progressed from very slight to stopping the air building up fully. The air powered wiper motor. I've not played with one before so a new adventure. It lives under the dash so I jumped in the donor cab to work out how to access it and also to remove the motor and switch for research.

Then back in my cab armed with my new found knowledge. The sun visor guide rods unclipped at the top and slide out, four bolts along the dash top by the screen, two under the dash and one behind the heater control.

Remove the grab handle by the passenger door and the dash will slide and lift enough to reach the motor.

Marked the pipes for easy reassembly with a couple of coloured cable ties.

unclipped the rods, disconnect the pipes and undo the six bolts that hold it in.

Hey presto the world's heaviest wiper motor. It has a constant air feed, then a second feed from the switch for slow speed and a second supply that opens a valve for high speed. Hooked it up on the bench using the donor cab switch and pipes.

Just need to take it apart and hope its not an irreplaceable part that's needed. There is the spare motor but this has already been apart in the past and only works on one speed.

I've snuck it home with a few sockets so I can strip it in the warm.

More tomorrow.

After many months of waiting the most exciting piece of paper arrived in the post, only slightly marred by the dog getting to it first. As you would expect every other piece of junk mail was untouched.....

Will have some regular number plates made until I source some nice pressed ally black ones made. Does anyone have recommendations for good quality pressed plate suppliers?

They have put it as historic vehicle for tax class, which I'm not sure is correct? I put private HGV on the application. Would that make it tax exempt??

I feel a trip to the fuel station will be necessary very soon and the shakedown can begin. See what falls off first!

Hi all, finally got a couple of hours to work on the Foden. Decided to finish the servicing by changing the hub oil. Hoping I'll get a reg document eventually so I can give her a thorough shake down on the road. So I'm avoiding the larger jobs until then, such as the crane pins, cab doors, scuttle panel, cab floor.....you understand how it goes.

Jacked each wheel and rotated the drain hole to the bottom. Wedged an empty oil drum with funnel under and pulled the plug.

The backs were reasonable, the fronts were nasty.

Then I remembered you remove one of the drive flange bolts to drain. The one marked drain here!

Had a cup of tea whilst it all drained and came back to a puddle of oil where one of the drums had self righted. Once cleaned up the drain bolts were refitted with a spot of sealant and fresh oil pumped in. Barrel pump is invaluable for these jobs. Refit the level plugs and the full lube service is complete. Will soon be a year in my ownership, where does all the time go???

Hi all, time for a quick update. After a break in Cornwall I returned to a mass of customer MOT'S. After last year when all tests stopped for several months they now are all piled up together. So progress on the Foden has been slow to non existent.

The donor box got robbed of parts and they were rebuilt into mine, took a bit of persuading to split the donor. Jack's, pry bars and a big copper hammer. 

gaskets were measured.

Gasket sheet selected and ball pein hammer at the ready.

The centre cut out was then used to make the selector housing Gasket.

Reassemble syncro and fit Gasket to studs.

As the manual would say reassembly is the reverse of disassembly.....

As the air valve above the box is more inaccessible it got the full refurb. The exhaust seal was perished so a screw was fitted to replace the rubber button.

All holes plugged and a blast off.

Etch primed and then greened.

Refitted. Will get another coat when the chassis gets a full paint in the future.

Just need a log book now so I can fit number plates and go for a full test drive.......

......post arrived and an envelope from the DVLA. Excitedly I open it to reveal my new registration number, only to find all my original documents returned with a cover letter asking for the import docs????? And a suggestion that I should send a bigger cheque to tax it as a commercial rather than a private HGV??? And they would like more dating proof even though the MOD release doc was included. A long wait ensued whilst I got through to someone at the DVLA and they were slightly bemused and said to return the docs with a covering letter explaining its not been imported, I really don't wish to use it commercially and the dating evidence is already there. Also included a close up pic of the chassis plate with chassis number and date of manufacture.  Fingers crossed for take two. At least they sent an envelope to return it in.

49 minutes ago, downforce said:

Thanks to everybody that replied

The things I am really trying to figure out is (as per the OP of the thread MatchFuzee)

• What is the vehicle type on the V55 (which also relates to the type of test) so is it PHGV or is it "Special Vehicle" or something else (like Motorhome but it wont be that)
• What MoT do I need
• What do I do to get it to/from the test centre (no plates / trade plates/recovery)

Its easily over 3.5T (something like 5T unladen) so its not going to "sneak in"

D

If a standard body, box, drop side, flat bed etc then private heavy goods vehicle is most likely. Assuming you are not using it for business? I have seen them as special vehicles and farm vehicles but these catagories usually restrict use and they are much stricter on these than in the past. Mot will be 3 axle hgv. You will need to Google your nearest hgv testing station which will be at a hgv garage now as the DVSA testing stations are gone now. Try asking anyone with a lorry where they take theirs. There is also a list on the DVSA as well. 

As for getting there i'm not certain, maybe call or email DVSA and enquire?

A little excessive but the gearbox spares arrived today.....

I now have an excess of pumps, pto's and props!

Pulled the range change selector off to assess the parts I require.

All good with no signs of heat damage. Interestingly it's a different design to mine being machined from steel rather than cast or more likely sintered.

I think I know why mine was not working properly. One of the spring pins in the centre of the hub didn't move freely due to the hole being slightly off centre.

If the pin doesn't retract then it will not engage. I think the donor box has been overhauled as the syncro teeth have been dressed which is common on a rebuild. So hopefully the syncro is a later type. The outer part of the syncro doesn't appear to have the friction coating that mine has either.

If you can see it.

So after my week away I will endeavour to bring all the good bits together. Then reassemble the spare box and fill it with oil for storage. You never know when you may need one!

Should be the same as my Foden, fill in the following online and submit online

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hgv-first-test-application-form-vtg1

You will need to insure on the chassis number too.

You will receive an email telling you you can now book for a test. I took my Foden on trade plates as although you can go to an mot without tax I'm not sure how you stand with no number plates. 

Once you have your mot down load, print and fill out form V55/5 to register and tax it. You will need your military release doc, insurance, mot, copy of driving licence, cheque for admin and tax at the minimum. They may ask for more. If you have a hand book or manual will help for all the dimensions, weights should be on the vehicle vin plate. 

Otherwise you could call sv tech and they can probably do the paperwork for you for a price. They have just down rated a Pinzgauer for one of my customers to enable it to go for a class 7mot, same as a transit, which is much simpler than a hgv test.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

2 hours ago, Longen said:

Is the textured surface like the dashboard on a mgb. The paint is called "crinkle paint" and is available from the mg owners club amongst other places.

Yes I think it's very similar if not the same. Thank you for the info I'll be googling it to compare.

Speedo unwrapped and reassembled today.

Refitted to the dash.

Everything else looks decidedly shabby now so did a little bit of cleaning.

Much better. Just the other six gauges to clean and paint the bezels on. I replaced all the mounting screws on the dash and heater controls. Does any one have a supplier for the textured paint used on the dash and heater controls? The heater controls have lost most of their paint over the years.

And cleaned all the bolts from the props, chassis and gearbox in readiness for its reassembly. 

And that's as much as I have achieved today.