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Great War truck

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I think not steam powered.

If it were, the actual steam engine would usually have been in unit with the differential and gearbox, with the cylinders running fore and aft and the crankshaft cross-ways, thus simplifying the gearing. There were steam wagons made with the engine mounted cross-ways but then it was amid-ships as the space at the front was occupied by the boiler.

In this vehicle there is a conventional diff / gearbox / chaindrives with a propeller shaft visible from the engine at the front, under the seat. Also a steam engine would not have a filler cap on the condenser (radiator) as that is supplied with exhaust steam at the top which condenses and is pumped out of the bottom and should be almost empty of liquid.

I do think it looks rather wonderful though.

David

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Thanks for the interest . I do not think its  a steam vehicle , the controls and generally it looks very i.c. engine orientated etc., ,  the annotation was on the card when  I bought it, also I think Purrey only built steam vehicles.  NAG is close but I am not convinced ! . Whilst on the subject of round/circular radiators here are two more  -

 

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The latter is annotated as being in the Caucasus , unfortunately the radiator badges are obscured on both vehicles, nevertheless pioneering stuff.

The former is possibly in Bulgaria.

Richard Peskett.

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Yes, definitely Bulgaria

 

As for the Purrey, i think the difference is in the System word - it is not a Purrey, but a vehicle made in the Purrey system, the Purrey configuration of the body.

Edited by Ted170
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Did some research following makes had models with round radiators:
Dion-Bouton, Schneider, Krieger and Berliet. But they often had Solex radiators with a 3 arm reinforcement in front.

The other makes Chenard et Walcker and Delaunay-Belville. They made big cars but i don't know if they also made trucks in this period...

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  • 2 months later...

We had a trip out to East Yorkshire today and collected this 1908 Singer. It is believed to have been converted to a lorry for war work in Aberdeenshire during WWI but we only have documentation going back to 1945 when it entered preservation. I would be interested if anyone could confirm what vehicles like this were used for. A few things were borrowed from it over the years to keep the 1907 Singer car going but most of them have been returned. All the metal work was given a coat of red lead paint and this (along with dry storage) had kept it in remarkably good condition. The mudguards will need quite a lot of welding and reshaping but I am keen to get them serviceable.

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Mechanically it is almost complete. The engine is an 80x90 four cylinder White and Poppe; this is missing both the ignition systems (trembler and magneto), the fan and the water pipes. The water pump is in a box and requires some repairs and one valve and tappet parts are missing. It is unsurprising that the engine (probably not run for nearly 100 years) is seized but seems to be in reasonable order. I have put a little oil in each bore; hopefully it will make getting the pistons out easier when we get that far.

IMG_5167s.thumb.jpg.a3c7e5423a8bfea763283fa253d99930.jpg

 

The clutch springs are in a box but the studs probably need replacing. The casting that carries the pedals is broken; it may be repairable. The bronze blocks are missing from the universal joint.

IMG_5170s.thumb.jpg.f98c2915b2caf885e7682ce78c67bc60.jpg 

The gear selection mechanism is loose but the gears look to be in extremely good order. IMG_5172s.thumb.jpg.a5fb03806b519955f2cddc4a30c51dd4.jpg

Some new shackle pins will certainly be needed for the rear suspension but over all I am amazed by how good the condition is. 

 

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This may be a daft question, but as at work there is no such thing as a daft question, I don't think so! Any ways I presume there are two lots of spark plugs because there are two ignition sources, but why two ignition sources?

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13 minutes ago, super6 said:

This may be a daft question, but as at work there is no such thing as a daft question, I don't think so! Any ways I presume there are two lots of spark plugs because there are two ignition sources, but why two ignition sources?

I guess it was in case one system failed. I know the owner of a 1920's Bean car and I recollect it had a magneto and coil ignition, and of course two sets of plugs. The Rolls Royce B range engines on fire engines often had two coils and you could switch over to the other ...... in my experience the condensers failed more often than the coil!

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6 hours ago, super6 said:

This may be a daft question, but as at work there is no such thing as a daft question, I don't think so! Any ways I presume there are two lots of spark plugs because there are two ignition sources, but why two ignition sources?

I am more confused about why the spark plugs are located almost randomly on the head. 

With the larger engines it was common to have a trembler coil ignition and a mageneto, with the trembler for starting and the magneto for running.

There is just no way to crank a 9 litre engine fast enough for a magneto to kick-in. So you pull the engine over TDC a few times to fill the cylinders with mixture, and then turn on the trembler. With any luck the engine will kick round a few turns fast enough for the magneto to start working, at which point you can turn off the trembler. 

Here is asciidv using the same idea to start an engine which doesn't have a trembler. 

 

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43 minutes ago, andypugh said:

I am more confused about why the spark plugs are located almost randomly on the head. 

I think the valve caps have been removed at some point and replaced at random.

Period literature suggests there should be dual ignition on a 1908 Singer but there is no magneto bracket in the kit of parts.

The reliability was certainly a good reason for two ignition systems.

It is possible this chassis started life as a taxi. I can see for that type of work that the trembler coil ignition would be quite useful; when waiting for your passenger you can turn both ignition systems off and stop the engine. When you are ready to go it should be possible to switch on the trembler coil; if the engine still has a charge of fuel in the cylinder it will usually start without the need to get out and crank. Switching to magneto then conserves your battery charge.

Having put some light oil in each of the bores last night it was possible this afternoon to rotate the flywheel several degrees. I will not turn it any more until I have taken the sump and/or cylinder blocks off.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Did find these british tools yesterday. The left one has special hooks on it for the connectors of Murph B40 radios. Could the right one be from an ww1 toolkit? Apart form the broad arrow no markings on it.

fer-cl-s-56bffab.jpg

Edited by Citroman
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