Ian L Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Rob, I've sent you a couple of PM's, but as yet, no reply. My mate's father owned a 3 ton single drive Vulcan, and it's been scrapped - but he kept the maggy, the headlights and the radiator off it. I now have some pics of the items. Check your P.M's. Cheers - Ron. Hi Ron, Rob lives in a few miles away from me so I'l nip round and see him when I get back from holiday if you still haven't managed to contact him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Hi Ron, Sorry for the late reply, i've been flat out at work at the moment, not had much of a chance to get on here. Thanks very much for the PM's and for taking the photos it's very much appreciated. I'll have a study of the pictures and get back to you as soon as i can. Thanks, Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 There's not been a lot of progress on the Vulcan recently, mostly due to losing some of my storage space and having to work for a living. Starting to get back on to it now though. The rear top pair of springs have been rebuilt, i just need to make a couple of clamps which were a bit far gone to re use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Any news on this restoration. We of the veteran truck brigade have been fairly thin on the ground of late!!! Working for a living is a real b....r. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi All, Apologies for not updating the thread for a while, as Robert said, having to work for a living can really get in the way. I've also had a roof leak in the workshop so have been trying to dry everything out slowly, which is not going very well! Roll on summer! I have been cracking on with a few bits and peices. This is the main rear suspension pivot, it all came apart very well and seems to have hardly any wear to the bearings. Brake linkage bearing. Both top and bottom sets of springs and nearly all the rear suspension is rebuilt and in primer. I just need to make some new spring shackle pins and it can all start going back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 A huge, huge thank you to my dad Jim who very kindly suprised me with a brand new radiator cap which he built from scratch! Beautiful job! We just need to make the rest of the radiator to go with it now....:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Superb! How did he do it? Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Nice to see the old chap hasn't lost it Rob :-D three cheers for the Atomic Energy apprentice scheme where would any of us be without it Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Very true Pete! There would be a lot of vehicles still in scrap yards without the apprenticeship scheme! Tony, most of it was machined from solid, then the lugs welded on then dressed back. I'm sure Father will be here at some point to explain in more detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Hi All, Sorry for the lack in updates for a long time, lots of other jobs have got in the way. I did a restoration on a vintage tractor which looked like a 5 minute job, famous last words! Two years later and I'm back on the Vulcan. There has been a lot of work going on, I have had some brand new front springs made to replace the rotten originals, bought some front tyres, a set of headlights and a brand new correct type speedometer from Beaulieu. I have also finished of most of the back suspension which just needs a coat of deep bronze green. My Dad has made an amazing Vulcan name badge for the radiator when we get round to making one. The restoration of the back axle is well underway, many pictures to follow...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hair Bear Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Just found this thread, I don't know anything really about Vulcans but it seems unusual that if I read correctly that you have started with two, or the parts of two, as back in the late 70's my Dad had a late friend who had the parts from two Vulcans in a barn in near Arlesford. Could they be the same ones perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Hi Hair Bear, I think the previous owners may have bought the Vulcan around that time and it could have come from that area so it could be the same one. There are not many around so it sounds very likely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 I've been doing some work on the transfer shaft that fits between the two back axles. The bearings in the universal joints were not worn at all and were protected from the weather, but the outside casings were very rusty. The joints are housed in an oil tight housing with a sprung loaded cup pressing up against a cork seal, one of the springs was rotted beyond salvage. There is a felt seal held in place and compressed with a threaded collar and washer. The collar was also rusted through. I machined up a new collar... and a new spring seat. I also managed to make a replacement spring using the correct diameter piano wire bent round a former and heat treated, forgot to take photos of that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 The shaft was a little pitted where the felt seal sits, so the pits were cleaned out and filled with metal putty then machined off and polished. To make the cork seals I used a slightly odd approach but am very pleased with the results. I mounted a piece of plywood in the lathe and used double sided tape to hold the 1/4" cork gasket. A parting tool was ground up and used to cut the correct inside and outside diameter, then the seal was carefully peeled off. They were then fitted in the housings. The same idea was used to make the felt shaft seal, but a scalpel blade was mounted in the parting tool holder. All fitted back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Excellent work Rob very pleased to see your back on the Vulcan :-) regards to you and the Old Chap Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbs Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Amazing work, just read this from the beginning. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I also managed to make a replacement spring using the correct diameter piano wire bent round a former and heat treated, There shouldn't be any need to heat-treat piano wire. It gets its properties from cold-drawing, and heat treatment will destroy that. The heat-treatment stage of piano wire manufacturing is prior to the cold-drawing (or cold-rolling) process and is called "patenting", where the material is heated to the austenite transition temperature, then quenched in molten lead or molten sodium hydroxide to transform to fine Bainite. Cold working of this then gives a very high tensile strength. Quenching and tempering will give you reasonable properties as it is high carbon steel, but the chances are that you had a better spring before the heat treatment. Suspension springs are heat-treated, they have a large section and no scope for significant cold reduction. (This was my "specialist subject" for 2 years at Leeds) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hi Pete, Thanks for your kind comment. It's nice to get back to the Vulcan, progress has been too slow recently. Hope everything is going well for you. Regards from Dad and myself. Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Corbs, Thank you, it's been a lot of work so far and a lot more work ahead. Very enjoyable though! Regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Andy, Thanks for your comment, I should have explained my method a bit more. I quite agree that there should not be any need to heat treat piano wire as it comes ready treated from the factory. However I tried a few unsuccessful attempts to cold form the spring, but as it was 4mm piano wire it was not too keen to stay in the correct shape without trying to tear my face off when I released the tension. I could have made a purpose built forming device but it seemed a lot of messing about for a one off. I machined a piece of bar to the correct inside diameter of the spring and marked the required spiral on it using the other good spring to get the correct pitch. I then held the bar in the lathe with one end of the piano wire clamped under a chuck jaw, then heated the wire nearest to the bar up to cherry red and slowly wound the lathe by hand bending the wire to match the spiral and heating as I went, this seemed a safer way of doing things and produced a good match with the existing spring I had. Due to the effect of the heat on the wire, which would have normalised it in some places and made it brittle in others from the cooling effect of the bar, I heated the whole spring to cherry red then quenched it in oil, polished it up then heated it gently till it was blue and quenched in water. Using the original spring, I placed a lump of metal on top and measured the compression, then did the same with the new spring and they were pretty close, within a couple of mm, good enough for the job it has to do. I'm sure there are a lot better methods out there, but this seemed to work quite well for me. Kind regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Another huge thank you to my Dad Jim who made a Vulcan emblem to go on the radiator when we make one. Amazing job, all filed out by hand and riveted on, using a couple of measurements and a photo for reference.:wow: An original badge on Bob Grundy's Vulcan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Another huge thank you to my Dad Jim who made a Vulcan emblem to go on the radiator when we make one.Amazing job, all filed out by hand and riveted on, using a couple of measurements and a photo for reference.:wow: He's a great Craftsman! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Thank you Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 A start has been made on the rear back axle. They are an odd set up, 8 brake shoes per axle, one set for foot brake and one set for handbrake all rod operated. The bronze balls just inboard of the hubs are for mounting the springs on to the axle, where a split cup holds the top and bottom springs. The mounting on top of the final drive is for a swinging arm mounted on a pivot in the centre of the chassis. After much heaving and shoving (much, much heavier than it looks!) it was in the shed. The oil was drained out of the final drive, which was still nice thick black stuff. The half shafts were removed and the drive was unbolted, and after a bit of persuasion it came out without too much fuss. Looks quite healthy in there! Bit out of focus (Iphone!) bearing caps removed showing diff bearing, thrust bearing and shims. Diff removed, Diff cleaned up, very little wear. there are a couple of teeth which have the corners chipped off, but apart from that all seems fine. The drive flange was removed from the worm shaft and the bearing housing taken of the other end, revealing a large thrust bearing, again very little wear. (Please excuse the messy bench, all handy stuff!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handy1882 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 The worm and shaft cleaned up well, also very little wear. Housing cleaned up and in primer. I replaced the roller bearings on the worm shaft and on the diff just as a matter of course, they didn't seem worn but it was easier to do it now rather than later. Slightly odd however, the diff bearings were metric (6212) while the shaft bearings were imperial. Everything slotted back together quite easily. The seal in the housing behind the drive flange is felt, I made a new one using the same method I used on the seal for the transfer shaft a few posts back, worked quite well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.