Stalwart 1 - Me and Phil 0

[ArtistsRifles]

Supposed to have had a jack and axle stands delivered Friday - missed the curier so got home early Monday - and missed the courier Monday - I got in at 3 pm to find they'd called at 2:20 pm Ah well.... Finally got through on the phone at 5 pm and they said they would deliver on Thursday - sometime - when Val is off.

So spent today down the Fort with Phil - refilled the reservoir for the clutch and got the floor plates back in and steering wheel remounted.

Phils rubbed the ridge pole down and given it a coat of black (painted by brush it's drying matt...). Aerofoil/hatch rest is now bolted back in place and the bolts given a coat of green as have the filled areas around the glazing. The missing bolts are replaced on the swim board & thats been re-assembled and remounted. The bridging plate has been rubbed down and repainted - but I think the yellow is too bright??? Air entry grilles are bolted back in place and the aerial base mounts are (finally) fitted and painted.

We didn't bleed the clutch as the load bed is still full of the contents of Freds trailer and we weren't sure if he'd finished with it or not. So that job's saved for another day

 

All thats left now paint-wise is to blow over the cab with the spray gun to get a common colour (brushed areas have dried darker), empty the front of the load bed and blow over the bulkhead/rear of cab then blow over the insides of the drop-sides.. Then swap colour to black and finish the overlays. Oh yeah - and paint the wheels and hubs, wheelnuts, split rim nuts and the hub bars. After fixing the leaking rear hub when the axle sands and jack finally arrive!!

[Marmite!!]

Neil,

 

wouldn't it of been better to bleed & test the clutch before putting the floor plates back just incase those unions need nipping up.. I'm good but... :whistle:

[ArtistsRifles]

Getting the hang of whipping them out now Lee! :-) :-) :-) And next time I'll bring the air gun with me so the bolts will be even quicker! :-) :-) :-)

 

I did check the one I could reach - the rear one - and that was tight so hopefully the top one will be as well. I say hopefully 'cos I can't get anywhere near it being the size i am.. :cry: :cry:

[AlienFTM]

Yeh! but big ends won't fail the MOT :roll:

 

I used to write the Command Troop column in the regimental newspaper. This reminds me of one such column which went something like this:

 

Whilst parked up in a farmyard on Ex Summer Sales Tpr HESH <name deleted - PerSec> managed to liberate a six foot hen. Throughout the remainder of the exercise, the crew of Zero Bravo indulged in the most marvellous Compo breakfasts with giant fresh eggs.

 

By the second week of the exercise, HESH had realised the enormous power of this giant chicken and for the next change of location, he used the towrope to tie it to the front of his Saracen, which raced off toward the next location. Some time later the crew of the working ACV, Zero Alpha became worried that Bravo had not yet got its foot on the ground and assumed control so that Alpha could close down and move to colocate.

 

The Troop Sergeant, callsign 98, set off in his rebroadcast Ferret and halfway between the two locations found Zero Bravo broken down by the roadside, HESH was staring disconsolately at the snapped towrope.

 

"Whatever happened, HESH?" asked the Tp Sgt.

 

"Me big 'en's gone."

 

I'll get me coat.

[Bodge Deep]

:rofl:

[saracenstump]

:-D i like it :-D

[ArtistsRifles]

You might like it mate - but I don't recommend you try it with yours!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

[ArtistsRifles]

OK - got the clutch system bled though over the weekend - BUT another issue has manifested istelf!!

The slave cylinder is moving through the full range of movement as described in the relative EMER - however absolutely nothing, naff all, is happening at the clutch there is a wee bit of pressure at the far end of the pedal travel but thats it...

 

Looking at the exploded view on the parts manual the only things we can currently think if are either the pinch bolt othe bottom of the lever its losing and it's just swing ing on that OR the pinch bolt on the bottom of the release fork is loose and it's spinning on that. Can't see anything else to cause the problems we're getting!

 

Can any one shed any light on this <censored> issue?????? Please?????

Kind of feeling frustrated as hell right now :? :? :?

[sirhc]

Is there any adjustment in the linkage? Maybe you need to extend the rods out a little bit to get full pressure?

[ArtistsRifles]

As far as I can tell from the exploded diags in the parts manual Chris there is no adjustment on the mechanism...

I've attached the relevant plates from the book - plates A23_1 and A23_2 are the actual clutch plates& release bearing whilst plate F1 is the clutch housing and mechanism.

Best we can guess right now is maybe the pinch bolt on either the release lever or, worse, the release fork has come loose allowing it to slip on the actuator shaft. Frustrating as hell because we drove her into the repair area fine and all we've done is remove and replace the clutch master in the cab. Not been anywhere near the engine bay and clutch save until we tried bleeding the system Thought at first we had hydraulic problems until the penny dropped and we realised the slave was fully extended - hence no movement and trickle flow of fluid from the bleed nipple!!

 

 

 

[Grumpy]

Neil

 

Both the clutch fork and actuator are splined and don’t normally spin even with the bolts lose. You can try and remove the "horse shoe" spacers to get a bit of clutch adjustment, but if the slave is moving the full stroke (there is a sharp pointer on top of the lever) it very much sounds like the clutch thrust bearing is breaking up. Adjust everything up as per the book and take it from there.

 

[ArtistsRifles]

That sounds like bad news!! :-(

I'm guessing the actual release bearing is easy enough to get (Bannisters or Marcus Glenn??) - but we've nothing down the Fort that's capable of lifting the B81.

And to make matters worse - I've only got this weekend and the weekend of 6/7 June to do anything...... :-( Weekend after is the Bunker bash then I've promised (read arm up back!!) the missus we could go away for a break over the half term holiday.

 

Why would it suddenly start breaking up?? Prior to the clutch master being removed that leak was the only problem. Topping up the reservoir and pumping would, for a while at least, give perfect gear changes.

[Mark]

If it was Ok before you done the work, then surely you need to have a look at that, have you disturbed something

[ArtistsRifles]

Thats the weird bit Mark. The clutch master and the clutch slave are about as far apart as you can get on a Stalwart. The only area we worked on was the master cylinder under the cab floor.

Come Sat morning the inspection cover on the clutch housing will be removed so we can see inside and then the measurements for travel given in the EMER will be double checked.

I really cannot believe there is an instance of mechanical failure of the actual clutch components as it was OK and has not moved since we parked her up - not to say that this may not prove to be the case, coincidences do happen after all - but I realy hope not as it means I won't be able to get to the bunker bash!!

[Marmite!!]

Weekend after is the Bunker bash

 

Neil,

 

got to get it fixed.. the Stolly is in the arena at 1pm, Firepower Display.. it's too late for me to find another target to fire the Bazooka at ;-)

[ArtistsRifles]

Neil,

 

got to get it fixed.. the Stolly is in the arena at 1pm, Firepower Display.. it's too late for me to find another target to fire the Bazooka at ;-)

 

 

Heh - hope you're free this weekend then - got a feeling your ability to emualte Twizzle might be in need!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

Consensus on the Yahoo Stolly forum seems to be it's still a bleeding issue; the clutch slave needing to be gagged back in the closed position and not allowed to open whilst bleeding goes on.

 

Need to get the inspection cover off the housing and see/feel whats happening inside - thats likley where the Twizzle ability might be useful!! :-)

[Marmite!!]

Heh - hope you're free this weekend then - got a feeling your ability to emualte Twizzle might be in need!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

Consensus on the Yahoo Stolly forum seems to be it's still a bleeding issue; the clutch slave needing to be gagged back in the closed position and not allowed to open whilst bleeding goes on.

 

Need to get the inspection cover off the housing and see/feel whats happening inside - thats likley where the Twizzle ability might be useful!! :-)

 

 

Might be able to squeeze a couple of hours in between sorting out the Bunker.. when you down there :dunno:

[ArtistsRifles]

Well - depending on Phil being free I was thinking of getting there about 09:00 to get a full day in. Any time you can spare would be much appreciated mate!!

[Marmite!!]

Well - depending on Phil being free I was thinking of getting there about 09:00 to get a full day in. Any time you can spare would be much appreciated mate!!

 

 

Day :dunno:

[ArtistsRifles]

Saturday & Sunday. If we can get the clutch sorted then there's still that leak from the N/S rear hub and the rest of the painting to finish.

 

Oh yeah - replied to the major giving crew names and required kit sizes - and pointed out you'd kindly offered to shovel up the horse dung that would be created every time a Stalwart did it's imitation of a 25 Pdr :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Mark]

Neil

Speaking to my mate who owns a stolly, he says that it could be the clutch plates that have stuck together if it has been keft long enough without the pedal being depressed and clipped back, this takes the pressure of the plates if left longer than 3 days or so.

If the plates are stuck together then you must drive into a tree or wall to get them unstuck, or better still use a hammer, this is assuming you have the old style plates.

 

Does this make sense ??

[ArtistsRifles]

Yep - makes sense Mark.

This usually - and I say that advisedly - happens when they are left with water in the hull and/or no load cover.

Plan is to lock the actuator arm back such that the slave is in the closed position and try re-bleeding. If that fails then we'll try thin bladed knives in through the inspection hatch or starting in gear and hitting the brakes hard.

 

Fingers crossed!! :-) :-) :-)

[Marmite!!]

That's the clutch sorted, Cheech & Chong hadn't bled it properly :whistle:

[saracenstump]

great i wasn't looking forward to paying rex the full amount!!!!!!!probably too much gasing that done it :whistle:all that hot air in the system :dunno: :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

[ArtistsRifles]

Could well be - after all - who was it blowing into the reservoir now and rust proofing that side of the cab into the bargain???? :whistle:

 

Satirical comments aside - I'd like to say a big thank you to Lee who took the time off from setting up the bunker show to give us a hnad today and tomorrow. It was a 3-man job, Phil in the cab pumping, Lee in the nethre depths of the hull working the bleed nipple and me bracing the tyre iron that was stopping the slave extending.

 

We tried a bleed first as we'd done it last week and very little air came out - a few micro-bubbles. So I pushed the slave closed and then braced it in that position and an amazing amount of air suddenly appeared in the tube we were using to bleed it with.... Did this a couple of times then tried the pedal - was still a bit of travel on it so we cranked the engine up and voila - a hard pedal. Tried changing gears and there's still a bit of drag so on Lees advice we left it over-night and will try another bleeding session tomorrow.

 

Spent the rest of the day doing a bit more painting - then ran out of green paint :-( Got the front bulk head done, inside face of the exhaust stack, front two N/S wheels and 1/3 of one of the drop sides

 

Oh - and finally managed to slip off the tyre whilst climbing up to the cab - wound up with my arm wrapped around the handgrip on top of the cab taking my whole weight for the few seconds it took to get a grip with my feet again. I really DO NOT recommend doing this!!! :-(

 

Also had another go at the brake stoplight switch - rubbed the plunger down with wet 'n dry to get a smooth finish and a slack fit in the bore - now it's gone from staying on to not going on period :-) Another thing to look at tomorrow!! :-)