N.O.S. Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 That is such a simple solution - the really clever bit is being able to think of it in the first place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 That is such a simple solution - the really clever bit is being able to think of it in the first place! I did have the piece of plate leaning against the end of the bench for two years before I worked out how to attack it! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret1958uk Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 An excellent replica that looks worryingly better than the original! Almost be a shame to drill holes in for the bolts and screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Another milestone - the Dennis now has a Registration Number - BF5597! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Did you get to choose your registration number, or was it just assigned to you? John Gott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 It was just assigned. The "BF" sequence seems to be the current sequence that the DVLA are using for the issue of "Age Related" Number Plates. Our other 3 Lorries are either "DS" or "SV" which again were the sequences in use by the DVLA when those were registered. I understand that the DVLA use sequences of numbers that were never issued all those years ago when they were the sort of numbers that were issued for common use at that time. So "Age Related Numbers" issued now have never been issued before. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 thanks for the reply, very interesting. John Gott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefano Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 The DS and SV age related numbers came from Peebleshire and Kinross-shire respectively, because they had loads of left over numbers that could be used up. BF is an interesting one however, because it was originally issued to Dorset County Council in 1903, and for reasons that I can only guess at (Bloody Fool perhaps?), there was a big fuss and the combination was withdrawn in 1905, with Dorset getting FX in it's place. BF was only issued again from 1960 to Staffordshire County Council, but of course by then it didn't have long to run before the A plates arrived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 With the motor now running, and with our eyes firmly set on doing the London to Brighton Run in May 2011, we really must now press on with the final jobs - the biggest of which is making the body of the lorry. With the help of the surviving drawings held in the Surrey Records Office and also with the kindness of Ben in getting hold of useable copies for us, we know exactly what we need to build it. The drawings are really only General Arrangements with just a few of the important measurements included, but that is sufficient. Our great friend Mark of many years standing and who sometimes drives one of the Autocars when we rally is a skilled woodworker and he very kindly offered to source the timber for us and to prepare it - a wonderful bit of help and a great time saving. The frame of the lorry is in Ash and this was delivered to Mark's workshop where it was cut, planed and where necessary, bevelled. We now have this back in Axminster where all of this will be finished painted before assembly. It consists of six cross-members and the two longitudinals to run along the top of the chassis, and some smaller ancilliary bits. Tony will now get on with the painting but it is not easy where we are so limited with space. We have cleared the back of the Dennis, covered it over with some old blankets to protect it and put some boards on that so that it can be used as a painting bench. Not easy but we have done it all before! The plan now is as soon as the Ash is painted for Steve and I to come to Axminster to final-assemble the frame on the chassis - and then it will be a case of erecting the remainder of the body. That will all be in a soft wood and again, Mark is sourcing that for us and will prepare it in his workshop for us. We are thinking ahead, too, to the cab as this will have to be covered in canvas and the frame for that needs to be completed as soon as we can to allow the "canvas people" enough time to fit the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 More images of the progress on the painting: The steel for the body has arrived and been tucked away: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 By way of diversion, can you explain the wheel and clamp on the engine flywheel please? Doesn't look like an extractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Note in organiser for london to brighton may 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 By way of diversion, can you explain the wheel and clamp on the engine flywheel please? Doesn't look like an extractor. What you are looking at there is the next project! I will ask Dad to post a better picture. That is the Thornycroft M4 engine and what you can see is the clutch brake and clutch springs. The clutch is a large cone like the Dennis but it is pressed into the flywheel by two leaf springs which go across the flywheel, either side of the drive shaft. The ring you can see is the clutch brake. This is attached to the cone and moves backwards when the pedal is depressed. If you push your foot to the floor, it moves far enough back to contact some friction material on a carrier thus slowing the gearbox mainshaft down more quickly and allowing faster up changes. When changing down, one must remember to push the pedal in only slightly so that it doesn't come into contact. Another one of the joys of driving ancient lorries! Steve :cheesy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Note in organiser for london to brighton may 2011 Entry form came today..... :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Thanks Steve - very interesting clutch arrangement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Aren't clutch problems not the main reson for electrical end drives on old lorries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 By way of diversion, can you explain the wheel and clamp on the engine flywheel please? Doesn't look like an extractor. Father has taken some more pics and this is the best. You can see the clutch leaf springs running across the flywheel, the thrust bearing carrier in the middle and then the clutch brake ring on the end. The challenge is going to be in extracting the cone from the flywheel as it has been there a long time! Regarding electric transmissions, I thing they were introduced because it was so difficult to change gear which commonly resulted in gear tooth damage. Versions were made by several companies including Tilling Stevens, Dennis Stevens, Hallford and Thornycroft. The Tillings were the most numerous. I have had the great good fortune to ride in a Tilling Stevens bus and it is a most weird sensation. Going up hills, the engine is revving hard but the bus only crawling giving the sensation of a badly slipping clutch! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 (edited) Anyone who left their shed/workshop early last night might have seen a rather stirring sight on the ITV drama 'Downton Abbey'. For half way through, bringing a lorry load of trouble makers, was an early Dennis lorry! Barry. (If you go to the ITV video player, it occurs just after 27 minutes of the Sunday 31st October episode). Edited November 1, 2010 by Asciidv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 [ATTACH=CONFIG]36986[/ATTACH] I have seen this Dennis at a rally in East Sussex, a couple of years ago, think it came from around that area, it has a Kent registration so may not have moved far in its lifetime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Anyone who left their shed/workshop early last night might have seen a rather stirring sight on the ITV drama 'Downton Abbey'. For half way through, bringing a lorry load of trouble makers, was an early Dennis lorry! Barry. [ATTACH=CONFIG]36986[/ATTACH] See posting No. 511 dated the 11th December 2009 - Page 52 - Same Lorry! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Collected two Steering Wheels from the Foundry today - we had a second one cast at the same time for a friend with a future Dennis project in mind! We thought that our friends, Steve and John at the Bridport Foundry might find it necessary to put more than one "runner" into the mould - probably around the rim and in which case there would be quite a lot of cleaning up to do in that area. But they managed to feed the molten aluminium into the mould through just one place, right in the centre of the wheel. You can see in one of the pictures where this "runner" was cut off after the casting came out of the sand. The castings are just as they have come out of the sand so there is a fair bit of cleaning up and polishing to do to them before they can be considered as "finished" and ready to have their coat of black plastic placed around the rim. The spokes will be left as polished aluminium. And here are some more images of the progress in the body painting: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I can't be the only one to have seen this picture and marvelled at the amount of coffee you must have drunk during this project! The amount of talent and effort that has gone in is astounding. Will it not feel a bit strange when it's all 'finished'? Stone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Is any project ever truely "finished"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Yes, there certainly has been some coffee (and beer!) gone into the project. We don't record that against the lorry though! What you can see there is the bolt store. It was getting very much out of hand until Dad put up the series of shelves. We have managed to collect a set of vehicles with every sort of fastener standard common at the time which is something of a pain, especially as we only fit the original thread type back on them. The bottom shelf is BSF (Dennis). Next up is UNF (FWD). Above that, they are UNC (Autocar) followed by Whitworth (Thornycroft) and on the top are the coach bolts. We are less fussy with the coach bolts although they must have square nuts. Hex nuts are absolutely wrong for the period. In some places, I have made up square nuts for when we have run out. They are a pain but stick out like a sore thumb if they are wrong. I don't think they are ever quite finished. There are still a couple of little jobs outstanding on all of the ones we have done and, of course, we now have a maintenance problem as well. When we stop working on the Dennis, the Thornycroft will be next. That will be another ten year project so I don't think we will need to worry about being bored for a while! Steve :beer: 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.