Old Bill Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Hi Norman. Our general aim is to produce a vehicle which looks as if it has been maintained using only factory components although it doesn't matter if it looks a bit 'used'. To that end, we will seal it up using the same method as designed and live with the leaks. If it doesn't drip, it isn't a proper old lorry! Mind you, now that you metion it, I am not quite sure how the change rods are supposed to seal. I need to look at the bits again but living 200 miles from one's project can make it a bit hard and we don't seem to have a clear photograph of them in spite of taking over 2000 so far! Christmas project is to put it all back together and hang it in the chassis. More pictures to follow soon! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Hi Tim and Steve, Wonderful work you are doing, thanks for all the details and photos of progress. Talking about the possibility of oil leaks, would I be right in saying the gear oil would be thicker than SAE140, possibly 240 or thereabouts. I probably could answer this question myself as I have a manual for a very early Dennis somewhere :confused:, but would be interested to hear what you use in your WW1 lorries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Tim what lorries do you have in your collection - including the one or is it two right outside your dads back door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Are you tempted to modernize the sealing of the gearbox with a few strategically placed O rings to help retain oil?I can see a lot escaping between those selector rods and the brass bushes unless there's good seal on the retaining plate. Thanks as always to everyone for your positive feedback. You really are some great motivators. The Change Rods are just sealed with felt - the two covers in the bottom of the picture are the ones cleaned and painted and ready to be fitted to the Gearbox - one is of the outside and the other one shows the inside. You can see where the felt seal has to be fitted. The two items in the top of the picture are one of an old felt seal as removed and the other shows another cover with the original seal still in it Probably not as good as an O ring, but as they were fitted with felt originally we are duty bound to restore it with felt. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Tim what lorries do you have in your collection - including the one or is it two right outside your dads back door? Thats an interesting question and i always have to stop and think. We have seven restored or restorable trucks up to 1918, but we also have two other chassis with axles and wheels and a lot of spare parts, but not enough for them to be counted as whole trucks (these two are another Peerless and another Dennis). Chassis do turn up every now and again, but if you are missing the crucial ancillary parts (engine, gearbox and diff) it is unlikely that chassis will ever role again. Saying that, do you remember the saga of the Dennis (White and poppe) engine and gearbox that turned up on the Isle of White, they have now gone to a good home and are just waiting for the right chassis to drop them into. I heard of another Dennis White and Poppe engine that sold recently. The new owner was going to build a racing car to put it into. I also believe that another Peerless engine and gearbox will eventually turn up. Maybe in the UK, maybe in the USA. So in the meantime we will hold on to these chassis just in case they might be of use to someone else. It would be a shame to lose them now as just every now and again something really suprising happens, but that will be another topic for the future. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Talking about the possibility of oil leaks, would I be right in saying the gear oil would be thicker than SAE140, possibly 240 or thereabouts. I probably could answer this question myself as I have a manual for a very early Dennis somewhere :confused:, but would be interested to hear what you use in your WW1 lorries. Hi Richard. In the gearbox, we will be putting a 460 grade compounded steam cylinder oil which is pretty thick. I rang Morris's oils when we did the FWD and the chap there said 'just let me have a look in the book' whereupon he found it listed! The steam oil is the nearest to what his book said. At the same time, he recommended a 680 grade for the back axle but that lorry has a bevel drive whereas the Dennis has a worm so I will give them a ring again before we fill that. I can thoroughly recommend Morris Oils for their helpfulness and service and their pricing was pretty fair too. This is good news as there are twelve gallons of oil to be poured into the Dennis! I should be interested to hear what your manual recommends. Ours says only ' a good quality gear oil' for the box and axle and 'Vacuum A' for the engine. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 I should be interested to hear what your manual recommends. Ours says only ' a good quality gear oil' for the box and axle and 'Vacuum A' for the engine. Hi Steve, My Dennis book covers 2 1/2, 3, 4 and 6 ton models, the photo shows solid tyre chassis, no date on the book but the publication number is IB 262 if that is of help. Engine oils listed include Castrol AA, Double Shell, Motorine D and Vacuum A. For the gear box it says use 3 parts gear oil to 1 part lubricating oil, no mention of grades of gear oil and I think the lubricating oil means engine oil. For the rear axle it is a half and half mixture of gear and lubricating oils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Thank you for that. The lack of standards at the time obviously made the specification of oils by the various manufacturers quite difficult. Another manual I have says to use 'a good quality gear oil' whatever that is. I wonder how the Military coped? A similar problem arose in the second war with unrelated steel standards from various manufacturers causing the introduction of EN grades (Emergency Number) by the Government in 1943. These have proven very useful because even though they have been obsolete for 30 years plus, we still talk about EN1a, EN8 and EN24T at work today and know exactly what we all mean by them. Another bit of useless information for you. Cheers! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Tony has finished the two Gear Change Locking Bars. They are attached to the two castings on the ends of the Gear Change Rods by a nut on each side of the casting, and can be adjusted by moving the nuts along the thread. The tops of the "V's" might want rounding off - no indication of that on the old ones so we have decided to leave them as they are for the moment. We are getting ready for the "great Christmas assembly" and have to put the slots in the rods for the Pinch Bolts - and thread the bars to hold the Gearbox in the chassis - and make sleeves for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Great engineering work again! I'm surprised you didn't put a piece of scrap steel below the bar on the mill table just in case. I know I would have but I don't have your experience. What type of milling machine have you got? I spent ages looking for one just the right size to fit in my garage but it's still living outside under a sheet until I get time to install it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Both Father and I have one of these. They are very good value for a home modellers machine at under £500 but I would love a Bridgeport. That won't happen but we can do nearly everything we could want with this one so I am content. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 (edited) I have the same Mill, excellent bit of kit for the money.... http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-ZX25M2-Vertical-Mill-Drill-364975.htm Edited December 16, 2008 by Marmite!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 I just go to next door (retired toolmaker) if I need a mill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 We have had a very festive Christmas out in the shed. Here are a few taster photos for you. Gearbox now rebuilt with gears from donor box: Then we prepared the box for transfer into the chassis: The box in place at last. 12 Months work for three of us Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Well done Tim, superb workmanship, I see you are wearing your christmas present:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 I see you are wearing your christmas present:-D Yes you are right there. I do seem to get through them at one heck of a pace. I must be doing something wrong. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Yes you are right there. I do seem to get through them at one heck of a pace. I must be doing something wrong. Tim (too) Pic 1 if that angle grinder should slip .............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Pic 1 if that angle grinder should slip .............. Or Tim crouches down a bit.........:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 Quite right. There is a definite safety message here, so please dont try this at home kids. Luckily i have been specially trained - in First Aid - not on how to use an angle grinder safely. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Anyway, going back to the earlier subject, over Christmas we managed to rebuild the gearbox for the Dennis using all the parts that had been cleaned, rebuilt, or newly manufactured over the preceeding 12 months. Even though we had taken thousands of photos of the dissasembly, we had still missed taking photos of some parts. This was resolved with a fair amount of trial and error. Here are some photos of how we spent our Christmas. It was rather like a 3D jigsaw, but knowing that if you put one of the first bits in incorrectly, then you would have to take everything else out to correct it later. More to follow later. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Tim - I take it the bearings originally pushed into the ali case and that you have bored out and sleeved the case (with what looks like hardened sleeves??)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Right track, but the steel sleeves are part of the original design and as they were in good condition we could just reuse them. Here are a few more photos in the same sequence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 the steel sleeves are part of the original design and as they were in good condition we could just reuse them. Dennis was a quality product, I can see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yes, i think that you are right. As you dismantle a truck and get to look at the design and the way it was put together you can quickly form an opinion as to the way it was built. We are of a mind that the Autocar trucks were very well designed and built to a very high standard and that the FWD's having a number of design flaws and were built to a not so high a standard (being polite). I have found it challenging to locate in print drivers negative opinions on the lorrys that they drove. It seems that there was always a worry about possible litigation and they never refer to their lorrys by manufacturers name if there is something bad to say. Saying that i have just read a book which slams the lorrys issued to an ASC co. Wheels dropping off, pistons braking, axles collapsing etc. He never once mentions the lorries by name, but in the photo you can see that it is a Maudlsay. He then goes on to say that the lorries were quite good, but not up to the tasks given them. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Here the assembly of the box has just about finished and we fix it into the chassis. Luckily we have the right tool for the job as you will see. Unfortunately, it takes up a lot of room and we had to move most of the stuff that seems to build up around the chassis outside to give us room to manouver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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