WW1 Peerless lorry restoration

[Citroman]

I dont like putting brass parts in the blaster, clock cleaning fluid could work. And on the french old tool forum they came up with a mix of vinigar and some spoons of salt. Worked rater well on oxydized parts.

[Old Bill]

Yes, I try to avoid putting non-ferrous in a blaster if I can. In this case, it was treated fairly gently and it is a rough-cast finish so I think it is OK. For machined bits, greasers and such like it really is a no-no as they are spoiled far too easily.

Must try that potion though!

Steve   🙂

[Old Bill]

We had a jolly good weekend. Firstly, a trip to the Great Dorset Steam Fair where we saw a lot of old friends, and then a couple of days on the lorry where we made some progress!

The wheels have had the tyres fitted and have been awaiting unloading.

Dad has taken the opportunity to repair the paintwork on the backs as tyre fitting is a brutal process and it is very difficult to be careful with them.

I think they are in excess of 400lb each. They certainly stretch my crane!

First job was to fit the brake shoes. When we last looked, they were too big to go inside the drums so I made and fitted new shim adjuster plates that you can see here and then chamfered the edge with a rasp to help them to enter the drum.

Select a good bearing and a trial fit.

This is the bearing retainer for the back of the wheel. I replaced the felt oil seal.

But then thought 'What does that run on?' There is no obvious surface on the end of the axle. We had a look in the parts book but it seemed to run on the axle end which was odd.

We then took a look in the 'stores' at another axle and this rusty collar was evident. Well, we understood the issue now but rescuing this collar would be a pain.

Then I found a box of 'mixed bits' on the shelf. These were mainly parts we haven't identified and, as luck would have it, it contained two filthy collars. Bingo!

Dad cleaned them up (he gets all the good jobs).

On each end of the axle is this hole which has puzzled me for a while.

Its use is now obvious so I turned up a 5/16" UNS pin and all was well.

Now to prepare the wheel. The bearing is all greased up.

Then fitted in the back of the wheel with the locking ring.

We craned it onto a small trolley with castors which was made for the purpose. The height of the axle was adjusted with the jack and the wheel rolled in.

[Old Bill]

Well, not quite that easily. The drums contacted on the ends of the linings jamming it up.

Off with the wheel again and I dressed the ends up with the rasp.

Then it slid on OK although it was hard work simply due to the weight. Of course, we don't have a 2 1/2" socket so I wound the retaining nut on with a large spanner and a piece of packing.

On checking the end float, I determined that a new shim washer was required which Dad made up.

Wheel fitted and pinned!

Time to keep the muck out, Dad had already cleaned and painted the hub caps and also made a new pinch bolt. It has obviously been custom and practice in the past the screw the cap on and off by hitting the original bolt with a hammer and it had seen better days.

Job done. Now go and do it again!

The second wheel had the tyres pressed over some shim so this needed trimming back first.

Then prepare the bearing retainer.

I screwed this in using this most amazing tool that I picked up at Beaulieu last year. It must have been made for the job!

The ring is prevented from unscrewing by inserting a grub screw. The screw was missing so Dad quickly made one up, 1/4" UNS again of course.

This time we were tighter for space so the wheel had to be pushed all the way on its trolley. I was seriously concerned that it would get the better of me and fall over but we got away with it.

Then straight on over the previously prepared brake shoes secured with the wheel nut and appropriate shims and the job was done!

Four wheels on my wagon!

Once Dad has repaired the paintwork, we will drop it down and it will be mobile at last. On to the engine next!

Steve     🙂

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Old Bill

[IAN_B]

You were fortunate to have a set of usable bearings for the rear wheels. On our 1918 International project, the original Hyatt parallel roller bearings had chewed out both their inner and outer sleeves and the cages had disintegrated. This was due to lack of grease and the ingress of brake dust. We made a sleeve adapter over the axles with one diameter to accept modern metric tapered roller bearings, and a second to take a modern seal. The hub was 100mm diameter, so easy to find a bearing, and the seal section 4". They are also retained with a single nut and large washer on the end of the axles, and apart from poor thread, we hope the wheels will remain in place. I am comforted by your example using the same principle of retention.

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by IAN_B
Duplicated photo.

[andypugh]

It's interesting to note that the wheel bearings on the Dennises are simple bronze sleeves. And seem to bear up reasonably well. Easy (if expensive) to re-make. 

 

[Richard Farrant]

13 minutes ago, andypugh said:

It's interesting to note that the wheel bearings on the Dennises are simple bronze sleeves. And seem to bear up reasonably well. Easy (if expensive) to re-make. 

 

At a recent steam rally, the 1930 Sentinel steam wagon from HMS Sultan, suffered a front wheel bearing failure on route, and surprisingly, it was just a large bronze bush.

[8_10 Brass Cleaner]

For a wartime lorry I have to say you can't really beat a fully floating bronze bush for durability and simple repair. 

If a taper roller goes wrong, without a new one your snookered. Once its knackered, its knackered.

Most of the issues that could go wrong with a bronze bush can be mended sufficiently well for onward progress by a half trained monkey with a hammer and a file and a tin of oil.

Quite important I'd say if the Germans or Turks were firing shells at you I'd say. 

[Old Bill]

I must admit that I am surprised by the wheel assemblies of the period. The British had cast or pressed steel wheels but plain bronze bushes usually lubricated with grease although Dennis used oil. The Americans were still using wooden wheels into the 1930's and yet had rolling bearings before the war. The Autocar even has ball races on the crankshaft! There must be some story behind it all. Anyway, to work.

After fitting the second wheel, we had a bit of time so I took the opportunity to fit Father's nice new half nuts to hold the blocks down.

No split pins, interestingly.

This week, I realised that I had omitted a felt seal between the sump and the bearing caps so the sump had to come off again. I did take the opportunity to fit the missing stud for which Father had made a replacement.

Felt seal stuck up with grease.

Dad has been busy with the paint brush again so here is the starting handle. It is now green.

The wheels took some punishment whilst we were fitting the tyres. It is very difficult to be gentle with such huge lumps so Father is now tidying them up again.

Home again and back to the carburettor. You may remember that we decided that it had been frost damaged and the sides had been pushed inwards trapping the valve. After pondering for a while, I cut two flats on the valve on opposite sides with the trusty Dremel.

And out it came!

Something else to repair.

The bulges are very clear here. The valve seat has also gone oval.

Whilst pondering that one, I set about cleaning up the threads. They had been a bit chewed up when I eventually unscrewed them due to the dirt which had got in. Not too serious though.

The bulges in the carb had to be moved out of the way, either by cutting them out or simply pushing them back. I took the latter option and with a certain amount of trepidation, came up with this set-up.

It actually worked quite well, much to my relief. I used a washer under the bar to spread the load out and that curved nicely. There is a crack visible in the casting but as we won't use the water jacket with modern fuels, it won't matter.

The other side went well too but, alas, the seat remained oval.

Back to the valve. I skimmed the ground surfaces flat in the mill and then silver soldered two blocks of brass onto the casting.

I intend to set it up in the lathe and turn the profile back to where it should be. It is going to be an awkward thing to hold though!

Steve    🙂

Edited September 5, 2022 by Old Bill

[andypugh]

12 hours ago, Old Bill said:

I intend to set it up in the lathe and turn the profile back to where it should be. It is going to be an awkward thing to hold though!

 

I think I would bore a tapered socket to push it into and a plug for the tailstock to do the pushing. 

[QL Driver]

On the bearing note - the Garrett steam wagon (designed in 1920-1921) runs on Timken bearings on the axles, countershaft and crankshaft. Many are still standard sizes! We’ve never had a moment’s trouble with the bearings - many on the wagon are originals - and I believe it was the case in their working lives, too.

[Old Bill]

A bit more progress to report!

I thought about your suggestion, Andy, but in the end managed to set it up with the internal jaws and a steady.

It worked out OK although I only took small cuts.

A bit of filing to dress the slots out and onto the seat.

A couple of 5/16" UNS studs in the back to hold it to my angle block and I was away.

The seat was 3/32" out of round and I had to take out as much as was possible.

Then onto the insert. I had to measure the bore I had just cut by using traditional calipers set to the size of the hole. Then I measured them with the vernier calipers and turned the ring to suit.

Amazingly, I managed to produce a perfect press fit. Someone was smiling on me!

A trial fit was satisfying. The screw thread has the second seat on it and the distance it is screwed in beyond the contact point sets the idle adjustment. I'm not really impressed with the idea as it will be a right pain to set up. I have set it pretty tight for the time being so it doesn't run away with e the first time we start it.

The valve on its new seat.

Then on to the choke. This is the air inlet but the only sign of anything be fitted is the tapped screw hole on the right. There is an indication of something in the manual but I had to do a load of guesswork with this one. First step was to turn up a sleeve to run over the inlet.

Then my favourite silver solder to fit a flange.

The shutter slots were cut on the mill using the digital read-out to size them. However did I manage without one?

Then I turned the dividing head round so that I could cut the securing screw slot.

Followed by a reduction in the profile of the remainder.

It has all gone together OK but it is only guesswork on my part as it is missing from both the Tank Museum armoured car and the Sandstone Estates lorry.

This collar and spring were missing from the air-inlet auxiliary valve. They are visible in the parts book but goodness knows what size the spring should be! More guesswork!

I then reassembled the thing and am pleased with the result.

I thought I would just make up some pipe fittings for the fuel line but have been caught out again. The inlet is 0.678"x 24tpi. which I take to be 11/16" UNEF thread, which I don't have of course!

Onto the next job!

Steve🙂

[Asciidv]

Steve, you were obviously happy with the press fit of the new seat. However, knowing your liking for silver solder, I was surprised that you didn't run a bit around just to be sure!

[Old Bill]

I was expecting to have to use Loctite to secure it as I did not expect to get such a good fit. Soft solder would have done as well but I don't think silver solder would have been necessary as any contact force is into the seat so it wouldn't need the strength. Also, access is awful!

Steve   🙂

[johann morris]

Lovely work and very inspiring.

 

Jon

[andypugh]

Randomly saw this in Youtube. Going by the logo plate it is the same Peerless. 

 

 

 

[Great War truck]

Not seen that before but i dont think it is related. I found another photo of it and it says "The Peerless Whittler - The Burke manufacturing Co". Lots of different models on this website:

Mechanical Pencil Sharpeners ~ 1910-1919 (officemuseum.com)

 

[andypugh]

2 hours ago, Great War truck said:

Not seen that before but i dont think it is related. I found another photo of it and it says "The Peerless Whittler - The Burke manufacturing Co". Lots of different models on this website:

The logo does seem extremely similar to the one that you posted several years ago:

https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/218-ww1-peerless-truck/?do=findComment&comment=360570

Whether it is not identical because the artwork for the plaques would have been hand-drawn back then, or whether it is similar because of typographical conventions of the time is hard to tell at this remove. 

[Old Bill]

Not many stories to tell although we are plodding on. My aim, at the moment, is to do bits and pieces associated with the engine so that as soon as it is in the chassis, we can press on with the reassembly. One item we didn't have was a magneto strap. Now that the magneto base is complete, a strap can be fitted. I had a rummage in the stores and found this rather sorry article.

I have no idea where it came from  but it was worth repairing as we have no other use for it. I checked the length and found it 3" too short so I started off by annealing it and flattening it out before rivetting in an extension piece. This will be hidden beneath the base casting.

A quick buffing and re-shaping, a new clamp nut and there is another piece in stock for the reassembly.

I have been working on the throttle and advance linkage recently but don't have quite enough yet to tell the story. Some time this week with a bit of luck!

Steve   🙂

[8_10 Brass Cleaner]

It looks just like the strap off my Austin 7 mag

[Old Bill]

7 hours ago, 8_10 Brass Cleaner said:

It looks just like the strap off my Austin 7 mag

Bearing in mind that it was in a box of bits that I bought from your Dad, it may well be!

😄

[Old Bill]

We are pressing on with bits that can be fitted to the engine once it is installed and I have been looking at bits of linkage. The first one is the remote linkage for the oil level cocks. This engine has two sumps and no dipsticks so there is a level tap on the bottom of each. These are linked together and operated by a lever which comes up the side of the engine and which looks like this:

There is a nice shaped handle on the top

and this weird joint in the middle.

I started by removing the remains of the ball joint and link from the bottom. A bit of heat soon freed it up.

The middle lump soon gave in to the heat as well. I think it gives room for the handle to be lifted up against the spring to release the lock. A bit of a wire brushing soon brought it back.

It is nicely stamped on the top and the lock sits in a groove on the left to prevent it from rotating.

A bit more brushing and it was ready for some paint.

This one is from the throttle linkage. The foot pedal is connected to the one on the right and the paddle on the left pushes on the end of the throttle control rod.

The return spring has seen better days, though, so I had a rummage in the miscellaneous springs box and found one that would do as a replacement.

Another good wire brushing soon sorted that out.

This one is the hand throttle linkage. It bolts to the side of the engine where the fork bears against a nut on the throttle rod to actuate it. The other end connects to the hand throttle lever on the bottom of the steering column via a ball joint. This, unfortunately, is missing.

A bit of wire brushing and I knocked the pin from the damaged rod.

Then it was just a case of turning up a new ball on an extension.

trimming the end

and silver soldering (of course!) it on.

Then back together with a new taper pin fitted to secure it.

Those bits are all in the paint shop now and the next job will be the ball joints. This is all of the information I have....

More next week!

Steve     🙂

[Old Bill]

A little more progress has been made on the linkage. First job was to turn up some new ball joints. They are a little different from the norm.

The seat in the bottom of the cup was cut with a ball-ended mill. Threads this time are 1/2"x26 which is a BSB size. Fortunately, I have that tap and die in stock.

After some brass end caps and some cup-ended spacers, the kit is complete. I was not quite brave enough to assemble them until I know the exact lengths needed from the job itself!

Dad has been working on the other end of the fuel system, starting with the tank installation. Unusually again, the tank is mounted inside the seat box, hanging in straps. This is one side of the seat box which we are fortunate enough to have.

This is the installation made by a previous owner which gives the general idea. He used angle iron rather than bent plate for the angles which just don't look right.

Dad had some plates cut for the seat box and some pieces bent to make the angles.

The angles were then drilled and cut to shape.

Dad has turned up some proper pins as well.

The straps are currently waiting for their ends to be bent into eyes and a clamping casting to be rivetted on.

This is one of the originals but is too poorly to be used.

Unfortunately, our predecessor removed the clamp bolt rather aggressively and cut into the casting so I have had to make a replacement.

I daren't show it to you before I had cleaned up my welds. My welding ability is not improving with age!

It now has some filler and is ready to be rivetted on when Dad gets around to it.

Steve   🙂

[Old Bill]

We really want to get the engine back in the chassis so that is the current objective. Most of it can be reassembled in the chassis so we just want to do enough to get it in. To that end, I went westwards with the aim of fitting the timing cover, the last piece holding it up. As always, this was not as straightforward as it first appeared. I have been thinking about it for a while and something was niggling me. Eventually, I remembered that the governor could not be reassembled with the drive gear fitted and to fit the gear required the timing cover to be off. I therefore had to start by putting the governor together. You can just see the bob weights which I wangled in and then rotated so that the drive shaft could be inserted.

Then the collar with yoke and spring was slid on over a key so that it too was driven.

Then had to wangle the yoke in from the top into its half-bearings which are pegged into place.

Then the top casting had to be bolted down on top of the bearings before the assembly could be inserted into the case. It all worked out OK since Father had cleaned everything up and we took plenty of pictures as we took it apart so that we could see how it went! The split pin is part of the water pump drive but that is one for another day.

Now, onto the cover. First job was to cut a gasket and fortunately, my last piece of gasket paper was big enough.

And it fits! It was at this point that I realised that five studs had been replaced with BSF bolts.

I made up five 1/4x27 UNS studs to replace them and they were fitted.

The timing cover has a felt oil seal and gland (with lock nut) for the crankshaft so that came out.

Gasket and studs fitted.

Replacement felt for the crank.

Job done! Next step is to drop it in the chassis!

That simple job took me all day!

Steve  🙂

[Old Bill]

Readers may recall that I gave up grinding the valves in and went on to do something else. Well, they are becoming a priority again as I can't add anything to the engine until they are sorted. I have been looking for a valve seat cutting tool but these valves are too big for anything I can borrow and having a bespoke one is not really economic so I have taken advice and made one. The logic is that it is like a single edge countersink tool but with an extended mandrel to pick up the valve guide. I couldn't lay my hands on a chunk of tool steel big enough and so started with a piece of mild, free-cutting which I reamed to the valve spindle size of 29/64" dia

It needs a cutting edge so I cut a 1/8" slot across it for an insert and also tapped a hole in the side for a locking screw.

My insert is a piece of gauge plate which had very kindly been given to me. Notice that the bar has not been removed from the chuck so the hole is still true.

With the gauge plate in place, I turned the 45° valve seat angle.

With the gauge plate removed and hardened, I then re-fitted it and fitted the centre spindle and tommy bar and I am ready to go!

The spindle is a piece of silver steel because I could get a piece of 29/64" rod off the shelf. The reason it is that weird size is that rather than make all new valve guides, I just reamed them out and then had the new valves made to fit!

I do hope it works......

Steve   🙂