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WW1 Peerless lorry restoration


Great War truck

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I don't think there are any pressed parts in it. It is just a gunmetal casting. I shall carve it out of the solid if Dad can find a lump of bronze or brass in the stores. There are some thin bent bits to the sides which trap a white-painted backplate which shows up the drips and also an engraved plate on the front to indicate where each drip feeds. A bit more sketching needed, I think!

Steve  🙂

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Hi Chaps.

A very little progress but still inching forwards. This working away from home is an absolute pain!

Anyway, the valve cap crush-washers have turned up from Dobson Gaskets in Keithley, specially made in under fourteen days so they can be fitted over Christmas along with the caps. If the spark plugs turn up as well, we will be able to seal up the engine completely!

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I have sorted out the magneto strap by cutting it and fitting a longer extension piece.

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Now I have the magneto with me, I have realised that it needs a ball joint to operate the advance so I have turned one up.

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I had to clean out the hole with a reamer but it is a nice tight fit and the original drive rod will fight again.

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Something else to fit over Christmas!

Steve  🙂

Edited by Old Bill
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  • 3 weeks later...

Progress has been slow of late with work and other things getting in the way. However, I have made a few brass fittings ready for the Christmas blitz. There are two oil pots on top of the engine and, quite remarkably, we have both although one is missing its lid.

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Made in Cleveland Ohio, the home of Peerless.

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I cut out a blank of brass and then just tapped the edges over the end of a piece of bar. The hinge is a staple formed from wire. Sadly, I didn't have any brass wire small enough so this is steel. It should last OK in such an oily environment.

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Complete and ready to fit!

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I made up a replacement banjo fitting a little while back as you saw. Now I have done the banjos as well which was a fun turning job.

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Silver soldered assembly of course.

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And union nuts and nipples to suit. 7/16" UNS to match the oil pump.

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I bought these elbows but made up the union nuts again so we will be ready to go once I have made the sight feed unit.

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So, Christmas is coming, along with a few days all together. The plan is to dig out the gearbox and see how far we can get with it. We haven't seen it for a few years and have never looked inside. Fingers are crossed that it will need little more than a good clean but we shall see. Watch this space!

Steve 🙂

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Hi Chaps.

Between visits and guests, we have made some progress. First job was to try to start the Autocar and get it out. Poor old thing hasn't run for a couple of years and the cold and damp didn't help much. However, it went in the end and we moved it out in order to access the box.

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It is a big, heavy, awkward thing but we got it blocked up in the end.

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We had to take the lid off and were very pleased to find a super looking set of gears.

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We will dig the crud out of the bottom and give them a bit of a paraffin wash but unless we find any horrors, we plan to leave them alone.

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It was killing us on the floor though so we eventually managed to get it onto the engine trolley, ready for an external clean.

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In the mean time, Tim fitted the overflow pipe steady bracket.

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Then the new water system drain plug.

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And the repaired oil cups.

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The oil feed banjos were mounted but await the pipework.

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The extended magneto strap was fitted.

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Then we sealed up the engine. I was concerned about my new crush washers but they dropped in perfectly.

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A good heave on the newly dressed up valve caps.

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I screwed in the Champion D16s and the engine was sealed. We even have compression on all four!

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New water fittings in the carb and the carb firmly mounted on its bracket, newly painted by Dad.

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Not bad progress so far. Gearbox cleaning planned for tomorrow. That promises to be a very tedious job but there we are. We only do it for the fun!

Steve🙂

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If it's any consolation the weather here in San Diego, California went from 26-C the past few days to 15-C and drizzle...which for us counts as a major winter storm. 😂

 

No matter the weather, watching you gents over the years restore and build these vehicles (especially your Christmas-time bursts of progress) have for many of us out here lurking in the internet shadows become a real pleasure . Thanks for documenting your journeys.

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There is something to be said for living in California! Glad you are enjoying the instalments. We do tend to work in bursts as the lorry lives 200 miles away from me which is a real pain, and we therefore tend to get several jobs ready to do for each visit. We do love the friends we have made through Jack's forum. Periodically, they make themselves known at some rally or other and it is always a joy to meet everyone. Anyway, here is todays installment:

We have been back on the gearbox and have been scraping and chipping again.

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Whilst poking around the input shaft, this gland carrier could be seen to move. As it should be screwed in, we became concerned and decided that it needed to be removed for a closer look.

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The UJ coupling had to come off first so I started by punching out a cross-pin. Much to our surprise, it moved quite easily.

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Then put the hydraulic puller on it. I had to wind it up fairly well but it came loose with a thump and it soon came off.

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Once the keys were removed, the carrier just pulled out and it could be seen that the threads were shot.

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Of more concern, part of the bearing cage was loose within it.

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The balls were no longer spaced correctly so now we must remove the lot to identify the bearing and replace it.

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The two bearings are mounted within a cast iron sleeve which is stuck pretty firmly. It is also very thin so I can't afford to treat it with a heavy hand and we are puzzling how to shift it. we have left it soaking with Plus-Gas overnight.

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Whilst pondering, we lifted out the selector forks. These could do with s bit of love and attention too.

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We have now decided that the shafts must come out so I released the nuts on the bearing caps. They were well tightened and I had to use a bit of pipe on the 3/4" drive ratchet before they let go.

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We shall return to the fray tomorrow.

Steve🙂

 

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A return to the fray. I tend to stop when things get difficult and go away to think about them for a bit. Pressing on usually results in disaster or blood!

The input shaft wasn't letting go so we decided to try the power take-off gear. The extended layshaft was an option in the parts book but I am surprised that it was specified for a military lorry. The lorry worked its life as a tipper in which case it was a useful feature so I wonder whether it was a post-war addition? We shall never know. Anyway, I drilled out the locking bolt and applied the hydraulic puller and, much to my surprise, it let go. That puller was a good investment!

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Then back to the input shaft. I pushed the gear hard up against the casing and hit it again with a large hammer and block of wood. It let go and began to move.

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Once I could get a couple of screwdrivers in there, we were away.

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Eventually, I could pull it free. That old oil is remarkably sticky though.

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The inter-shaft bearing is of a double-row self-aligning type and looks OK.

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I had previously freed off the big nuts on the bearing cover and, once I had knocked the bolts through, it came off.

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To get the lay shaft off, the bearing on the other end also needed to be removed but it was a right so-and-so and, rather annoyingly, I broke the flange. Very aggravating.

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In the end, we decided that the sticky oil wasn't helping and so warmed the whole lot up to thin it down. That worked a treat and off it came.

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Then we could lift the layshaft out. That is a heavy lump.

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Followed by the output shaft, an even heavier lump.

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Taking them out will make it a lot easier to clean anyway!

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We are going to try to leave the differential in place but time will tell.

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We are going out again in a moment to start digging sludge.

Steve  🙂

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Yes, a horrible job. I did find three gear teeth in the drain plug though. Just trying to see where they came from!

A few more bits and pieces before we go our seperate ways. The carburettor is water heated and as I had already made up the pipe fittings, I bent up the pipes themselves. First was the return pipe and that was quite straightforward.

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It needed a clip to keep it clear of the bump stop so that was simply bent up from a piece of brass strip.

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Success!

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I didn't have enough tube for the feed pipe but Dad found a bit in a drawer, obviously second-hand!

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I annealed it and made it passably straight in my fingers.

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Then I bent it up but rather spoiled the effect by cutting it short.

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As I only had one piece of tube, I machined a long end fitting to win the extra length back. It worked OK and you don't notice it on the engine. It can remain as a reminder of the old adage, Measure twice....

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Dad had painted up the sump level tap linkage so I set about fitting it.

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All successful. I still don't understand why Peerless fitted two seperate sumps, however, as they do add an amount of extra complication.

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In poking about today, I found the remains of a rear bump-stop mounting clip. I have left this out for Father to make up some replacements, should the feeling come upon him.

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Happy New Year everybody!

Steve🙂

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