Old Bill Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 I have been down to Devon and had a chance to play further with the exhaust pipe. First job was to cut the rotten end off. dad had some 3" tube in stock to replace it. Then a trial fit but it really didn't look right! We took the silencer off and rotated the end and it looked a whole lot better, especially with the replacement end in place. That has gone off for welding now. Whilst looking through our photo collection, i turned up this one of the Sandstone Estates lorry before they did very much to it. I reckon that dash board is original and appears to be two very wide verticals with horizontal pieces between. They have replaced it in very similar fashion so that is what we will do. Decision made! Steve 🙂 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Coates Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 As long as your'e happy, we are too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 The Chippy says he will do it! In the mean time, another puzzle. This rather odd casting has been in the pile of bits for a while, defying identification. I have at last realised that it is part of the floor and carries the throttle pedal The throttle pedal is quite unconventional, however! We don't have one so time to make one up. This piece of steel came out of an office I worked in over 25 years ago. I knew it would come in handy one day! A bit of filing to give it some finish. A new pivot pin. And we have a throttle pedal. Another job ticked off! Steve 🙂 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 I have had a few days off and have spent the time between drawing up the bodywork and making some oil sight feeds. in our wanderings, we have found that there is a twin oil sight feed on the dash like this one on the Banfield example. The top left is the feed from the pump and the top right, the pressure relief valve. The two lower fittings each feed one sump. The rate should be four drops each per revolution of the pump. We had nothing original but were fortunate to be able to see how it works in the manual and have the opportunity to measure up the one at Bovington. First job was to find some bronze. We have had an octagonal lump in the drawer for many years. Using it was a bit wasteful of bronze but we did have it already and so decided to use it up. Squared up. Then drill and tap all the holes. NPT and UNEF this time! Then just set about them with the mill. That was the mill work completed and they remained to be finished by hand. First the cross ole was plugged up by screwing in a bit of rod with some Loctite. Then quite a lot of file work, just going at them until they looked about right. The glands were mosly a turning job. As were the gland nuts. The spindles are turned from stainless with knurled knobs silver soldered onto the top. Not sure what the orifice plates are made of. The material was in my bronze drawer but they are a funny colour! Then I came to the glass tube and this was my biggest headache. I had been given some water gauge tubes but had the challenge of cutting them. As they sit between rubber washers, the ends need to be reasonably flat. I saw this tube cutter advertised and thought it worth a go. I scribed all round and snapped the tube but I kept getting jagged ends. I then invested in a cheap diamond disc and set it up in the lathe. I should have bought the expensive Dremel disc as this one wouldn't cut it and was very unbalanced. Frustrating! In the end, I used an ordinary cutting disc in the same set-up. It was very slow but gave me some lengths good enough to use. if anyone can recommend a better way of doing it then I should be pleased to hear it! I punched out some rubber washers. Dropped the tube in wath a washer on the top followed by the nozzle plate fitted with an O-ring. Then the gland on the top with a short spring to hold the nozzle plate hard against the tube. A bit of graphited yarn packing in the nut. It works! And then there were two. I have made two so that we have one in stock for the second Peerless. Next job is to do the fittings on the back. Steve 🙂 16 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 They look lovely! What a super job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 (edited) Cutting old window glass is always much harder than cutting new stuff. I can imagine that the same is true of glass tube. You might have found brand-new tube rather easier. You can buy glass tube on Amazon, amongst other places. Edited September 14, 2023 by andypugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 17 hours ago, Asciidv said: They look lovely! What a super job! Thanks Barry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 The glass tube I have used is really quite thick in comparison with its diameter which I don't think helps. I had thought of heat but couldn't see how to apply it as the propane flame is very big. I hadn't thought of the glass rod to put really localised heat in so that might well be worth a try. Thanks for the clip. I hadn't found that particular one. Another skill I didn't know that I needed! Steve 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 I tried to cut some new 3/4'' boiler sight glass tube for my steam loco oil feed but had no success so took it to some gem stone suppliers and cutters at Lenwade, Norfolk and asked them to cut it. They cut five before they made a good job of the two I needed, the glass just broke away around the outside edge and although they would have sealed on the O rings ok the cutter was not happy with his work. The cutter said that cutting glass is more difficult than cutting diamonds because it is so brittle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rewdco Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Another method, but does it work with a thick walled tube? https://www.facebook.com/reel/1008599300389519 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Thanks for that Chaps. All good tips. I liked the way of getting localised heat into the score using a heated glass rod. I could do that with the propane. Otherwise, oxy acetylene seems to be the tool which, of course, I don't have. I have cut all the glass I need to for the time being but it is good to have some more tools in the box! Steve 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Back on the exhaust system! A pal has kindly welded the extension onto the end. And dad has given it a coat of black. I bought a small sheet of 'exhaust gasket' and cut some joints. And it fitted! Another lump ticked off. Dad had painted the floor support angle so I drilled the seat box and fitted it. However, as you can see, it came out with the underside of the floor lower that the change shaft. I did quite a bit of head scratching and cursing and then today re-drilled it higher up. It has all worked out OK and you can't see the spare holes but it was very annoying. Mark, our chippy, has started on the bulkhead panel. He managed to find 12" planks of hardwood somewhere and has tongue and grooved them together. It didn't faze him at all in the end! Once that panel is done, it will set the floor position, pedals and bonnet so it is a key item. I'm looking forward to seeing it! Steve 🙂 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 On 8/6/2023 at 5:32 PM, Asciidv said: Even though they might of had plywood back in the day, I still think using it would be a bit of a cheat no matter how well executed it was done. Hi folks, I cant remember what dad used but the pics are a past and present of the one he did, it was planks I think, we have been still watching although not logged in and I've been reading to dad how you have been going, his eyesight isn't so good and hes been in hospital twice since may, currently hes still in so I'm still reading out what you get up to, your doing a brilliant job👍👍💓 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 Thank you Emma! I am glad that your Dad is following our progress - I am sure that it will have brought back a lot of memories to him from when he did his. It has been quite a long job and I am sure that your Dad will nod his head in agreement when I say that no job is ever straight forward and that you will always find things that you were not expecting that you have to do! The Goslings send him - and you - our kindest regards and best wishes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 2 hours ago, Minesweeper said: Thank you Emma! I am glad that your Dad is following our progress - I am sure that it will have brought back a lot of memories to him from when he did his. It has been quite a long job and I am sure that your Dad will nod his head in agreement when I say that no job is ever straight forward and that you will always find things that you were not expecting that you have to do! The Goslings send him - and you - our kindest regards and best wishes. Thankyou, I will I'm seeing him again Thursday, so will take him through the oil gauge your making up, I think the one dad had came from America.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G8RPI Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 Looking below the engine cover on AF3008 it appears the bulkhead is made from horizontal planks. In the center section at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 I am seeing him tomorrow, I will ask, pretty sure it was planks, and uprights inside the cab and supporting corners either side as in the pic, unfortunately inside the actual cab is probably the only pic I dont have🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) Evening folks, I had a good chat with dad today, he was impressed with the dashboard oil gauge you're making up, he said he had to fabricate a bottom piece for his and when it came to the glass tubes...somebody knew someone and they turned up, his suspicions they came from ecc labs but who knows...the next... the cab, he said he made a 'firewall ' of planks attached to a sheet of chipboard/something similar and all bolted together , not that thick , but we had a cab and windows, going by the pics a lot of the peerless trucks featured, have no cab or glass windows, like the sandstone one, and it could be the new owners of war surplus made them suitable for their own specific needs, I'm sure dad saw an old photo of a group of them bought for a haulier I think they were called Vincents local to us so that's probably why ours looks as it does, there may not be a right or wrong style other than the military version and they all seem subtlety different...👍 if that's any help..... Edited September 28, 2023 by CornishMade 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Thank you so much for yours and your dad's in put into this, Emma. Amazingly, it was more than 30 years ago that I bought the Peerless and the poor thing has been waiting in the queue to be worked on all this time - we have done four other lorries in the mean time so we have not wasted our time! During that period, we have acquired a lot of information about Peerless and also a lot of pictures of them, but strangely enough despite the large numbers of Peerless' that the WD had and that were later sold off after the war into a civilian life, very few of them and bits of them have survived when compared with other makes. We have enough bits to do a second Peerless - but not an engine for it. There must be one somewhere! Anyhow, from all of the pictures we have carefully studied, we are convinced that with the majority of Peerless' that left the factory when new, the Dashboards were of wooden construction with the outside parts consisting of vertical planks but in the centre section, the planks were laid horizontaly. So that is how our good friend Mark who is a very skilled woodworker has made ours - in Sapele - and a beautiful job it is. It will be a great shame to paint it! We think that it will probably take another year to finish it all off. Having done other American built trucks previously, we were convinced that all of the threads used in the Peerless would be either UNF or UNC and initially struggled with that as nothing seemed to fit as we had not identified the problem. Another reader of this thread some time ago after we really got started into it, suggested that the threads could be UNS which rather puzzled us - but he was absolutely right and that is what they are - we had not come across that one previously. Another reader of this thread sent us a photograph of a box of taps and dies that he had bought at an American Autojumble - and the box was labeled - "Taps and Dies for Peerless". They were UNS. I should be interested to know how your dad got on with this - you cannot buy UNS nuts and bolts and we have made our replacements as we have progressed! Tony 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Tony, for some of us who do not know the start of this story, is Emma's dads lorry your your Peerless? I cannot imagine it is as in Emma's pictures it is all complete. So where is this Peerless now? I wonder if you could tell the tale from the beginning? Thanks, Barry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minesweeper Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Barry - I think that this is a story for Emma to tell! But briefly for now, it was owned by Parkins and Perkins -latterly English China Clays and I think that Emma's dad found the remains of it dumped in a China Clay Pit where I think that he was employed. He restored it and it is now in the China Clay Museum in the St. Austell area. Emma's dad did the "Brighton" in it many years ago. It is not our Peerless. Over to you, Emma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornishMade Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 Morning, I'm down with dad at the moment, read out all the comments, Yes dad said he had similar issues when it came to nuts and bolts he found some Leyland valves cut the threads off and made them to fit, and Albion reiver donated bushes for the back end, and apparently a local bookmaker supplied the leather for the clutch, an engineering firm did the front springs and he says the copper pipe from carb to the petrol tank was 3/8" Originally a sand tip was moved ie they reduced the size down and took away the sand and the lorry was discovered underneath,It was used by parkin and Peter's a clay company for transport, rumour has it they had 2, one number plate..while one was being loaded the other was delivering and once back they would swap the plate and drive the full one out and start loading the empty one 🤭. my dad's dad (my grandad) actually got it put in the clay museum but he passed away before he could restore anything. Father then took over about 1978 and went from there, we did local rallies with it driving it there usually, and in 1982 and 1984 dad did the London to Brighton in it and finished twice, first time only casualty was the tank for the carbide lamps came off, second time no issues and the Dennis fire engine in our class said we clocked 22miles per hour down hill on the straight....bit of vibration there, we continued to rally it locally until about 1997/98 then dad started having issues and needed bypass surgery...wasnt able to do much after that and it still up in the wheal martyn china clay museum I can put the pics up later 👍👍 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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