Bedford MWR

[simon king]

Thanks for that. It makes sense to see the blocks in that light.

[simon king]

The back is now completed and just needs paint. New bins have been made and await painting. Tailgate now finished as well

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by simon king

[simon king]

Strewth , it’s a year since my last post and looking at the pictures above, I’m not entirely impressed with what I’ve actually achieved in the last year….oh well

The tanks and trays have been removed, stripped, repaired and primed as necessary. That means all the fittings under the floor has now been removed, repaired (or replaced) and primed as appropriate.

Finished the strengthening boards attached to the tilt last week so onto stripping the front and rear tilt frames. The metal cappings for the rear of the planks were a bit of a nightmare as they were too narrow for the folding machine.

Looks as if the front frame is slightly bent, so some gentle persuasion will be needed. On the back frame, I need to add a new tubular bar from front of tilt frame to the front wood board and then add some length to the front and rear tilt frames to replicate the MWR fit. These will just slot into the existing tubes and be secured with the existing socket bolts as I’m not messing around removing the tilt frame. It had to be jacked up to insert the socket bolts. 

In the MWR all the tilt frame elements are bolted/welded together so it has to be removed as a single unit. This brought problems with the planks in the front n/s corner behind the charging board/control box covers as there was no room. Had to reduce the width of the planks in that area and create a corner plate with captive nuts to take stove bolts rather than the carriage bolts used everywhere else. Won’t be seen as under the canvas though.

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by simon king
Bit more..and remove bold

[simon king]

Small update.

In the MWR the tilt frame elements are welded together for strength and stability, so need to be removed as a single item. 80 years of use and abuse have resulted in some slight distortion to the tilt frame, which means that it cannot be removed without significant effort. The distortion cannot be seen when the canvas is on.

The pragmatic solution is to paint strip in situ, so that’s what I’ve done. One weld on the frame has popped and the front stanchion needs to be replaced as it had fractured at the weld.

Just the fiddly bit of paint stripping inside the inverted pyramid variometer mount still to be done.

Finally, there is the easier job of stripping the 4 rifle spring clips attached to the tilt frame and adding some new leather padding, which is on the way.

[simon king]

The two tilt frames are now ready for paint. The front one just needed a bit of judicious jumping up and down on it to straighten but the back one needed more work. Sprung welds and extraneous holes in the frames have been repaired and a new central stanchion at the front has been added.

More significantly, the lengthened front and rear tilt frames used on the MWR had been chopped off. To restore these, tube of the correct diameter was obtained and spigots were turned to fit in the tube ends. These could be secured by the cross bolts used to secure the frames into the body-side sockets. The join is hidden by the socket, so the frame appears as a single piece.

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by simon king

[simon king]

Trial fitted the new metal bins that sit on top of the wooden lockers today. The size of the lockers is based on the ones originally fitted ( which were unlikely to be the original MWR ones) and on dimensions found on the internet in an advert for a set of original bins and lockers that had been stripped out from another MWR. Sometimes you have to get your references from where you can. Generally the fit is fine.

With this trial fit of the bins, I think I can say that all the hard work on the restoration/recreation/repair of the load area is now complete. Bins just need priming, then painting on the bottom, back and sides and can then be bolted down. Fronts and insides will get a unifying coat with the rest of the interior.

The radio table with its WS19 and wooden No 23 carrier is already restored ready to go back on and the operators’ seats just need painting before the upholstery is finally fitted. These, along with the charging board, battery boxes, control box for the auxiliary dynamo and all the associated wiring will be fitted at the very end of the process.

[OzH]

Great work, very interesting subject, love the radio trucks..

[guy66]

I love all the energy you put in to the this project to get everything so close to original.

super job 👍 

[simon king]

Just a small update - tow rope box, new can carrier and spare wheel carrier have now been fitted permanently. The can carrier replaces a post war frame and one of its frame arms is welded to the backing plate for the spare wheel carrier as per original photos and the weld witness marks on the original backing plate

 

[OzH]

Great job, attention to detail is fantastic!

[simon king]

Small update - permanently fitted the rearmost vertical lockers and mudguards behind the rear wheels a day or so ago. Needed to topcoat the hidden backs and bottoms of the lockers as well as the structure hidden once the lockers were permanently tied in place.

Had some spare paint once that was done so used it to topcoat the parts already completed below the tailgate, as well as giving part of the tailgate a topcoat, just to see what the colour and finish looks like. It will have SCC1A (dark camouflage brown) Mickey Mouse added eventually.

The tailgate - which is new build based on photos - differs from standard MW and is specific to the MWR to take account of the spare wheel carrier and the general lack of space. Only has one footstep and one spring bumper, on opposite sides. A crew of 5, the radio, batteries, lockers etc etc filled the back so the tailgate needed straps on the outside to stow an engine blanket. There are also straps sewn onto the roof (a lucky photo find of an MWR being craned onto a ship) to stow a camouflage net.

Edited July 5, 2023 by simon king
Added bit

[simon king]

Spent a while working under the truck, cleaning , de rusting and priming the underpinnings, chassis, axles springs etc.

Needed a break as I emerged, blinking, into the daylight so…

Fitted the last of the rear mudguards

Bins primed, painted in inaccessible areas and now bolted in for good. The tilt frame just needs priming and then all the interior, front and rear is good to go for final colour.
 

Had a bit of spare paint so I laid it on the rest of the tailgate and spare wheel carrier to give me a further psychological boost.

Edited August 6, 2023 by simon king

[simon king]

Painted the wheels in SCC1A today, as a first step towards an SCC2/SCC1A (brown/dark brown) Mickey Mouse scheme. The generator box cover is just placed on the tailgate to get an idea of the likely contrast between the two colours.

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by simon king

[Chris Suslowicz]

On 9/29/2022 at 10:59 AM, simon king said:

The two tilt frames are now ready for paint. The front one just needed a bit of judicious jumping up and down on it to straighten but the back one needed more work. Sprung welds and extraneous holes in the frames have been repaired and a new central stanchion at the front has been added.

More significantly, the lengthened front and rear tilt frames used on the MWR had been chopped off. To restore these, tube of the correct diameter was obtained and spigots were turned to fit in the tube ends. These could be secured by the cross bolts used to secure the frames into the body-side sockets. The join is hidden by the socket, so the frame appears as a single piece.

 

 

Hi Simon, those two aerial mountings fixed to the tilt frames: what is the hole pattern arrangement and spacing, please? The left hand one looks like it takes the large roof insulator on a paxolin plate (and I think I have the plate and fibre gasket that fits it), and the right hand one might be a standard 6-hole mounting for base No.8, 10, or the larkspur VHF (28) or 31 (HF) if the vehicle had a 2-set installation in the 1950s. The welded on 'pyramid' under the left hand plate may be a guard to prevent the operator from accidentally coming into contact with the aerial feed - though it looks like a safety hazard in its own right!

...and if you still need a 'B' set tuning wheel, I've got one. :-)>

Best regards,

Chris.  

p.s. If you measure the battery mounting frames I can probably work out which batteries they are supposed to contain - the WW2 wooden cased accumulators and postwar pressed steel cases are the same size because they had to fit those trays during that changeover. (That's why the aerial bases (and rods) have the same sizes and hole patterns from early WW2 up to Clansman (and maybe the present day).) 

 

[simon king]

Thanks Chris

I am always in the market for a tuning wheel, for the restoration of a second set.

The inverted pyramid is actually a mount for a variometer in some different WS installations. As you say perfectly positioned to take chunks of flesh out of the scalp as I know to my cost on a number of occasions.

The roof plates are pre -drilled to take a number of different aerial mounts, according to the WS fit. As a result the standard B set post mount and the A set acorn, the latter with a “doughnut” mounting plate will be fitted to the roof. These are fitted over leather patches in the canvas roof, with rolled blinds to close off the holes if the mounts are removed. I’m still lacking the doughnut mount for the A set acorn but it is of no import as I have had some thick rings laser cut. They will not be seen on the roof..

The four batteries are the standard wooden boxed 100 - 125 Ah batteries. I have reproductions for the time being, but these will be replaced in due course by originals or better reproductions.  More pressing issues at the moment though…

Edited August 15, 2023 by simon king

[Chris Suslowicz]

On 8/15/2023 at 9:18 AM, simon king said:

Thanks Chris

I am always in the market for a tuning wheel, for the restoration of a second set.

The inverted pyramid is actually a mount for a variometer in some different WS installations. As you say perfectly positioned to take chunks of flesh out of the scalp as I know to my cost on a number of occasions.

The roof plates are pre -drilled to take a number of different aerial mounts, according to the WS fit. As a result the standard B set post mount and the A set acorn, the latter with a “doughnut” mounting plate will be fitted to the roof. These are fitted over leather patches in the canvas roof, with rolled blinds to close off the holes if the mounts are removed. I’m still lacking the doughnut mount for the A set acorn but it is of no import as I have had some thick rings laser cut. They will not be seen on the roof..

The four batteries are the standard wooden boxed 100 - 125 Ah batteries. I have reproductions for the time being, but these will be replaced in due course by originals or better reproductions.  More pressing issues at the moment though…

Hmmm... I'm still not convinced by the "Variometer Mount" theory - it looks more like the anchor frame for Aerial Base No.2 used with W.S. No.11 which was made of Ebonite (hard vulcanized rubber) and essentially rigid. The other possibility is a hand guard if a high power set was fitted and Aerial Lead-in No.16 (a large ceramic insulator with Aerial Base No.3 mounted on top, and an extension piece to get the feeder cable lower than the roof) was used. I need to photograph some bits of my radio collection. The second aerial mount maybe from a postwar 2-set installation, with WS19 on the left and C42 on the right... or they may have switched to a standard Base No.10 - it depends on the vehicle's history and intended usage. I can probably find you a spare "doughnut" (Aerial Base No.8, mounting No.3) - these exist in rubber, plywood (Canadian), or pressed steel, seam welded from two half "dishes" (post-WW2, I think), Plates, Connector, No.2, and an Aerial Feeder No.9 (which is fairly easy to copy - just a length of P.11 cable with a brass plug on one end and a ring terminal on the other.

Other bits: you were asking somewhere about charging switchboard cables - I have a box full of those, and probably some duplicates (also battery link cables) that are unissued (Connectors, Single, No.23 (A-D), all suitably labelled up.  (At least I have now unearthed the box they are in as part of a tidy-up!) I'll let you know what's available. (They will not be expensive, a friend was clearing them out and didn't want them to got to the scrap-man, some years ago.) 

[simon king]

Thanks Chris,

I saw this picture of the variometer attached to the bottom of that inverted pyramid, which spurred that comment,  admittedly in a restoration though. That configuration would only work if there was no intention to use the 19 set on the sledge as a ground station.  The “factory” photo of the rear seems to show a pigtail to secure an aerial lead in that location.

There are also a number of other fittings for which we do not know the purpose. The table is clearly designed to take a number of different sizes of sledge as there are a number of metal protector strips screwed to the table and there are two oblong frames screwed to the top of the table at the back and a further one on the floor next to the operator
 

If I could not find pukka battery leads, I would reproduce them, but originals would be welcome

Edited August 20, 2023 by simon king

[Chris Suslowicz]

2 hours ago, simon king said:

Thanks Chris,

I saw this picture of the variometer attached to the bottom of that inverted pyramid, which spurred that comment,  admittedly in a restoration though. That configuration would only work if there was no intention to use the 19 set on the sledge as a ground station.  The “factory” photo of the rear seems to show a pigtail to secure an aerial lead in that location.

There are also a number of other fittings for which we do not know the purpose. The table is clearly designed to take a number of different sizes of sledge as there are a number of metal protector strips screwed to the table and there are two oblong frames screwed to the top of the table at the back and a further one on the floor next to the operator
 

If I could not find pukka battery leads, I would reproduce them, but originals would be welcome

Er, no. That's nonsense. The variometer is fitted with Aerial Feeder No.4 and an inch-long 'bush' by the look of things. That feeder is intended for a 'through the turret roof (or vehicle side in an armoured car)' (there's a No.5 for thicker armour with a longer threaded tube), and would be fitted with Aerial Base No.8, Mounting No.1, and a pigtail lead.

For this setup, the variometer is screwed (with a packing piece) to a mounting fixed to the supply unit and is positioned over the control unit. The aerial feeder (No.2) has a small screw terminal and a copper strip connector to the rigid Tufnol aerial base that is part of the mounting. (The feeder is very flimsy and the later (2A) version was protected by a bakelite "castle" around a central screw and probably used a wire lead (I can't remember the details, but certainly a screw terminal riveted to a piece of paxolin circuit board was a seriously bad idea). )  

[Chris Suslowicz]

1 minute ago, Chris Suslowicz said:

Er, no. That's nonsense. The variometer is fitted with Aerial Feeder No.4 and an inch-long 'bush' by the look of things. That feeder is intended for a 'through the turret roof (or vehicle side in an armoured car)' (there's a No.5 for thicker armour with a longer threaded tube), and would be fitted with Aerial Base No.8, Mounting No.1, and a pigtail lead.

For this setup, the variometer is screwed (with a packing piece) to a mounting fixed to the supply unit and is positioned over the control unit. The aerial feeder (No.2) has a small screw terminal and a copper strip connector to the rigid Tufnol aerial base that is part of the mounting. (The feeder is very flimsy and the later (2A) version was protected by a bakelite "castle" around a central screw and probably used a wire lead (I can't remember the details, but certainly a screw terminal riveted to a piece of paxolin circuit board was a seriously bad idea). )  

The oblong frames behind the set are probably intended for the previous set, a W.S.No.11 and would have held a pair of 250V primary battery boxes for the receiver. (Roughly the same as the W.S.18 Static Battery Box.) See Ron Pier's restoration for the WS11 version. (Also, the WS11 didn't have a carrier, I think, so the individual cases would have been bolted to the table.)

Chris. 

[simon king]

Hello Chris

that was the configuration that I used when I restored the WS19/sledge/table at the beginning of this project. It was impossible to slip the metal tab into the slot in the end of the variometer end cap as this had been previously messed about with. From what I recall, the antenna base socket passes through the Tufnol insulator and is secured with a shallow nut
 

Result below, when I tried the A set antenna in the ground role. It seems that the lead to the golf bag antenna in the ground role and to the roof mounted antenna in the vehicle role must also fit into that same base socket.

Edited October 8, 2023 by simon king

[OzH]

Wow, that looks in pristine condition! Is that NOS or have you restored the components? Looks really good!

[simon king]

11 hours ago, OzH said:

Wow, that looks in pristine condition! Is that NOS or have you restored the components? Looks really good!

Everything restored, home printed transfers for the variometer and control box lettering. Smash moulded a new window for the variometer as well.

Edited October 9, 2023 by simon king

[Chris Suslowicz]

On 10/8/2023 at 4:45 PM, simon king said:

Hello Chris

that was the configuration that I used when I restored the WS19/sledge/table at the beginning of this project. It was impossible to slip the metal tab into the slot in the end of the variometer end cap as this had been previously messed about with. From what I recall, the antenna base socket passes through the Tufnol insulator and is secured with a shallow nut
 

Result below, when I tried the A set antenna in the ground role. It seems that the lead to the golf bag antenna in the ground role and to the roof mounted antenna in the vehicle role must also fit into that same base socket.

That variometer doesn't look right: the access hole for tightening the aerial feeder clamping screw should definitely NOT be on top where water could drip into it. I suspect the backplate has been fitted incorrectly, but will have to check where the locating peg is normally - should be simple enough to remove the endplate, rotate it to the required position, and re-fit the screws as there's nothing connected to it electrically.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Chris Suslowicz
Punctuation.

[goanna]

On 8/21/2023 at 8:13 AM, Chris Suslowicz said:

The oblong frames behind the set are probably intended for the previous set, a W.S.No.11 and would have held a pair of 250V primary battery boxes for the receiver. (Roughly the same as the W.S.18 Static Battery Box.) See Ron Pier's restoration for the WS11 version. (Also, the WS11 didn't have a carrier, I think, so the individual cases would have been bolted to the table.)

Chris. 

Hi Chris

Not sure if you refer to the main carrier for the 11 set . The W.S 11 manual does have a carrier No. 1 listed. ZA9297. I do have one, it's a multi-part carrier that screws together. You can adjust the length of the carrier to accommodate the location of the Power Supply L.P No. 1  to either on top of or beside the set. 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by goanna

[simon king]

Chris, that’s useful to know, although I seem to recall as that’s how it came to me as I only removed the front plate to replace the clear plastic window with an newly moulded example and then repaint.
 

The end cap was a replacement I acquired for the particular configuration required and I remember  painting it in a slightly different grey to reflect a different manufacturer. With that cut out it was possible only to fit it in that one way.