mammoth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 The hubs came off the axle as described, the nut being quite loose (should it be tight or not?) and showing the bearing sleave with no wear - a nice find. No linings on the brake shoes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 I was minded to follow the suggestion to mount the job on a lathe and remove the weld with a parting tool. The wheel was too big for the gap so it was out with the angle grinder. Time for a DSG pause (1609 X 72); which will be rather long since the power company want me to subscribe to their early retirement fund for connecting 3 phase and as I reckon my retirement is more important I will opt to purchase a generator. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 Removal of the spoke bolts was slowed by nuts that had been welded to the hub, otherwise easy. 14 spokes with the bolts going between the spokes, not through them and shiney steel on the hub! The two parts of the hub were an easy press to part, 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrunt & Farthing Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 A gentleman should always take a moment for DSG envy. You a know a lathe is a big one when it has a centre foot and removable suds trays! What a nice piece of kit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Quote The hubs came off the axle as described, the nut being quite loose (should it be tight or not?) No, the nut should be set to give bearing clearance between the hub and a thrust-washer on the axle and then locked in place with a split-pin. You might not still have the thrust washer, or it might be friction-welded to the hub or the axle by now. I have once had to grind one off (On an N-type in Tunbridge Wells, I think, or it might have been the one in Thaxted) Quote and showing the bearing sleave with no wear - a nice find. No linings on the brake shoes The brakes were originally iron-on-iron, any linings are retrofitted. Some owners are still using iron-on-iron and report that the brakes work at least as poorly as the lined ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Nice lathe. Longer in the bed than mine. I don't have the swarf tray (will have to make one in due course) but do have the floor mounted suds tray. But very fortunate here in that we're already connected to a three phase supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 7 hours ago, mammoth said: I will opt to purchase a generator. A VFD might be more convenient, and quieter. Though could be tricky if the motor is pole-switching or Dahlander and not re-wirable for 240V operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 6 hours ago, andypugh said: A VFD might be more convenient, and quieter. Andy, it is probably a 15 horse motor, so a VFD at that rating would be very expensive. Anyway, I believe that Australia is a big place, so you wouldn’t hear the noise of a generator... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 (edited) I do have a phase converter to run smaller machines off 15amp supply, and although our rural domestic supply is supposed to be 60 amps at 240v there is a 600m run from the supply transformer. Turning the wick up on the welder results in diminishing returns telling me that voltage drop is going to be an issue driving a big motor. Shame is that a 3 phase supply is available literally across the road. A few years down the track batteries might become much cheaper at which time going stand alone solar will be very tempting. Thrust washer is there, just not shown. There is a gap for a felt seal, same as just shown on Ed1617's WDJ Thornycroft. One swarf tray is missing on my DSG so I will have to make one as well. Suds drain into a trough sitting on the floor at the rear. Edited May 6, 2021 by mammoth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) If going down the generator route bear in mind you may need a larger amp rating than the full load amps due to the starting current which you should be able to calculate from the motor characteristics. Edited May 7, 2021 by radiomike7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 49 minutes ago, radiomike7 said: If going down the generator route bear in mind you may need a larger amp rating than the full load amps due to the starting current which you should be able to calculate from the motor characteristics. Thinking about it, running an engine to drive a generator to drive a motor is silly. It makes far more sense to convert the lathe to run from line-shafting driven directly by the engine. And, to be green, the engine should be multi-fuel, maybe external-combustion. 🙂 Yes, a steam engine and big whippy flat-belts is definitely the right approach here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuffen Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Just go 3 phase. Yes it will cost but will be worth it over the years with less problems and you can then use any 3 phase equipment you want. I'm in Sydney also and 3 phase may cost up front but you will be way ahead over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 (edited) The corrected title of this thread gave the game away that there was some confusion about the appliance's identity, firstly because of entries on the Dennis invoice and secondly because of non matching entries on NSW Fire Brigade (NSWFB) surviving records. Frank Cerutti of Townsville has a very nice 1917 delivered Dennis N model and way back he visited Surrey and got copies of the Dennis chassis lists. With these in hand a perusal of records at the Museum of Fire give a good demonstration of the fallibility of handwriting, and especially so with the numbers '3' and '5', as well as the trap of being led astray by wonky primary sources (the invoice). The upshot is that I can now definitely say that the two appliances (or 'cars' as Dennis called them) delivered to NSWFB in January 1912 were 3033 (mine) and 3035. NSWFB records state the second appliance was 3055 whereas in reality that appliance had a different engine and went to Great Western Railway, and not to Australia. Accordingly the NSWFB record of 3035 should read 3033 and the NSWFB record of 3055 should read 3035, in which case all the records of engine and body numbers align in both sets of records. Phew. Edited July 25, 2021 by mammoth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Frank's Dennis was actually built in 1916, but that is splitting hairs. Well done Brian for setting the record straight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciidv Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) Incorrect topic. post withdrawn. Edited January 15, 2022 by Asciidv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 Getting back to my 1911 Dennis, there has been little progress while attending to other things. However I have visited a firm in Newcastle (Australia) who can vulcanise the tyres. I have copied the required profile from an almost new tyre of another size. In the absence of moulds the normal method these days is to "hand layer" strips on, bake that and then tidy it up after, however given that I need six of 120 X 720 they are considering extruding the profile. Might be a while before they get back to me with a quote. The next challenge is to get the steel bands rolled to exact diameter so that the tyre bands are a press fit on the wooden wheel bands, 10 off all up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citroman Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Here on the website is someone building a german Panzer replica. He did cast massive rubber tyres in a mould. I don't know how strong they will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 The strength is down to the specification of the rubber compound and having a mould means they can afford to experiment to some extent. However making a mould takes the budget to another realm. Overman in the USA use moulds but only for a few imperial sizes and once freight is taken into account they are very expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citroman Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 He has a very simple mould made of bent flat iron. Bolted together. See page 16 and further Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 Usual story of time getting away while being distracted by other projects and obligations. However, one concern was that diesel injector/pump shops are disappearing and I had better investigate the viability of the Mercedes diesel motor while there is still one less than half hour away. The engine has been a remarkable exercise of shoe-horning it into the chassis. It sits on angle plates at each corner. These are welded to the chassis and in the normal course of events it should be a straight lift, however the cast sump is shaped so that it is wider at the bottom and won't go past the engine supports. Accordingly, the engine had to be slid back and up to extract it, and the the transfer gearbox had to be removed to allow it to go back . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 Unless anyone knows better I believe this to be an OM65/3 or /4 as fitted to the WWll L3000 truck. 4,849cc of 105x140 bore & stroke delivering 74bhp at 2250rpm. That is that limit of internet help and unless I but a genuine manual @ 300 Euro I am ploughing a lone furrow. It presents as quite a modern, if basic design. Water has been allowed to get into the Bosch injector pump resulting in becoming frozen. Attempts to dismantle have shown that the aluminium galls on the steel threads. Draining the sump filled a 10 litre bucket with water which indicated a poor prognosis for saving the engine. With loose tappet covers and side covers water had been making it's way down to the cam follower gallery and it looked like the cam followers were very rusty indeed. Strip down proceeded with the injectors screwing out OK and heads coming off with little protest. Timing marks on the cam wheel are something of a mystery and as the crank was frozen I had no way of rotating things to see what lined up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 Water pump bolts to the side and was frozen but removed as a unit to be dealt with later. Block turned over, sump off to reveal - nil rust!. I assume this is because the oil floating on top of the water for all those years kept things anaerobic. Conventional clutch, and starter motor with teeth wrecked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 Torque settings on big end and main bearings seemed somewhat random. Crank lifted leaving pistons behind. Big ends have heavy bronze shells with what looks like cast white metal bearing surface. Only one shell had some damage and all bearing surfaces looked near perfect. Three of the pistons slid out nicely with one having a broken bottom oil ring. No grinding in the oil pump so relief there as well. The third piston had water damage but could be driven out with wood and lump hammer. The piston rings are jammed in with nil gap but otherwise seems will be serviceable. The cam followers were the big concern however all could be moved a little by wedging between cam shaft and follower. Four have been punched out but the others are not budging. To get a direct push I would need to remover the cam shaft and here lies another mystery - the cam gear unbolts but is not indexed in any way so hope I have marked it right! It appears that cam shaft installation/removal is a factory job so I will have to work on other ways to release the remaining cam followers. The water damaged bore looks like it will hone up OK. So, it appears that the basic engine is sound and recoverable, albeit with the stumbling block of getting a rebuild or replacement of the injector pump. How much should I invest in this motor when it is not the original Dennis item?? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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