Stormin Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 Well yesterday was a short day on the WLF due to other commitments. Got the wires in from battery to starter via foot switch. Foot switch was seized with paint so freed that off. Got the engine to turn over on foot switch, but not fire. Good job as oil pressure built up and squirted from an aperture at the rear of the engine. This must be the fitting for an oil pressure gauge but all the gauges are missing from the dash at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) A later visit on Saturday just to show the missus what I'd bought and why she wouldn't be seeing as much of me for a while. Whilst there decided to add some water to the radiator ready for a trial run the following day. After a few seconds delay I heard running water. No bottom hose fitted and what looked like a leak from the radiator near the bottom. Edited September 14, 2008 by Stormin Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Hi Norman - Haven't seen this thread before so welcome to the ever increasing WLF owners club - Are they the Wards young Jack was looking at - if so I studied the pictures in detail and I must say from what I could see - the bits restored have been done to a tidy standard. I shall follow this restoration with interest and good luck in your efforts. Markheliops Yep, same ones Jack was looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 This mornings jobs were to temporarily fit an oil pressure gauge and remove the radiator for inspection. Radiator removal is quite simple for such a large item. Removing the radiator from the frame was less so with years of corrosion to the bottom steel frame sealing it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 With the radiator due a visit to the reconditioning shop I again turned my attention to the engine. No luck with the oil gauge fitting with the spare connectors I had so a temporary solution to blank off the aperture. Oil pressure was known to be reasonable by the two foot jet produced whilst cranking on the starter. The lack of a radiator meant I wouldn't be running the engine for long but previous attempts had shown no signs of life. Cracking the couplings to the injectors showed fuel pressure at the injector inlets, but no sign of starting. Lifting the rocker cover seemed to show all was in order. The extra followers for the injectors can be seen here. And I thought cam operated injectors were a modern invention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 A few more attempts at starting and I was beginning to get demoralised wondering if I had a duff engine or some injector pump or timing problem. It was time for the last resort. A visit to the local garage for a can of easy start. A good squirt and crank and it burst into life. A few seconds enjoyment then I quickly reached for the stop lever. A few ups and downs along the way but a good end to the weekend. Hope to have the radiator repaired and installed soon for a longer test run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Where would we be without Easy Start ! Well done mate ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antar Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Nice to see you got the first one back care of Bowlers, they are just down the road from me. Glad that you have at least heard that Cummins running I did have a good look at it when it was in the shed at Trevors next to my M578. Dont know if you have a good local sandblaster but if you need a recomendation the guy who did the M578 does a really good job. PM me if you want his details. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 And I thought cam operated injectors were a modern invention! Been around a long time,but cummins have used them more than anyone else,we had them when we were training,when we had suceded in ruining the timing they would send for the old boy from fords down the rd to get it running again.We had a pilot boat with 2 cummins v8 185s that used the system,called pressure/time something or other.the good thing about it is it only needs a low pressure pump,as the injectors do what the say and inject,in other systems there just atomisers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Well done Norman! I'm very pleased to hear it runs. I will get back to you on the chassis number once I've finished my Land Rover rear crossmember replacement mess! Tony looks to be right about the power/displacement/revs issue - it sounds like that's a low-end slogger but you ain't gonna win any races! Depends what you want to use the truck for as to whether you keep it or upgrade. Whatever you do, diesel is definitely the way forward as Uncle Mark is unhappily finding out...! Let us know if you need any help from the UKWLFOC - just send a blank cheque to our membership secretary and we'll do the rest :-D. Oh, and congratulations once again on your purchase of not one but two real man's trucks :whistle: - Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 15, 2008 Author Share Posted September 15, 2008 Thanks Mike. And thanks for the heads up on the data plates. After a bit of thought decided to go for them and they arrived Saturday. A bit expensive I thought but quite a comprehensive set. Won't need them for a while but didn't know if I'd see any come up for sale again later. Now I know the engine works I'll stick with it for the time being. Too much other work to do to think about changing it. May review the situation in a few years when it's getting some use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 Well tried a few places for radiator repairs. First place said about a dozen leaks :cry: and needed a new core, total cost £1000 :eek: :eek: :eek: Tried another place and they said they thought all leaks were from the bottom tank, they could replace it for £250 but couldn't guarantee the core would be good afterwards. It would be extra to remake the rotten frame. After due consideration I decided to try and tackle repairs myself. The fall back option would be to try and source a secondhand radiator. Here's the radiator cleaned up showing the source of a few of the leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 I remade a blanking plate that was rusty and bent. Improvisation was required to pressure test the radiator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 Next part was to remake the bottom frame. Unfortunately the radiator is 3ft wide and my folder is only capable of bending 2 1/2 ft. I could have waited a week until my friend is back from holiday and used his 8ft folder but I'm impatient to get the thing up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Your doin well there Norman,making me tired.CW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 So Saturday came and time to refit the radiator and give things a try. A new piece of bottom hose installed. Modern silicon I'm afraid but at least it's black and not a bling colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 Radiator installed ad time to start filling up with water. First few litres and no problem then I could here a drip! Not from the radiator this time though. Turned out to be the engine block drain tap open. A few more litres and another leak this time the bottom hose drain tap! All fine to about the 20 litre mark then a huge leak. This time coming from the water pump. I've now taken the water pump off and stripped it down at home. Now just got to try and find some suitable seals for a 1940's Cummins water pump. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Good job we enjoy getting our hands dirty on this forum ! Well done mate keep up the good work !:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Got the water pump re-assembled early in the week and re-fitted. Having stripped the pump there was no real seal. Found out it relies on graphite bush lapped to the rear face of the pump. This rear face was heavily pitted with corrosion so was cleaned up before refitting the pump. The graphite bush was heavily worn so was reversed on refitting to present a better face to the cleaned up pump body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 (edited) An unexpected piece of good fortune during the week. A Cummins A series diesel engine manual dated 1945 appeared on Ebay. Bit expensive but I had to have it! So far I had only been able to run the engine for short burst before it dies out. Fuel starartion seemed to be the cause. The manual was a great help in remedying some of these problems. Below you can see the results of thirty plus years inactivity. The fuel float chamber was full of muck and corrosion. As soon as I touched the float it fell off :shocked: A clean up revealed the float was also dented and cracked. Out with the soldering equipment again to repair the float. The fuel inlet valve was also found to be stuck this prevented fuel getting to the float chamber. The engine had only been running on priming fuel which bypasses these valves and the float chamber. Edited September 28, 2008 by Stormin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Stormin - has that pump impeller lost a fair bit of meat off the vanes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Very interesting Norman ! Thanks for posting ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 All this work to the bottom end of the fuel pump made little difference to the running. The engine would now run for longer but did not respond to throttle movements Further strip down of the top of the pump was required and revealed more corrosion and seized parts. Luckily a quick clean up and some lubrication was all that was required. Actual wear didn't look to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Having got the engine running Trying to move the vehicle under it's own power was next on the agenda. No air piping to brakes at the moment so the handbrake was adjusted up to provide a means of bringing things to a halt. First attempts to move were unnsuccessful. Tried checking all levers were in gear but there was no drive through the gearbox. I left for home on Saturday night fearing the worst or at least a gearbox out and maybe clutch replacement. Returning on Sunday morning I quickly discovered the problem was simply that the clutch mechanism had been incorrectly assembled and was holding the pressure plate in. An hour or so of adjustments later and I've had it moving albeit slowly under it's own power for the first time in what must be years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Stormin - has that pump impeller lost a fair bit of meat off the vanes? I think the picture makes it look worse than it actually is. May have lost a tiny bit to corrosion but once the high spots of flaky rust were removed all vanes seemed to be similar height. The shaft bearings were OK and there doesn't appear to have been any rubbing against the rear face of the pump. Here's a picture before the puller was used to draw the impeller off the shaft. Not very clear but a fairly close fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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