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Yet Another Ward La France restoration project.


Stormin

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Got the pic to fit at last.

 

The H-600 is an 11 litre, the NH is 12.2 litre and the AA is 6.2 litre.

 

As a very rough guide ('cos modern engines have shorter stroke therefore will be v.slightly longer for same capacity?), a modern C (8 litre) will only just fit the WLF, a modern 6B (5.9 litre) will go in with several inches to spare.

 

This should give you an idea, but I suspect it must be an AA-600. The auxilliaries look identical though :confused:

 

You could contact Cummins Tehnical (John Christiansen) at Wellingborough, on 01933 67220 - if you email some pics he might be able to help.

 

Thanks again N.O.S.

Contacted John Christensen at Cummins as you suggested and received an e-mail today from one of his colleagues. It gives the full build sheet details for the engine as shipped 30th Jan 1945. Great testament to the records kept at the company and the dedication of the staff there for researching this information.

E-mail came back titled "Historic Engine" :-)

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I take it you won't be needing the rear body?

 

I've not ruled it out yet. Waiting on my fabricator friend to give a me a guide price on repairing mine to see which would be most economically viable. He's a bit busy building an extension to his workshop at the moment.

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I've not ruled it out yet. Waiting on my fabricator friend to give a me a guide price on repairing mine to see which would be most economically viable.

 

No problem. I'll tell the other 14 anxious people you have an option on it :-D

 

Another option might be for you to come down and cut out whatever sections you need if this would help - e.g. the centre locker and lid, although needing a new lower section and floor, could save a bit of time and could be shoved into a car along with side locker and other bits?

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Likewise. It's great to see all the detail pics and all the individual jobs which have to be done. A lot of people just don't realise what goes into a restoration job. I'm getting an education in diesels too!

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Steve

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Bad weather during the week meant no visits up to the truck. It's currently stored outside about half an hours drive away so most work has to take place at weekend.

One job I could look at during the week at home was the dynamo.

I was informed by the previous owner it needed looking at!

A quick test on the bench revealed no voltage produced. A quick test with the meter and no resistance between the terminals or the body. I feared the worst, burnt out or shorted windings. A bit more of a look revealed the problem as both terminals on the outer body were connect to one of the carbon brushes. No connection to the other so current was not flowing around the armature or the field coils. I took the opportunity to strip the dynamo for cleaning and painting. Found many a years worth of dead spiders in there. I cleaned up the commutator ring and the terminals to improve performance. Final photo is dynamo in place on top of the engine.

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On to the weekend and I'm still having problems running the engine for more than a few minutes at a time.

One problem entirely of my own doing was breaking the emergency fuel stop tap. Nothing like it to hand or available so a modern replacement was fitted which does the job but needs changing for something more appropriate in the future.

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The cause of my engine running problems would seem to be with the fuel supply. Running from a temporary fuel can mounted above the engine the is no problem. The primary fuel suction pump is of the gear type and easily loses it's prime. I suspect the problem is with the fuel pipe routing. The original petrol tanks is quite deep and takes its feed out of the top of the tank before dropping down to chassis rail level and through a modern filter before reaching the fuel pump. I suspect pump is struggling to syphon fuel from the tank and fuel is draining back.

I intend to change the fuel pick up arrangement, possibly to feed from near the bottom of the tank and to have a non return valve at the end of the pick up pipe. All this requires removal of the tank.

I'm going to take the opportunity to clean it thoroughly as well. There is a lot of water showing in the sediment bowl. Also whilst attempting to drain fuel the other week the drain was blocked with debris and required a poke with a screwdriver before spilling dirty diesel down my arm.

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Guest catweazle (Banned Member)

Well done mate your getting there,all i can say is something my old instrutor used to say he was a REME man.THe longest ways the Quickest.CW

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well after a few weeks break I was back on with the project at the weekend. The fuel tank which was removed last time was cleaned out and a new pick up pipe boss welded in. Thanks to DJM engineering for the welding. Second picture shows inside of tank after much crud wash washed out.

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I was surprised to find the tank had been made with internal baffles. Not the original tank but a good copy and quite sound. The tank I have for the other side is badly corroded and will be merely for display.

I changed the fuel filter for a combined filter and sedimenter. The existing one (shown left) was a sedimenter only. I also fitted a modern priming bulb in line which includes a non return valve. Hopefully this should sort out any fuel feed problems.

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Finally managed to get the elusive radiator cap!

Actually I have to admit I've had it for a few weeks but haven't fitted it believing it was still too small. Well if only I'd tried sooner. Went up to top up anti-freeze today and was amazed to find the cap fitted. Looks the best bit on the truck now :rofl:

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Still having problems with the engine not responding to the throttle. Checked the injector pump timing again at weekend and found I was out by quite a margin from when I last refitted the pump top. I'm mystified as to how this came about as I checked it and was sure it was correct before replacing. Anyhow a second pair of eyes helped this time, and gave me some stick for messing up previously.

My thoughts are now turning to the governor mechanism sticking. There has been plenty of corrosion in some parts of the injector pump so could be the same there. I may yet have to completely remove and strip the injector pump to eliminate all problems. The job doesn't look too complicated I am just worried I may find I need a part that is unobtainable.

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Those rad cap pics are going to seriously p£$$ off some US guys on g503.com who seem desperate for M1A1 caps - get ready for an avalanche of begging letters. I'm thinking about posting a template "Dear Stormin" letter on there to help them :-D:-D:-D

 

I've just registered on G503 with the intention of posting a few pictures myself. :evil:

The irony is I got it from there own back yard.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Next to come off was the main rear body. It had been the intention to remove the rear deck seperately from the crane and winch. But someone had welded the two parts together at some point. We could have removed the welds and still separated the sections but further inspection showed the rear deck section was so badly corroded it would probably fall apart or at least lose some of it's shape whilst lifting. This would make it a lot harder to repair. Again several attempts at rigging were required to find a balance point. We actually settled for lifting the body up onto packers, rear end first then front, before lifting the whole thing clear. The body fit's quite tightly to the chassis and at one point the overhead crane was lifting the rear wheels. Thanks to Dave at DJM engineering for the use of the overhead crane.

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Also been busy stripping down the Cummins fuel pump. Removed it from the vehicle and took it home to work on in the garage during the week. Quite a few needle roller bearings were seized or sticky and needed fettling. A bit of improvisation with a 12 bore cartridge for reinstallation. Last picture shows a bearing face that's badly pitted and may be partly responsible for poor throttle and governor action.

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Guest catweazle (Banned Member)

We found the cat pump had suffered water damage due mainly to standing around for so long.i think the cast iron body on the pump seems to hold the moisture.best of luck with it.Cat had to do mine in the end i wont frighten you with the price.cw.

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We found the cat pump had suffered water damage due mainly to standing around for so long.i think the cast iron body on the pump seems to hold the moisture.best of luck with it.Cat had to do mine in the end i wont frighten you with the price.cw.

I think it's the same problem with the Cummins pump. Bearings, plungers and likages seized with rust. Forunately this pump is quite simple and I've got the Cummins manual. This engine is not as highly tuned as some either. :undecided:

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