Energumen Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Gear Maze is a great name for it, Energumen, do you remember it as being ply or was it rubber covered steel? I ask because if it was ply it must have been a repair, and quite a clever one at that! I think my memory serves me correctly with it being plywood, but hey the hair has gone, and I think each strand took a million memory cells with it. Ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 X 6 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) I am hoping that a moderator will move it, as I do not want to take up too much space. Ok, I will it on there and maybe the mods will scrap this later, I looked to see if one was on line, but apparently not. The reason I suggested posting your Constructor post on the 'Constructor' thread is that it's hot stuff and people interested in Constructors won't think of looking under "It's Will from East Sussex" and might miss it. That would be a shame. Kind regards, Tom Edited January 29, 2009 by 6 X 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energumen Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The reason I suggested posting your Constructor post on the 'Constructor' thread is that it's hot stuff and people interested in Constructors won't think of looking under "It's Will from East Sussex" and might miss it. That would be a shame. Kind regards, Tom Understood and much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill1952xs Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Well............ Had a bit of a sad day really. I went armed with a pair of batteries to fire up "Arfur" (The front half of my donor Albion). I checked the oil which looked fine but a bit low. It had no coolant in it so I thought; if it starts I will only run it for a few minutes at a time. I put the batteries on it and couldn't get the starter to engage until I found a loose wire coming up through the floor from the starter motor. I dabbed it on the battery and it went "Clunk" and nothing moved. I tried to turn the propshaft with it in neutral, and couldn't turn that either. The gearbox appears to be stuck in gear although you can move the gearlever and select other gears. I wondered if this was the problem with the engine, and managed to free off the clutch to disengage the gearbox. The engine still wouldn't turn over, so I took the vent plate off of the bellhousing to try and turn it from there. One long bar, one squashed finger and bruised thumb later; I decided that unfortunately the engine must be seized. I did manage to move it by levering the clutch backwards and forwards by about four inches, but something inside the engine feels awfully dry, and it wont move any further either way as yet. It's a real shame as I was led to believe it was a good engine. I'm surprised it was seized as diesels don't normally seize through standing......unless water got into the engine before I bought it. I'm not too worried about the gearbox problem, but I did want to use the engine in my restoration. Sadly I doubt whether there are any parts available for this engine, even if I could identify it. Someone mentioned that it could be what is known as the "(900)" engine which has the compressor mounted in front of the injector pump. My other engine has a chain driven compressor mounted on the side. I had a good look around the cab; and although the roof is fu...... sorry, beyond repair; most of the cab and especially the front panel and windscreen frames are in pretty good condition. I suppose the next job will be to carefully dismantle the cab and start by restoring each side and the back first. I think it will be easier to restore these panels complete and then just transfer them to the complete truck. I saw something on the rear engine mountings that intrigued me immensely. The engine mountings have a right angled arm supporting the engine in a rubber bush. The right angled arms have coil springs on them acting as lateral dampers, but the strangest thing of all was the brackets inside the chassis which look like little dumpy hydraulic cylinders, and have interlinked steel pipes going to both sides of the engine. I haven't as yet found out where the pipes are fed from , whether they have air or oil pressure in them. No doubt as time goes by, I will find all sorts of engineering peculiarities with this beastie. The front of the engine appears to be mounted on a elliptical leaf spring arrangement. It's such a shame my donor truck was cut up before I bought it as this one was also an "S" (Short wheelbase) and the chassis number was 61218D and my original truck has the chassis number 61210K. I wonder why the suffixes were different. Well if you haven't fallen asleep yet........I'll keep you posted of any progress made asap. :sleep: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I took the vent plate off of the bellhousing to try and turn it from there. One long bar, one squashed finger and bruised thumb later; I decided that unfortunately the engine must be seized. I did manage to move it by levering the clutch backwards and forwards by about four inches, but something inside the engine feels awfully dry, and it wont move any further either way as yet. Will, I would say that one or more pistons are stuck in the bore. As you have a slight rock on the crankshaft, this indicates pistons. Although you may think that it cannot rust, there will be at a piston with open valves, and also internal condensation so why not take the injectors out and put a bit of diesel down each bore. Refit the injectors so nothing gets into the cylinders. Leave for a week or so, then try rocking the crank again and hopefully you will gradually be able to move it. This is best done by hand, not on the starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotBed Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 wot o will, good luck with diesel down the bores it worked for me on a tractor engine regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill1952xs Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Will, I would say that one or more pistons are stuck in the bore. As you have a slight rock on the crankshaft, this indicates pistons. Although you may think that it cannot rust, there will be at a piston with open valves, and also internal condensation so why not take the injectors out and put a bit of diesel down each bore. Refit the injectors so nothing gets into the cylinders. Leave for a week or so, then try rocking the crank again and hopefully you will gradually be able to move it. This is best done by hand, not on the starter. Thanks for the suggestion. I had thought about the diesel trick as I'm very reluctant to dismantle any of it, mainly due to the lack of spares. My other engine still runs reasonably well so I may at the very worst; have to use that one. I might have problems getting the injectors out. If I do, I may pull the rocker covers and empty some diesel down the exhaust ports. I can always wind the tappet adjusters down a little to lift the valves off their seats, but no more than is necessary without knowing how much clearance there is between the valves and pistons. I have to try this method as I have little to lose. Thanks for being helpful. :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill1952xs Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) Hi dudes, tonight I've E mailed the Biggar Museum Trust, who have kept the Albion archives. I was hoping they could tell me more about my donor truck and I've asked them for any copies of manuals, specification sheets and wiring diagrams they may have from their treasures. When I wrote to them in about 92 (Just after I bought it) they said they had a manual for the civilian version of the HD 23 (Has any one ever seen one of these) which is very similar. At the time they offered to copy it for me for ten pounds, and hopefully they will still have it and possibly more. Something I didn't mention about the seized engine in the donor truck; is that I looked all around the engine for frost damage and couldn't see any. The parts I would have expected to have failed being the water pump mounted adjacent to the bellhousing at the back of the block, and the cooling jacket side plates. These engines are certainly very different from modern engines. The air inlet manifolds are built into the rocker covers, the dynamo is driven by a separate drive shaft on the bottom of the timing cover, and the compressor, injector pump and water pump are all driven by a common auxiliary shaft above that. There is external adjustment on the clutch cover but I'm not sure how the adjustment is made. Maybe this would be a good time to move this to a new home in the restoration blogs.........if anyone would be kind enough to do it for me. No doubt Energumen will be watching this with interest, so I'll do my best to keep the ball rolling with the restoration. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts. :coffee: Edited February 2, 2009 by Swill1952xs Additional comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energumen Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 No doubt Energumen will be watching this with interest, so I'll do my best to keep the ball rolling with the restoration. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts. :coffee: Hi there, surely will, but then again, so will many accomplished restorers. Personally, my previous efforts were very amateur to what I see reported on this site and I am honest enough to say, that nowadays, I am happy to read of others, stirling efforts. Good luck with the manuals, and the big task ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The other trick with stuck bores is to heat a pan of engine oil till it starts to smoke then pour it down the bores. I've found this to work on various engines and outboards over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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