Albion WDHD 23S Restoration. Will's.

[Swill1952xs]

I thought this would be a good time to start my restoration blog, commencing with pictures of the donor Albion which has much better panels on it than my original truck. The roof on this one is worse than the complete trucks; so I will attempt to repair that one.

 

I'm not a wealthy person and time is hard to find for the important things in life such as restorations, so please don't expect it to be done at lightning speed. I will do all the work myself to the best of my abilities.

 

Initially I will be dismantling the donor vehicle to find out how it is assembled and decide how to go about achieving the best result. The next stage will be to move my complete truck to where I work to start dismantling that one, again deciding on which parts will be used. Both trucks are of a similar age and are eighteen chassis numbers apart. The donor vehicle came from Crouch Recovery at Husbands Bosworth, and I assume he was the person who cut it in half to sell the rear axles. Sadly this one was the "S" (Short wheelbase) version too. My complete truck is believed to be the only surviving one of its type. All the others are "N's" (Long wheelbase versions)

 

 

Am I missing sumfink............?? Me r send feels a bit light. :-D

 

 

Arfurs best view...... well except for the roof rot

 

 

Unidentified Albion Diesel engine. 900 engine as mentioned by an Albion expert?

 

 

"Sure as Sunrise" Albion's company motto.

 

 

Driver command centre. :-D

 

 

Arfur's luxurious headlining, stowage area and air con unit. :-D

 

 

The brackets on the rear of the cab seem to have something slot into the bottom one, which is clamped in the top one. Anyone know what they are for? :confused: The angled bar is a handrail. There is a second step missing from the back of the front wing.

 

I will make an effort to post more pictures as things progress. Please be patient. :thanx:

[Willyslancs]

good pics , dont worry over speed mate lol (check out our munga resto ) we wont be able to rush either.(not mechanics, no money!!!!!!).

[AndyFowler]

Good to see the restoration is starting mate ! Good luck and keep us posted ! It WILL be worth all the agro I am SURE ! Regards Andy !:-D

[Davie]

Good to see another Albion on here. From your photo, the engine appears to be similar to the one in my cx22. Can you take a couple of closer photos and I'll compare them with mine. If it's the same, I can let you have a copy of the part of my manual that covers the engine.

[Adrian]

A great start to the thread.

 

Don't worry about the speed of the restoration, the most important thing is that you enjoy it.

 

Good luck!

 

Adrian

[Swill1952xs]

Good to see another Albion on here. From your photo, the engine appears to be similar to the one in my cx22. Can you take a couple of closer photos and I'll compare them with mine. If it's the same, I can let you have a copy of the part of my manual that covers the engine.

 

Don't mention CX22's...............that's another one on my want list. Didn't they do a CX25 as well? Lovely looking beastie. :cool2:

 

P.S. Thanks for your offer of the information. I will try and get a good photo of it asap. :thumbsup:

[Great War truck]

This is what is should look like (although this is the LWB version). Pretty truck as in fact most Albions are.

 

 

Do take as long as you need and as they say, do it because you enjoy it. If you dont enjoy it do something else and then come back to it.

 

Tim (too)

[LeeEnfield]

Great pic's,.........good luck with resto.

 

All the best,

 

Andy

[Swill1952xs]

Today I started dismantling the cab on the donor Albion. I nearly removed the roof today all except two bolts, which will have to be cut off. I removed the windscreens and to my surprise, they are in almost perfect condition. It's a great help when they are made of solid brass. Hopefully fitting new glass will be straightforward.

 

The next stage will be to remove the back panel of the cab and then set about removing the sides. Now I don't want to go to work on Monday .............. I've got the bug now and want to get on with it. :-(

Edited February 21, 2009 by Swill1952xs

[Swill1952xs]

I've been trying to find out more about my donor vehicles Albion engine today.

 

The engine type '900' was mentioned when I asked someone about it. (It may have been David Crouch.) Obviously it does look to be a much more modern version of the engine in my complete truck. It is also reputed to be somewhat more powerful than the older engine.

 

All I have come up with so far is something I found during my search about the takeover of Albion by Leyland in 1951. There is an engine mentioned as being the Leyland Albion 900 series engine. It is definitely an Albion design, but does have external components similar to some items I've seen on Leyland buses. This engine is just over nine litres in size as was used on the CX 22 but probably a more powerful updated version. :???

 

Does this jog anyones memory? Any further information would be greatly appreciated as it may make things easier to obtain spare parts. Having said that; Albion parts seem to be as rare as rocking horse poo. :-\

[radiomike7]

I've been trying to find out more about my donor vehicles Albion engine today.

 

The engine type '900' was mentioned when I asked someone about it. (It may have been David Crouch.) Obviously it does look to be a much more modern version of the engine in my complete truck. It is also reputed to be somewhat more powerful than the older engine.

 

All I have come up with so far is something I found during my search about the takeover of Albion by Leyland in 1951. There is an engine mentioned as being the Leyland Albion 900 series engine. It is definitely an Albion design, but does have external components similar to some items I've seen on Leyland buses. This engine is just over nine litres in size as was used on the CX 22 but probably a more powerful updated version. :???

 

Does this jog anyones memory? Any further information would be greatly appreciated as it may make things easier to obtain spare parts. Having said that; Albion parts seem to be as rare as rocking horse poo. :-\

 

 

The Albion 900 is what it says - 900 cubic inches (actually 926) so about 15 litres. It was used in railcars, Scammell Super Constructors some export Leylands and produces about 250bhp.

[6 X 6]

This is a really lovely lorry to be restoring. Thank you for starting what will be a very interesting blog.

 

Having said that; Albion parts seem to be as rare as rocking horse poo. :-\

 

Are there any particular parts, that you are in need of, that we could keep a look out for ?

 

As you may already know, Woolies can probably supply the rubber extrusions for your windscreens.

 

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-14-rubber.aspx

[AndyFowler]

Not sure if this picture will help identify the brackets on the rear of the cab mate ! Regards Andy :-D

[6 X 6]

The brackets on the rear of the cab seem to have something slot into the bottom one, which is clamped in the top one. Anyone know what they are for? :confused: :

 

Could these brackets be for holding a spade as can be seen in the 'photo posted by Andy ?

[Swill1952xs]

Could these brackets be for holding a spade as can be seen in the 'photo posted by Andy ?

 

The spade brackets are obvious even to someone with as little knowledge as myself. The brackets that I mean are the ones protruding about half way up the cab and sticking out of the sides. The bottom bracket looks like a step.

 

The bottom bracket has an oblong socket in it which something probably quite heavy slots into. The socket is about six inches long in line with the vehicle about an inch and a half wide and about two inches deep. The bracket just under the guttering has a hinged clamp (Like a hasp and staple for a padlock) located with a pin which supports whatever fits in the lower socket.

The lower socket is made so that whatever fits into it can be located easily at an angle of about forty five degrees, before it is pushed upright and locked into place.

I still think it is for a support frame for camouflage netting or something similar as it has brackets on both sides of the cab. :???

 

 

[Richard Farrant]

The brackets that I mean are the ones protruding about half way up the cab and sticking out of the sides. The bottom bracket looks like a step.

 

 

 

Are they stowage for canopy frame hoops? I have been looking at photos of Albion short wheelbase cargo and 3-way tipper, the tippers do not appear to have been fitted with canopies ( some military tippers were, the Bedford RS was one). Could be a swb cargo, as the swb Militant cargo looks to have something similar. The lwb Militant has brackets on front of the body. Perhaps it was a way to get a swb as short as possible and conserve space?

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Well done mate enjoy the trip,i have been 6yrs on the boat,dont rush well maybe a little bit after the bypass the doc said that should give you another ten,be nice to see before i go:rofl:

[Swill1952xs]

Are they stowage for canopy frame hoops? I have been looking at photos of Albion short wheelbase cargo and 3-way tipper, the tippers do not appear to have been fitted with canopies ( some military tippers were, the Bedford RS was one). Could be a swb cargo, as the swb Militant cargo looks to have something similar. The lwb Militant has brackets on front of the body. Perhaps it was a way to get a swb as short as possible and conserve space?

 

Many thanks for your reply. I also noticed the cargo versions had these brackets. What misled me was the fact that the chassis number was very close to my complete truck, and I thought the donor truck was a tipper as it is fitted with a hydraulic pto pump. Your suggestion seems very logical.

 

I believe some of the tippers were conventional rear discharge only; in which case I suppose it's possible that the conventional body could have been dual purpose like the Bedford one mentioned.

 

Unless someone comes up with a better idea; I'll go with that one for now. Many thanks, Will. :thumbsup:

[Swill1952xs]

This is a really lovely lorry to be restoring. Thank you for starting what will be a very interesting blog.

 

 

 

Are there any particular parts, that you are in need of, that we could keep a look out for ?

 

As you may already know, Woolies can probably supply the rubber extrusions for your windscreens.

 

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-14-rubber.aspx

 

Thanks for taking the trouble to suggest a supplier of restoration parts. I first used Woolies back in the eighties when I restored a Daimler 420.

Lovely people to deal with in those days. Regular customers were treated like friends. All transactions were done by phone. Sadly everything is becoming more impersonal now as most deals are done via the internet.

Cest la vie......

 

As for the parts you can look out for........... all I desperately want to find is an Edbro, three way tipping body lurking as new in a dry shed for about five hundred quid.............. thats all. :-D

[6 X 6]

The spade brackets are obvious even to someone with as little knowledge as myself.

 

 

Sorry Will, until I read your more detailed description, I didn't even notice those ruddy great things on either side of the cab !

 

 

I've always wondered what was the purpose of these smaller brackets are that were sometimes fitted, between the lower handle and the guttering, on the rear corner of Militant Mk 1 cabs. Does anyone know ?

 

 

I'll keep my eyes peeled for an Edbro !

[Swill1952xs]

I think you will find that the Militant brackets are a different version of what is fitted to my Albion.

[6 X 6]

I think you will find that the Militant brackets are a different version of what is fitted to my Albion.

 

Will, I think you could well be right. I've only ever seen these brackets on early, fixed side, cargo Militants photographed from the driver's side. It's never occurred to me that there might be a corresponding pair of brackets on the N/S as well. Later Militant MK 1's, as you know, had brackets fitted to the very front of the cargo bodies for carrying hoops. As you can see, these front of body brackets are absent on this early cargo Militant. Thanks for sorting that out.

 

[Swill1952xs]

Today |i have been moving my complete Albion to its new home next to where I work, and continuing to dismantle the donor truck

 

 

I had to cut the outer wings from the sides of the cab. They were supposed to be made in one piece and bolted to the cab frame. As they had been repaired before, they had an extra section of wing welded over the top of the original one. As shown in the next picture

 

 

I will post up some pictures of the complete truck tomorrow when I have more time and patience. My computer and especially photobucket have drained my enthusiasm tonight.

 

Catch ya later dudes. :thumbsup:

[Swill1952xs]

[Swill1952xs]

 

Fifty six years old and the headlamps still work on main and dip beam. (Can you see the r send of my tanker :-D my bosses may as well let me keep it in the yard..... all they are interested in is an endless procession of new cars.)

 

 

This is my best side...... at least the cab door frame is still intact.

 

 

The nearside has suffered very badly from being parked outside since 1991, mostly because of rain coming in from the observers hatch. I'm deeply ashamed of the way it was neglected. This was as a result of the "Oh well, it wont be long now before it's restored now" syndrome.

 

 

Oh well, 'spose at least not having a door frame makes photographing the engine somewhat easier. Note the triplex chain driven compressor. I don't know what model this engine is , but it was overhauled by MOD workshops in 1952? The engine in the other Albion is a direct driven compressor still using the same auxiliary shaft as its power source.