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[Mission_bug]

Glad you like it so far Flying H. 

I made a start on the shaft linking all this together, it is difficult to tell exactly how it all assembles
so you will have to allow me some artistic licence here:



I fired up today and realised I had missed a pipe behind the pump, that will need to be attached to
something else now as I ran out of polygons:



Not sure what to do with the part highlighted in Red, it is all hidden behind the flexible pipe, I keep starring
at it and the more I look the more I think maybe I should use those parts from the other side mirrored.

It would make sense, it might not be exactly the same but it ties everything together logically I feel.

Anyway, next up will be that contraption next door:



It has a funny colour to it, almost like natural metal but stained somehow or burnt, the colouring reminds
me of gear case parts we used to ship out to our train customers when I was in that industry, they were
sent as kits and coated in something called tecktill, not sure how to spell that as it was a long time ago, the
stuff would later be cleaned off at the assembly stage and paint applied where necessary, here though just
not sure why it is coloured as is, another conundrum, one of many on this beast.

I assume with all the metal tubes coming out the top of it that this is the ignition system, is it me or is this
engine like none you ever saw before?  I have been around machines all my life it seems, usually I can figure
out what is what when I look at them, here I need help from you guys to educate me.

Going to take in the football today and tomorrow, give my arms and fingers a complete rest for a few days.


Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Flying H]

That is a dieselpump and it can be stained by spill from opening the injectorpipes (but that doesn´t seem the case as the whole pump + the back end has the same color)

[Mission_bug]

That is a dieselpump and it can be stained by spill from opening the injectorpipes (but that doesn´t seem the case as the whole pump + the back end has the same color)

Thank you very much for the information Flying H, really appreciated.

The colour is baffling to me, never seen anything quite like it, if it is not purposely stained in any way then it must be a natural
machined/moulded metal untreated/unpainted, so can we just assume it to have aged and dirtied/discoloured over time?

Anyway, at least I now know what to call it thanks to you when I get around to building the thing.

Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Mission_bug]

Hello again guys, just a quick one today.


Joining the dots so to speak, added the missing pipe and the drive shaft between the pump and as
yet to build Diesel injector:




The part was mapped and then cloned before being rotated to fill the space up front where all these
things lead naturally into those parts already made:



Paint applied to the sections of the shaft in front and behind the pump to finish this small build before I
move on to the Diesel injector:



Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Mission_bug]

Okay then, next up is the diesel injector, could be quite a challenge.

Off we go, form a basic shape to begin and build from there:




There seems quite a lot of work at the top of the basic body with the injectors and bolts around the top
so I begin there.  All the bolts are newly made this time, a little more detailed around the edges as here the
overall shapes are more evident, not coated in the mass of paint like others.

Also attempted was what appears to be some kind of locking washers, although I cannot see exactly how all
this fits together the shapes most likely have holes back and front shaped as per the nuts so they fit over them,
reminds me of those small tools in a bicycle repair kit with all the various nut sizes cut in, two each of these are
attached to a pillar at the back with a nut:



A closer look at these parts:



Mapping has started with the main body shapes:



Colouring is a problem here, as mentioned earlier I do not know if this the natural tint of the bare metal
or a protective coating applied to it but I tried to get something from the image with the colour picker
after posting part of the image into Photoshop, does not really capture the look but for now I will live
with it as is:



Each of the injectors and their locking devices were cloned following mapping of each part to make the
row of six and then painted accordingly after positioning on the template, the pipes were also made and
put roughly where they will be eventually once the exhaust pipes are in place:



There is still quite a lot of detail to do to finish this but a good start has been made and will allow me to
make further progress during the week.

Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Shessi]

Hi Pete,
Detail, detail, detail!!

Fuel injector pump coming on nicely.  A couple of things....Oh! for an exploded diagram of that engine...how much would you pay me??! lol

And just my thoughts/obs..Looking at it now, it looks as though the green cylindrical pump to the front of the engine is either chain or gear driven (there wouldn't be belts inside the engine) from inside the bell housing at the front, possibly a hydraulic fluid pump, the drive goes through that on the shaft to the fuel pump behind, driving that.  I think the extra hexagonal pieces of metal around each injector head are just locking rings to stop the injectors from unscrewing themselves.

I'm still looking for an engine manual for you, as I'm interested in how it all functions as well!

Cheers

Shessi

 

[Mission_bug]

Oh! for an exploded diagram of that engine...how much would you pay me??! lol

Hello Shessi, I have a link to the Imperial War Museum, there is a drivers manual listed, however, last I tried it did not actually take me to where I could buy it and besides that how much detail would there be, the best I could hope for is explanations of various things we have talked about here.

And just my thoughts/obs..Looking at it now, it looks as though the green cylindrical pump to the front of the engine is either chain or gear driven (there wouldn't be belts inside the engine) from inside the bell housing at the front, possibly a hydraulic fluid pump, the drive goes through that on the shaft to the fuel pump behind, driving that. 

Glad you like the pump and injector, I actually feel I am now getting close to the end.

The front of the pump is obscured by the rubber pipe so I cannot tell just what is there so basically doubled up using the detail that was visible to fill in what I cannot see, my thoughts are that it could in some way be connected to the spindle and pulley used for the fan but a chain or gear has equal merit, I just need a clear photograph with that pipe removed to see what is there, for now I used what I had to avoid leaving a gap unattached to anything.

Those locking rings were difficult to figure out, I enlarged the image as far as I could and looking at that there seemed to be two separate ones, one below the other
but held by the same post and nut to both injectors, three posts to six injectors, again, best I can do for now.

I'm still looking for an engine manual for you, as I'm interested in how it all functions as well!

A manual would be amazing if one can be found, cost for me is a issue right now, however, if something along the cost of a Haynes then I would probably take the plunge just to answer all our questions and put us all out our misery.

Those images from Belfast have been priceless I think you have to say, without them much of this would not have been possible, maybe better I have no manual as this build could go another year especially if the crane cab was also featured.

I have been doing a little today but will save the images for next time.

Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Flying H]

A thought Pete, do you know the manufacturer of the engine? Can they have prints or schemes of the engine or of similar contraptions?

[Mission_bug]

A thought Pete, do you know the manufacturer of the engine? Can they have prints or schemes of the engine or of similar contraptions?

Hello Flying H, unfortunately no, I cannot even make out any legible text on the engine itself, the only
thing there is that might have given some clue is here on the tanks at the top but as much as I try to
enlarge the image the less I can make out under all the rust and dirt of its former life:




Back then many companies actually made their own unlike today, I worked for Leyland Trucks some
years ago, they are all that is left of the old commercial vehicle manufacturers and they bought the
majority of the components from abroad while I was there, we just assembled and supplied parts.
The very last Foden Alpha went off our line at the time before all production switched to D.A.F types,
that was in effect the last of all the old independent manufactures types disappearing into history.

There is a vehicle museum in Leyland, the Alpha went there, maybe they or the plant itself might still
retain all the old documentation from past manufacturers that have been swallowed up by what is now
actually D.A.F. and Paccar here in my region, one of these days I will actually take a trip out to the
museum and see just what is available, until then the internet is all I have.

A link also exists to the Thorneycroft company historical site, I have looked there for information but
there is little other than a historical breakdown of what was made, it might mention any suppliers if
I read everything, the crane was from Coles obviously so maybe if I dig deep enough I might find
something, other than that the only thing that comes to mind are any local owners who might have
a preserved example they drive around the country to the various shows in the summer months.

Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Mission_bug]

Hello guys, it has been some time since I posted anything on this project, helping others with theirs and
finally sorting one of my own that had been left for far too long has kept me away.

So, where were we?   Seems so long ago now, there is dust and spiders all over place, months I guess.


From memory I seemed to remember I was making the drain piece and other parts of the diesel injector body
and digging through my pictures it seems that is where I had actually left things:




Opening things up earlier today I found I had managed to map them to the template as well before putting things
aside but I felt there was a need to re-size the diesel injector body and its parts, time away from a project gives
you a chance to take a fresh look at it and making things just from photographs will always produce a few oddities
so when you finally look back at past parts of the build there is a fresh appreciation of such issues and as such I
have now altered things accordingly and I feel happy with things so far. 


So, with a re-size of things and those bits painted this is where it is at as of now:





Hopefully I will now press on without further delay.


Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Shessi]

Hi Pete,
Now the injector system is nearly done, you'll soon get the ol' girl going....

From the older post, the engine is certainly of their own make....1944 - producing six-cylinder 7,883 cc (99 bhp at 1,800 rpm) and a four-cylinder 5,255 cc (62 bhp at 1,700 rpm) diesel engines & in WW2 produced around 5,000 vehicles for the War Department including the 4x4 Nubian and Amazon models.

Good stuff!

Cheers

Shessi

[Mission_bug]

From the older post, the engine is certainly of their own make....1944 - producing six-cylinder 7,883 cc (99 bhp at 1,800 rpm) and a four-cylinder 5,255 cc (62 bhp at 1,700 rpm) diesel engines & in WW2 produced around 5,000 vehicles for the War Department including the 4x4 Nubian and Amazon models.

Hello Shessi, thank you very much for the information, really appreciated.

From my own experience of working in both railway and truck manufacturing, the companies I worked for in earlier days had actually manufactured much of the equipment they used themselves so it seemed to me most likely that Thorneycroft would have done the same back then.

During my years in the above industries I think one of the few engine types I saw were specialist Caterpillar engines, diesel types that seemed to be outside of the usual purchasing scheme of things for equipment usually fitted, maybe customers specified those, it could have been possible that even in the time period of our vehicle there just might have been the possibility that Thorneycroft would purchase something from others but it does seem unlikely, I think the normal route would have been Thorneycroft issuing licences for their models to built by other companies.

Anyway, I can honestly say mine has all its components made in the same place.

I never fully bought into this global economy stuff, look at what is happening now with the pandemic, plants are stopped awaiting deliveries from China and such.

Just a couple more images while I am here of the ongoing work.


I made a new front plate as a closer look at the photograhs showed a radius at the bottom:



The new stuff has been mapped and painted and a check made to see that everything aligned, there
was some adjustment necessary but nothing major thankfully:




And into the game for a test, the injector pipes will be adjusted later and there is a securing bolt
I forgot to add to the injector body that holds it into the bracket:



There are quite a few attached items still to make for the injector as well as the rear casting so that will
keep me out of mischief for a while.


Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.