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Stroppy Chippie
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:07 am |
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Div. Officer |
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:24 am Posts: 548
City or Town: Schofields
State: NSW
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Thought it time for the yearly update. The truck has been relocated into the new shed using the Massey Ferguson tow motor (well tractor but tow motor has a nice ring to it). This occurred after a great deal of effort to remove the brake drums off the brake shoes then removing the Lockheed wheel cylinders (the rear cylinders were removed, the front ones are still on the truck due to another seized cable issue). The rear cylinders are currently in a long term soak before more effort with heat to release the seized components. If that part is successful it will probably see the cylinders machined and sleeved. Whilst there are so many parts off so many vehicles available around the world, these model brake cylinders are not on that list. My mate (vehicle restoring business) has an Austin truck undergoing restoration and it has the same model rear wheel cylinders and his description of their condition matches those on the Thornycroft. The refurbished rear doors have been temporarily rehung (as they have timber to attach to whilst nothing remains of the front door pillars) and the front section of roof skin has been removed, showing a large level of missing or rotten timber. A pattern covering the first major rotten beam has been made and will be manufactured at home. Effort continues to remove the rear section of skin to gauge the condition of the timber under it (only light nails and panel pins used but nothing has been made under the expectation that it would ever need to be taken apart for repair). The new exhaust has been bolted up, the refurbished electric fuel pump attached and connected, the fuel tank and its frame have been bolted back onto the chassis (it will need to be removed when work on the timber frame of the cab commences). With luck the next trip to the land will see the gauge panel and its wiring to the fuse panel reattached and the new choke and advance/retard dizzy cables attached. Who knows, might even fit the alternate spark plugs and see what happens (if all the critical items on the panel actually work).
_________________ Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond
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Seejay
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 6:27 am |
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Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:16 am Posts: 1979
City or Town: Cairns
State: QLD
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That's one helluva step forward Brian! Well done!
A suggestion regarding the timber that is hard to get to and may not need to be removed:
For many years now I have been stabilising similar inaccessible timber components on boats, vehicles, and even furniture by injecting a clear epoxy.
Made by Wattyl and name of Seapro TP85 Timber Preserver. Smallest pack is 2 X 1 litre A & B, consistency similar to water so it goes a very long way and it's easily injected via a standard syringe, and it really soaks in to stabilise the structure. Has a long shelf life and also provides an acceptable coating for all classes of overpainting.
I also found that it sticks readily to steel and does permeate into surface rust, stabilsing it until a spray fishoil could finish the job followed by a spray underbody coating.
Good luck with the wheel cylinders. Perhaps an immersion in a pot of diesel heated over a low flame for a couple of hours (out in the open of course) may help?
_________________ Chris O'Keefe R43136 Ex WO Chippy 19th MOBI Intake July 65 to July 85 HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra. Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!
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Hippy Chippy
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 5:24 pm |
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:09 am Posts: 4532
City or Town: Lake Munmorah
State: NSW
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Admire your dedication, commitment, persistence and enthusiasm, Brian... If you have been taking photos of the progressive stages, pick a dozen or so, e-mail them to me, I can upload them to one of your posts, which you can then edit yourself, adding appropriate explanations wherever needed...
_________________ Rick Pengilly WEBMASTER Ex-CPOMTH3 R42630 13th MOBI Intake July'62 to July'74 HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane
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Stroppy Chippie
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 6:56 pm |
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Div. Officer |
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:24 am Posts: 548
City or Town: Schofields
State: NSW
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Hippy Chippy wrote: Admire your dedication, commitment, persistence and enthusiasm, Brian... If you have been taking photos of the progressive stages, pick a dozen or so, e-mail them to me, I can upload them to one of your posts, which you can then edit yourself, adding appropriate explanations wherever needed... Enthusiasm might be a stretch. The original intent was just to stop it being thrown on the scrapheap I do take a reasonable number of images (helps me to remember when a job is done over an extended time). I have noticed that my former military aligned document recording has gone right out the door (I have got copies of images retained on a number of thumb and hard drives - just need to remember where and what they are filed under). Your offer is recorded
_________________ Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond
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Stroppy Chippie
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:12 pm |
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Div. Officer |
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:24 am Posts: 548
City or Town: Schofields
State: NSW
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Seejay wrote: That's one helluva step forward Brian! Well done!
A suggestion regarding the timber that is hard to get to and may not need to be removed:
For many years now I have been stabilising similar inaccessible timber components on boats, vehicles, and even furniture by injecting a clear epoxy.
Made by Wattyl and name of Seapro TP85 Timber Preserver. Smallest pack is 2 X 1 litre A & B, consistency similar to water so it goes a very long way and it's easily injected via a standard syringe, and it really soaks in to stabilise the structure. Has a long shelf life and also provides an acceptable coating for all classes of overpainting.
I also found that it sticks readily to steel and does permeate into surface rust, stabilsing it until a spray fishoil could finish the job followed by a spray underbody coating.
Good luck with the wheel cylinders. Perhaps an immersion in a pot of diesel heated over a low flame for a couple of hours (out in the open of course) may help? "one helluva step forward" - did not think so until I realised that the truck was built in 1953 (two years before I was born), did not attend the Wardroom fire in 1966 even though my former bush fire brigade did (me being 11 at the time and still living at Chester Hill), sat forlorn on a vacant block at Ladysmith from (say) 1970 until 1990 when two Nirimba firefighters saw benefit in its purchase (but failed), until 2013 and nabbed by a former Nirimba apprentice for his fathers joy to work on (being a former Nirimba firefighter), sadly being moved on after his passing to a fire museum at Coolamon where it remained as an inconvenience until I took up the cudgel in 2018 to save it from the scrap heap. I must admit I have learnt so much from the experience. Seejay, have taken onboard all of your suggestions especially stabilising the undamaged timber in the area of the roof skin yet to be uncovered (the low bits being somewhat the worst for wear). I still work to the intent that, if I do not finish it, what I have done (and the vehicles history) will be passed on. I will keep the suggestion regarding the diesel cooking effort as the next process (if the current one does not work). By the way, the museum manager at the fire museum at Coolamon is till hoping the vehicle can be supplied for their 2029 centenary and the widow of the former Nirimba firefighter is still hoping to be able to be driven around in a going unit......
_________________ Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond
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Hippy Chippy
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 12:00 pm |
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:09 am Posts: 4532
City or Town: Lake Munmorah
State: NSW
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Hi Brian, Mike 'Pony' Moore sent a photo in to me that might interest you... Pony writes: Thornycroft Fire Truck in Katherine Historical Society museumHi Rick, I came across this in some images I was going through and thought Stroppy Chippy may be interested in seeing if they have anything or information that may be of assistance to him in his rebuild. Cheers Mike Thanks Pony, great stuff... BTW Brian, the phone number for the Katherine Historical Society museum is: 08 8972 3945 Their website URL is https://www.katherinemuseum.com/ ..... E-mail Address: ceo@katherinemuseum.com.au ..... their Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/KatherineMuseum/ P.S. Here's another fun trick for you, Brian... In your Google Chrome browser, right click on the Thornycroft pic above, then select 'Search Image with Google Lens' and see what comes up...!!!
_________________ Rick Pengilly WEBMASTER Ex-CPOMTH3 R42630 13th MOBI Intake July'62 to July'74 HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane
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Stroppy Chippie
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:39 pm |
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Div. Officer |
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:24 am Posts: 548
City or Town: Schofields
State: NSW
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Thanks gentlemen for thinking of me and the former Nirimba Thornycroft. Not much help with this one, powered by an eight cylinder Rolls Royce (the Nirimba unit having the last of the four cylinder 5.1 litre units - pre war/post war), different body and, probably, the only similarities being the Thornycroft name and it being used at an airport. I will check out the sites though, always interesting to see. Actually just got back from the land with more patterns for the timber frame replacement exercise. Getting to wish that the idea of a mirror build (drivers side to passengers side) had been a Thornycroft baseline action. Made both upper A pillars the same (from what little timber remained on the original) and found that they are "different". Not by design but by the fact (surely) that there were two different tradesmen working on it. One did it his way whilst the other, well, he seems to have had another way of doing it.....
_________________ Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond
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Seejay
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:46 am |
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Site Admin |
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Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:16 am Posts: 1979
City or Town: Cairns
State: QLD
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_________________ Chris O'Keefe R43136 Ex WO Chippy 19th MOBI Intake July 65 to July 85 HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra. Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!
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Hippy Chippy
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 5:39 pm |
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Site Admin |
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:09 am Posts: 4532
City or Town: Lake Munmorah
State: NSW
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Of similar mindset... A short article in this week's Contact magazine: Bringing a Blitz back to life... ............................................................................. ...just missing the canvass water-bag from the front bumper...!
_________________ Rick Pengilly WEBMASTER Ex-CPOMTH3 R42630 13th MOBI Intake July'62 to July'74 HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane
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Stroppy Chippie
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:22 pm |
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Div. Officer |
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:24 am Posts: 548
City or Town: Schofields
State: NSW
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Those bar tread tyres are as scarce as rocking horse shit. The Schofields Bush Fire Brigade tanker that attended to Wardroom fire at HMAS Nirimba in 1966 was a Blitz.
_________________ Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond
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