The vehicle, registration number SV1228 was ordered from the Albion works by Kinross County Council and delivered on 8th October 1938.
It worked mainly in the Milnathort area and after the war, it was sold to Scottish Aviation Industries, working on the old airfield carrying dismantled aeroplane parts.
It was kept indoors for a number of years after 1952 with three tons of ball bearings on its back. When a new concrete floor was laid a few years later, the front axle was removed so that the floor stopped short of the main part of the chassis. In this state it was rescued by volunteers who had to remove the load, jack up the lorry to the new floor level and replace the front wheels. It was then transported to the museum.
When I joined the museum as a volunteer, the first thing I noticed about this vehicle was that the starting handle was broken. I thought nothing more of it until the museum's founder, Jack Hoxley, suggested I could try to free the engine. The project was afoot!
The first task I chose was to see how good my metal working skills were and I decided to attempt to replicate the number plate which was bashed and broken. You can see a photo of the old and new ones before the replacement had been painted. The replication was not easy given the equipment to hand but it has turned out fairly true to the original. All the edges have a 1cm fold so that there are no sharp edges.
The next surgical procedure was to relieve the engine of its bonnet and side panels, which was easily done as they lifted off. Next, the radiator was unbolted and set carefully aside. In removing the radiator, a large quantity of powdered iron oxide (rust) decided that this would be an opportune moment to escape from the bottom hose. This was duly noted.
Next, the bonnet support rod was chosen to be removed because it was at convenient poke-in-the-eye height, running as it did from the cab, over the engine to the front of the vehicle, where it had been secured to the top of the now removed radiator. The securing nuts were liberally sprayed with WD40 and a large spanner applied to them. The nuts were somewhat obstinate, and it was several weeks before the WD40 had penetrated sufficiently to permit the nuts to be moved with the gentle application of a large hammer to the spanner. Care had to be taken not to bend the thin cab panel to which the bonnet support rod was bolted. Until the rod had been removed, great care was taken not to put any pressure on the rod which could have bent it or the cab where it was supported.
In the meantime, the inlet and exhaust manifolds were unbolted. It was noted that there was a large crack in the exhaust manifold which will have to be repaired somehow. See the photo.
Next, the cylinder head was removed. Again copious quanties of rust had the audacity to fall out of the head and onto the cylinder block. This was duly noted. The head was set carefully aside. You can have a look at it. Note the tell-tale rust and rough surface of the number 3 combustion chamber (arrowed). This was duly noted.
The next item of note was number 2 exhaust valve sticking up unusually high. Now the cam follower side access panels were removed by undoing a butterfly nut on each of the two panels, and the reason the valve was sitting so high became apparent. It had seized, but the camshaft had continued around a few degrees before the engine stopped, leaving the valve suspended. There was therefore a noticeable (unusually large) gap between the cam follower and the valve stem. There is a view of the valves with some springs and the cam followers removed. Sorry for the camera shake. I was poised in an awkward and most undignified position for that shot with the hand lamp in one hand, but it gives you the idea.
The dynamo was removed to make it easier to get tools in to the valve-gear. This was outrageously easy by modern standards, being held on by three easily accessible bolts. I'm used to the modern design standards whereby the entire engine has to be removed to get at the alternator in order to bump up the labour charges. Incidentally, this process has now been extended to spark plugs in the latest cars.
Copious quantities of WD40 were sprayed several times over the valve stems and in the inlet and exhaust ports. It took several weeks for penetration to be achieved.
Attention was now turned to the pistons, and copious quantities of the ubiquitous WD40, petrol, diesel and hot olive oil were at various stages poured into the cylinders. The engine had stopped with number one and four pistons at the bottom of the stroke, and numbers two and three (funnily enough) at the top. After several weeks, it was noticed with enormous joy that the fluid level in one and four cylinders had dropped significantly (more than that expected by evaporation). It was also noticed with some disappointment that the small amount that fitted in 2 and 3 remained unchanged. I believe this was because there was less weight in the liquid in those small volumes, and therefore less hydraulic pressure at the top of the pistons.
At various stages, a 4-foot long scaffold pole was carefully applied over the end of the (fortunately) broken starting handle and an attempt made to turn the engine. All that happened was the crankshaft pully nut/starting dog tightened. With this in mind, I decided to try to undo the pistons from the crankshaft which was approaching tdc on pistons 2 and 3, and therefore turning the engine by the starting handle was attempting to push those pistons up against the rust at the top of the cylinders. I reasoned that if the pistons were disconnected and the crank turned out of the way, I could hammer the pistons down.
In order to undo the pistons, I had to drain the oil, which was contaminated with lots of hydrogen monoxide, and remove the sump. Sump removal was easy as there are no cross-members in the way. Nasal sensors were employed to analyse the state of the engine oil clinging to the crank and components. The sensors reported a burnt oil smell. This was duly noted.
The piston connecting rod caps were secured by nuts with split pins in them, and it took several hours of patient persuasion and nipped fingers before all the pins were removed and a stinging eye caused by a drop of WD40, attracted by malicious gravitons into the dead centre of the eye, was attended-to with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The nuts were then removed and the caps tapped off gently with a light hammer. At this point, a highly specialised tool (a socket set extension bar) was hammered against the flat end of number one and four connecting rods, and with not too much effort, the pistons moved. There was much jumping about and celebration at this monumental event. Well, I went and had a well-deserved coffee anyway.
I decided to try the same procedure on 2 and 3 pistons despite the rust at the top of the cylinders. Number two moved a small distance fairly easily, but 3 refused to budge. Even the application of a trolley jack to the specialised tool against the connecting rod resulted only in lifting the entire vehicle.
Continuing with the idea of turning the crank anti-clockwise to bring it away from number 3 connecting rod, I placed another highly specialised block of wood under one limb of the crank at a strategically calculated angle and jacked it up to rotate the crank, but again this only resulted in raising the vehicle. I therefore started looking for anything else which would stop the crank from turning and reasoned that the oil pump, driven off the camshaft which is driven by gears (not a chain or stupid belt) off the crankshaft, must also be seized. I managed to persuade the oil pump that it was a good idea to see the light of day again, but this was difficult as the shaft had to turn in order to drop down as the gears are angled. The shaft was plied with plenty Water Dispersant spray, and levered around until the pump came off.
The next exciting installment.
