Our 'Self-propelled Pump'

  At the last show there were lots of little short runs and it took its toll on the battery, we have more shows this year and I wanted to make sure we dont get stuck anywhere. Weeting Rally is our next one, thats a 2 and 1/2 hour run from where we are, so needed to do a bit of maintenance. All 32 of the grease nipples have got some attention, oil levels and brakes checked and steering oil topped off *again*. I received a donation of a solar panel that was slightly bent (That's physically bent, not stolen bent) that is meant to go atop a caravan. With the addition of a solar charge controller I can keep the battery topped off and also connect a 'load' to the solar panel, in this case my orange flashers for the roof. I also get some USB chargers :) The manual fuel pump was also causing me some issues drawing the fuel up from the tank after standing meant lots of turning over which was killing my battery Electric Fuel pump here we come.  I got the solar panel installed and wor...

Ramsey Fire and Steam show in Ramsey is a great family ran show, there is about 20 fire appliances all shapes and sizes and a bunch of steam engines. Its hosted at the Ramsey Rural Museum and happens at the end of June typically.  Its our 4th year of going and we won Best in Show! The award is dedicated to Will Baker who was one of the founders of the show and was taken from the world far to early. 

I found a curious issue with the fan belt. I was getting the odd ignition light under load and couldn't get the fan belt to the tension I wanted. The Dynamo was right up against the stops.  On inspection I found that the 'stop' had two settings. It was set to the shortest, I moved the bolt of the stop and got another few inches travel on the Dynamo and was able to get the fan belt nice and tight! She is running sweet as a nut. I also replaced all the grease in the 36 grease nipples under the body. This had a dramatic effect on the steering.  Then I set about replacing the roof, it was starting to let go and was leaking if caught in a rain shower. I took off the old vinyl which was hessian backed and had gone extremely  brittle and was receding from every joint. The wood was solid, no rot thankfully. I managed to get hold of a roll of old hessian backed flooring from a carpet fitter who had used it in a hospital in the 80's and it was a light green. He recommended ...

  Got out to a show in September and was parked next to a Zil-131 which is a 6x6 fire truck used during the cold war in Soviet states. Famously used in Chernobyl after the nuclear accident to contain the fires.  It was mentioned that all we needed between the Zil and the Goddess was an iron curtain. Two sisters in arms from different sides of the cold war. 

  Just before a big run I was checking the tyre pressures and couldn't get any air in the nearside rear.  A quick run to Pecks, a agricultural distributor in Ramsey St Mary's got it sorted. I shall not repeat word for word what the mechanic said when he saw the split rims, but I don't think he liked them very much judging by the huffing and puffing to get the bugger off.. 

  The Whittlesey Sports Association hosts a great event called the Big Bash. Its hosted on a sports field with a canal at the back.....  We take Tiny along and drop in the suction hose into the canal and raise money for the Firefighters charity.  www.firefighterscharity.org.uk   We set up a football goal with targets and use the first aid hoses for the kids to have a squirt.  Then on the way home we had a proper squirt! 

I waged war on oil leaks. Armed with some nice thick gasket paper from my father in law (Thanks Eric) a tube of Black Gasket Maker by Wynns (Great stuff) and new oil I replaced the gaskets and oil seals on the axles, transfer box, sump and rocker cover. Anglia Bearing Company were great and had in stock the correct replacement sizes that I needed.  Transmission products supplier | Anglia Bearing Company Ltd (anglia-bearing.co.uk) The original leather oil seals had served their time and were very dry and tired.  I only have the gear box to do now which I will try and do in situ, but the rest of the underneath is now oil leak free.  The transfer box has the main drive for the speedometer which included a plastic worm gear. This had started to deteriorate and I got a replacement.

  First run of the season started with a stuck clutch! Mum bus to the rescue! - Short sharp tug, bit of wheel spin, a big bang and she was free!  First job was to replace the sight glass, this lets you see how much water is in the tank and was a piece of copper pipe. I pinched one of the kids beads (That floats) in a nice day-glow orange as the marker and replaced the copper pipe with a plastic pipe.   

  We have been doing a bit of pumping with Tiny which is a great deal of fun, but have only been able to do it for short time periods.  There is a divert from the pump which provides cooling direct to the oil via a heat exchanger in the sump and a heat exchanger under the radiator. This provides cooling when no air is passing through the radiator when stationary.  The previous owner had just bypassed that divert and filled the pipes with antifreeze as the radiator was leaking into the heat exchanger.  A new found passion for pumping provided the impetus to fix it. Getting it off was the first challenge, very heavy and there were a load of other bits built around it.  With it finally off, the strip began, only broke two of the studs which were 'resistive' after being done up for the past 68 years!  The inside looked like a steam engine with rows of copper pipes, I had expected to see a lot of rot, but they were in surprisingly good condition. A bit of a hose...