A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by MP45 » Fri May 07, 2021 5:06 am

Ed Roberts wrote:
Thu May 06, 2021 4:09 pm
Congratulations to a couple I've never met, but would certainly like to. I admire your commitment to family, history, matters of detail and having fun doing all of it. Bless you and wishes for many many more years together.

Sincerely, Eddie
Same here, congratulations.


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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Sat May 08, 2021 2:42 am

MP45 wrote:
Fri May 07, 2021 5:06 am
Same here.....
Thanks. I was hoping to have a VE Day drive today, but it's pouring down outside. A complete contrast to the warmth and sun of our 75th Anniversary of VE Day last year.
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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Sun May 16, 2021 12:55 am

It looks like the world of the 1940's is slowly waking from hibernation and events are starting to appear again.

June

We've got a new one day event coming on D-Day, at Ushaw House, College, Chaple and Gardens, which is only a few miles away from my new house. It has the potential to grow into a full weekend event, with a great location and facilities.

Springwell village has confirmed their 1940's weekend again for late June, though scaled back a bit this year. They haven't had confirmation whether Bowes Railway will be opened up again by then, so it seems likely the event could be focussed around the community centre.

July

The Yorkshire MVT are planning to hold their usual one day meet up in York , some time in early July, though a date isn't confirmed yet. That is usually held on the green next to the castle in the centre of York in April. In past years, we've had everything from baking sun to snow at that event, so perhaps a July meet might give us a better chance of good weather? This is England however, so you can never be sure!!

Aln Valley Railway are holding their 1940's weekend on July 10/11th. I think 2019 was their first show and they were all ready for 2020 when covid hit.

Breighton aerodrome are holding a one day summer fly-in mid July. This is greatly scaled back from their usual Summer Hangar Bash which is a full weekend with a hangar party and live music on Saturday evening.

August

There's also social media posts flying around that the Beamish Museum four day "Dig for Victory" event is going ahead in early September. I haven't seen any official confirmation of this yet, but as it is our favourite event of the year, fingers crossed that the rumours are true.

I'm also hoping that the North East MV Club hold their MV gathering at Ryhope Pumping Station. So far I haven't heard anything about it, but as it is held over the August Bank Holiday, there's still a few months for the covid situation to ease further, so I'm hopeful.

September

I really hope Tanfield Railway will hold their 40's weekend too. During our Christmas drive in late December, we called in to Tanfield for coffee and were chatting with Colin Watchman, one of the event organisers. He was full of enthusiasm for the return of the 40's event and steam gala in 2021, but sadly, he passed away unexpectedly recently. I really hope they can pull the event together, but Colin's passing will be a big loss to the team.

There's a few other events which normally take place across the year, but I haven't heard any serious rumours about those returning in 2021. I think quite a few organisers are reluctant to put any time into planning this year, just in case the plug gets pulled again.
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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Sun May 23, 2021 5:55 am

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The new Ushaw event is definitely going ahead and this week the Beamish Museum, four day "Dig for Victory" event has been confirmed and entry forms sent off for my two Jeeps. It is often held at the end of August, unless the bank holiday weekend gets in the way, so this year it's been moved to the start of September, just before the schools go back after the Summer.

On the home and vehicle front, I'm still waiting for the builders to start work on the garage modifications. He said he would order the new RSJ to support the roof when the door openings are enlarged and expected to start soon, but due to almost three weeks of solid rain during May, he's probably running a bit behind on other projects. So for now, the Dodge is still gift wrapped outside my workshop.

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I did give it another run and warm through to temperature on Friday, plus exercised the brakes to make sure things don't seize up. The 6v battery was then removed and brought indoors for some maintenance charging. I suspect it is actually on its way out and not holding charge as well as it should. I've never fitted a new battery to the Dodge and neither did the previous owner, so it's at least 16 years old. At rest, each cell is giving about 2.15 volts. The case around the terminals has had cracks in for years which was probably from over charging at some point in its life. I periodically clean them out and re-seal them to stop leaks. I've always unscrewed the cell caps when ever I've charged it, but left them lying loose over the holes to minimise evaporation.

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The negative battery terminal clamp bolt has also become severely corroded from leaks over the years, so that was removed, the clamp cleaned up and a new bolt found and fitted.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Sun May 23, 2021 6:08 am

On the Jeep front, the springtime servicing is ongoing. It's been so cold and wet through May, I've had little interest in weilding spanners with numb fingers! They've both had oil and filter changes and on Friday, I moved on to the drive train. So both had the transmission, transfer case and diff oils checked and topped up where necessary. The GPW is always a bit more effort due to the early style transmission fitted. It has the right side fill plug which is really difficult to get to, so I always remove the gear lever and transmission covers to monitor the oil level. More bolts to remove and replace, but much easier to access. I've still got to do all the grease points on both Jeeps to finish the servicing.

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After the problems with the leaking oil filter on the M201 at the beginning of May, I'd given the Jeep a few runs in the garden to check for leaks. All seemed well, but again due to the bad weather, hadn't had a chance for a road test. While it wasn't particularly warm on Saturday 22nd, around 9 or 10C, my daughter and I went out for a short local drive of a few miles, with no signs of any leaks from the filter lid. I wanted a little piece of mind before the first event in a couple of weeks time, as it will be Lynne driving that Jeep, not me.

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While checking the Jeep underside, I also found three rust holes in the silencer, fitted in 2007. A little while ago, I'd spotted some tiny dots that may have been pin holes, but decided to wait for a warmer day to investigate properly. The silencer must have been pretty thin, as just a few weeks later, the suspected pin holes had developed into proper holes. A replacement silencer has been ordered and will be fitted shortly.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by autonoob » Mon May 24, 2021 6:03 pm

I like how you painted those wheels to complement the color of your classic jeep.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Tue May 25, 2021 5:24 am

Hello autonoob, did you reply to the wrong thread? There's nothing special about the wheels or the wheel colour on any of my vehicles. It's just the same green as the rest of the Jeep.

In other news, my replacement silencer arrived this morning, so I'll get that fitted soon. It needs to be done before D-Day, my first proper event since September 2019. I also found out last night, that another event has been confirmed at a local airfield just nine miles away, to be held in August.
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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Fri May 28, 2021 7:14 am

May 26th - Silencer Removal

The replacement silencer came from Universal a few days ago. Having had a general look around the old silencer, I figured it wasn't going to give up without a fight. It was fitted in October 2007 and other than replacing the rear support bracket around three years ago, it hadn't been touched.

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The various clamps, bolts and brackets were very rusted and didn't look like they would just unbolt. The rear support bracket and bolt did behave, probably as it was only replaced a few years ago after failing at one of the Breighton Aerodrome Fly-Ins.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Fri May 28, 2021 7:15 am

The front support bolt sheared straight away. The clamp at the front of the silencer wouldn't budge at all. After lots of fighting, the clamp loosened slightly and was able to slide forwards on the manifold pipe. However the silencer wouldn't move. In the end, I cut through the outer tube exiting the silencer and chisled it open, followed by belting it with a hammer to free it from the manifold pipe.

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As it came free, the tail pipe fell away; rusted through at the point where the rear bracket supported it. Further inspection showed more small holes developing elsewhere on the silencer, so it really was beyond saving. After almost 14 years, I can't complain too much.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Fri May 28, 2021 7:16 am

The rear support and manifold clamp were treated by electrolysis to remove rust and were then wire brushed and painted. The support that went around the front of the silencer needed modifying. The silencer I'm replacing came from Jeeparts. It had a larger circumference than the original Hotchkiss silencer it replaced. As a result, back in 2007, I had to weld in some pieces to increase the size of the bracket.

Now the new replacement silencer came from Universal Jeep Supplies and was the same size as the original Hotchkiss silencer. So the bracket was cut again, pieces cut out and it was welded back together at what was probably its original size.

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May 28th - Silencer Fitting

All the silencer brackets had been painted in Hammerite as an undercoat and then an enamel top coat. I haven't unpacked my olive drab yet, so I'll touch them up at a later date. The open end of the silencer needed the slots lengthening a bit and the petals hammering further open to fit onto the manifold pipe, but still wouldn't fit on far enough to align the silencer with the support bracket. To fix the problem, I cut about half an inch off the manifold pipe which brought the silencer forwards to a better position.

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Other than that, the fitting went without any problems and the Jeep is back on the road.

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My daughter and I then took the Jeep out for an 8 mile round trip to the petrol station to get some fuel for both Jeeps for the Ushaw Historic House D-Day event on June 6th, the first proper 1940s event since September 2019. An event report will follow after next Sunday.
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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:23 am

Ushaw Historic House "Way Back When" D-Day Event - June 6th

After 20 months without a public event due to covid, D-Day 2021 saw an olive drab invasion force descend on Ushaw Historic House in County Durham, North East England. They were holding a one day "Way Back When" 1940's event to mark the 77th anniversary of D-Day. It was the first chance in a long time to catch up with old ( and some now very old ) friends!! Ushaw House wasn't too far from home, so we took both Jeeps to the event. The "Jeepcam" was mounted behind the screen on "Jessie", looking forwards towards "Hope" on the trip and an abbreviated version of the trip can be seen here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_L97EVaP4Y

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The view through the screen here shows only a small part of the historic house, seen from one end. I never got around the front to see the full expanse of the house and gardens.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:29 am

As a result from the long enforced break from shows, unsurprisingly, the show was well attended, with just a few familiar faces missing. There were also a few new vehicles which had been purchased after the end of the 2019 season, but have had few opportunities to go on show. The good weather of the half term school holiday continued through the weekend and gave us excellent weather for the event too. There were twenty five vehicles on display, plus several dioramas.

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:36 am

It was a little strange at first, being out and mixing again, although people were still being a bit cautious. In addition to the re-enactors and vehicle owners, there were also a good number of public through the gates which was nice to see. Around mid day, there was a firing demonstration from several of the re-enactors and live music from singers performing across the day. My daughter had a great time meeting up with her friends, who also brought a home made kart which provided a great deal of entertainment across the day. We were lucky to find anything for her to wear, as she's outgrown all her 1940's dresses.

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Last edited by armyairforce on Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by armyairforce » Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:40 am

The event was due to end at 4pm and around 3:30pm, the re-enactor displays began to be packed away. As we approached 4pm, the vehicles began to drift away in ones, twos and a couple of small convoys. Lynne and I were among the last vehicles to head back home, having had a fantastic day, just like old times! Further pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2021/ushaw.htm

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Re: A B-17 Fortress, Two Jeeps and a Dodge - My Ongoing MV Journey

Post by sjalbert » Mon Jun 07, 2021 11:50 am

I'm jealous. Great pictures and glad that you all had a good time. I had mine out for a drive on Memorial Day but later that day noticed that my crankshaft pulley was missing a piece of the lip so it was inop for D-Day :(
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