Do not watch this

[Tony Wheeler]

Also scrapped was this low mileage late model F60S bearing RAAF markings and what looks like ARN 209963. I had planned to save the motor but ran out of time before Mr. Komatsu arrived on the scene. I regret not asking him to help me extract it, but I'd already made a nuisance of myself and held up proceedings enough. With nothing but a few hand tools there simply wasn't time to save everything, the scale of destruction was overwhelming.

[Tony Wheeler]

With all spark plugs present and the engine cover in place it's quite likely this motor survived the elements, and with low mileage on the still functioning speedo it may have had minimal wear. I was a little discouraged by the milky white sludge on the dipstick but I've found that doesn't necessarily indicate any significant damage, and for little more than scrap price it was certainly worth saving. Unfortunately I ran out of daylight and Mr. Komatsu ate it for breakfast.

[Euan McDonald]

Tony,
I know how hard it was for you to do what you could to save as much as possible.
It was a track winch and now I have see the close up pic I also noticed a carby mount for the choke and throttle cable with the cable attachedin the back of the tipper as well, d’oh……….. I had Colin Jones kindly make one for me as I didn’t have a real one.
As they say "when one door shuts another opens" & "cant save them all"!

[bill m]

Sad to see this, yes I watched it after reading the warning.
On a humourous note thank you Tony I did have a giggle...
"Unfortunately I ran out of daylight and Mr. Komatsu ate it for breakfast."
Bill.

[Paul Dutton]

The killing fields phrase comes to mind...!!!
Sad ending to some beautiful pieces there!!

[Tony Wheeler]

Having miraculously escaped Mr. Komatsu the two CMPs and the Humber now repose happily in their new homes.

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Having miraculously escaped Mr. Komatsu the two CMPs and the Humber now repose happily in their new homes.

It's so good to see the cab 12/ex Rover Light Armoured Car and F60S escape. Look forward to driving them both once they are running...

[Dave Mills]

Thanks to Tony for saving our Humber from the scrap metal man and Euan for delivering it to us. It is now in the land of restoration.

[Euan McDonald]

Hey Dave,
About time you put up a post! I hope we see more progress shots of the Humber rebuild.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Dave Mills

Thanks to Tony for saving our Humber from the scrap metal man and Euan for delivering it to us. It is now in the land of restoration.

No worries Dave, I'm very happy to see this vehicle find such a good home. I never knew anything about Humbers but I've learned a lot through this exercise and really come to appreciate them. They not only look great but it seems to me they have quite a pedigree going back to WW2. Australian Army service makes it all the more interesting and important to preserve. It's been very satisfying to play a part in saving such a rarity from the scrappy and see it receive some much needed TLC! Having seen your work on the Champ it could not be in better hands and I'm looking forward to seeing it in glorious DBG one day.

It occurs to me there's a fine line between death and glory - had the interfering neighbour not notified us of this vehicle, it would have been unceremoniously crushed and on it's way to China by now. I reckon that fine line is captured in the video!

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Dave,
B40's, B60's: waiting with interest to see you get the full set!
Rich.

[Dave Mills]

Yes indeed Rich, to have the B40 & B60 on the road at the same time will be a rewarding time for all. Have only just managed to get into the forum due to some forum difficulties about registering new members.

Battling the dreaded rust monster at the moment; it has certainly taken hold of the Humber and the further we dig and scrape away the dirt & moss the more we find. It will certainly be the case of making one vehicle out of the two. Will be removing the starter today as it is just not responding to 24volts at the moment. Once this is done I will Jerry rig up some go juice and see if I can get the old girl to fire up.

Dave.

[Tony Wheeler]

This one cheated the scrappy:

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

This one cheated the scrappy:

Tony, perhaps you should tell more of the story of the state of the valves and how hard it was to get compression.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Tony, perhaps you should tell more of the story of the state of the valves and how hard it was to get compression.

Nah, none of use will believe it isn't a photoshopped photo anyway - show us the video of it running under it's own power!

H.

[Ian Fawbert]

What a great use for a lemon!

Cheers,
Ian.

[Lynn Eades]

Ian, I have to wonder, What concoction of "lemon" parts, complete your Jeep?

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Nah, none of use will believe it isn't a photoshopped photo anyway - show us the video of it running under it's own power!

H.

Oh, ye of little faith! In due course I'll take some video of it driving around the back yard, but first I need to fix the accelerator pedal, which like everything else on this truck is rusted solid!

As Keith mentions, this poor old flathead took a lot of coaxing back into life. Having finally managed to unseize it and get the crankshaft turning freely, I was confronted with 16 valves stuck wide open, and even after I finally managed to free them all up (which must be accomplished by repeatedly cranking the motor by hand and tapping the valve closed with a punch inserted through the plug hole), the only way I could raise sufficient compression to fire was by removing the plugs and squirting oil into the pots. However, the effect only lasts a few revolutions before the oil is dissipated, and since the motor kept dying on me, I had to repeat the procedure many times. Eventually though it chugged into life and I was able to run it for about 10 minutes, after which it recovered sufficient compression to start normally. That is, without having to remove the plugs every time! Presumably the rings had been rusted solid in their grooves, and perhaps the rusty valves needed to re-seat themselves on their rusty seats! In any case it's now running around 75-85 psi in all pots, which may improve further after driving under load.

All in all a worthwhile exercise - there is no more satisfying sound than the roar of a long dead flathead, and it's always great to cheat the scrappy. This is one flathead that won't be going into a Beijing skyscraper or a Great Wall SUV!

[Tony Wheeler]

Unfortunately the gearbox has suffered rust damage typical of Ford CMPs left out in the weather for decades - moisture collects in the reverse lock actuating rod channel in the gear lever and drips down onto the internals. I've freed up the selectors and it's working fine now but will probably be confined to yard duties.

Distributor works fine despite the cap having been off for years, and the points would have just needed cleaning if the return springs hadn't been rusted through!

[Ian Fawbert]

Ian, I have to wonder, What concoction of "lemon" parts, complete your Jeep?

Hi Lynn,

Not sure what you mean mate, but none as far as i know! I did use some citric acid experimenting on something during resto (dont remember what!!!), so you may find a few particles left!

However, i will remember lemons as a good plug for rad pipes next time i need to blank one off (thought likely smaller lemons on the jeep than the v8!).

Cheers,
Ian.