Our LRDG Chev

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by jack neville

Were any of these desert type vehicles equiped with canvas as in this vehicle?

Not as far as I know, but I may be wrong.

[Andrew H.]

Today we continued working on the ammo body. We are amateurs and cannot do good vertical welds, so to attach the front panel we had to take the body out of the shed and prop it up on its end so we could weld downwards. This involved one of us being lifted up on the tractor FEL with the welding plant and gas bottle roped on securely. It was a very hot day so we propped the ammo body up under a tree for shade. It was pleasant working there and the job was quite quickly done. However with all the panels now welded on, there are no longer any convenient attaching points for ropes and chains. This resulted in us dropping the whole body with a huge crash, when we put it back in the shed. Fortunately, no damage was done. The next step is to fabricate and attach the wheel arches, and also start working on the brakes.

[Andrew H.]

Today we called in to see how the engine re-conditioner is getting on. He is re-grinding the crankshaft, honing the bore, putting in new bearings and new pistons etc. It has only taken him three years.

[Kuno]

Hi Andrew - sorry for late reply... but in the recent months I have looked into vintage aircraft rather than vehicles... good to see that your Chevrolet is still making progres.

A pity it is not yet in driving condition - else it could have joined our little old Ford a bit to the desert later on this year...

[motto (RIP)]

Nine pistons? You must have one of the very rare 9 cylinder Chevys. No wonder the reconditioning is taking time.

David

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by motto

Nine pistons? You must have one of the very rare 9 cylinder Chevys. No wonder the reconditioning is taking time.

David

We thought she could do with more power when we are out climbing those 300ft sand dunes with the Stukas lining us up in their cross-hairs.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

... so to attach the front panel we had to take the body out of the shed and prop it up on its end so we could weld downwards. This involved one of us being lifted up on the tractor FEL with the welding plant and gas bottle roped on securely. It was a very hot day so we propped the ammo body up under a tree for shade. It was pleasant working there and the job was quite quickly done. ...

Was this picture copied off one of those Facebook pages entitled, 'why men have shorter lifespans'?

[Andrew H.]

We thought it was safe enough at the time. Job done now anyway .

[Andrew H.]

Today we finished welding in the wheel arches, grinding off the welds and sharp edges and priming them. We admit to using a small amount of bog to fill the odd gap. We would have to be much better at welding to avoid using any bog at all, but we do try to keep it to a minimum.

The long marathon of fabricating the ammo body is now almost at an end. We cannot believe it has taken so long but we only work on the truck in the weekends. We are now finally in the home stretch and all that remains to be done is to install the small "gussets" under the wheel arches, and to fabricate the tail-board.

[Andrew H.]

We are still plodding along with our LRDG project. Yesterday we finished fabricating the tailgate and swung it on its hinges for the first time. It was quite difficult getting everything true and straight. As with all of these jobs, there is more to it than meets the eye, but we got there in the end. For the first time in four years we are at last daring to predict a finish time for the truck. We think we might (just might!) be driving it in the next Anzac parade!

[Andrew H.]

We have now made a start on the brakes. All of the old brake lines and some of the cast-iron brackets holding them to the chassis are either unusable or missing. Also some of the brass brake-line junctions are missing. So we had to scout around and find the necessary bits and pieces from a derelict truck we know about (we are lucky to have access to it). We also took photos of a restored LRDG truck to find out how the braking system fits together. Attached pics show an old original bracket that holds the armoured hand-brake cable to the chassis and how that goes on a restored truck. Another pic shows the "Y" shaped brass fitting that goes on the brake master-cylinder. I imagine these brake fittings are similar to those on the CMP trucks?