Maudslay Lorry Restoration Update

On 4 August 2014, 100 years after Britain entered the First World War, the last remaining WW1 Maudslay lorry was started up for the first time in 40 years. 

The Great War lorry that came to Coventry Transport Museum as little more than a chassis is nearly built up to its former glory, thanks to the meticulous craftsmanship and research by the team working on it. 

There are plenty more little touches that the Maudslay team will be tweaking over the coming weeks but first the Maudslay is to travel to Stoneleigh Park next weekend for the Coventry Festival of Motoring taking place 23^rd – 24^th of August.

Workshop Technician Will van Gemeren said that the final issue to correct before the engine would start was that the oil pressure. The oil was creating too much pressure but with a pressure regulator built and fitted the engine finally roared into life.

A new magneto has been fitted and now the engine consistently starts. The Maudslay now needs little touches that will complete its restoration and preserve it. The wheel arches will be rust-proofed shortly and side panel locks will be fitted next week.

The gear linkages have been fixed and brackets have been added to the back wheel arches to add extra support, as well as to house a supply box, which during the war probably would have held necessary provisions and equipment for the war effort. Another support bracket was added to support the exhaust. The front wheel brackets, which are original to the Maudslay, were re-structured to bring them back to their former shape and provide the support needed to the front wheels. The bull bar has also been adjusted to protect the radiator and the bed of the lorry is now completely painted to match its original colour. The canvas is still to be fitted but when complete will weigh nearly 224lbs.

Article by Sara Johnstone.

First World War Maudslay Lorry restoration project - February 2014 update

One of the major projects currently being undertaken by the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum alongside Museum staff, is the restoration of a 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis.

The Friends of the Museum are recording their work on this project on a separate Maudslay Project Blog, but we asked Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh and volunteer Sara Johnstone to give an update of the project's progress during the past few weeks, for readers of this main Museum blog.  You can also read an introduction to the project here. 

In the past three weeks the Maudslay WWI lorry has undergone more work to restore it to its former glory. The cab floor is nearly finished; constructing the floor from timber with a removable middle section replicates the original structure seen in the photographs the restoration team is working from. 

The bent sub-chassis, now straightened using a hydraulic straightening kit, has now been fitted with the engine mount. The chassis has also had the body mounting brackets fitted. Before they went on, they were fabricated, altered and textured to look like castings. This important detail, for those with a discerning eye, makes for a beautiful touch as it mirrors the original Maudslay.

The four steel wings to fit over the wheels have arrived from Manchester. ‘Vintage Wings and Radiators’ made the wings specifically for this Maudslay. Various photographs show that Maudslay lorries may have had steel wings or ply-wood wings, there was not a standard but this Maudslay has been fitted with steel as per the photographs that the restoration team is working from.

And finally, the backboard is in the process of being cut to length, when it is finished it will be sent off to be fitted with canvas.

Article by Sara Johnstone.

UPDATE: We were also very pleased to see the Maudslay lorry project featured in the Coventry Telegraph this week!

Maudslay Lorry Restoration Update - January 2014

One of the major projects currently being undertaken by the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum alongside Museum staff, is the restoration of a 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis.

The Friends of the Museum are recording their work on this project on a separate Maudslay Project Blog, but we asked Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh and volunteer Sara Johnstone to give an update of the project's progress over the last few months, for readers of this main Museum blog.  You can also read an introduction to the project here. 

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The engine has been beautifully restored and returned to the Museum workshop by Richard Peskett and has since been fitted to the chassis. It is refurbished, using most of the original material. Richard specialises in vintage vehicle restoration/maintenance so the Museum is extremely grateful for his contribution to this project.

When the bulkhead was being restored by Museum Technician Chris Strawbridge, it became apparent that a side rail of the sub-chassis had been bent at some point. Chris took great care to straighten it out. He said "It is our goal to restore the vehicle as authentically as possible. The lorry is one of a kind and no-one is left alive who would have built or worked on one.” He is therefore working from old photographs and research carried out by himself, Steve Gosling and Friends of the Museum to restore the vehicle as close as possible to how it would have been built in 1916.
The bonnet sides have been manufactured by Martin Robey Engineering Ltd, free of charge!  Martin and his team have done a fantastic job in making new engine side covers, because the originals were too far gone and could only be used as patterns. After preparation and priming, the refurbished strengthening bars were fitted using the same method of riveting as the bonnet top. 

 A new cab floor structure was also constructed with timber, reinforced with a steel strip. The workshop restoration crew used Whitworth nuts left over from the Thrust SSC tunnel construction!

A mock-up of the seat box was constructed, replicating all the vital dimensions and mounting points for the canvas roof hoops. This seat box mock-up will be shipped off to someone who will build the canvas for the top of the vehicle. This will enable them to work on the canvas roof at a more convenient height.
A new steering wheel has been cast to as near to the original pattern as possible, based on research done by Steve Gosling, who also made the pattern. The wheel casting is in the process of being fettled and smoothed in preparation for the rim to be powder-coated: this is so that the wheel will closely replicate the original finish it would have had. 

Steve Gosling with the new steering wheel

Steve has kindly offered to assist us in making many of the other small fixtures and fittings which the vehicle would have had, but are either broken or missing. As the majority of the vehicle’s components were damaged over time, his contribution is invaluable!
The Maudslay has been entered for the London to Brighton run for historic commercial vehicles in May, so we still have a lot of work to do before that date.
We will keep you posted.
Sara Johnstone

The Maudslay restoration team

Daimler Double-Decker 366 restoration update 1

In February 2013, we handed over a 1940s Coventry Transport Daimler double-decker to local bus enthusiast Roger Burdett, on a restoration loan.

This vehicle, original fleet number 366, was built to wartime austerity regulations, and as with many such buses, required extensive renovation after the war.  As such, it was re-bodied by Roe Bodies in 1951 and continued to be used by Coventry Corporation Transport for a number of years, before being donated to Coventry Transport Museum in 1971.

Inevitably for a vehicle that is over 70 years old, and has had this kind of life, the bus is now in need of major restoration – work that we as a museum do not currently have the resources to undertake.  So when we were approached by well-known bus enthusiast and collector Roger Burdett, with the offer of completely restoring ‘366’, we jumped at the proposition. 

At the time of the loan, our Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh said:

“We are a very small team looking after a collection of well over 200 vehicles, not to mention hundreds of cycles and motorcycles, and we would never have had the resources to give 366 the attention it needs.   We are therefore really thrilled that Roger is taking this project on, with a view to getting this delightful and popular vehicle back on the road.  We have known Roger for some time now, and as well as being a great friend of the Museum, we have seen his work on similar projects and we know that he’s going to do a great job on 366.”

And Roger said:

“I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into work on this fantastic bus – next year will mark 100 years since Coventry Transport first put motorised buses on the roads of Coventry, and my aim is to have 366 ready to take part in the centenary events for that anniversary.”

Roger has now had the bus for a few weeks, so we asked him to give us a rundown of how the work is going:
“Unfortunately the cold weather delayed work on the previous vehicle in the restoration pipeline, meaning that we were not able to start on 366 as soon as we would have liked, however I am pleased to say that we are now full steam ahead, spending around 50 hours per week on the vehicle.

The engine appears to be very sound, other than a cracked engine block.  To avoid a total engine strip down, we are going to remove the engine in June and then trial weld the crack at my premises, using skilled welders who currently work on the vehicles.  If this is not successful, the engine will need to go away to a specialist.

We have taken the panels off the rear end, revealing the modifications carried out when turning the vehicles back to a bus from a mobile workshop.  I am still looking for an ‘in service’ picture of the rear end of the vehicle before work can commence.

Rear end minus panels, clearly showing original window shape

The side panels below the downstairs windows will be off by the end of April and then we will see how the ‘wrong’ downstairs windows are fitted.  The frames that are currently on the vehicle are actually from a later bus, so we will have to make a major decision about whether to retain them or fabricate replica originals.

Offside minus some panels, showing wood frame in remarkable condition for 60 years old.

As regards the interior, we have examined the floors, which show some wear and cracking of the lino, but I feel that we can repair-paint and polish.  The seat frames are incorrect for the body (we can tell because the seat legs have been put on supports upstairs, rather than being bolted to the floor) - but we will not be replacing them.  The seat trip moquette is as used/very similar to London Transport (LT) RF and RT models.  I have clubbed together with a number of LT vehicle owners to have a new run of moquette made, and this is due for delivery in mid-May.  This will enable to seats to be re-trimmed, but with vynide borders, rather than the original unobtainable leather.

We are transferring destination blind mechanisms and blinds from Coventry 94.”

Downstairs saloon with seats removed.

Well done to Roger and his team for making a great start on this massive project – we will bring you further news of the restoration as the project develops.

Recommissioning the 1909 Rover 15

One of the oldest vehicles in the Museum collection, the 1909 Rover 15, has been in the workshop for some serious attention over the past couple of months.  Whilst this beautiful vehicle is much admired by visitors to the Museum, and even occasionally goes out to shows such as the Festival of Motoring and the NEC Classic Motor Show, it has been hiding some dark secrets.

The Rover was acquired by the Museum in 2004, having undergone an expensive restoration by its previous owner, but hasn’t been run since its arrival.  Earlier this year, the decision was made to recommission the vehicle to running condition, and in July, Museum Technician Chris Strawbridge set to work.

The first job of course was to change all the fluids, and here’s where Chris discovered the first problem – at some point one of the seals had shrunk, meaning that all of the radiator cooling water had ended up in the oil in the bottom of the engine – and since the oil had been emulsified by the water, it looked likely that this had happened when the engine last ran.

As you can imagine, this water had caused severe engine damage, the worst of which was corrosion on the oil pump drive gears, to the point where there were barely any teeth remaining – Chris is currently having new gears made at a local engineering firm to completely replace the ruined parts.

Next up, when Chris took the sump off, he discovered more play in the big end bearings than you would expect of an engine that has been rebuilt, and his initial suspicion was that this was another casualty of the water leak.  On closer inspection however, he found that the engine had not been assembled properly when it was rebuilt before arriving at the Museum – in particular, parts of the big end bearings had been left with metal burrs attached, meaning that Chris had to strip the lot to get the big ends functioning correctly.

Chris is currently awaiting the arrival of the new gears to replace the corroded ones, and is none-committal about how long the rest of the work will take once these parts arrive, since he can’t be sure what other secrets may be lurking as the work continues.  

Whilst Chris has many years’ experience of working on all kinds of different vehicles, it is the first time he has worked on a vehicle of this age and he is learning a huge amount about it as he progresses with the work.  Chris feels that it’s vitally important to carry out this kind of work and try to keep older vehicles running – otherwise how else will skills and understanding about how they were built and how to look after them be passed on for the future?

If Chris succeeds in getting the Rover running there will be another interesting challenge to overcome in order to put it on the road – the car carries acetylene lamps, and if it is to pass an MOT the lamps must be in working order.   

Calcium carbide powder will have to be placed inside the lamps, onto which water is dripped, producing acetylene gas though a jet, which is then lit to form a sort of candlelight to light up the headlamps.

If and when the lamp-lighting day arrives it will be wonderful to see, and will be a testament to a lot of hard work and patience by a skilled technician – we will keep you informed of Chris’s progress with the Rover over the coming weeks and months.

Introduction to the 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis Restoration Project

One of the major projects currently being undertaken by the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum alongside Museum staff, is the restoration of a 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis.

The Friends of the Museum are recording their work on this project on a separate Maudslay Project Blog, but we asked Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh to give an overview of the project so far, for readers of this main Museum blog:

In the period before the First World War, the government set out specifications for lorries for military use. Several commercial vehicle manufacturers actually built these vehicles, including: Daimler, Thorneycroft, AEC and Maudslay. Although they were all different, they were built to the same requirements such as weight, horsepower, dimensions, etc. Different body styles were fitted to these vehicles, depending on their use. Large numbers of these military lorries were sold as surplus at auctions after the Great War.

This particular chassis would have been built by Maudslay at Parkside for the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The vehicle is believed to have been used by the War Department on an airfield in the Angus region of Scotland. Four identical Maudslay chassis were purchased by Coventry Corporation Tramways after the war in 1921 for conversion to buses.

The Museum’s 1916 Maudslay Subsidy chassis was acquired by the Museum in August 2000 from a farm in Dundee, for £10,000. The vehicle was mostly complete, but in a totally unrestored condition. The Great War, Model B three-tonner, was last used in the mid 1970s as a holiday home at Crathy on Deeside, and before that it had been a showman’s living van until 1932. It was stored for many years until being sold to the museum.

Ever since the purchase of the Maudslay chassis, the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum have been raising funds for the restoration of the Maudslay. Restoration of the chassis started in July 2007, every Friday a dedicated team of Friends work with the museum’s collections care team on restoring the lorry to its former glory.

Although the chassis is largely complete, because of its long life as a showman’s vehicle and subsequently as a holiday home, almost every component has a significant amount of wear and tear. It is our goal to rescue as much of the original items as possible - rather than just replacing components with newly made examples, we try to repair the original items, this always adds to the authenticity and gives it ‘the right look’ when inspected closely.

The restoration started with making a detailed photographic record, which has already proven invaluable when the re-assembly started. Once a complete condition survey had been written, the Maudslay was completely disassembled into its main components.

Due to the impending centenary remembering the start of the First World War in 2014, we are aiming to complete the Maudslay during that year. Should we fail to do so, and it is always a difficulty to put a completion date on a restoration project, then we aim to finish the project during 2016 - the 100^th anniversary of the chassis.

Follow our progress on the Maudslay Project blog.

The following companies have provided us with their services so far, often with a favourable rate:

Lenoch Engineering, Ramsay Precision Engineers, Matrix Lasers, CMR Engineering, Clifton Rubber.