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!

Sweet Seventeen - A Poem by W.H. Maudslay

The Museum archive contains a number of documents relating to the Maudslay Company, which built cars at Parkside from 1902 until about 1926.  Amongst the records is the personal scrapbook of W.H. Maudslay, the founder of the company.

Archive Volunteer Dave Butler has spent many hours examining this scrapbook in detail, and is picking out a variety of items of interest for the Coventry Transport Museum blog.   The poem below appears to have been written by Maudslay himself:

SWEET SEVENTEEN

Have you heard of the beauty that’s just come to town
A Warwickshire lass of undoubted renown
She comes of a stock far famed and well born
The same lovely features being found in her form
They may sing of Godiva, old Coventry’s queen
But you can’t match this beauty of Sweet Seventeen

Her radiant face in a bonnet so round
Rivets your glance as she skims o’er the ground
While her body is moulded with exquisite grace
She can move like a racehorse or go your own pace
And yet she’s so quiet, of such charms you may dream
She’s a regular darling, our Sweet Seventeen

She’s as sound as a bell is our Coventry charmer
So strong, yet so light, no rough roads can harm her
And just through the city she moves with such grace
The whole of the town wants to see her sweet face
But hurry, oh hurry, if business you mean
Or you won’t stand a chance with your Sweet Seventeen

If you find yourself walking down Piccadilly
This lovely creation you may chance to see
Number 60, the house where she pleases to dwell
See her once, and you’re sure to fall under her spell
You simply can’t help it, she is such a queen
Amongst cars, and her power is a Sweet Seventeen.

The Maudslay Seventeen was introduced in 1910 and a technical description of it in the 9th October 1909 issue of The Autocar refers to it as the Maudslay “Sweet Seventeen”.
Number 60 Piccadilly was the address of the company’s London showrooms.  

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. 

_____________

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

Maudslay Records in the Coventry Transport Museum archive

Dave Butler, Archive Volunteer.

The Maudslay Motor Company was established in 1901 by Cyril Maudslay, whose ancestors had for many years owned and run the firm of Maudslay, Sons and Field, famous throughout the 19^th century as builders of boilers and engines for ships.  The motor company’s premises were at Parkside, Coventry.  Cars, lorries and buses were produced until the outbreak of the First World War, when the company ceased car production and concentrated on commercial vehicles.  In the early 1950s, production moved to Alcester and the Parkside premises were closed. 

Coventry Transport Museum has two Maudslay cars, a lorry and a bus on display, and some of the company’s records from the Parkside era are held in the museum’s archive.  Archive volunteer Dave Butler has been examining two of these records in detail.

The first volume is an album of cuttings from various newspapers and magazines, covering the period from the mid-1870s to 1931.  We believe that it was kept by Walter Henry Maudslay who was the chairman and managing director of Maudslay, Sons and Field until the company’s demise in 1900, although a few items date from after his death in 1927.  A good number of these are articles about the company and its products – a fast crossing of the Atlantic by Maudslay engined ships, engines for new warships for the Turkish Navy, a small railway locomotive and of course the various cars.

As well as articles about the Maudslay
company, the book includes personal items
including drawings by younger members
of the Maudslay family.

Perhaps more interesting, however, are the numerous articles about the Maudslay family – weddings, births, funerals and obituaries, letters, and children’s poems and drawings.  The articles suggest that prior to the First World War the Maudslays had a comfortable position in society, being reasonably wealthy and moving in what we would describe as an upper middle class circle. 

W H Maudslay leased an estate in Ireland for a number of years, and several cuttings reflect how the political unrest, both local and national, affected this. During the First World War there are several references to family members and acquaintances in receipt of gallantry awards, although fortunately for the family no member seems to have been killed in action. 

The second volume is a similar album of cuttings, but this one appears to have been the Maudslay Motor Company’s official press cuttings file.  The cuttings in this volume concentrate on the company’s products, mainly the cars, but there are also a few articles on the engines which the company built for marine work.  Also included are several accounts of a journey in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) using a Maudslay car, which must have been quite an adventure in the early 1900s.

We’re hoping to feature some of these articles in future blog entries, so watch this space!