The Ultimate FC

A bit of a deviation from the topic (but staying with Gardners) a mate of mine recently bought himself an old tug which has been repowered with a 180bhp Gardner.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/09/1347.jpg

The engine itself is absolutely huge (about 7-8 feet long) and is a real thing of beauty. Impressively quiet, and very refined, along with the really cool addition of a hydraulic control system for the throttle and gearbox that all works off of one lever.

I'll make an effort to take some pictures next time I see him.

A great series of shots there. That twin cranked Rolls is brilliant. Off to YouTube now to find a vid of one running so I can hear what it sounds like... Prob not to dissimilar to the old Deltic Diesels!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv8-yTRsIKw]Abbot FV433 SPG Rolls Royce Tank Engine K60 First Start - sounds great !! - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOxnOpkVNE"]fv432 rolls royce k60 pack walkaround - YouTube[/ame]

I was going to attach the very same vid!! That would be a tight fit in a 101! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DasLandRoverMan

A bit of a deviation from the topic (but staying with Gardners) a mate of mine recently bought himself an old tug which has been repowered with a 180bhp Gardner.

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Gardiners have a very good reputation for marine diesels. Talking about Gardiners, the North Fort Museum on Sydney's North Head has a couple of operational WWII searchlights 90cm and I think 160cm which are powered by Gardiners. Very quiet operation.

Last Saturday I went to a AAVA turn out to get a look at a Saladin ( very rare in Aust) and Two Saracens and see the differences between these vehicles and the Stalwart as they are all apart of the same vehicle family.
I also wanted to try and exchange information about maintaince and try and get a idea how the other vehicles in the family performs.
Before I owned the Stalwart I had ridden in these vehicles before and knew a little bit about them.
Now I am paying much more interest.
It turns out a little bit is the same and a lot is different.
I thought the suspension would be the same , but the stalwart rides higher due the different wishbone design , bigger tyres, bigger and more cranked up torsion bars.
The stalwart is bigger in every dimension especially length and height.
Both the Saladin and Saracen ride better than the stalwart as there suspension is softer.
The bottom parts of the hull is totally different between the other vehicles and the Stalwart.
The method of operation of steering is totally different.
Brakes are totally different between all three vehicles.
Saladin has ring brakes( a very early form of disc brake )
Saracen has drum brakes
Stalwart has modern dual circult air over hydraulic disc brakes with a separate twin drum parking brake.
The Stalwart has more modern systems like being fitted with a very good altenator.
Battery master switches the same, but wired and fitted differently.
Cooling system on the stalwart is similar but much larger and has the full hull air flow feature.
The Saracen and Saladin I could feel by watching and riding on them have less power than the stalwart( B80 verses B81 motor), but the preslector gearboxes can put the advailible power down quickly , while the stalwart is take your time and wait for the revs drop and hope you catch the next gear before the thing rolls to a stop.

Saladin

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/609.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/610.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/611.jpg
Saracen

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/612.jpg

Battery frame painted and the area where it fits has been needle gunned and will have a coat of bituminous black paint and Aust cam to go on yet.
Acid and water tends to sit in this part of the hull/cabin.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/605.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/606.jpg
In the above you can see the aquatic steering rods running to the rear.



This is the same area, but shows the little box designed to supply power to radio gear if fitted.
The other funny bracket near it, is for a not being used seat belt catch to latch onto.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/607.jpg

This spot had much loose rust and paint and got the red oxide treatment( been needle gunned again), it is high in the rear of the cabin, I may one day fit the inner com boxes here, it is great little place to keep small items in the cabin because of the metal pocketed area.
You can just see the top seat belt anchors.
I am doing a lot of painting in the cabin with brush as a spray gun will kill me fume wise in the small space.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/09/608.jpg

The presector gearbox appears to be joy to drive compared to the manual one in the Stalwart and the Stalwart without the fluid coupling relys more on the power spread of the motor( luckily the B81 has a good power
spread too.)
I asked why I rarely see a Ferret/Saracen/Saladin do more extreme off road work.
The preselector box has no engine braking and a owner tried to explain to me in a hard situation the preselector can be a bit hard on the drive line causing the wheels to slip or the fluid coupling will get hot ect.
While the stalwart is harder to drive on road, its ratios and gearbox is more for strictly off road.
The transfercase, looking at the drivers book pictures shows the very different item in the Stalwart than to a Saracen, plus the stalwart has the auto locking diff fitted too.
I was trying the find out how the transfercase is lubricated with the preselector gearbox.......on the stalwart the transfercase has its own oil pump driven via special drive shaft from the gearbox which is a Stalwart specially made item.

The weight of the Alvis Saladin/Saracen/Stalwart family is about the same.
The armour verses all the extra stuff on the stalwart like the crane, winch,and swimming equiptment.
Loaded the Stalwart is heavier at 16 tonnes(the others were not designed to carry extra pay loads) and why it has lower gearing.
The central lube tank for the drive hubs, tractor joints is a big plus for the stalwart as it saves trying to top up everything if things are a bit old and leaky.
I was supprize none of the other Alvis vehicles on the day were not running oil in the suspension, but grease and nothing in the way of additives to the tractor joints or hubs.
A good day to compare and figure out how the Stalwart fits in the Alvis family.
I would have loved to have the stalwart to run around in on that day, but the Stalwart also needs a good off road challenge to show its best and that is hard to find on a public open day.
( for me to get the stalwart transported to and from site from home would have cost 500 dollars each way verses 750 dollars in fuel and the risk of a breakdown and wear and tear if I drove it to and from)......too expensive for me.