Just another report on my progress which as normal has not been enough.
My plans for the Christmas break was to give the stalwart a long run and get some video of it going though some muds holes I found not far from work where the stalwart is kept.
I didn't want to do this by myself and just the way things happen everyone who was to come baled out though different reasons........the Stalwart is not reliable .......it has not proven itself so , but needs to do short runs to get that reliability and I need other people around encase of trouble.
As I have no shed to work in for the Stalwart ,its been too hot or raining ect....I must work in with the weather..
The back of the Stalwart has been getting more work to rust and rear light housings, even though they are self draining, a small amount of water still sits in side and over 50 years has corroded everything.
A extra small 1/8 BSP drain bung has been added to the housings.
New stainless steel cover access plates made and bushes for the bell cranks for the RHS water jet steering.
The RHS water jet steering was seized up though lack of use and the old bushes had to be cut off and I made new ones in the lathe.
The water jet linkage needed new end float springs made.
Just to get the rear lights out was a big job because of rusted solid UNF threads and the bolts/screws just break of and then the drill out, and retaping etc..
I try to use stainless steel replacements.
Even wiring harness steel support straps are corroded away and I make new ones in Stainless from cutting up old hose clamps.
I have now discovered the bottom of the radiator surround frame is badly corroded and the radiator will have to come out..........this job appears straight forward to do, just I guess it weights about 150 KG , so I think a forklift will be in order to pluck it out, up and over.
The radiator is interesting as it is cross flow and I cannot not think of a vehicle in the 1960s which used a cross flow radiator.
The stalwart was backwards in some ways, but cutting edge in the 1960s in very many others.
The Design of the cooling system using a large header tank with a venturi constant flow and breathers back to it is interesting too.
The Stalwart is designed for operation from -40c to +50c temperature operation and will operate as a boiling water system if needed in a emergency for a while without hurting the motor.
The B81 Rolls Royce in the Stalwart benefits from developments to the cooling system for use of that motor in a German armoured tracked vehicle in the late 1950s
The drivers cabin has large over heat warning light and horn.
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