1964 Alvis Stalwart
Discussion
Cracking job Garry, I absolutely love Zils, definitely on my list of vehicles to own! Proper Russki engineering, would like a Kraz 255 as well or one of those Maz tank transporters 
Whilst I've been swanning around on holiday up in the Lake District my mate Matt who co-owns the Stolly has been grafting and got the rear of the cab off, engine oil tank and fuel tank out. Pretty good going!
Whilst I've been swanning around on holiday up in the Lake District my mate Matt who co-owns the Stolly has been grafting and got the rear of the cab off, engine oil tank and fuel tank out. Pretty good going!
Jeepv6 said:
I'm about to retire I'm after another zil but want a reo whistler I drive an Amy merc e63 but due to speed limits it point less so a cheap run around and a nice old truck would be better
Perfect! I'd much rather a Reo or a Zil over a posh Merc there were loads of Whistlers at War and Peace a few weeks back, dear God do they sound good
I'd say they were definitely simpler and less 'delicate' than the stuff we built. Having had a look round say a BMP or a T55 they're much more clunky and quite crude in places. However it does seem to work quite well!
A lot of our vehicles were proper 'engineers' projects, massive amounts of thought and money went into each individual little component rather than just making it tough and easy to repair/replace in my opinion.
A lot of our vehicles were proper 'engineers' projects, massive amounts of thought and money went into each individual little component rather than just making it tough and easy to repair/replace in my opinion.
This evening we stripped the rearmost floor panels out and unseized some pins so that we could remove the frame and cross beam above the engine.
The parts pile continues to grow
This is the rear left hand 'tower' that contains the coolant header tank, now mostly removed
This is with the floor frame removed, bugger was it heavy removing it by hand!
We then took the radiator pipes off, it is held in two rubbers at the bottom end and has studs with a big spring behind the nut at the top end. With two people holding the brackets at the top we gave it a good heave upwards and out it came.
Lovely evening for it too
The parts pile continues to grow
This is the rear left hand 'tower' that contains the coolant header tank, now mostly removed
This is with the floor frame removed, bugger was it heavy removing it by hand!
We then took the radiator pipes off, it is held in two rubbers at the bottom end and has studs with a big spring behind the nut at the top end. With two people holding the brackets at the top we gave it a good heave upwards and out it came.
Lovely evening for it too
Basically we've established that the transfer box/left hand centre bevel box has shat itself and spat out its bearing and cage, the front left prop shaft wobbles about half an inch either way! There's an awkward crossbeam in the way above the driveline for a start so it's easier to lift it all 'back and up' as one assembly, that being the engine, gearbox and transfer box.
There's a lot of other reasons for doing it too, at the moment the hull is absolutely full of accumulated crap and dirt from years of neglect and abuse. With the majority of it out the hull is basically just an empty skip so that can all be thoroughly cleaned out, rotted pipes and hoses repaired etc and most importantly, a nice coat of silver paint. The bilge pump strainers are in the bottom too and they're completely blocked with dirt. Can't say I'd fancy swimming it without those working
The Rolls Royce 'B' series of engines are overhead inlet, side exhaust valve so with the engine in the vehicle it makes it pretty much impossible to do the valve clearances and that sort of thing, so a good clean up and a good refresh of the engine won't go amiss. The clutch is a big twin plate so it'll give us a chance to have a look at the state of that as well.
There's a huge amount to do but we can only crack on and start bringing her back to life properly.
We move into our new unit 1st September so we may even be able to get her in a nice new shed, which will be super
There's a lot of other reasons for doing it too, at the moment the hull is absolutely full of accumulated crap and dirt from years of neglect and abuse. With the majority of it out the hull is basically just an empty skip so that can all be thoroughly cleaned out, rotted pipes and hoses repaired etc and most importantly, a nice coat of silver paint. The bilge pump strainers are in the bottom too and they're completely blocked with dirt. Can't say I'd fancy swimming it without those working
The Rolls Royce 'B' series of engines are overhead inlet, side exhaust valve so with the engine in the vehicle it makes it pretty much impossible to do the valve clearances and that sort of thing, so a good clean up and a good refresh of the engine won't go amiss. The clutch is a big twin plate so it'll give us a chance to have a look at the state of that as well.
There's a huge amount to do but we can only crack on and start bringing her back to life properly.
We move into our new unit 1st September so we may even be able to get her in a nice new shed, which will be super
Made some new front brake pipes for my crappy little kit car today and fitted those, then devoted some time to the Stolly. I removed the air filters and brackets to give me better access and then started removing pipes etc down one side of the engine. On the right hand side access to the front engine mount bolts is restricted by the compressor and hydraulic pump so I set about removing those too. Not finished yet but it's all baby steps in the right direction.
Good spot! Looks a nice example
Matt took a few more bits out today, the main gearbox and power take off actually look quite clean inside so that's a bonus, he also removed the prop shafts to both bevel boxes feeding the Dowty water jets, with the shaft removed they both turn freely thankfully.
Centre bevel boxes both sides however not so healthy...
Matt took a few more bits out today, the main gearbox and power take off actually look quite clean inside so that's a bonus, he also removed the prop shafts to both bevel boxes feeding the Dowty water jets, with the shaft removed they both turn freely thankfully.
Centre bevel boxes both sides however
not so healthy...
When we bought it the top cover plate was removed off the top of the transfer box. I think what's happened is rather than seeing the relatively obvious damage with a closer look to the bevel box output as we have, they've removed it for a look inside expecting to see damage and left it off. That's 20 years plus outside in a field uncovered, no wonder it's not pretty in there! I remember even as a kid looking down through the grilles in the roof and seeing a lot of rainwater down in her belly. Sometimes when I stand back and think about that fact I really must be a glutton for punishment eh?
With a bit of luck and a fair wind she will move again though, in fact I remain pretty damn confident of it. The fact it seems to have lasted so well considering the abuse and neglect it's had is massive testament to the engineering excellence that went into it all those years ago
What a pain! Good that you've seen them in the flesh though.
Today has been a bloody nightmare working on her as we tried to disconnect the transfer box from the bevel box drives to the centre wheels. In theory all through the little inspection hole in the top of the bevel box you undo two bolts, which releases two clamps, then the shaft can be pushed back into the transfer box. Some larger clamps on the outside are then undone and the the whole lot can then be separated.
Unfortunately the clamps inside rotate with the assembly so when it comes to removing them the bolt heads have to be pointing upwards at the inspection hole. You'd achieve this by turning the driveline/transfer box. This is all good and well when everything actually turns, but unfortunately ours doesn't and the bolts are in totally the wrong place. Of the four I've managed to get one out
We even tried putting the sun gear back in the centre wheel to reconnect the drive and tried towing it free with the Bedford, we just dug a trench instead! Had to borrow the farmer's tractor to pull it back as the Bedford kept spinning its wheels
Unfortunately the only way forward that I can see is a bit of butchery in there with a cutting torch or something, very frustrating as knackered or not I don't like doing that sort of thing!
Today has been a bloody nightmare working on her as we tried to disconnect the transfer box from the bevel box drives to the centre wheels. In theory all through the little inspection hole in the top of the bevel box you undo two bolts, which releases two clamps, then the shaft can be pushed back into the transfer box. Some larger clamps on the outside are then undone and the the whole lot can then be separated.
Unfortunately the clamps inside rotate with the assembly so when it comes to removing them the bolt heads have to be pointing upwards at the inspection hole. You'd achieve this by turning the driveline/transfer box. This is all good and well when everything actually turns, but unfortunately ours doesn't and the bolts are in totally the wrong place. Of the four I've managed to get one out
We even tried putting the sun gear back in the centre wheel to reconnect the drive and tried towing it free with the Bedford, we just dug a trench instead! Had to borrow the farmer's tractor to pull it back as the Bedford kept spinning its wheels
Unfortunately the only way forward that I can see is a bit of butchery in there with a cutting torch or something, very frustrating as knackered or not I don't like doing that sort of thing!
On the plus side it's not all bad news, I spoke to a chap named Colin who used to work for Fazakerley Engineering, a company that worked as contractors on MOD equipment, predominantly Stollies doing rebuilds and modifications on them. Fazakerley is mentioned twice in its history, first in 1974 and the next 1980, on both occasions she would've had a full strip down to a bare hull and rebuild, then a thorough inspection and road/water test afterwards.
He sent me these photos of one he believes may well be ours, taken 1974
He sent me these photos of one he believes may well be ours, taken 1974
Cheers Shadow! As my dad said 'you really couldn't have put any more force through that if you'd tried'
We took the PTO gearbox off the top of the main gearbox mid week to have a good look in there, wondering if that had somehow jammed up causing the transfer box to lock up. It sounds silly but we were almost disappointed to find that it all looked very clean and gearboxy in there, with a lever bar we turned it over and pushed the selector dogs into place. It was tight but all seems to work relatively well.
The plan has changed slightly in that we're going to try and pull the front casing off of the transfer box to try and work out what the hell has gone on in there. It must be pretty awful to resist 9 tonnes trying to turn it!
We took the PTO gearbox off the top of the main gearbox mid week to have a good look in there, wondering if that had somehow jammed up causing the transfer box to lock up. It sounds silly but we were almost disappointed to find that it all looked very clean and gearboxy in there, with a lever bar we turned it over and pushed the selector dogs into place. It was tight but all seems to work relatively well.
The plan has changed slightly in that we're going to try and pull the front casing off of the transfer box to try and work out what the hell has gone on in there. It must be pretty awful to resist 9 tonnes trying to turn it!
Friday should be the big shopping day for the truck, we are sending our shopping list off for parts we need at the moment and should be getting a quote for the sum total of parts very shortly. The plan is to combine collection of those with the collection of the tyres as well. I have spoken to Trevor regarding our troubles with the driveline and he reckons they have the cut up remains of another Mk1 including centre bevel boxes etc so that could be another good source of spares there. I am looking at getting some EMERs as well, a sort of thoroughly detailed military Haynes manual as I think we'll be needing them for this drivetrain stuff!
Well there's no doubt about it my wallet has definitely returned from that trip a bit lighter! We got down to East Sussex yesterday afternoon and collected a reconditioned transfer box and gearbox assembly for the Stolly, along with several other bits and pieces like a set of belts, new plugs, filters, clutch plates, drive joints, you name it. Richard's place was fantastic, a properly old fashioned farm with ancient wooden barns in various states of decay, stillages of military parts everywhere, all set in the most beautiful countryside.
We then had the pleasure of making our way back to the M25 to get to Mark's so that we could collect the tyres, the Maps app on my phone was showing red traffic right the way round going clockwise so we had the pleasure of going over Dartford and right the way round anticlockwise instead! Having unloaded it wasn't far off midnight by the time we walked in.
Came home with a fair pile of parts for our hard earned monies
Sintered bronze clutch plates x2
These are rebuilt bevel boxes, you can see more clearly how it drives the centres and then sends two shafts out to either end like a 'T' shape
The big old gearbox, this appears to have the upper PTO gearbox from a Mk2 Stalwart as it's different from ours and has the outlet for a small hydraulic pump at the top, on ours it is driven by a shaft that runs underneath the exhaust manifold from the timing case, in tandem with the compressor
All nice recent stuff
This gives some indication as to how hefty the wheels/tyres are, my oversized Land Rover tyre for comparison...
Finally we bit the bullet and bought a parts list, this is extremely helpful as it has breakdown diagrams of each component so even if nothing else it's helpful in working out how stuff comes apart
We then had the pleasure of making our way back to the M25 to get to Mark's so that we could collect the tyres, the Maps app on my phone was showing red traffic right the way round going clockwise so we had the pleasure of going over Dartford and right the way round anticlockwise instead! Having unloaded it wasn't far off midnight by the time we walked in.
Came home with a fair pile of parts for our hard earned monies
Sintered bronze clutch plates x2
These are rebuilt bevel boxes, you can see more clearly how it drives the centres and then sends two shafts out to either end like a 'T' shape
The big old gearbox, this appears to have the upper PTO gearbox from a Mk2 Stalwart as it's different from ours and has the outlet for a small hydraulic pump at the top, on ours it is driven by a shaft that runs underneath the exhaust manifold from the timing case, in tandem with the compressor
All nice recent stuff
This gives some indication as to how hefty the wheels/tyres are, my oversized Land Rover tyre for comparison...
Finally we bit the bullet and bought a parts list, this is extremely helpful as it has breakdown diagrams of each component so even if nothing else it's helpful in working out how stuff comes apart
I would've thought it does Shadow yes, we shall see when we separate the two!
Dead right about the exploded diagrams, they are all amazing hand drawn illustrations. Amazing skill to make them so accurate really.
Progress has been nil on her as we've been very busy tarting up the workshop before winter sets in.
I had a text through from Mark on Friday asking had we managed to remove the rims from the tyres he sold us as he wanted those back for another set of more modern tyres he has to fit to his Stolly. All but two came off with a selection of big levers and a wrecking bar, the remaining two needed lots of soapy water.... and some 'out of the box' thinking
Dead right about the exploded diagrams, they are all amazing hand drawn illustrations. Amazing skill to make them so accurate really.
Progress has been nil on her as we've been very busy tarting up the workshop before winter sets in.
I had a text through from Mark on Friday asking had we managed to remove the rims from the tyres he sold us as he wanted those back for another set of more modern tyres he has to fit to his Stolly. All but two came off with a selection of big levers and a wrecking bar, the remaining two needed lots of soapy water.... and some 'out of the box' thinking
It worked great as a platform for the ladder when we were putting up fluorescent tubes too! Pretty good tool to have at our disposal.
The floor in the unit is fully painted now but ideally I'd like to get another coat down in the centre part as it'll have a fair bit of foot and tyre traffic over it on a regular basis, so the harder wearing we can make it, the better.
It'd be ideal to have the drivetrain out of the Stalwart before it enters storage next door so that we can crack on with stripping all the small bits out of the hull and painting/repairing as we go. We shall see about that though, there's a few other projects further up the list that are nearing completion and can be sold to free up time and funds, made easier by the installation of a two post ramp in the next couple of weeks or so.
The floor in the unit is fully painted now but ideally I'd like to get another coat down in the centre part as it'll have a fair bit of foot and tyre traffic over it on a regular basis, so the harder wearing we can make it, the better.
It'd be ideal to have the drivetrain out of the Stalwart before it enters storage next door so that we can crack on with stripping all the small bits out of the hull and painting/repairing as we go. We shall see about that though, there's a few other projects further up the list that are nearing completion and can be sold to free up time and funds, made easier by the installation of a two post ramp in the next couple of weeks or so.
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