[Big D]

Hi all,

In between odd jobs on the M8, over the last couple of weeks a friend and I have been working on the Hercules engines for my scout car and the M8. It was a good chance to look at the differences between the scout car and M8 clutches which might assist other rebuilders.

I’ve attached a picture of an M8 pressure plate on the left and a Scout Car pressure plate on the right. The M8 pressure plate assembly is 355mm in outer diameter and the scout car clutch pressure plate assembly is 370mm in outer diameter to match the bigger flywheel. Of interest is that the face plates within the two pressure plates are the same dimensions.

The other point of interest is the two clutch plates pictured in photo 2. The one on the left is for an M8 and the one on the right is from a Scout Car. The overall diameter of these clutch plates are the same. The spline configuration and sizing appears to be the same and in fact, I think the hubs are exactly the same. However, the splined sleeve is fitted in opposite ways on the hubs between the scout car clutch plate and the M8 clutch plate. Photos 3 and 4 show the Scout car pressure plate and clutch disc on the left and the M8 pressure plate (the one in primer paint) and clutch disc on the right, so you can see the differences.

This could be of interest if you are after new fibre facings for your M8 or scout car. I’ve seen some dealers advertising M8 fibre linings and some advertising Scout car linings and from what I can see, the fibre facings will interchange. In addition, a complete M8/M20 clutch disc should work on a scout car and vice versa, providing the splined sleeve is positioned in the right way in the hub when the fibre linings are fitted.

Not sure how widely all this was known but hopefully a bit of handy information for M8/M20 and scout car engine rebuilders.

We have halfway built a fuel tank for the M8. In the end, I went for alloy construction, based on the advice I got from my fuel tank guru. It is 800mm wide, 460 mm high and 200mm wide, giving a volume of about 73 litres, which will be plenty for the use this M8 will get. The alloy construction is strong. I have a new fuel sender (thanks Kenet) and matching fuel gauge (thanks Charles) coming to set it all up. I anticipate strapping the tank to the cross section steel at the front of the engine bay, but will post photos once I’ve done this.

I’ve been putting off making up the hydraulic bleed junction I had been talking about. Not sure why, but it just went into the too hard basket for a while. I’d seen someone else make up one of these and I thought it was a great idea for improved access to all bleed points. Anyway, I thrashed out version 1 over the last couple of days. It is a block of alloy, drilled for the three hydraulic lines. I tapped all the holes for 1/8” NPT fittings. On the input side, I have NPT fittings coming which are female threaded at the inputs for standard tube nuts. On the other side, I have fitted NPT female adaptors for the bleed nipples. Finding the right fittings was a big part of the battle and I figured NPT threads were the best way to go. A bit of thread sealant on all the threads should do the trick. As I say, I don’t have the female adaptors for the tube nuts here yet, but you should get an idea of how it will work. I will mount the block on a sticky paid for starters and providing it all works, I’ll glue it in place.

Can anyone suggest a modern equivalent for the spring clips for the .30 cal spare barrel? I have drilled out the old broken bolts but now need to replace the clips.

Other things I’ve been working on are fitting some WW2 stamped jerry can mounts to the rear of the vehicle, gluing some felt strips on the radiator, and overhauling the carburettor.

By the way, the Hardy/Spicer FK35GB83 universal joint is a perfect match for the smaller propeller shafts on this.

That’s all for this week.