25 Pounder info needed.

[Private_collector]

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I seperated the two main parts of the traverse mechanism, and had started the cleanup before I remembered to photograph.
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[Private_collector]

A few other pieces that got attention today.
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The glass tube on spirit level broke in transit. I thought I could live with it like that, but I can't, so I will insert a replacement. A job I'm not really looking forward to.
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These brake brackets are gonna save me a whole lotta work. Tomorrow they go to the sandblasters.
I'll need to get U bolts made.
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[rnixartillery]

Tony,

Changing the spirit level vile is literally a 5 minute job , knock the tapered pin out of one end with a small punch ,the cap is just pushed in not threaded so you can push it out by smashing and cleaning the glass out with a screwdriver and pushing the cap out.
If you have or find any old builders sprit levels just break them up and remove the levels ,they do come in a few sizes though, push the replacement vile in and replace the cap , this is how I repair any broken ones I find.
The parts look great by the way ,plenty of elbow grease !

Rob......................rnixartillery.

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by rnixartillery

Tony,

Changing the spirit level vile is literally a 5 minute job , knock the tapered pin out of one end with a small punch ,the cap is just pushed in not threaded so you can push it out by smashing and cleaning the glass out with a screwdriver and pushing the cap out.
If you have or find any old builders sprit levels just break them up and remove the levels ,they do come in a few sizes though, push the replacement vile in and replace the cap , this is how I repair any broken ones I find.
The parts look great by the way ,plenty of elbow grease !

Rob......................rnixartillery.

Thanks Rob. I will do that. I have some modern spirit viles, but they are both too tubby to fit.
I'll have to get some thin pin punches, too. All of mine were bought for working on the CMP, so you could imagine they are not quite petite enough for this job.

[Private_collector]

After seven decades, my set of NOS wheel nuts have seen light again.
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The outer packaging was surprisingly brittle. I expected it to be greasier, but if it ever was, it had dried out. Flakes went everywhere when I unrolled the first layer.
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Second and third layers, were grease paper. You can see the final layer of wrapping has been done in such a way as to avoid any two nuts touching. Very clever and quite effective.
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Not one spot of corrosion. Absolutely spotlessly clean, 70+ year old metal.
Only needed a wash with petrol and they're ready to paint.
Why couldn't they wrap entire CMPs that way!

[Keith Webb]

Very good to see your unwrapping pictures Tony - done with appropriate reverence and recording. Well done!

Originally Posted by Private_collector

After seven decades, my set of NOS wheel nuts have seen light again.
Attachment 83903
The outer packaging was surprisingly brittle. I expected it to be greasier, but if it ever was, it had dried out. Flakes went everywhere when I unrolled the first layer.
Attachment 83904 Attachment 83905
Second and third layers, were grease paper. You can see the final layer of wrapping has been done in such a way as to avoid any two nuts touching. Very clever and quite effective.
Attachment 83906 Attachment 83907
Not one spot of corrosion. Absolutely spotlessly clean, 70+ year old metal.
Only needed a wash with petrol and they're ready to paint.
Why couldn't they wrap entire CMPs that way!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

A few other pieces that got attention today.
Attachment 83902 Attachment 83898
The glass tube on spirit level broke in transit. I thought I could live with it like that, but I can't, so I will insert a replacement. A job I'm not really looking forward to.
Attachment 83899 Attachment 83900
These brake brackets are gonna save me a whole lotta work. Tomorrow they go to the sandblasters.
I'll need to get U bolts made.
Attachment 83901

That's interesting Tony, those handbrake brackets being cast, the ones on my axle are fabricated.
Is that different manufacturers or different dates of manufacture?

Ken

[Private_collector]

Hello Ken,

I'm thinking it is probably a difference between manufacturers, but can not say that with any certainty. I'm solely basing that on other examples of differences that I have been told were down to manufacturers production choices. See the following 4 photos.
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Rob N will be the one to know for sure. I do have several repro 25pr manuals on the way, and they might shed some light, but I expect by that time we'll know from another member!

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These are my brackets as returned from sandblasters, this afternoon. The simple one of them was still in it's original wrapping (VERY yucky, like treacle). The packing date on that one was 1979. Wonder if repacked then, or actually manufactured in 70s. If made then, a difference of over 30yrs between WWII manufacture and that one COULD just be design changes. In short, can someone plese put us out of our misery with this question!

I've emailed someone who has a good saddle which was advertised for sale some time ago. If still available, and affordable, I think I'll take it. Fingers are crossed. Wonder what the chances are of finding original trails?!

P.S: I've started making enquiries for quote/s on making the two U bolts for my brackets. Watch this space.

[rnixartillery]

The Brake parts will have been repacked when the storage shelf life was up ,I should imagine they were war time manufacture.
The fabricated handbrake parts are more of a nationality thing as well as manufacture, The Australians experimented a lot more with flat plate construction possibly to speed up production ,as we know they created the welded carriage and saddle and used it widely as the local pattern/production not to mention the Australian Short.

Rob....................rnixartillery

[Private_collector]

Thanks Rob,

Now we both/all know.

[Private_collector]

When I recieved my package of parts from Canada, about a month ago now, there were several small parts whose purpose were unknown to me, until doing some re-reading of the manual. One Page clearly shows a rather complex device which, I imagine, is used to secure the dial sight to the upper section of the carrier. Kind of a wing-nut! A strip of metal, maybe 1.5" in length, works as a retaining piece, to prevent the aforementioned wing-nut from becoming undone to the point of falling away. Those, and the screws to put it all together, were in my parcel. I'm grateful they had been kept by the previous owner of my parts. Such seemingly insignificant pieces could easily been discarded or lost.
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I expect the spring loaded ratchet mechanism of the 'nut' (seen best in left photo below), is to prevent over-tightening, which may have caused damage to something?!?! Incidentally, it takes considerable force to turn the nut to the point of activating the ratchet.
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