Mk 2 Carrier water can

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

Hi Robert. I've never heard of Flimsy's being used for oil. 80 was the octane rating (pool petrol). You can actually see 80 on a couple of the cans in this stack. Ron

I've seen lots of Women MT Drivers in Wartime pics before, even a smattering of Pilots.
I think this is the first pic I've ever seen of female Motorcyclists.

[Ron Pier]

Blimey Tony! I can show you loads of them. How about this group? The girl fourth from the left is actually Honor Blackman. Ron

[Ron Pier]

Oops! Forgot to download. Ron

[Niels V]

Here is 4 gallon I was lucky to get recently, the cap is a newly cast.

[Lynn Eades]

Heres a thing. The (minimum) octane rating on a 16 April, 1942 Jeep stated "68" Maybe the "80" refers to specific gravity of POL products for the weight calculation? Oil and petrol being approx. .8 sg?. Just a thought....

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Sure, some of you are looking at the tins, other for some strange reason at the women. But for me it's the battledress and markings on the bikes. The formation flash seems to be SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force with trade or other badges below. British obviously otherwise the bike number would be "CC". If it is the supreme headquarters you have to wonder just how all the cute DR riders happened to be attached there.

[Ron Pier]

We are straying a bit off topic. But I'm quite sure that the girls were only ever UK based. Despatches for the Home Office and between RN, RAF and Army bases. Ron

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Heres a thing. The (minimum) octane rating on a 16 April, 1942 Jeep stated "68" Maybe the "80" refers to specific gravity of POL products for the weight calculation? Oil and petrol being approx. .8 sg?. Just a thought....

I think Octane remains more likely. If 70 octane rating was "regular", with lower numbers being still available it would be reasonable if the Jeep required a minimum of 68 to specify the minimum to avoid someone using lower values. Surely the point of marking the tin is to ensure the correct product ends up in the correct vehicle but I've never heard of specific gravity of fuel or oil varying much (except with temperature - jet aircraft plan their required fuel load for a flight by weight since the energy content varies more accurately by weight than volume, then convert to volume, depending on temperature, for ease of measuring when pumping into the aircraft).

[rob love]

Google is one's friend, especially wrt this MT80 conundrum.


"RESTRICTED
I. – REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION OF M.T.80 PETROL

1. Certain American armoured fighting vehicles, in use both by British and American armies, were fitted with de-rated aircraft engines which required a fuel with a minimum octane rating of 80.

2. After due consideration, it was decided that it was impracticable to stock two different octane rating fuels within the army, and it was, therefore, decided that the basic army fuel would be of 80 octane rating and that this fuel would be the standard supply for all types of vehicles within the British and American armies."


Good discussion on it at this link: http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads...of-mt80.58510/

[Robert Bergeron]

Guys, i don’t mind lovely women . It’s a nice change from rusty old cans. 80 is an aviation fuel rating ( 80/87) . It is also an hydraulic / transmission oil rating . I accept Rob’s explanation . MT 80 stands for 80 Octane grade motor transport gasoline . I also agree a flimsy is unlikely to have been used for oil . Keep them coming !

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

I think Octane remains more likely. If 70 octane rating was "regular", with lower numbers being still available it would be reasonable if the Jeep required a minimum of 68 to specify the minimum to avoid someone using lower values. Surely the point of marking the tin is to ensure the correct product ends up in the correct vehicle but I've never heard of specific gravity of fuel or oil varying much (except with temperature - jet aircraft plan their required fuel load for a flight by weight since the energy content varies more accurately by weight than volume, then convert to volume, depending on temperature, for ease of measuring when pumping into the aircraft).

Hansard, 13th November 1950:

Mr Russell asked the Minister for Fuel and Power if he will consider raising the standard of pool petrol to approximately 80 octane.

(Answer: basically not without substantially increasing its lead content, which might cause maintenance issues with British engines.)

Further down:

Mr Noel-Baker "Before the war we had three grades of petrol - commercial 68 octane, No.1 grade 75 octane and top grade 80 octane. I am advised that very few vehicles used 80 octane. Nearly all of them used the other grades. To raise our petrol to even 75 octane would mean a loss of output."

Much later...

The 1967 British Standard "Star" system had:

1 Star - 89 octane "Standard" or "Regular" (89 - 91)
2 Star - 92 octane
3 Star - 95 octane "Mixture" (by mixing Premium and Regular)
4 Star - 98 octane "Premium" (96 - 98)
5 Star - 101 octane "Super" (99 - 101)

Chris.