Richie's Little Tank

[Dangermouse]

On the subject of these gauges, it seems that as so many people know nothing about the genuine risks many museums are ripping gauges out of historic vehicles to have them destroyed.......utterly utterly foolish ! They pose no risk when sealed behind the glass but as it has the stigma of having an invisible killer, people tend to panic before engaging the brain.
(Probably something I should have done before stripping mine down)

I did some research into similar matters a while ago after coming into possession of a camera lens containing thorium. Naturally there are plenty of people who hear "radioactive" and run screaming. I'm not overly worried though as I have no intention of breaking it and breathing the dust, or holding it up to my eye for long periods (having a camera between me and the lens cuts the exposure dramatically). I suspect people living in areas built on granite have a higher exposure from background radiation than I do from using this lens occasionally. I do store it well away from my bed, a quick check with a Russian dosimeter (ebay) suggests that whatever type of particles it emits only travel for a metre or two at most.

I'd imagine radium sealed within a gauge poses a similarly low risk. I don't think there were spikes in cancer rates amongst forces personnel who spent years driving, flying or sailing in the vicinity of these things?

[Renegadenemo]

I'd imagine radium sealed within a gauge poses a similarly low risk. I don't think there were spikes in cancer rates amongst forces personnel who spent years driving, flying or sailing in the vicinity of these things?

The people who painted the dials at Smiths Instruments all died and a big chunk of soil had to be excavated and buried somewhere else, but they did lick the brushes and throw the old thinners out of the window...
The museologists reckon you could land in trouble if you put a box of old instruments under your bed but they likened the risk to a coal fire. Sit a little way back from it and you'll be OK. Breathing the dust is another matter, however, but thoriated tungstens are still used in TIG welding so they can't be as bad as all that. You still have to grind them sharp.

[rob565uk]

In a previous life related to marine radio and radar in the Merchant Navy, I had to complete a 3 day course on Atomic, Biological and Chemical (ABC) warfare. This was run by the Royal Navy and was compulsory for all merchant seamen, because MN ships can be commandeered by the RN in time of war and therefore we had to understand the basics of ABC warfare in order to work effectively with the RN.

The course was delivered with great gusto and aplomb by a long time served Chief Petty Officer who had clearly seen it all and delighted in the odd bit of gallows humour.

Part of the Atomic section concerned Geiger counters and their use. He produced a lead-lined box and with a long pair of tongs, flipped the lid up and deftly removed a 10p-sized piece of material and placed it with exaggerated care in front of the Geiger counter, which gave off a few desultory pops to confirm the radioactivity. He then asked if anyone had a luminous watch and persuaded its owner to place the watch in front of the counter. The Geiger counter went off like a firecracker ..... and the owner of the watch looked more than a little dubious as he reclaimed his own personal radioactive source ... The CPO advised him "not to keep it in a trouser pocket unless you run out of money for condoms young Man"

The CPO's other gem related to the principal effects of a nuclear weapon detonating,i.e. Flash, Sound, Shockwaves, Debris etc. Pointing out that exposure to the flash will damage the eyes in a fraction of a second, he concluded "So, if you see a bright flash in the sky, DO NOT look at it, right - got it?"

[Dominic Owen]

Here's a little snap my dad took back in the 50's. With his back to the flash, eyes screwed shut and hands over them, he said that he could see the bones in his hands like an x-ray and had a hot blast rush past him. He was perfectly safe, however, as he had his back to it and had the collar of his short-sleeved shirt turned up.

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[rob565uk]

Here's a little snap my dad took back in the 50's. With his back to the flash, eyes screwed shut and hands over them, he said that he could see the bones in his hands like an x-ray and had a hot blast rush past him. He was perfectly safe, however, as he had his back to it and had the collar of his short-sleeved shirt turned up.

The seemingly casual exposure of service personnel to the effects of nuclear weapons in the early days is, in my opinion, a national scandal. I am sure the full side-effects were not fully understood, but there is no doubt in my mind that the personnel were being used as guinea pigs and that the "powers that be" had more than a suspicion that the effects they were researching were potentially highly damaging.

I was never exposed to any actual weapon tests. My ABC training in the late 1960s was strictly limited to that essential for MN personnel only. Thank the Lord.....

[sbt]

To continue with the slight digression:

a) I can confirm that considerably more care is taken these days.

b) What was ABC (Atomic, Biological and Chemical) became NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) and is now CBRN (Chemical. Biological, Radiological and Nuclear).

That 'R' is the risk that Richie unwittingly exposed himself to. R and N were separated in order to emphasise that not all Radiological material comes from Nuclear Weapons, witness the demise of Alexander Litvinenko and the recent concern about the loss of a medical source in Mexico.

Just in case, I hope you have informed your GP Richie - so it can go on your medical records and he can consider whether any precautions, such as screening for aftereffects at intervals, are appropriate.

[Richie]

Yeah it's all documented but the risk was described as negligible....

[Renegadenemo]

Yeah it's all documented but the risk was described as negligible....

And let's not forget the lottery that is human physiology. Plenty of centenarians celebrate their telegram from the Queen by lighting a ciggie from the candles on their birthday cake whilst non-smoking children die of lung cancer. I know a bloke in his mid seventies who will tell you how to machine asbestos on the lathe and I've met divers who could bend themselves in the bath as others survive emergency ascents from 100m.
Richie is somewhat lesser in stature than me and proportionally younger so even when his radium-induced cancer is in remission from the latest drug therapies he'll still be able to dance a jig around my wheelchair full of prolapsed discs.

Merry Christmas.

[Richie]

Work continues on the carrier, one thing I learned from the military vehicle collectors is that there are a lot of pirates and down right thieving gits about ! There are very few people you can trust and I believe this is why the fraternity are very cloak and dagger ( as per my initial post here)

Here we have the engine from my carrier as purchased, this image was taken in Canada:-


It is a 1939 99T (A) motor it is the 100hp 24stud lump known as the merc unit (mercury). I was told at the time it had seized from standing. The motor came home and I noticed the heads had been off so I knew from there it would be a full strip and rebuild rather than a free off and start up. I poured automatic gearbox fluid down the bores as this oil has good penetrating properties and is good for rust busting. The engine was left to soak for months and months to no avail.

I found someone down south who offered to rebuild the engine along with three others that were getting done at the time, so I accepted and farmed the job out.... I fastened everything back on the unit and off it went. A few months past and I got a call to go collect the gearbox, however when I picked it up I noticed my war dated cast gearbox case had been swapped for a post war ford pilot gearbox (worth bupkis compared to my original) I challenged the chap in a nice way and the matter was put down to an honest mistake..... Meanwhile images were being sent back regarding my engine which I noticed had been pulled apart on the floor....a no no in my book, all the rods and caps were mixed up and overall the work was not what I would have done.... This made me rather uncomfortable and so the engine was rescued..... Well a pile of bits were rescued. My engine is missing a load of bits now, the internals from my carb missing, distributor missing.... The list goes on !

NO NO NO !!!!!!! Each to their own but I pull a rod put the cap back on and number it..... These all came back mixed up


Here is the stuck piston, block upside down direct onto the concrete.....sigh


Anyway I took a kicking and now I have a rebuild which the costs will shatter my kneecaps ! The mains and big ends are not to clever, the centre main is shot, so it's a crank re grind and new shells,


I managed to secure some new rings so there's a start I guess.

Any engine rebuild I have done in the past I always replace the head studs, for the A series stuff I used to replace them with ARP ones. So I set about removing the studs, unlike the chap who was going to rebuild the engine who I might add used mole grips on the studs, I prefer to use two nuts and then dial the stud out the block. Now this is my first v8 build and my first thoughts on the engine is that it's a hunk of S##*..... When they made the cast the drilled the stud holes right into the water jacket !!!!! Clowns !!!!! So I am sure you can imagine that stud plus water = rust ! The studs themselves are as soft as toffee and when I went to dial a number of them out they snapped down to the block. I took the remaining studs out with application of heat and paraffin wax with no incident, however I then had to put the studs back in and slide the head back on which I then used as a guide to drill out the snapped studs.


The block is sat on ply wood here

Once drilled out I had to tap the holes

Note the snapped stud above between the two pots....complete with snapped easy out.

Then I added the helicoil

I left the helicoil slightly low in case I need to deck the block.

And that was that, I now need to find somewhere to clean the block for me. Then I need to save up for all the missing bits

Carb
Distributor
Mains
Big ends
Crank re grind
Oil pump rebuild kit
New head studs
Gasket set
Two water pump rebuild kits
Fuel pump
Coil and generator.

I will no doubt need to get a loan as I won't save in time for the show in July 2014 which I want to the carrier to go to.

[rob565uk]

More interesting info there Richie. It sounds like you rescued your engine in the nick of time. From what you say, the gearbox was overhauled, but I guess you won't have been able to test it really yet?