My '44 Flying Control Dodge

[armyairforce]

Lynne was away for Saturday morning taking our daughter to her dancing class. In the afternoon, she spent much of her time at the various other activities held around the village as part of the whole event. We brought both Jeeps home on Saturday evening and took them back on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning, I had the camera in "Jessie" again to video "Hope" while driving there. While still in the 30mph zone, indicating to turn right into Bowes car park, we were both overtaken by a modern car at somewhere around 60mph ( calculated from the distance and time on the video ). A few seconds later in passing us, and he/she would have slammed into the side of "Hope" as I turned, probably killing my daughter and myself. The video showed the registration so I've let the police have a word with them.





There was a slight change in vehicles on show with one Jeep, civilian car and GMC missing and a fire engine in there place. I started packing small accessories away around 3pm and we took the Jeeps home at 4:30, returning a little while later for the Dodge. A very enjoyable weekend.





A full report and further pictures can be found here - http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2018/bowes.htm

[dashtp40]

AAF,
Thanks for sharing the pictures of your activities at the shows, I always enjoy looking at them. We don't have anything like those shows around this part of the U.S,A.
Steve

[armyairforce]

I guess here in the UK, due to the size of the country, MV's are located much closer together, so it makes a gathering at an event far more practical. Almost all of my annual events are within a 120 mile radius, with the occasional event where I tow the Jeep to visit an event further afield. With the exception of perhaps Scotland ( where people and probably MV's are more sparsely spread ), there are numerous events all over England from April through to October and all within reasonable driving distance of the local MV groups.

Unfortunately for me, I'm well away from the 8th Air Force counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, so I rarely get to do an 8th Air Force connected event with other appropriate vehicles. My nearest historic airfields would probably be Elvington and Breighton, both RAF Bomber Command and both in Yorkshire about 100 miles from me. The Breighton airfield Summer Fly/Drive-In will be my next event later in July, towing the Follow Me Jeep there.

[armyairforce]

Another Dodge birthday come and gone. 74 years old today.

[armyairforce]

I was thinking of taking the Dodge to the local aircraft museum for their Trams & Transport open day, but the weather forecast has been proven correct and it's heavy rain all day, so no trip out.

[armyairforce]

8 Years ago today that I brought the Dodge home after purchasing it the week before. How time flies.

[armyairforce]

The Dodge hadn't been out since Bowes Railway at the beginning of July. As we near the end of the season, I decided to take the Dodge for a run out to the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum for one day of the Heritage weekend.

NELSAM Heritage Weekend - Sept 9th

Despite being the same day as the Great North Run, there were still a good number of public there, who still got to see the Red Arrows display over the run, even if it was a couple of miles away.



Despite being the same day as the Great North Run, there were still a good number of public there, who still got to see the Red Arrows display over the run, even if it was a couple of miles away. Around mid day, we got a nice rainbow, but by the time I walked along the site to the Vulcan with my camera, it vanished! Around half an hour later, a much brighter rainbow appeared and I caught that one.

[armyairforce]

Here's a few of the projects at NELSAM. The Morane is nearing completion, while the Hurricane replica framework is a fairly new arrival.





The Provost has been a long term resident but there isn't the space to assemble it at present. The Bell47/Souix has also been with the museum for a while now.

[armyairforce]

Here's some views in the military vehicle Romney hut. First, a panorama from my phone.





Two model cabinets celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF with models of many of the types flown on display.

[armyairforce]

December 31st

On the last day of the year, I went to give the Dodge one last check over before the winter weather really sets in. I added another gallon of fuel as the tank was getting low, and gave the engine a good warm through. Clutch and brakes were exercised, lights checked and the truck moved in the container to avoid tyre flat spots.

After it was nicely warmed through, the engine was shut down and the battery was removed. I brought it home to add some acid tablets and give it periodic charging over the Winter until things warm up again in the Spring.

[armyairforce]

May 3rd - Flexi-Brake Hoses

For a while, the brake shoes have been dragging after pressing the pedal. I'd previously checked the shoe springs and the tension seemed good, so suspected the problem lay elsewhere. Another symptom was that for the first press of the brakes, the pedal almost went to the floor to get braking, but as I drove a while, the pedal free play reduced to almost nothing. Since buying the Dodge, I've replaced the master cylinder and all four wheel cylinders. I've also relined all eight brake shoes. The only part of the system not touched were the four flexi-hoses - one on the rear axle and three on the front axle. This is where I suspected the problem was.



After refitting the battery after the winter lay up, I brought the Dodge home and set to work. I began at the back, opening one of the bleed nipples and pumping out as much fluid as possible. Next I removed the old hose and fitted the first of the new hoses. This went fairly easily but I had a feeling that the front wouldn't go so well!

[armyairforce]

Moving to the front, I started on one of the steering knuckle flexi-pipes. The inner end unscrewed without too much fuss, but the wheel end wouldn't budge from the brass union. I ended up removing the pipe and union together and put them over a camping stove flame to heat the parts to help release them.

After a couple of minutes cooking, there was a large bang and the union/pipe fitting went one way while the hose shot off the other way! This seemed to confirm that at least one hose had collapsed internally and the pressure of the heated and expanding brake fluid finally blew the rubber pipe out of its fitting. Shortly after, a vice and a spanner finally freed the fitting from the union.



The second steering knuckle hose was stuck fast the same way and that union had to be removed too. It was also heated on the stove and an identical bang separated the rubber from its fitting. Another collapsed and partially blocked hose! Like the first, the union was freed as a result of the heat treatment. Both of the new flexi-hoses were fitted without problems.

[armyairforce]

The last hose was the chassis to axle hose which was rather difficult to remove and refit. The large spanners needed to fit the hose fittings were too big to move in the space available. The chassis fitting also had a bracket with electrical wires running right in front of the access to the pipe fittings. The same wires also restricted access to the bolt head that held the brake pipe bracket and wire support bracket. Eventually I got that bolt undone, freeing the wire and hose bracket which then made the rest of the job fairly easy.

I got all the hoses fitted by about 1:30pm, then stopped for lunch. After lunch, I began to top up the extra brake fluid reservoir and started pumping fluid through the system. I went around the four corners three times as during the first attempt, fluid started pouring from the front right wheel. I realised the copper washer had dropped out from behind the brass union and once refitted, held firm. The brake pedal free play was set up next and there was just enough time for a quick test drive before the school run.



I didn't have much time, so the drive was short, but the brakes worked well, other than a slight pull to the right. The free play remained unchanged and the pedal was firm and consistent throughout. Tomorrow I'll adjust the shoes to try and balance the braking and there's the usual Spring work, such as cleaning and gapping the plugs and points etc. The first trip out for the Dodge will probably be in a couple of weeks to Blyth Battery.

Here's the four old hoses.

[Gordon_M]

Original fuel, oil, and brake hoses always tend to look OK because they were mostly armoured, but almost without exception modern fuel and brake fluid kills them internally so they need replaced. I generally fit new oil hoses too, just for peace of mind.

[armyairforce]

May 4th - Service and Additional Work

Day two was a general service and a few other odds and ends. All the usual stuff like cleaning and gapping the plugs and points, greasing, oils etc. When I collected the Dodge from the container, there was quite a bit of oil had dripped from the air filter onto the exhaust manifold. It was checked once home and wasn't over filled, so the leak must have been coming from elsewhere. I drained the oil, cleaned it up and had a closer look. The oil hadn't been pouring out, but standing for a few months in the container, there must have been a steady seeping. I suspected the seam around the central tube and the turned over edge did look like it had lifted in places. It was cleaned up with a small rotary wire brush and soft soldered all around the seam. Time will tell if this has sorted the drip.



After the other servicing jobs, I jacked up the wheels and gave the shoes a provisional clearance setting with the wheels spinning freely. After a short delay due to a rain shower, I took the Dodge out for a test drive. It was still pulling to the right a bit, so I stopped a couple of times to make further adjustments. I clocked up eleven miles during which the brakes behaved themselves, with the free play and pedal position remaining constant.

Test drive video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYbmetumOTI

Tomorrow, I'll be looking at my daughter's child seat. Inconsiderately, since first making the seat, she's continued growing and now needs more legs room. I should be able to move the seat back and modify the existing supports. We'll see tomorrow!