Bill's 6" Foden SWB Lorry

I suspect that my lorry build is lagging behind some builder but I thought that it was time that I posted some more pictures of my lorry.  As we now have the replacement globe valves, I have been able to fit them and to re-fit the crankshaft and flywheel.  As a result, given the time I will be able to fit a number of parts from previous kits which are waiting and ready to be fitted.  I have now built the ash pan from the current kit and it is fitted to the lorry.  I have also constructed and fitted the check valves.  Although I have not as yet fitted the bodywork and roof of my lorry it is starting to come together well.  Unfortunately we are unable to fit the water gauge to the lorry at the moment as we are waiting for the gaskets to arrive.  Today I constructed the water gauge just to make certain that I will not have any problems with it.

Bill

I managed to do a bit more work on my lorry today.  I have attached the top and bottom water gauge fittings to the boiler.  I have also made a start on the fire box door.  The picture does not due justice to the amount of work required in order to mount the surround and door.  The instructions do warn us that due to variations in the boiler construction we may have to remove some material from the door in order to make it fit.  I have now completed this task and proved that the door will open and close without any problems.  All I have got to do now is to clean, paint and to fit the door.  When the post arrived this afternoon it contained the gaskets for the water gauge and the wooden plinth for the pressure gauge.  This was a nice surprise and I will fit them to the lorry next week.

To-day I took the opportunity to complete Kit 27 of my lorry.  The last three items that needed to be constructed and fitted were the firebox door, the pressure gauge with a wooden plinth and the water gauge.  I will not for the time being be fitting the sides of my lorry cab or the roof as I thing they will get in the way of further work.

I decided today to modify the securing pin between the damper lever and the ash pan of my lorry.  My reason for doing this is that I am concerned what would happen if we needed to drop the fire in a hurry.  The ash pan has R-clips holding it in place, which can be removed quickly but the damper lever is attached to the ash pan with a bolt and two nuts.  The damper lever is also attached to the horn plates by a bolt.  The need to find two M8 spanners in order to remove the ash pan may slow things down a bit.  I have constructed a simple pin which is held in place by an R-clip which can release the damper lever quickly.  I have constructed this pin from a M5 bolt.  Whilst I was doing this I made a spare one just in case I lost one in the grass of a rally field.

My Kit 28 arrived just after lunch today.  I have so far just opened the box to see what this kit looks like and to have a quick glance at the instructions.  For once I am pleased that my build is running a bit behind some other peoples as on the first page of the instructions it states that “It is possible to install all the exhaust assembly without removing the front of the cab, but it is somewhat awkward”  I have not fitted the cab of my lorry yet. This kit contains the exhaust system, Lubricator, Injector, Safety valve, Whistle and a great deal of pipe work.  It looks like this kit is going to make the Foden look very much more complete than it has up until now.

Bill

Are the safety's delivered assembled? I assume this is because they have been set?

Hi Iain

Yes the safeties were delivered assembled.  The above photo was taken about five minutes after the kit was delivered and other that removing some bubble rap I had not had the time to do anything with the kit.  I have now unpacked everything and had a good look at the parts.  The Foden comes with an exhaust system and a silencer which is mounted inside the smoke box.

Bill

The extra fixings and three replacement copper pipes from Kit 28 arrived this morning.  These items will complete the kit and allow us to fit all the parts.

Bill

Just wondering how are things going with your build? Have not heard from you in a while.

hope all is well

Hi
I am sorry that I have not been able to post any updates to my Foden lorry build for some time. Since September I have been living abroad, except for a short period when I came home for Christmas. I am at present living in Oman and I could not afford the excess baggage charges to bring my lorry with me. It would be good working on my lorry here as I could do all my work outside and the paint work would dry very quickly in the sun. I am flying home tomorrow and have already e-mailed Steve and he has told me that kit 30 is ready for delivery. I am not certain if anybody else has received this kit yet as there are no mention of it on the forum. As soon as I am home and got myself sorted out, normal service will be resumed and I will get some photos on the forum.

Bill

I'm also living abroad at the minute (Austria) but I had my kit 30 delivered last week

Home in April and then can go flat out to get it finished.

I have now received Kit 30 for my Foden lorry.  It arrived on a large pallet and I was pleased to see that the lorry driver had a fork lift truck to move it on.  This kit must be nearly as heavy as the chassis of the lorry.  As I am building a SWB lorry this kit consists of the rear floor and the three water tanks.  Building this kit maybe a bit of a challenge as the tanks and sides all have to be bolted to the floor first before fitting the floor.  The floor then has to be lifted onto the rear of the lorry.  I think that this task is going to need four strong men to do the lifting, who don’t have any back problems.  For the moment I am cleaning and painting the water tanks ready for fitting.  We have also been supplied with the water lifter which was from a previous kit.

Bill

nice size how much water can you carry?

I am not certain what the total capacity of the water tanks is but I think that it must be about 135 Litres. (30 gallons) The Short Wheel Base Foden lorry has four water tanks. The three tanks supplied with kit 30 and another larger tank mounted low in the chassis.

Bill

Hi Guys
The 4.5" Foden SWB has really only 2 tanks, the top one is made up of 3 baffled compartments.  The 6" tanks look to be the same arrangement.  I measured the capacities on my engine as top tank 30 litres and the centre lower tank as 20 litres up to the water lifter connection.
Regards
Tom

Work on my lorry is going well and next week the boiler examiner is call on me to carry out the hydraulic and steam tests.  I will post some photos of my lorries progress after the steam tests.  I have just received a 6inch scale Foden patent plate and name plate from Steam Plates for my lorry and they look great.

Bill

Hi bill what number did you use to put on your patent plate where did 00612 come from

Russ

After some thought I decided to use my boiler number for the plate.  Which is 612, for a 6" boiler and is the 12th boiler built.  I was then told that the number had to be five numbers long so I added 00 at the start of the boiler number. which left me with 00612.

Bill

As the weather has been nice this week I decided it was time to wheel my lorry out into the sunshine and to take a photo of it to show the progress that I have made so far.  We have now received all of the kits for the first batch of Foden lorry’s although we are still awaiting a few items but these will not stop us steaming the lorries.  My lorry has already passed its hydraulic and steam test and has an NTET disc, so I can attend a steam rally and steam my lorry even if it is not completely ready.  I have not completed the roof of my lorry yet as I have decided to purchase the optional extra cab windows.  I understand that an extra rib will need to be fitted into the roof of the lorry in order to fit these windows which would damage the roof covering if it has already been fitted.  Kit 30 was an interesting build for the short wheel base lorry’s as it consisted of the upper water tanks which had to be fitted to a base plate and built off the lorry before being lifted onto the back of the lorry and bolted down.  Due to the weight of this unit I had to use an engine crane to lift it.  It is nice at last to have a nearly completed lorry.  I am now looking forward to my first steam rally with the lorry and having the opportunity to run the lorry for the whole week-end.

Bill

Looking good can't wait to do some catching up this summer

As my lorry is now almost completed I thought that people may be interested in a problem that I have with firing the engine.  Due to having problems with both of my shoulder I have difficulty lifting heavy items.  With my 4” Burrell Traction engine I had a bit of a problem attaching and removing the ash pan.  The only way for me to do this was to lie on the ground, which was Ok except when it was wet and muddy.  As soon as I got the ash pan for the Foden I realised that this approach was not going to work as I had enough problems just lifting it when I was standing up.  Also the ash pan is held into place by four pins onto the bottom of the fire box and have to be aligned all at the same time or damage would be caused to the ash pan fittings.  These lungs can be seen in the below photos, one on each corner of the ash pan.  This means that the ash pan has to be fitted or removed vertically.  After some considerable thought I have decided to use a motor cycle jack on a low wheeled trolley.  I tested my idea last year but at that time I did not have the mudguards fitted.  When I steamed the engine for the first time in March, with the mudguards fitted I found that this made it very restricted to get the ash pan in but it still works.

Bill

PS
Before anybody mentions it I realise that the ash pan is sitting on the trolley the wrong way around.

Absolutely stunning!!!!!! Looks like I will have to start saving my pennies for one.

Great idea with the jack.

This may sound like a silly request but could you post a picture of someone or something beside it to get a feel for its size, and could you please post a picture from the rear.

many thanks
Mark

Hi Mark

I have attached a couple of photos as requested of my lorry.  I have placed a work mate in front of my lorry in order to give some idea of the scale.  I hope that this helps.

Bill

Looks great, especially with the spoked wheels. Are you going to livery it up or just a few lines?

Hi Steve

I am hoping to get it liveried up but not over the top.  As I would not be capable of doing the job I am still waiting to hear back from a retired gentleman who may be willing to do the job for me.  If this fails I am going to have to start looking for somebody else to pay to do the job.  Thankfully this will not stop me running the engine for the start of the rally season.

Bill