Was going Larry but Off to Brittany later today a chill out week in a cottage middle of nowhere, won`t be back till Sun teatime
Don’t you just love the Smiles Traders audacity to have a crank handle guide fitted to the bumper bar? I admit we used the crank handle to turn the motor over to adjust tappets etc - when we had the injectors out. It made it so much easier. Can you imagine a modern diesel engined, even mid-weight commercial vehicle, (truck) being fitted with a crank handle?
Unfortunately I live in suburbia and don’t have the room for a Trader or other small trucks to work on or restore. To compensate I’ve spent many a lonely night down in the garage seeking sanity (have I mentioned I’ve got a wife and two daughters? - enough said) restoring and remodeling a 1982 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica into a road going version of his 1978 Isle of Man winner. You may have heard of Hailwood, he was a ‘old washed-up English rider’ who was re-discovered by an Australian when Hailwood was living in New Zealand. They entered the Castrol Six Hour race in Sydney as a team, they did okay, and Jimmy Scaysbrook helped convince him that one more race as his team-mate at The Island wouldn’t hurt. He won on the Ducati after being retired from The Island for 11 years at a lap record of an average speed of 110 mph. Not bad for an old bloke.
Unlike the Thames, my Hailwood only has a kick start. Some sunny Sunday mornings when I attempt to go down the coast for a battery run she just makes her mind up that she’s staying home and no amount of kicking or pushing will convince her otherwise. “Character Building” is what they call owning an old Ducati race bike. A bit like driving a Thames interstate in Australia.
Tunnels.
greek:
Was going Larry but Off to Brittany later today a chill out week in a cottage middle of nowhere, won`t be back till Sun teatime[/…quote]Well have a nice chill out break, mind you dont forget to chill the wine, that is if you drink white, Regards Larry.
Good looking resto of the Ducati Tunnels must have passed that spot on the many trips to manley on the ferry. Also like the pic of the Thames van on the trailer in the backround had one meself which I made a bit of a camper with in the early 70,s Sold it to pay for my Heavy goods Licence
Here is another seen at a show ealier this yr think it was imported from Malta
Heres another Trader from a show 3/4 yrs ago
Don`t bother with the wine Larry but got the French Farmer who owns the cottages ■■■■■■ on Fri on your favourite tipple single malt we also had a bit of blended as well 1 am in the morning when he left the cottage poor bugger had to get up at 5 to milk the cows. How was Brunton weather seemed canny when we got back about 3 30 sun afternoon
Well, Greek I didnt make it The old Austin developed an electrical fault on the coil, so there was no spark, I had to get towed back to Colins Brothers place at Eshott & leave it there, & Colin will collect it Monday & take back to their depot on Sandy Lane, & I have a spare coil which I shall drop off in the morning, My mate David Lowdon was there with his old dad Arthur & he reckons it was a good turn out & the weather was warm & dry for a change, Will you be going to the do at the Labour Club on Sat, ? Regards Larry.
Dont think so larry but you never know ,will prob get to the xmas one,Ill have to see what`s planned for next weekend
Lawrence Dunbar:
Well, Greek I didnt make it The old Austin developed an electrical fault on the coil, so there was no spark, I had to get towed back to Colins Brothers place at Eshott & leave it there, & Colin will collect it Monday & take back to their depot on Sandy Lane, & I have a spare coil which I shall drop off in the morning, My mate David Lowdon was there with his old dad Arthur & he reckons it was a good turn out & the weather was warm & dry for a change, Will you be going to the do at the Labour Club on Sat, ? Regards Larry.
“I dont belive it” (Victor Meldrew),I thought you could get a motor home from anywhere Larry ? Didn’t you have your running “tool kit” with you ? For the benefit of our many readers this consists of a) Axe,b)Screwdriver,c) Pliers,d) Wire coathanger e) Bungy strap.I thought you wouldn’t ever leave home without it Larry !! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis my man I did have my survival get home kit, including cable ties , a roll of tape & a duster, plus an adjustable spanner, I feel Ive let the side down, but never mind I have a spare coil in bringthe garage & Ive spoken to Colin & Im dropping it off first thing on Monday , as he bringing it back to the depot, So you will have to wait until next year when I get to take this great old Austin to Corbridge Show which Im looking forward to, Today I had Spam sarnies in me bait plus a bit of jam & bread, & I was wearing a traditional tartan shirt & a thick jarsey, just I as did in 1956 when I was just a boy, Eh , Happy days, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Dennis my man I did have my survival get home kit, including cable ties , a roll of tape & a duster, plus an adjustable spanner, I feel Ive let the side down, but never mind I have a spare coil in bringthe garage & Ive spoken to Colin & Im dropping it off first thing on Monday , as he bringing it back to the depot, So you will have to wait until next year when I get to take this great old Austin to Corbridge Show which Im looking forward to, Today I had Spam sarnies in me bait plus a bit of jam & bread, & I was wearing a traditional tartan shirt & a thick jarsey, just I as did in 1956 when I was just a boy, Eh , Happy days, Regards Larry.
Well done,all the same Larry,at least a “young” stager like you wouldn’t panic and start rushing about like a headless chicken looking for the AA man Eh! ( Automobile Association,not Alchy’s Anon !!) Get the bait out and the flask,“now” how do we extricate ourselves from this predicament? Cheers Dennis.
Dennis, You wouldnt believe what sort of a bloody I had, I pulled as close to the grass verge as I could, & checked the motor, then rang Colin & said what was going on, Then Crowbar stopped to see what the problem was, & while he was checking the distributer a car ran into the back of his Range Rover, Well as things turned out the driver of the offending vehicle was OK Shocked a bit, & not much damadge to Crowbars Motor but the other car had offside panels very creased to say the least, but as I have said no one was hurt & that is good concidering it was on the A 1 trunk road north bound at Felton, Alls well that ends well as the old saying goes Eh, Im now relaxing with my fave barley flavoured water from Scotland, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Dennis, You wouldnt believe what sort of a bloody I had, I pulled as close to the grass verge as I could, & checked the motor, then rang Colin & said what was going on, Then Crowbar stopped to see what the problem was, & while he was checking the distributer a car ran into the back of his Range Rover, Well as things turned out the driver of the offending vehicle was OK Shocked a bit, & not much damadge to Crowbars Motor but the other car had offside panels very creased to say the least, but as I have said no one was hurt & that is good concidering it was on the A 1 trunk road north bound at Felton, Alls well that ends well as the old saying goes Eh, Im now relaxing with my fave barley flavoured water from Scotland, Regards Larry.
Usually the case Larry,one small problem can end up causing a load of other Lumber !! You mention accidents up the AI,we once had an artic stuck in a line of snowbound motors at Berwick,guess what, a Range Rover plowed into the back-end of our trailer,and guess who nearly got his head “took off”, ex PM Ted Heath !! Apparently there was no flights taking off from Edinburgh so him and his detectives where charging down to Newcastle!! our driver said he had a right lump on his Bonce,no seatbelt on, they shoved him into the R/Rover behind and carried on !! I did drop him a line a day or two later to enquire how he was,got a nice note back on H.P.headed paper asking if our driver was OK!.Never really rated him as a PM,it was him that “railroaded” us into the EU but you don’t like to think someone got injured in an RTA whoever they are Eh! Cheers Dennis.
Although a non-smoker for many years now, I always found that Old Holburn helped solve quite a few mechanical problems. As an employer of mine once said, “An ounce of baccy’s worth a gallon of sweat”.
Walker Brothers Darlington ran traders and worked them and the drivers hard anyone got any photo’s?
v7victor:
Walker Brothers Darlington ran traders and worked them and the drivers hard anyone got any photo’s?
hiya,
Vic, If it’s the same lot I recall I seem to remember them up and down the A1 they
always looked light on the steering IE’ bit too much weight on the back end, but it
was a long time ago and might have been somebody else, these was always longish
single axle trailers with the wheels right at the back can’t remember the livery.
thanks harry, long retired.
harry_gill:
v7victor:
Walker Brothers Darlington ran traders and worked them and the drivers hard anyone got any photo’s?hiya,
Vic, If it’s the same lot I recall I seem to remember them up and down the A1 they
always looked light on the steering IE’ bit too much weight on the back end, but it
was a long time ago and might have been somebody else, these was always longish
single axle trailers with the wheels right at the back can’t remember the livery.
thanks harry, long retired.
Yea that would be them Harry,they ran woodhead springs out of Aycliffe to Dagenham,got photo of a later time man
About 14 years ago, when on holiday on Malta, I saw this Thames Trader parked on the roadside.
I saw it only once more, a couple of years later, so maybe it ended its life sometimne soon after.
The colours are typical of the Maltese` choice.
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
I don’t know what year they were first produced, I know I was biking home from school when I first saw one, but here’s an early one. Cheers Haddy.
a couple of my dads finest , xrp451 6 cylinder ,his favourite , went all over the uk with it, and vxj746 , a 4 cylinder which at one time was stolen by the driver, and abandoned in london with a full load of dolls on it.cheeky git got a lift back and then claimed that the lorry had been stolen overnight.
