One-hour Engine Changes
Page 37
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I'VERATORS, vehicle manufacturers' k--1 representatives and Ministrsk of Transport officials recently saw an engine changed at high speed in the workshops of G. Neville and Son, Ltd., at Mansfield, Notts. A Bedford normal-control chassis, which had been converted to forward control to afford additional body space, had been fitted with the Neville cab, which is hinged at the front.
Within five minutes of the vehicle's being driven into position, the cab had been tilted forward and floorboards removed. With ample lighting and space to work in, the controls, radiator fairing and propeller shaft were quickly detached.
The engine, complete with gearbox, was drawn clear of the chassis in 17 minutes. Fitting the gearbox to a reconditioned bench-tested engine occupied another 10 minutes. After 50 minutes from starting the job, the engine had been refitted, radiator filled and engine restarted. Shortly afterwards the vehicle was driven out of the workshops.
The Neville -cab is an allmetal structure, the upper section being framed in an annealed square-section steel tube. Its base is a welded frame flexibly mounted to the chassis and fitted on rubber seatings. To test the flexibility of the mountings one of the front wheels was lifted off the ground to a height of 14 ins. The cab doors opened and closed with no greater effort than before.
To prevent undue loading on the hinge pin when the cab is in the closed position, a rubber buffer pad is fitted between the hinge plates. Thus the weight of the cab is carried by the pad.
A large-scale programme of converting normal-control chassis to forward control is now in progress at the works. A conversion on an Austin chassis provides an additional I ft. 9 ins. of body space.