Good spotting there hoarder............
..........................Billy..........................

Spotted this at Broke camping area..................





Now a motor home, but was a Thornycroft Nubian 6x6 Fire tender, based at Mascot aerodrome

then Bankstown , before being retired in the late 90s ( so i was told )
It was bought by Adrian & Carrol Capel ....
Here is some pics before work started to restore it mechanically & turn it into a motor home




Adrian has a photo album of the complete build up..i just borrowed a few..........
There also is a web site on the story
They used to live in the Blacktown area & he was a heavy vehicle fitter with a north western
quarryin company, so he had plenty of nouse to do the job of the build up.
After stripping all the fire fighting gear off the chassis it required a mechanical re-build , the diffs
were ok, so all the rear suspension was re bushed & fitted with new pins etc ( all made by Adrian
out of any thing that could be machined to fit) such as brass rod, old dozer track pins etc etc ......
Having a lathe & milling machine , welders , all made the job possible.....BUT ...i thought his brain
power was just amazing. .... With the rear end all assembled he didnt like the axle wind up caused by no
power divider...SO....an air operated dog clutch was made from bits & pieces , fitted to the rear diff
pinion front & the rear tailshaft then bolted to this gadget. A dash flick switch controlls the air to the cylinder
& is only actuated when required.

The front suspension was over hauled in the same manner (every thing made by Adrian) NOW get this.....
Free wheeling front hubs were on the wish list......SO ....he just manufactured them, ,,,unbelievable...........
Again, made up out of work shop scrap........
................................Billy.............................

The 8 cyl Rolls petrol donk was on the list to get turfed out, so a big block gas chevvy was married

to the existing mt 41 Allison box ,but extended crankshaft problems later saw it turfed out too....

Next fitted was a Hino diesel & box. Again all the machining etc was carried out by Adrian.....

The whole lot had to be hooked up to the transfer case that ran the tail shafts & the old pumping gear.

as well as the drive to the front mounted winch( which after the eng change presented a problem.....

so the drive is engaged by lifting a floor panel & putting a chain around two cogs, this takes about

3 or 4 minutes to accomplish , so thats ok.as you are hopeing you dont have to use the winch too often.


Front winch



Winch drive shaft...............
Notice the shockies to help stop wheel shimmy'



I take it that the rear eng mount cross member for the Hino & box was also fabricated.



Front diff area




Rear axle ..hand brake links...........
...............................Billy...............................

Great engineering there

Some fellows are bloody clever, aren't they?
Great pics Billy, thanks for putting them up!
Cheers
Richard

.

Yep , smart is just not the word for this bloke............

With the mechanicals all complete ...... (at this stage the Chevvy was the engine power ,it was a few

years later that the Hino & manual box was fitted ) .........time to operate on the cab & fit out the interior

as required . The front corner tool boxes that held fire fighting gear , now held camping gear & out side stuff.


A couple of late model Falcon seats you see here , were fitted not all that long ago & are very comfy.



They tried to keep the cab inside as close to original as possible



A few new gauges to make things easier

When the living quarters were made & fitted this provided in side access between the two areas................
A paint job finished the cab / chassis...........THEN..........throw those living quarters on..............
.........I didnt take any inside pics, as it looked just like any professionally built caravan
interior.................A credit to Adrian & Carrol

The van section was built solely by them , except for the bench top & cupboard draws...


The bedroom is at front up top, with the walls folding in as the top comes down.....All electronically
completed by the flick of a switch.

Like wise a lounge area at the rear slides out ,also at the flick of a switch........


Forgot this pic of the rear suspension.................................................
...............................Billy..............................

When it was presented for rego , the RTA knocked it back for one thing, mounted under the bull bar
(When it was a fire tender)
were knives ( for want of a better term ), also on the top area of the bull bar were similar knives.
This was so they could charge through fences, if necessary.....the knives would slice the wires without
too much damage to the truck.................Well the RTA bloke said , mate, they have just gotta go.
On the top at the rear is an automatic TV areal assembly , again works with a flick of a switch......
Up top at the back are two large solar panels (a bit hard to see here as they are side on.

The old foam cannon that was top mounted,& , on a turntable for directional
squirting..............That turntable now holds those two solar panels , with a tracking devise
that always keeps the panels facing the sun automatically...............Raising & lowering the whole
kit & kaboodle is by flicking one switch. A big battery bank & inverters run all the electrics including
fridge,washing machine, sowing machine & all the comforts for full time living........

The whole thing took about 4 or 5 years to build & they have been living & touring in it for roughly
twenty years. Home base is a block of land with a couple of containers that hold all their gear.
Also there is a fold up boat in the rear chassis area some where.

They have been over areas such as the Simpson Desert..Cape York via the Old Telegraph track..........
You name it , they have been there.
Looking at those wheels, you might say how do you mend puntures when they occur (an occupational
hazard when you are out back ) .....Well getting the wheels apart for the first time was a major
operation,.....but........sticking em back together with tyre goo, now means a tyre can be stripped ,
repaired (or new tube ) ....& put back together in about twenty minutes , courtesy of an electric
rattle gun.

I could go on for ever about the gismos that this couple have made to get & keep this old Thorny
mobile for all these years...........but ....... thattel do for now.
..................Billy...................

.
.


That is what it was like in days gone by............................That's it ....no thanks to Photobucket..................
..............................Billy...............................

THANKS BILLY P.
Those pics of the old fire tender surely stirred up some memories. I used to work on them when I was with DCA at Adelaide Airport.
The knives you mentioned on the front bar did exactly that, cut through wire fences. There were a lot more than 2 knives too, they were also mounted under the front bar on the rearward sloping panel. I whacked my head on them a few times, opening up skin and letting the claret flow.
The diffs were also a pain in the butt. Every month we had to do what they called a rolling radius check, put a mark in the tire, mark the ground in the same spot, drive forward to for one complete revolution of the wheel, then measure the distance. It was then a case of mix and match tires until they were all pretty much the same. You had to be real careful jacking up a wheel too, coz there would be wind-up in the drive train, and that wheel would start to rotate as soon as it cleared the ground.
Most of the firies that drove them weren't very smart but they could lift heavy things. These old jiggers were fairly bullet proof. They would average 25 to 30 miles a month and the maintenance on them was fairly intense.
They were easy to change tires on too, the rim halves were bolted together, we used to paint these red, so the ones that didn't know, wouldn't undo them while the tire was inflated.

There goes a double triple over Degray River WA............



Now that is a road train....................


At Stewarts Well. NT. about 1996.

Every body is in Jims Place road house having a feed .( we are hot on their heels )

For those that arent aware...........Jims Place is where the dingo sings along with the piano etc.

On the walls of the caffe there is a series of old photos,depicting among other things, the old

Kings Canyon Resort. Now this was built by Jims dad on a hand shake deal with the owners (or leasers)

of the area that was an old cattle station. All was well till the government decided to resume the land

& turn it into a national park, handing the running of it to the original land holders (aboriginees ).

Jims dad was told to shoot through with no compensation, because, there was no written contract

involved with the area.......Now Jims old man (i think his name was Jim as well)... wasnt what you

would call too happy about walking away with nothing for all the work he had put in to the old resort,

so, one night they loaded a dozer onto a low loader & set off for the resort.

The next day was spent running the dozer through every thing.....nothing was left standing.

The old fella then said righto gov she is all yours , so cop that .young Harry.

Yeah, as i said, the photos are on the wall to prove it.

The whole resort had to be rebuilt (a bit more modern of corse)
........................Billy...........................