Curious omission??

There is a Trileva ML7 on Ebay at the moment with its most unusual feature unmentioned in the listing: **LINK**

It must be one of the least available proprietary 'add-ons' and, I would have thought, well worth heading the feature list. Strange??

rgds

Bill

Hi there, Bill,

I think that lathe is one of a batch that Myford made for a manufacturer of motor car brakes, I forget which one.

The extra height was to permit the lathe to be used for skimming brake drums.

I believe they used to be mentioned on Tony's web-site but last time I looked I couldn't find any mention of that particular variant. (Maybe I was looking through the wrong half of my bifocals!! )

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

According to Tony made for Ferodo as part of their racing service van kits, see **LINK** 

Objectively, given Myford prices, I'd have thought that Ferodo could have arranged a special purpose machine with more industrial specifications would have been less costly, more compact and less needful of careful driving. Fundamentally a facing lathe after all. Solid spindle in taper roller bearings would have done just fine too. Something could easily have been assembled on a short, but solid bed.  Perhaps from a smaller capstan like the Acorn, Atlas, Exacta and quite a few others.  I'd not care to risk skimming a big racing drum on something as light as a Myford.  Shoes yes, but not drums.  Last time I did any the strength and sturdiness of my Pratt & Whitney B 12 x 30 were very much appreciated in getting the excellent finish needed.

More likely discussions with potential customers led Myford to see a need and Ferodo were just one customer. Wonder how many service van kits they would have needed anyway. Ten sounds plenty. But hardly enough to make a proper engineered kit viable.

Clive.

Edited By Clive Foster on 15/03/2018 11:51:15

Edited By Clive Foster on 15/03/2018 11:51:44

Amazing what snippets of junk you store away in your mind.

Without looking beyond the first post, I thought 'wasn't that for Ferodo?' !

Thank you, gentlemen, for the extra insight.

What an unlikely combination - a (relatively) cheap lathe and what must have been an expensive add-on for almost one-off useage!! Wouldn't a larger, heavier machine, with the necessary centre height, have been a better bet ... or was it a 'bean-counter's' attempt at economy??

rgds

Bill

Bill

Remember that in the 1950's British vans were relatively small and underpowered (Bedford CA, Ford Thames etc) and they would be limited in interior space, and in load carrying capacity.

They probably would not have been able to get anything bigger than a Myford in.

Plus they probably wanted a lathe that could do other jobs as well.

Neil

David

Not all British vans of the 1950's were small. The Austin K8 made immediately post war is similar size to older Transit series, albeit on a shorter wheelbase. As I recall it the successor Austin/Morris LD was bigger than all but the latest Transits. I imagine there were other breeds of similar capacity.

More likely the service vans were box bodies on a small truck chassis e.g. Bedford K et al. Which could be pretty big. Google doesn't find any obviously relevant pictures. Searching for Ferodo racing service vans throws up a picture of two vans of that ilk, one green one with Ferodo logos, posed with K series Velo and Manx Norton racers.

Also possible that a body was put on a bus chassis which would have given plenty of room.

Actually a Myford on a factory stand takes up rather a lot of room for its capacity. Bench mount short bed facing lathes or capstans tend to be rather more compact so using such as a basis ought to have come out smaller. Wonder what they used for power. I guess there would have been a generator set up on board.

Clive.

Edited By Clive Foster on 15/03/2018 13:07:15

Clive

Well, until someone comes up with an in-period photograph, we are all speculating........

And when you think - in the 50's Jaguar racing drivers used to drive their own race cars from Coventry to Le Mans!!

Add to that the range and weight of spares that the van would need to carry I agree that 'small and light as possible to do the job in an emergency' would have been the likely brief. I wonder what drove the lathe - maybe a small villiers petrol engine or maybe they had 110v hook up in the paddock?

An interesting question to ask a race engineer from that period.

Many years since I read the book but I believe Alf Francis had a bit to say about vans, trucks, equipment carried and transportation thereof on the Grand Prix circus in the 1950's and early 1960's. Could be worth look if someone can locate a copy. Think title was Alf Francis, Racing Mechanic. Published around mid 1960's I'd guess.

One came up on t'Bay at a silly price late last year when I was looking for Adrian Neweys book "How to Build A Car", excellent read that was.

Clive.

If you look at the photos on Ebay and Tony's web site there is no doubt the one for sale appears on tony's archive !

I recall "LBSC" picturing a my food with raising blocks, in one of his articles in ME. I enquirer about the availability on them with Myford. They said it was a one off for a racing team, and that they were not generally on sale.

Myford has come out as "my food" in my last post! Weird!