E916TTH, E16.320 E.R.F
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
Hi lads, they were offered at 320 and 350 in road-trim, and up to 420 in marine guise. It was offered in Foden,ERF and Seddon-Atkinson from 84 til 87 and it was fitted in Neoplan Coach’s amoungst other’s. It was a cracking lump which was light in weight, economical and had more torque than both the ■■■■■■■ 350 and Rolls 340, and had it not been for early reliability problems and a complete lack of funding from Gardner’s owners it probably would of gone a long way to saving the once great firm
There was a Foden S106 on the preservation scene with one fitted, but i havent seen it since it was being advertised in the back of Vintage Commercial mag, i know there are a few on the Fairground’s (Carters have a S106 with a 6LYT and there’s an ex-Lowe of Paddockwood E16 that travels with Stevens fun fair) but the last one’s i saw working were from the firm W.F.L Transport from Lolworh Cambs who still ran 5 C and E series fitted with the 6LYT in 1999, these motors were ex- Erick Vick, Witham Plant and Gibbs of Frasaborugh. Other firms that i know of who ran them were, Torrigde from Devon, Beresford International Tunstal, Bassett of Tittensor, E H Nicholls of Kent, TNT’s, Collier’s Waste from Manchester, Lowe of Paddockwood, C & H Hauliers from Rainham, Millfeilds of Horbury, Suttons of StHelens amoungst other.s.
I’ll dig the artical out and put some detail’s up. Regards, Chris
Hi Straight Eight,
What reliability problems had they…as in what exactly was failing,and what should Gardner have done technically to perfect a basically sound design. I imagine if they got a 15.5 litre engine ‘right’ and built on their former reputation,they would have eventually developed it into a roadgoing 600hp unit for todays world?
Iirc they could shear the spigot shaft very easily ,they did have timing gear issues .
I loved the E-series ERF, it was one of my all-time favourites and I drove them both here and abroad. Nonetheless, I drove the 14-litre ■■■■■■■ version with a Twin-splitter, and the 10-litre ■■■■■■■ version with a 9-speed Fuller. Here are some more examples for you, of the 15 and a half-litre so-called 16-litre Gardner E16 ERF explored on this thread. Enjoy! Robert 
There is already some info about the E16 on the ERF E-series thread, which I’ve just ‘bumped up’ for your perusal. Robert
Here we are parked up at Hof Germany. E16, twin splitter. 320 hp but some of the horses were dead. I was always at the front of the queue on ‘no overtaking’ hills. This was not the ex Gibbs unit (there were two of those) which went like the proverbial from a shovel. In the two years I drove it around Europe I only had one major problem when the alternator spindle seized near Mayen and a new alternator had to be flown out overnight which cost me 24 hours.
zzarbean:
0Here we are parked up at Hof Germany. E16, twin splitter. 320 hp but some of the horses were dead. I was always at the front of the queue on ‘no overtaking’ hills. This was not the ex Gibbs unit (there were two of those) which went like the proverbial from a shovel. In the two years I drove it around Europe I only had one major problem when the alternator spindle seized near Mayen and a new alternator had to be flown out overnight which cost me 24 hours.
Interesting. The legend on the front says, ‘Middle-East - Europe’. Did it compare favourably with the ■■■■■■■ 14-litre in terms of performance and gearbox match? Robert
Robert I think Stan Robinsons is a E 14 ,and although I could be proved wrong I haven’t seen a plastic bumper 16 litre model as they all seamed to be fitted to c,d,e ,(f) reg makes of lorry ?
Dan Punchard:
Robert I think Stan Robinsons is a E 14 ,and although I could be proved wrong I haven’t seen a plastic bumper 16 litre model as they all seamed to be fitted to c,d,e ,(f) reg makes of lorry ?
I stand corrected on that one. In fact, if you look at the printed caption underneath, you can see where I have corrected it in ink from E16 to E14 so I must have already know this but forgotten!! Robert 
hiya the Bassett E16s was both 350,s…one mistake was not to brass bush the camshaft. it run in the aluminium block
that caused unnecessary ware. i was taking to a chap who had one(Allman,s Congleton) he thinks if the modern oil we use
today would have saved the engine life…wrong place wrong time…just thought i think Allmans was EX Meaches
John
I hadn’t realised that so many Gardner 15.5s were made! Having thought for years that there were only a handful around, they seem to be even more plentiful than the iconic Big J/Gardner 8. 
robert1952:
zzarbean:
0Here we are parked up at Hof Germany. E16, twin splitter. 320 hp but some of the horses were dead. I was always at the front of the queue on ‘no overtaking’ hills. This was not the ex Gibbs unit (there were two of those) which went like the proverbial from a shovel. In the two years I drove it around Europe I only had one major problem when the alternator spindle seized near Mayen and a new alternator had to be flown out overnight which cost me 24 hours.
Interesting. The legend on the front says, ‘Middle-East - Europe’. Did it compare favourably with the ■■■■■■■ 14-litre in terms of performance and gearbox match? Robert
The Middle East era was long gone when this unit came onto the fleet, as was the North Africa to be honest, it was used mainly on groupage runs around Benlux, Germany and France. I cannot remember where it was sourced from.
From personal experience it did not pull that well, seeming to be underpowered, and struggling on the long hills of Germany. Having said that it was operating at 38/40 tonnes compared to the 32 tons of Middle East times.
Cheers Ted - just wondered! Robert
Comparison with the E16 320 Gardner and it’s replacement EC11 400 ■■■■■■■ both fitted with twin splitters.
Reigate hill M25 West bound with 26 pallets of water on board the E16 would be down a full shift and maybe thinking about another stick move. The EC11 would would be going over the top on just 3 clicks.
Where does the 3rd click come from? it would have to be two clicks and shift. If you were in top, could only click down twice to get into the 1st split position. I’m guessing you meant it would get over in 10th, as my old 32ton EC11-340 would get over in the same gear loaded. Chris.
Just bumping this up for the boys own .
Disregarding the number of litres, to get the Gardner up to 400bhp would require a 5LW to be stuck on the back of it as well.
Some would claim that an 8-cyl Gardner went quite well when mounted in a Big J.