ramone:
Thanks for that,very interesting,i read on the AEC society website that its no coincidence that the only survivors seem to be the 6 speed Aec box versions ,shame someone couldn`t sort what could have been real potential
Hiya ramone…not true…theres a chap who comes to llandudno festival who has two V8,s (he has more) he has a 8 legger
with that weid gearbox.i can,t remember his name .his trucks are two tone blue with a red chassis
The chap has,nt been to the show for the last 3 years someone must know him.he spent hours with me explaning
how he had rebuit the engine and got it running right.There,s another chap who goes to llandudno who has 2 v8 engines
he lives on Anglesey
John
Is this one of them John?
hiya nice looking motor is that chris… I was in a yard yesterday Chris there was 6 motor,s like mine
and 4 cabs…i was like a kid in a sweet shop…top secret
I.ll pm some photo.s when i put them on p/bucket
John
There are something like 14 Mandator V8’s surviving complete today, and a couple more incomplete, like the 3 in a well known Hertfordshire breakers yard. All have the AEC D237 or D250 six speed 'box.
Two versions of the AEC V8 engine were produced in moderate numbers, the AV740 with a 130mm bore was the most common at 12.1 litres, but a larger 135mm bore engine at 13.1 litres was developed - known as the AV800 (AV801). The later large bore engine had thinner water jackets around the cylinder liners which assisted heat transfer to the coolant, a problem that always dogged the 740 when working hard. It is not unknown for a 740 to actually cut out and seize if pulling upto a stop after a long slog. Many 740 engines were replaced with 800’s, including the one in Mark Wiltshire’s lorry above.
One of the last V8’s to operate commercially in the UK was the example owned by Boon Bros of Whittlesey near Peterborough. They owned the truck from new and operated it hard, initially on a Seawheel contract and then hauling bricks. They had the maintenance of it down to a fine art, having a spare engine which was routinely swapped and rebuilt with new bearing shells at 20’000 mile intervals. It was finally retired when cab corrosion took hold, but has subsequently been acquired for preservation.
Speed of the V8 was always governed by the axle ratio fitted. Heavy duty versions had a 7.0:1 axle making them pull well, but quite slow. The standard axle ratio was 6.25:1 which gave a top speed in the 70’s at absolute maximum RPM.
ramone:
Thats a smart MM Chris,John did you say he had a Mammoth Major with a V8 in it?
The V8 was mainly fitted in a special wider version of the Mandator (4x2) tractor unit chassis. A couple of V8 6x4 Mammoth Major heavy tractor units are known to have been built for BRS, and at least one Scammell Crusader was experimentally fitted with an AEC V8.
The records from Leyland and AEC are very comprehensive, and have been studied in finite detail and show no evidence of a V8 engine being fitted in any chassis other than these.
ramone:
Thats a smart MM Chris,John did you say he had a Mammoth Major with a V8 in it?
The V8 was mainly fitted in a special wider version of the Mandator (4x2) tractor unit chassis. A couple of V8 6x4 Mammoth Major heavy tractor units are known to have been built for BRS, and at least one Scammell Crusader was experimentally fitted with an AEC V8.
The records from Leyland and AEC are very comprehensive, and have been studied in finite detail and show no evidence of a V8 engine being fitted in any chassis other than these.
Hiya…please take this light hearted but the leyland records don,t know about this V8 in a ford the photo was taken
in 1982ish this tractor puller could out pull anything and was used on the farm, i don,t know where it is nowadays
John
ERF:
There are something like 14 Mandator V8’s surviving complete today, and a couple more incomplete, like the 3 in a well known Hertfordshire breakers yard. All have the AEC D237 or D250 six speed 'box.
Two versions of the AEC V8 engine were produced in moderate numbers, the AV740 with a 130mm bore was the most common at 12.1 litres, but a larger 135mm bore engine at 13.1 litres was developed - known as the AV800 (AV801). The later large bore engine had thinner water jackets around the cylinder liners which assisted heat transfer to the coolant, a problem that always dogged the 740 when working hard. It is not unknown for a 740 to actually cut out and seize if pulling upto a stop after a long slog. Many 740 engines were replaced with 800’s, including the one in Mark Wiltshire’s lorry above.
One of the last V8’s to operate commercially in the UK was the example owned by Boon Bros of Whittlesey near Peterborough. They owned the truck from new and operated it hard, initially on a Seawheel contract and then hauling bricks. They had the maintenance of it down to a fine art, having a spare engine which was routinely swapped and rebuilt with new bearing shells at 20’000 mile intervals. It was finally retired when cab corrosion took hold, but has subsequently been acquired for preservation.
Speed of the V8 was always governed by the axle ratio fitted. Heavy duty versions had a 7.0:1 axle making them pull well, but quite slow. The standard axle ratio was 6.25:1 which gave a top speed in the 70’s at absolute maximum RPM.
3300John:
Hiya…please take this light hearted but the leyland records don,t know about this V8 in a ford the photo was taken
in 1982ish this tractor puller could out pull anything and was used on the farm, i don,t know where it is nowadays
John
Interestingly John, I think you’ll find that is one of the 801 V8 engines that the chap you mention from Anglesey owns.
Ex industrial (generator… etc) units, I think.
Nice dash!
Look at that dead man handle just waiting to be pulled…did anyone on here ever dare to pull one in anger?? If so what were the results?
I was always told to leave it alone, unless all else had failed!
Nice dash!
Look at that dead man handle just waiting to be pulled…did anyone on here ever dare to pull one in anger?? If so what were the results?
I was always told to leave it alone, unless all else had failed!
Hi Nick,handy when you were stood at lights instead of pulling the air assisted handbrake on,can’t recall ever having to use it in anger but always tried it daily just in case.And it is a nice dash,I’ve had a lift in a V8 but never driven one.All Evans AEC MK3s and 5s had a dead man but they were spring loaded not like the ones on the Mandators.
tiny bit off thread but dead man was mentioned . one of hansons ( wakefield ) passed me going down chunal into glossop , smoke pouring out of drums . when we got to the job he was tipped , i asked him what he would have done if he had to stop , " i’ll put the ****** deadman on " , trouble was he was serious … doh!! cheers , dave
rigsby:
tiny bit off thread but dead man was mentioned . one of hansons ( wakefield ) passed me going down chunal into glossop , smoke pouring out of drums . when we got to the job he was tipped , i asked him what he would have done if he had to stop , " i’ll put the ****** deadman on " , trouble was he was serious … doh!! cheers , dave
Stanfield:
Found this on the AEC societys webb site.Photo taken by G Carpenter.[/quote
Both were owned by John Tweedie from skipton i dont know if he still as `em he as a Marathon with a TL12 in complete with AEC badges
I’m sure the Leathers outfit was up for sale in Classic and Vintage Commercials mag not so long ago for a couple of issues. There was an article about the two Mandators John Tweedy restored way back too and in that it said he wouldn’t part with them. Just found the issue August 2002 so things might have changed since then hence the sale. Pity the article doesn’t show the engine but I’m sure there is another V8 featured in another issue so I’ll skip through them and see if I can get an engine pic. Franky.
Left ■■■■■■ obviously and it has no clutch pedal so if its the AEC V8 it must have the pneumocyclic box in and maybe one of the export models to Aus or New Zealand.
Frankydobo:
I’m sure the Leathers outfit was up for sale in Classic and Vintage Commercials mag not so long ago for a couple of issues. There was an article about the two Mandators John Tweedy restored way back too and in that it said he wouldn’t part with them. Just found the issue August 2002 so things might have changed since then hence the sale. Pity the article doesn’t show the engine but I’m sure there is another V8 featured in another issue so I’ll skip through them and see if I can get an engine pic. Franky.
I dont know when he painted the Leathers unit or which colour it ended up i think it was blue first then in Leathers colours.He also as an AEC 1100 engine which they fitted in the big Super Mammoth,which he takes to shows hes a real AEC man.In the mid 80s i remember delivering to the fire station at Eastwood Rotherham and there was an AEC Mandator inside the building with no cab on and im sure that was a V8 ,dont know what it was doing there though
This is the layout from a 2VTG4L unit with the high datum cab. It is one of the very last V8’s, most did not have this dash layout but a more basic one with just a rev counter added to the standard ‘Ergo’ binnicle. As someone has said, this one has a Pneumocyclic semi automatic gearbox.
Frankydobo:
I’m sure the Leathers outfit was up for sale in Classic and Vintage Commercials mag not so long ago for a couple of issues. There was an article about the two Mandators John Tweedy restored way back too and in that it said he wouldn’t part with them. Just found the issue August 2002 so things might have changed since then hence the sale. Pity the article doesn’t show the engine but I’m sure there is another V8 featured in another issue so I’ll skip through them and see if I can get an engine pic. Franky.
John Tweedie has sold all the V8’s he had. The yellow high datum one had a cab from a Bison fitted by Tweedie and now resides on someone’s driveway with flat rear tyres… flickr.com/photos/wyliefox/5497029604/
The ‘Leathers’ V8 was sold and repainted red with ‘Evans’ on the doors. This is currently up for sale again having been through at least two or three owners since John Tweedie.
Hiya …the high datum cabs i,ve driven IE bisons and bufflows have had a flatter clocks than that AEC photo.
I would have thought that was possibly a early pre production cab.the Ergo,s i have driven have had a ribbed
plastic finish around the clock area in black that looks as though as if its that pinkish steel finish.i may be
wrong.
John
