Once again a mad dash from Belgium and 24 hours without sleep. It was good though to catch up with Lex (over a pint), John O'Brien and John Tinley. I even learned a lot about first contract G3L top yokes :slightly_smiling_face:

I didn't actually 'need' anything so perhaps not surprisingly came back with little...A few nice Norton toolkit items for a tenth of eBay prices though and a couple of rubbers from Jeff Hunter.



It was a little disappointing, having queued for forty minutes to get in at ten O'Clock that there were streams of traders leaving just after 14.00 hrs...It's a morning rather than an all-day event.

Well done Rik, I still haven't got any of the box spanners and I can't say I've noticed that lever, it must be from the later tool kit.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

D'you mean this Rik? Print it off to hang by your bed if you want. :smile: Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

No, I've seen and heard enough Ron...Still can't work out where the girder side links attach though :thinking_face:

Davey, the box spanner is a little speculative but it's 1/4" Whit SE which fits with both the factory spare parts list and the early-war WD List of Tools and Equipment - although the WD replacement was a DE and later manual shows a 6" 1/4"Whit. SE, the Spare Parts List appears to show about a 4" tool like this one...but clearly a double ended (probably 1/4w x 5/16"w)















However, this one was free as a trader who'd done a shed clearance was tipping everything that hadn't sold from his £1 box into the rubbish container and not being someone to break with the habits of a lifetime, I dived in afterwards !:slightly_smiling_face:

I suspect that the 6" F-Type adjustable in the later manual is actually a Shelley but 6" F-Types of any make are hard to find and the Abingdon King Dick / Mansell / Norton connection makes it a possible...It'll do for a toolkit photo for the time being anyway. It's not actually clear when they changed from the older style to the F-Type but they definitely did see wartime service...





The flat plate tyre lever is an early war thing. Two spoons and a flat.



The only illustration that we have is from the 1939 Big 4 Kit Inspection photo and it shows a 45° head which is quite unusual and much less easy to find.



It may be though that someone will come up with an illustration of LV6.MT2/351 showing that they had the normal 90° angle...but for now, this is how I think it should be.

How on earth did they manage to get a tyre off its rim with a tiny bicycle type lever? JT

I've often had the same thought when I see toolkit type levers....I struggle even with my larger and thicker tyre levers...And I use at least two...Getting the tyre back on is also a lot more difficult if tyre soap isn't used and they didn't have any of that either...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

The lever is not that tiny actually. It's much more substantial than a bicycle tyre lever - just under 7" long including the angled head.

I make a point of using the standard levers but I must admit that I haven't tried without lube (Oo,er, Missus !). I also cheat by using a piece of plastic bottle as a rim protector.

The spoke hook on the flat plate lever is a welcome third hand to stop the tyre from creeping back on whilst the two spoons are wielded.