573

Dennis Chassis No 573

3 ton chassis

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Chassis 573 was delivered to Carter Paterson in December 1908 and is believed to be the oldest surviving Dennis commercial vehicle. The 500 series chassis was the first Dennis heavy commercial; 2 to 4 tons and the base of all their early omnibuses, vans and lorries.

The chassis was recovered from under a house at Surfleet Reservoir in Lincolnshire. It had been the base of a caravan made from a 20 foot lift van (early wooden shipping container). The owners had purchased their cottage as a railway carriage conversion, but after moving in found it was actually standing on an early lorry chassis and contacted an enthusiast magazine.

Extracting the chassis

This chassis came out in pieces.

The local story was that the Dennis had been parked up there since WWII when it had been used as a mess hut for the army. I would be very interested to see photograhic proof of this.

From the modifications to the chassis it appears to have spent a long time as a travelling caravan prior to being parked up in Surfleet. It is also a very heavy chassis so would probably have required a steam vehicle to tow it; perhaps the living van towed behind a steam roller.

  Reproduced by permission of Surrey History Service. Copyright of Alexander Dennis.

Parts Wanted

Radiator

The image shows the 1908 model of radiator. I would consider fitting an equivalent earlier (brass) or later (vertical tube) Dennis radiator.

2023 Update - We have made patterns and cast new tanks for the radiator, cut the lengths of tube and punched out 14,000 radiator gills. 

Engine

Chassis 573 was fitted with a White and Poppe four cylinder engine with a bore of 110mm and a stroke of 130mm (giving a capacity of 4942cc). It would be ideal to find this model of engine, but many equivalent engines from the period would fit.

2016 Update: We have found the right engine but it needs a lot of work to bring it back to life.

 Gearbox

The image shows the model of gearbox originally fitted to chassis 573. The mounting holes are still visible on the chassis. The gearbox was fitted with a free-wheel device on gears 1,2 & 4 which made gear changes simpler.

Some drawings survive for the gearbox, I have made some of the parts but there are many more parts to make. I have even managed to find a few original parts.

2024 Update: We have collected and recommissioned a Kearns horizontal boring machine, this should enable me to machine the gearbox casing when I have had it cast.

Body

The original body was not built by Dennis. It was a horse drawn London Delivery Van mounted on the chassis supplied by Dennis. These delivery vans were built by a number of manufacturers including the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works. If anyone knows of one of these I would be very keen to restore it and mount it on the chassis.

Restoration

April 2011, restoration is progressing. The chassis awaits the return of its wheels from a wheelwright.

Installing the new worm shaft (Oct 2011)

Fitting rebuilt wheels to back axle (April 2012)

Front wheels on (June 2012) 

 Correct Engine Found (September 2016)

The arrival of the correct engine is a massive boost to this project, there are still a few things to work out about the gearbox design and several months of pattern making, machining and assembly of a radiator. Not to mention building the body!

Click here for photos of the restoration.

If you have any further info please email: benjamin.p.hawkins@gmail.com