Porsches Forged Ahead in East Africa Rally
 W H Tildesley, the 150 year old Midlands based forging company, played a part in preparations for the East African Safari Classic Rally in December. Replicas of Porsche 911 parts were forged for rally specialists Francis Tuthill, whose cars finished 3rd and 4th in the gruelling 4200 kilometre race. “We took an original 911 suspension component to W H Tildesley and they remanufactured it for us,” said Richard Tuthill, Director of Francis Tuthill which began 38 years ago and is based near Banbury in Oxfordshire. “With modifications which we machined into the part, we were able to use a larger diameter shock absorber which gave our cars a significant performance advantage.”
A Porsche driven and crewed by Frederic Dor and Paul Howarth finished just 5 minutes and 30 seconds behind, Ford Escort RS1600 driven by Stig Blomqvist who took second place and 4th place was taken by Tuthill’s Porsche driven and crewed by John Lloyd and Paul Amandini. In first place was Rob Collinge in a Datsun 260Z who achieved 15 hours, 49 minutes and 18 seconds.
Richard Tuthill said, “The new suspension had a few small problems, as you would expect first time out, but there was no time lost as a result and over all the cars performed exceptionally well. We will be using this system on other cars wherever it is possible.
 John Tildesley of W H Tildesley said that the project was not unusual as they often receive requests for parts that are no longer in production. “We are set up for small batch production,” he said. “An order for a small quantity of components is ideally suited to our capacity and forging is often a cost- effective manufacturing method compared to machining from solid, especially when high specification materials are involved. We offer a problem solving service, taking original parts or drawings, modelling them on computer, making and testing prototypes and then forging the required quantity. Parts are often needed for restoration projects, either for classic cars, agricultural vehicles or even for aircraft, such as the rudder pedals we made recently for a company restoring Spitfires. We are very pleased that the Francis Tuthill cars performed well in East Africa and look forward to working on other projects with them.
Vehicle restoration and aftermarket parts are an important area of our business at W H Tildesley. Geared up as we are for smaller batch quantities, we can often help when a small number of non-standard parts is needed for several vehicles, or in some cases like the ‘OK’ lorry on the facing page, it can be just one! Whether a modified part is needed to improve performance or a replica part for a marque that is out of production, we can usually model a component to the customer’s specification then forge it to give a strong and effective result.
The best aspect to these projects is the passion that is felt for them – people love the old vehicles that used to grace the roads in days gone by and it’s great to be able to play a small part in keeping history alive. We’ve lost count of the number of projects that have come our way over the years; aircraft, agricultural machines, trains, boats and even tanks. Here we have just three stories which we hope will be of interest.
The Black Shadow Motorcycle
 The motorcycle fans amongst our readers will know the name Vincent HRD. These most desirable and collectable of British bikes, including the Black Shadow and its successor Black Lightening, made Vincent HRD the most legendary brand of its time.
The bikes were last manufactured in 1955 and, today, a well restored model in original condition can fetch up to £30,000. It is fortunate that components can still be obtained from one of our customers, The VOC (Vincent Owners Club) Spares Company based in Lymm, Cheshire. The company has an ongoing objective to make readily available as many of the spares for Vincent motorcycles as is commercially possible. Working closely with the Vincent Owners Club technical committee and other sources of information within the Vincent community, it is seeking to reproduce and make readily available, accurate and technically sound replacement components to keep Vincent motorcycles on the road and in line with original specifications.
A complete engine was launched last year at the Stafford show. This year in 2006 it is the intention to make available all the components to assemble a new Series 'C' Black Shadow.
“This is not principally being done as an exercise to create a replica Vincent, but as a means of making available and advertising the fact that the balance of the major components to complete this machine and other machines are now available as spares for original machines,” said David Meadowcroft, Managing Director of The VOC Spares Company. “
 It is our aim to have a complete finished Black Shadow ready for our open day which takes place at the end of August. We approached W H Tildesley because a component we needed, the head lug for the steering section was large and we felt they could tackle it for us. We now have a completed component and have placed the order for a further batch.” David joined The VOC Spares Company three years ago after a career in mainstream engineering. He has a passion for motorcycles and owns a Vincent himself.
A Restoration that is more than OK!
This beautifully restored 1920 ‘OK’ lorry is the last of its kind in the world. We were approached by Gerald Jenkinson, the owner and restorer who lives near Stafford, to produce a steering drop arm for him. “The ‘OK’ lorry was built in the town of Okay near Muskogee in Oklahoma for the purpose of drilling oil fields,” says Mr Jenkinson. “These lorries lasted only three years because the drilling rig on the back shook the lorry so much when in use, that it would normally fall apart. Rather than repairing them, the lorries were abandoned in pits dug in the soil and farming would continue over the top. There was so much money around that the oil companies would sometimes just bury a lorry if there was no oil to be found in a particular area.” Mr Jenkinson, who has been restoring lorries since he was 11 years old, tells us that his ‘OK’ lorry was dug up after 40 years underground. It was by that stage in two halves. “The farmer kept catching the steel cab as he drove over the buried lorry,” he says, “so it was dug up and left at the side of the field for a while until the mud and clay dropped off. A millionaire came across it, recognised the ‘OK’ logo on the radiator, and shipped it to England for restoration.
 He fell out with the restorers before the project was started and the ‘OK’ stood on a farm near Wem in Shropshire for 10 or 11 years.” Mr Jenkinson then restored the ‘OK’ as authentically as he could. Scraps of the timber on the back were analysed and found to be Burmese teak so the same wood was used and the same colour red was used for the coachwork. Two new pieces of metal which were used to weld the lorry back together were later found to be two inches too long according to the Detroit Museum and an historian in Canada.
Mr Jenkinson dismantled the lorry, shortened the lengths and welded it again.
“Unbelievably, on a trip to America, we found the tool kit and gallon oil can in an antique centre so we were able to reunite these pieces with the lorry,” says Mr Jenkinson. The steering on the ‘OK’, designed as it was for oilfields and not roads, needed some modification and its size meant that a special arm had to be designed and forged. We are delighted that we were able to help in a small way with the outstanding restoration of this historical vehicle.
It all 'hinges' on us for an MG component
 British Motor Heritage Limited was acquired from BMW in 2001 and is now run as an independent company putting genuine components for classic British cars back into manufacture. Using original tools wherever possible,British Motor Heritage (BMH), was originally established in 1975 to support classic car owners and the wider market. We supply BMH with a component that is used in the manufacture of the MG Midget door hinge.
John Yea of BMH says, “Our trading history with W H Tildesley dates back to 1999. With the help of our suppliers and with access to authentic production information and original drawings and patterns, we are able to manufacture previously unobtainable body parts for British classic cars.
We assemble 42 derivatives of body shells and have built total production volume of over 6000 for the MGB, MGR V8, MG Midget, Austin-Healey Sprite, Triumph TR6, Original Mini and Mini Clubman using original press tools and assembly jigs.”
British Motor Heritage is based in Oxfordshire, has a turnover approaching £4 million supported by a £2 million inventory and nearly 10,000 component references.
 Bentley Stub Axle
This stub axle needed to be forged for the Daimler of a senior member of the Royal family. The standard axle was not heavy duty enough to carry the considerable extra weight of the armour plating.
 Spitfire Rudder Pedal
One of our customers restores Spitfires so the sky is the limit as far as the specification of parts is concerned! We forge this finely detailed rudder pedal in aluminium to put the finishing touch to the restoration.
 Formed in 1968 Oxford Engineering Limited is a sophisticated machining and assembly company. It supplies some of the most demanding sections of industry including Aerospace, Medical, Cryogenic, Semi conductor, Industrial Instruments, Oil and Gas. Currently the company employs 100 people, with a £10 million per year turnover and occupies a factory of 40,000 sq ft, 4 miles south of Oxford. Supply chain management and low cost sourcing are key to the company’s success.
Paul Iwanczak, Purchasing Manager at Oxford Engineering, says that he chose to work with W.H.Tildesley after a competitive tender was submitted. This encouraged the company to conduct a supplier validation assessment and led to the first order for stainless steel closed die forgings. “The factors which affect our decision to take on a new supplier are many,” says Paul. “We are looking for cost competitiveness, of course, in order that we can compete in the marketplace. We also insist on on-time delivery, quality performance, capability and accreditation.”
This is our first application for Oxford Engineering and we look forward to developing more cost-saving manufacturing solutions with them throughout 2006.
 Up to Glasgow to meet Air Power and Hydraulics. APH is a specialist designer and manufacturer of custom hydraulic cylinders, actuators and power units. Previous and ongoing contracts include the general engineering sector and process industries and the rail, nuclear, offshore and defence industries. Applications include deep sea cable laying, tunnel boring, mobile radar installations, crop harvesting and wave-making machines for leisure complexes.
This customer approached us after finding our website in the middle of last year. Ian Paterson of Air Power and Hydraulics says:
“W H Tildesley has a major strength in that they have a good understanding of our requirements. They produced sample forgings initially and now provide us with drop forgings, which provide major savings over machining from soid. Our main priorities when selecting a supplier are quality of product and good technical communication. Price and reliable delivery are important too, as is good documentation.”
Thank you Ian. We look forward to helping out with your future forging requirements.
 Renown Engineering was formed in 1986 after a management buy-out from an international group. The company offers general engineering services and also specialises in the manufacture and refurbishment of road wheels, top roller and track tensioner wheels for tracked armoured vehicles. Based in Cramlington, Northumberland, Renown works in defence, marine, power generation, hydraulics and construction equipment. From fabrication, through precision machining to fitting, assembly and painting, the company depends on its supply chain partners such as W H Tildesley.
Our archive of dies put us at the forefront when Renown Engineering were seeking a new supplier of forgings.
David Youhill of Renown says, “We use forgings to manufacture components for MoD military vehicles from time to time and W H Tildesley hold the appropriate dies. Whilst our requirements are irregular in terms of frequency, we have enjoyed a very good relationship with the company.” David says that key factors in a good supplier relationship are “honesty and speed of response to enquiries and problems.”
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