Bran D

There are some very good points raised in this thread. If I look at the Saladin I am selling, then I consider this a premium vehicle. I.e. Something armoured, different and gains a lot of interest amongst the public, so I would have imagined it would sell at near to the price I was asking. I have been in this hobby since 1977, only as an ethusiast, not a dealer, but have a lot of experience as to what sells at what price. I have owned the Saladin since 1985, so am in no hurry to sell it, I am sure the price accurately reflects its worth, so lets see what happens. Regarding the Daf Drops, I will advertise it on eBay soon, but will start it at a much lower price of around £8500, with no reserve, it's a good vehicle, but does not have the attachment that armour does. I did not want to sell at a really low price as I think it then lowers the value of the drops for other owners who have already gone to the trouble of registering and using these on the road already. But I guess that the market dictates the price, not me!

All very good points made above. I think I will test the market with the Drops on ebay to see what the going price is. With the Saladin I have some interest from other countries so will see what happens there.

This is not a plug for advertising but a question as I am very surprised at the low level of response from UK vehicle buyers. I have just renewed adverts for 2 of my vehicles, a Saladin and a Drops, which I am sure are competitively priced and in good condition, but have received a low level of interest from the UK. We often see vehicles advertised for silly money as people try it on, but I have genuinely tried to be reasonable with the prices quoted in the adverts. It has amazed me that there is so little response from buyers in the UK, or is there really that little money around for post war vehicles? What do you think?

I've this several times and its ok if you take your time, don't rush, clean everything properly and don't overheat the ally. Repairs have lasted well.-

Looking forward to the show, I should be there early Saturday with Drops, Saladin and living van. Hopefully it will be nice to see more than one Saladin on the move, don't seem to see that very often these days, then again I don't get let out too often! Hopefully some sunshine will make the beer taste even better.

You should have been there Sunday, almost every big vehicle coupled up being pulled by Micks Drops conversion, over 300 tons! Sorry I couldn't take a picture but I was being towed around in the "train". He is braver than me with that auto gearbox, I wouldn't have liked to try it.

I didn't have an engine with my saladin, and could only get an engine from a sarry. I remember it was so much simpler sticking with the sarry pulley setup for the 25 amp generator. Its interesting that if you look in the early user handbook for the saladin, some photos show the mark 6a engine with a 25 amp generator. It states that the first few Saladins were fitted wih the mark 6 a engine, and would be upgraded to the 6d that was fitted with the 75 amp generator. Any one got a later book to see if its the same? My user handbook is dated 1958.

When I re engined my saladin back in the mid1980's, I could not find a 75 amp generator for any where near sensible money, so I fitted the 25 amp generator from the Saracen. I also fitted the Saracens hydraulic pump, and then modified the cooling fans to suit. I don't remember any mods to the timing cover, but I did keep the sarry pulleys and belt arrangement. But it was a long time ago and I don't seem to remember a lot these days.

I fitted a Saracen engine to my Saladin. The differences are down to the generator being larger and using different drive belts, so the pulleys are also different. Everything else should be ok from memory.

Good luck with the crossing, I remember Mario and others doing it many years ago. I think they broke down and beached at Beaulieu estate, which caused a few issues! No certificates are required by law to take any vessel like this to sea, but you may need to check what your insurance requires. I've navigated many time in boats ranging from 4 knots to 40 knots speed, it can be very busy and especially if at the slower speed you need to keep an eye open for bigger vessels coming in and out as they dont alter direction too quick, if at all for a small vessel. You need to have good weather and arrange a suitable launching and landing spot. Apart from that its plain sailing! Let me know if you need any more help

Use engine oil for the gearbox. 10/30 is equivalent to OMD 90. Originally the zf auto box was spected with an ATF oil, but the military respecified it to engine oil to reduce the number of oils used.

Just looked at a manual, the throttle position sensor you mention is the load sensor for the gearbox. To adjust, make sure that with no throttle it lines up with the mark on the sensor labelled low. Then check at full throttle that it lines up with the high mark. At full throttle the kick down sensor should also operate.

Hi, mine is very smooth, not harsh at all and I've been very suprised how smooth and quick it changes. To me it always seems to be in too low a gear compared to where I would change, but saying that it does it all ok. I'm not sure of any reset or recal procedures, but will look through my documentation to see if anything is mentioned.

Hi Iain, the ISO viscosity is 13 for OM13, Currently there is only ISO 10 or 15 available. I have been using ISO 15 for the last 20 years or so in my Saladin and other vehicles with no issues. The difference in viscosity is very slight, and makes no difference, I went for the slightly higher grade , but in reality its not so sensitive. OM13 was originally speced as a normal mineral hydraulic oil with stearic acid added. I remember talking to a technical adviser at Silkolene backin the 1980's, as they then had the MOD contract for OM13, and he said that it was used as to improve its lubrication properties for some projects that used a long hydraulic ram. He suggested Derwent 15, an ISO 15 grade oil. I've used several other makes over the years as well with no issues.

I've had similar problems, I disconnected the fuel feed to the carb and made a seperate gravity feed to the carb, started the engine and ran it fairly fast for 30 seconds or so and that seemed to get the fuel moving through the pump into a can. Good luck