Jump to content

My first truck MK1 Militant for restoration


Truck257

Recommended Posts

Give it time and all of a sudden you will just click with the gearbox and you will wonder what all the fuss was about. Its a slow truck and empty so it does not roll well just keep the revs down because the old AEC pulls for fun. Revs to road speed you cannot get your technique right untill you get some time behind the wheel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will continue with the gearbox relationship at a later stage my current situation is to get the air system working at full pressure. So I've stripped the unloader valve and cleaned it out renewing gaskets still won't build up to full pressure I've be told is 120PSI it's stopping at 87PSI so this morning I stripped the head off the compressor cleaned it all out put it back together and started to adjust the blow off pressure then realised when I blew down the feed to the unloader valve from the comperssor it came straight out of the recirculation pipe to the intake. So since I've stripped and rebuilt the unloader valve and everything seemed okay I think there's possibly something missing ? Rob said to me that there's an air filter in the unit. I did not find one ? Is that the problem ? I blancked off the recirculation outlet on the unloader valve and built the air up and its fine no problem, so how much am I missing ?

 

Also on the other had this morning I was yet again scrolling through google as my inner archaeologist decided to try and find some more picture of my truck and after a while I came up trumps. astounded yet again. This time I found a red truck in a hedge with the registration JAS707 the current registration given to me by the DVLA :)

IMG_0794.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I've sussed the air system out now :) got her building up to 120 then blowing off as she should :) very happy :) next thing to do I think I'd start sorting the cab out do the little bits of welding and paint the cab :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yet more pictures I have found ! This is becoming a history lesson for the old girl :) found another picture of her in the hands of the travlers. No wonder the clutch was lnackered dragging that caravan round on a draw bar for the remains of her life till she was parked up somewhere which I am yet to find out. That will be another lesson when the time comes.....

IMG_0819.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

From Neglected to Newark. I haven’t posted on here for a long time because sadly I have been busy or was doing other things to make time for my big old girl. Fortunately I had a spur of spirit and set myself a target to get her to the AEC show so with 6 weeks to go I set about everything that needed doing to make her roadworthy. And at the end of the 6 weeks I was happy she was fit for the road. So me tired beyond compare after weeks and weeks or AM finished after work I left for the show at 6:20 am up all the A roads and arrived at 9:17 with no problems. Brilliant time at the show and made it back with no troubles but a numb arse. Looking forward to finishing her off now and getting her all painted up hopefully she’ll be done for Christmas and going to shows next year 

7E773F7D-1B8A-4AC9-90B1-1B117F85639E.jpeg

860F7B48-F1F1-45D3-832E-F3E59F68CCAD.jpeg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Andy,

I have had a quick look through the posts, but don't think you have the disposal details of your great Militant. It was sold at Ruddington at their last sale. 26 BR 34 was sold as Lot 1925, sale 179 on the 17th of June 1983, probably just before lunch! It was one of a host of Militants sold on the day, most appeared to have between 33 and 40,000 miles registered according to notes I made on the day.

Good luck with the restoration.
Mike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, FV1604A said:

Hi Andy,

I have had a quick look through the posts, but don't think you have the disposal details of your great Militant. It was sold at Ruddington at their last sale. 26 BR 34 was sold as Lot 1925, sale 179 on the 17th of June 1983, probably just before lunch! It was one of a host of Militants sold on the day, most appeared to have between 33 and 40,000 miles registered according to notes I made on the day.

Good luck with the restoration.
Mike.

Waw that’s fantastic information so is there a chance you would have seen my Militant on her sale day ? 

 

Thank you I aim to really get on with her now and try and get her completed as quick as I can 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is interesting so my assumption that it was a range control vehicle at the firing rage in Lulworth might be wrong ? As I think it should have been sold in yellow ? They wouldn’t have painted it green to sell it I presume ? Also do you remember if it had a back on it would it have been a dropside ? Last question. Was it a SWB or a LWB ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey,  Andy, I have a good memory, but it was 36 years ago. However the Militant before that one 33 BM 80, I marked as a swb, so would guess yours was a standard lwb, only comment I made was an asterisk denoting it was in great condition  and "open back, no tilt" and it was described as ditto against the main heading AEC truck (Diesel) 10 tons 6 x 4 which was printed against its sister 25 BR 75, the vehicles were lying on Parks 2 and 3 at Ruddington. Pretty sure it wasn't yellow on that day.

Bw,

Mike..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s some bloody good information mate lovely to hear it. So she’s not what I thought she was but I’ve now got to figure out why she had a new cab new engine and why/where she was shortened ? Do you have any other information on her or know anybody that would ? I’ve got more digging to do haha 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lucky chap, new engine, new cab, wow. Can't tell you any more than just guesswork, if there is yellow paint, probably used as a snowplough, then pensioned-off due to it being too slow or the winter-work went out to sub- contractors with faster more modern kit. Bought up by travellers who were often very skilled mechanics and would do an engine /gearbox swop outside in the forest in the middle of winter if necessary. The picture you launched of it carrying Q520 AFG from a Ken Rimell article in CVC many years ago and your other traveller shots would strengthen that argument.

You would have enjoyed a Ruddington auction. At that one, sadly the last, before private auctions took over, there was 2,302 very interesting vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, FV1604A said:

Hey,  Andy, I have a good memory, but it was 36 years ago. 

Bw,

Mike..

These days you would have taken photos on your smart phone, and wrote the details on your tablet etc. Back then a pocket calculator was a luxury. We've come a long way

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d have loved to have seen a really army auction. I will definitely have to do some more digging to find her true history. So my theory of her being a yellow range control vehicle are now gone I’ve just got to find out all the why where’s and when’s. 

 

Also I love older technology hence me having a truck almost 3 times my age, at school I was more pen and paper than computer 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

She’s slowly becoming the yellow beast !! Now 60% covered in RAL 1018 the family racing colour. Soon to be covered. Hopefully within the next few weekends the cab will be fully painted and then I can work on tidying up the inside sorting the wiring out and paint the inside. Then do the final few jobs on the chassis side sort out the wiring loom and lights give her a good steam clean then paint everything in sight deep bronze green haha. Once that’s all done time to fit the body and whatever extras then she’ll be fit for the shows. Hoping to get her road ready by Christmas... much work to do will try and post when I can 

3DF32DDE-8247-40B5-B33E-BC9FDA06B9E6.jpeg

B177F615-A220-467C-B975-52E746FE840F.jpeg

C9F41E9B-7B2C-415F-A9EA-5D94EAD2142F.jpeg

7445D20F-B82B-4EFA-BCD6-F0C291E3EB33.jpeg

653E8EFD-7D16-47EE-8344-5DA7D4F97F96.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...