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Scammell Explorer 1955.


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I bought this little boy 9 years ago, we nicked named him "Sissy" because of it's registration plate, but really it is a brute of a lorry, pulling many tons of trailer, and 6 other explorers and militants in the show ring with ease. However it is also capable of showing another side of it character, by how easy and with full control it slowly inches up to trailers and lorries before it is connected up to them.

When we bought this lorry, it had had a heavy general overhaul, so a repaint is all that we need to do, but you know where this is going.

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On the last page, there is a photo of the ministry of supply plate that has the information 94 BD 67. Can I assume that this would have been the military number plate that I do not have on the lorry at present ?

I am a month into the restoration of the little fellow, and would have been on here with a blog from the start,if I had known about this forum, so work carried out so far is as follows.

The front "fairlead" rollers were all seized, so I removed them and pressed out the pins and cleaned up all the parts, they now work as they should. One of the rear pulleys that the cable runs through was also seized, because the drainage hole was blocked, and the water sat in the pulley, and over time, it seized.

The passenger door has succumbed to rust to the lower 3 inches, so it will need a little work, i.e new metal, before painting.

Several people on here will know me from other restorations on other forums, and know my attention to details, however money is tight and this has to be done to a tight budget, so as this lorry is not original in many respects,with lots of military parts and equipment missing, I hope to make it presentable, and keep it as is, rather than restore it to as near perfect, so I hope this does not offend anyone. However I have looked at several restoration blogs and can see that the standards are very high.attachment.php?attachmentid=126524&stc=1attachment.php?attachmentid=126525&stc=1attachment.php?attachmentid=126526&stc=1

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Be happy for yourself, It is getting TLC that it has missed. A long time after it was built it is still here and able to perform so everyone who has known it has done their little bit to keep the little toughie around.

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Good to hear from you John, now between you and me, I have just gone out after 8 hours of rain, it's sunny and I have just striped the rear rollers and pulley's off the rear framework, and cleaned the paintwork up ready to prime tomorrow. I could not paint round them. Hope you will be pleased the standards are still high !

 

The Governor.

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funny how we all acquire projects like these and we all say to are selves just needs paint then next thing you know it is stripped to the chassis lol.

 

really look forward to watching your progress Mark and going from John's comment she will be a bute when finished.

 

regards sam

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Thanks for the comments, keep watching, lets see if this project is as enjoyable.

A good days sun today, so I finished off preparing the surface for the first coat of primer.

 

The Governor.

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After two coats of primer, it's on to the undercoat. At last it is becoming a little less rusty as the areas are treated to a clean up and a new coat of paint. And before anyone comments on the pink tow hook, my paint supplier suggested pink was a good undercoat for red. I used it on other projects and found it a very good base for the red.

 

The Governor.

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Thank you very much for the information you got up early this morning to put on this thread Blue Belle. I now have some history to go with the lorry.

I read your post, elated that there was now some photographic evidence this lorry served with a certain unit, however, I was gutted that I had missed the fact that it was sand stone from your photo that you had provided. Yes I had seen the sand stone on the jib, but I thought I had seen it over the green. I did not have the chance to check till later this afternoon, when I new I had seen the green as the first colour this Scammell was from the factory.

I accept it could be restored in the sand stone colour, and maybe it will in time. But to change the colour would mean a full nut and bolt restoration, money does not allow this for now, so green it will stay for the time being.

 

The Governor.

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It's very hard to make this thread interesting when cleaning and painting. However progress is good as the weather has been ideal to get things done.I can not get the Scammell in the work shop in one piece, but the painting table is now full of parts painted in under coat. There is still more to come in, but it will have to be in pieces.

 

The Governor.

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I wouldn't be too concerned about a boring thread, only stripping and cleaning. I do a "boring" Tanker thread! 😆 It's what restoration is all about, some of us here can't get enough of it.

 

Good to see another motor in safe hands, looking forward to reading more "boring" bits

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Zero five two, glad to be of some assistance...............A tanker, now that is Boring ;)

Good progress today. I removed the remains of the floor to enable to get to the frame work that supports the floor. It has been generally in good shape, surface rust, but no more than that.

One area that is rusty is the top of the winch. I cannot see any drain holes as such, near the circumference, this area is the worst I have seen on the lorry. Do other owners have the same problem ?

 

The Governor.

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Today I thought I would repair the little toggle that holds the "thingy" up to stop the rear tow hook from spinning. It was rusted in the hole originally, and minus the pivot and end piece, so how I have never lost it I don't know.

I managed to find a bolt of the right diameter, cut the head off, and threaded part, and then ground out half of the shank. Once I had done this, I then drilled the old pivot out, found another bolt that had a countersunk head and used this as a rivet for holding the two together, once I had drilled the new piece. The result was a complete toggle that will not drop out as we go along the road.

Two questions, Why do the tow hooks need to swivel through 360 degrees ?, and what colour would they have been red or Green. ??

 

The Governor.

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Today I thought I would repair the little toggle that holds the "thingy" up to stop the rear tow hook from spinning. It was rusted in the hole originally, and minus the pivot and end piece, so how I have never lost it I don't know.

I managed to find a bolt of the right diameter, cut the head off, and threaded part, and then ground out half of the shank. Once I had done this, I then drilled the old pivot out, found another bolt that had a countersunk head and used this as a rivet for holding the two together, once I had drilled the new piece. The result was a complete toggle that will not drop out as we go along the road.

Two questions, Why do the tow hooks need to swivel through 360 degrees ?, and what colour would they have been red or Green. ??

 

The Governor.

 

Governor,

The majority of Explorers that I drove had plain green hooks (in fact all of them when Deep Bronze Green was replaced by Infra Red Reflecting Green). However - I have seen them painted red at the front and white or silver at the rear (easier to see in the dark) and I even seen the whole assembly on a Mark 1 painted fluorescent orange (the old stye spring loaded hook mounted on a leaf spring). I have attached a photo of an explorer with a red front hook.

 

As previously stated, the hook has a facility to allow it to rotate when the vehicle is hooked up to something rigid. All of the trailers that I towed on the road had fully rotating eyes so there was no need to unclip the hook, but apparently some older trailers had eyes which were simply welded to the tow bar. I have attached a second picture showing another example of when you would unclip the hook. In the pic, I have used a Hollobone tow bar on a Saladin (the centre wheels have been removed for suspended towing, but were were moving it as a target around the range so were weren't particularly bothered about causing damage). When the Hollobone is bolted to the Saladin, it is quite rigid. If I hit a dip with the Scammell whilst the Saladin was either level or worse, tilted in the opposite direction, then, given the weight and the fact that I was driving over rough ground, then, if the hook were not free to rotate, then something is going to break!

 

Regards - David

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David, fantastic information, from first hand user.

I notice the front grill is yellow and the radiator cap red also. Was this standard colours for their use.? and being 94BD06 did it serve in the same part of the world as mine.

white caps on the end of the wheels, also a safety thing ??

 

The Governor.

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Rob, the reason we are not going to Long Melford, is the attached photo is of our German Sheppard who is full of Pup's and expecting them any moment, so we can't go to far from her let along leave her all weekend.

And father is the second photo, guarding Daddies toy's.

 

The Governor.

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