Jessie The Jeep

Most of the vehicles were on the castle side of the green as we were sharing the space with a number of sculptures. There were a few guys from the North East, who are based about 20 miles south of me, who also made the trip to York in their own convoy. They had come down on the much faster A19 dual carriageway route. They were heading home the same way, but for the first 23 miles north out of York, it was a slower two lane road, so I followed them until they turned off to the dual carriageway. From there, I followed my original route, via the slower roads and country lanes. It ended up being a 166 mile round trip, using about 3/4 of a tank of fuel. As a side note, April 16th was also the 9th anniversary of getting "Hope" my '43 GPW back on the road after its restoration. Further pictures of the Crank Up can be found on my website here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2023/crankup.htm

Around noon, I took the long steep climb up the steps to the castle to get photo of the gathering from above. Apart from a couple of motorbikes, I think pretty much all the vehicles can be seen in this photo.

There were around 46 vehicles that attended the Crank Up. There was a good variety of WW2 and Post War, large and small, with Jeeps probably being most numerable, followed by Land Rovers.

We left Tadcaster just after 10:30, although the convoy was split into a few smaller groups as we tried to get out of the sliproad. It was a ten mile run in to the city centre and upon arrival, we were directed onto the green, to park up in front of the castle.

Yorkshire Military Vehicle Trust Crank Up - April 16th It was a big day and an early start for "Jessie" and I this morning. April 16th was the Yorkshire MVT Crank Up event and also an anniversary drive for "Jessie the Jeep". It was 18 years ago that Lynne and I drove to Scotland to collect an ex-French Army Hotchkiss M201, that would go on to become known as "Jessie the Jeep". A few days before, I'd switched the markings to a "Follow Me" Jeep with the RAF roundels, but didn't bother with the light box and follow me sign. With that fitted, it is too tall to fit through the garage door and I didn't want to waste time in the morning, trying to fit it after getting the Jeep out. My alarm went off at 7am and I was on the road just before 8am for the long drive south to the Tadcaster/A64 sliproad. This was the meeting location for the vehicles that would then convoy in to the centre of York. If I was running late, I planned to go straight into the city, but I got to the York ring road with enough time to make it to the convoy start point. I joined the back of the queue and I think I was the last to arrive. This is the front of the convoy, a few minutes before setting off.

The event was to end at 4pm and the dioramas started to pack up from about 3:30. Andy and I got a few more pictures before heading home in opposite directions. On my way home, I dropped in to the garden centre at Shotton Colliery to see the Durham Angel, a sculpture by a lake. We plan to visit the garden centre sometime, but as I was passing, I thought I'd take a look at the angel. I think I had a bit too much fresh air and I was quite tired by the time I got home and I think I caught the sun a bit. It's going to be a harder day next Sunday for a round trip to York in the Jeep.

Most of the other vehicles attending were Jeeps, with one Dodge, a couple of bikes, a Kubelwagon and a Landrover 101 Forward Control truck. There were several diorama displays up on the grass around the gun emplacements that took the full chill of the sea breeze. In the battery magazine store were some of the museum displays including a shell hoist and a replica World War 1 trench.

The vehicle turn out wasn't as big as last year, but I know some local vehicles have been sold and others are up for sale. This and perhaps the current financial situation restricted numbers. I got there in good time and for once wasn't squeezed in by the entrance gate.

Heugh Gun Battery - April 8th I had a nice day out at Heugh Battery in Hartlepool today. It was the first show of the season and a rather chilly 18 mile drive to the coast. It was quite overcast when I set off, but the sky cleared and in the sheltered gun battery compound, quite warm, despite the sea breeze. Andy saved me a spot and it was nice to see his Jeep at its first public event, with the paint on the new markings barely dry! It is painted up in 9th Air Force, 422nd Night Fighter Squadron markings, which for a time were based locally at RAF Scorton.

M201 Service and Test Drive - April 7th With a dry day forecast, I had to take the opportunity to give Jessie a service. Tomorrow, I have my first event of the year in Hartlepool. I got most of the grease points done, but there's a few on the steering linkage I can't get to. In the middle of the job, the flexi-hose on my grease gun split, so I had to revert to a rigid nozzle. This was fine for most places, but there's a few it won't reach. I'll have to order a new hose before I can finish the rest. The fuel pipe to the carb was weeping, so that was stripped, cleaned, some burrs removed and reassembled. The oily bits were oiled, the greasy bits greased. Once everything was done, I went for a short test drive around the local area to make sure everything was operating correctly for the following day. I stopped at a few of the usual places and another local spot, where I found some nice puddles for photos with reflections.

For me, so long as there isn't salt on the road for icing conditions, then all year round is Jeep season. I don't think it's good for them to sit around for months doing nothing. First event this Saturday.

The two big bags of soil were next, dropped down by the workshop hedge. These still looked around three quarters full, so must have been around 600Kg each - the heaviest test of the crane so far. The vegi planters were filled soil from the small bags, leaving me those bags free for moving the gravel. The large bag probably had more weight in it than the soil, so I split the load into five, using four of my small bags and the original large bag. Once they were all loaded, they were transported around to my workshop hedge. By this time it was late afternoon, I was tired and so I dismantled the crane and put the Dodge back in the garage. We've ordered some more small bags to help manage the remaining four bags of slate still on the front drive.

March 21st - The Dodge is Put to Work! We've slowly been working in the garden on the area that was a woodland. Last year, part of that area was levelled and my observatory built next to the shed. The rest will become another lawn and have a fullsize railway feature. To help move to the next step of that project, we had seven bulk bags of slates, topsoil and gravel delivered onto the front drive this morning. It needed to move almost 200 feet to the back garden, over a gravel driveway. Pushing a wheelbarrow over the gravel drive was going to be back breaking and take forever, so I decided to put the Dodge to work and give the crane a proper test. The bulk bags were around 850Kg and I didn't want to try and lift that load in one go. I did have a number of half ton bags I use for taking hedge clippings to the council tip, so I'd move some into those to lighten the load. The soil was first to be moved, so I shovelled it from each of the big bags into two of my small bags. When they were full, I used the Dodge to carry them one by one to dump them by the shed. This soil was to fill the raised bed vegetable planters which are beside the shed.

A Couple of Winter Jobs - March 1st The Jeep RAF markings were originally painted at the back end of 2017. Over the years, the blue enamel paint had faded quite a lot and had become a very pale blue. I didn't like the way it now looked, so it was time to give them a repaint ( see inset compared to the repainted small roundels ). I found 250ml tin of water based Oxford Blue on the B&Q website, but when I called in at the store, it turned out they don't actually stock it in the store. I find the lack of stock at the local B&Q frustrating at the best of times. I wasn't prepared to pay for shipping on top of B&Q prices, so found the same paint on Amazon and got free next day delivery and a cheaper price! Everything blue had a first coat on February 28th and as the large roundels still showed some brush strokes and thin areas, they were given a second coat with a glossing roller on March 1st. Back in 2014, I got an old Girl Guides 10ft ridge tent for 1940's camping. Since it was white, I painted it in green shed paint, both to change the colour and help with waterproofing. Due to the white canvas, it dried much more pale than I expected and lighter than it was in the pot ( shown below ). I made do with the light colour until recently, when I decided to try and dull it down further. I got some Ronseal Forest Green and Dark Oak shed paint and tried a 2:1 mix to get olive drab. I painted a small sample of white fabric and took it out to the garage. At the first mixing try, it was a pretty good match to the Jeep roof canvas, so I mixed up 8 litres to repaint the tent again. Due to its size and floor space in the workshop, I've been painting it in sections. There's just two end flaps left to paint.

I did look at the leather stuff online, but had doubts about its strength, having seen the number of kids who pull and swing off wires around other displays. I figured the nylon string would be child proof.

It makes life much easier for going away to the shows. All our camping gear is in two ammo crates too. You just need to pick up which ever boxes are needed and you know everything you need is there - plus they make display items once at a show.

February 15th - Display Fencing and Crate Since building the crane on the Dodge and the additional crates, I've wanted a better fence to encircle the display; whether I've got one or all three vehicles on show. I recently bought twenty steel fence stakes. I cut an inch and a quarter off the bottom of the stakes and welded it back on half way up to add an extra hanger for a lower layer of barbed wire to hang from. From watching other displays, small kids just walk straight under the single upper wire. I also got 100 metres of silver/grey nylon string to make some fake barbed wire. Some of the string was cut into two and a quarter inch lengths, the ends melted to stop fraying and they were tied and glued along the remaining 90 metres of string, spaced at about 8 inches apart. I also made a new longer, but narrower bobbin to wrap the 'barbed wire' around. The steel stakes arrived in a cardboard box that barely made it through the post. As a result, I decided to make a wooden crate to keep them in. I didn't want it to look out of place with all the other stuff I carry around, but I couldn't find any pictures of original suitably shaped crates to copy. In the end, I made a crate big enough for the stakes and barbed wire and stencilled it up as a box of replacement barrels for Browning .50 calibre machine guns. The new narrow bobbin also fits inside the crate.

Dodge Fuel Trip - February 4th My daughter and I took the Dodge out for fuel this morning. It was the first trip for the Dodge since the Winter photoshoot in the snow at the start of December. The Dodge had been stationary for about two months, so rather than take a couple of jerrycans to the petrol station, I gave it a run out. I don't like it sitting on the same spot on the tyres for too long and it gives all the mechanical parts some exercise. On the way home, we called in to sunset lane again for a nicer route home and to grab a few pictures. Before putting the Dodge away, I checked all the tyre pressures. It was just the spare that needed about 10 pounds putting in but I can't recall the last time I checked it! After that, it was just a matter of squeezing it back through the tight garage door opening. I think I've given up on getting builders to alter the garage door openings and will probably put it on the list for a next year project after we finish the garden landscaping this year.

Multi-meter leads on the wrong battery terminals or plugged into the wrong sockets on the multi-meter??

Fishburn Airfield for Breakfast - January 15th 2023 We had our first outing of the year today, taking both Jeeps out and meeting up with a friend at a local airfield. Full details in my other Jeep thread here -

Near the airfield on the way there, there was quite a long down hill stretch before the airfield turning. It was on this hill where Jessie blew out a load of coolant heading home in 2021. I wanted to avoid this long up hill drag and found a detour on Google Earth the night before. The detour was a nicer single track lane through open country and woodland. My daughter grabbed this shot of Lynne following us in Jessie near the end of the lane, shortly before be joined the main road again. A few more pictures can be found here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2023/fishburn_jan.htm

It was a chilly drive but the nice warm cafe and great food was a welcome end to the trip. After we came back out of the cafe, we moved the Jeeps around from the car park to the near by field for a few photos with a nicer background. Unfortunately we were looking into the sun when trying to get the aircraft collection in the background and this is the best compromise I could manage. I didn't want to take the Jeeps right over to the aircraft without permission and couldn't see anyone who seemed in charge.

Fishburn Airfield for Breakfast - January 15th 2023 We started our military vehicle year with a meet up at Fishburn Airfield for a late breakfast. With storm force winds the night before, we didn't confirm our plans until Sunday morning. It was still quite breezy, so I fitted the canvasses on both Jeeps, particularly for my daughter in the back seat. Lynne and I took both of our Jeeps and we met up with Andy and Claire at the airfield where Andy brought his new Jeep along. This was the Jeep we collected at the end of October, shown earlier in this thread. Fishburn was a fairly central meeting point for us both and we arrived about two minutes before Andy. Andy is waiting for warmer weather to add his chosen 9th Air Force markings to his Jeep.

When the steering wheel is chained up overnight, the seat cushion can't be lifted, so no access to the tank.

I've never had a problem with E5 before, which is why I suspect it was the wrong batch from the filling station pump. I've never had petrol turn so green.