sean101ryan

Bar slicks!!!! Bad idea unless you want originality. There are other 9.00x16s out there occasionally like danubananas and petlas but they are no better than agricultural trailer tyres and not speed rated. The source of XZL remoulds is Airrcraftyres in Holland. I've had 'new' s/h Continentals that badly cracked and am currently on XLs but one has gone lumpy and rest are cracking so new tyres for me next time. Problim is the 101 rim is narrow so choice is limited. Plenty of discussion on 101 forum. 255/85R16 is too small IMHO

The sound of the V8 is music!! Shame about the Llama, engines was the main issue but could have been resolved. LR also offered to take back the 101s and rebuild/re-engine them. Unfortunately both were turned down and Reynolds Boughton got the order for the godawful RB44 instead for political reasons.

Nothing wrong with 101 brakes if properly maintained, has to be regular though, shame you can't get asbestos linings any more. First time I've seen piccies of the Aussie FUTs being transported. The funny looking ambi earlier is a Luxembourg one.

According Warpaint Vol 1 which I've just bought, DM is 1961 - 62 B vehicles, EL is 63 - 64 B vehicles.

As others have said, you can do the 110 crossmember without raising the tub, you get access all round with tank out of way. The replacement xmember will sleeve over the chassis rails, measure several times before you wave the cutting tool of choice. Clean all the faces of the chassis to shiny before welding then spray everything with your favourite black sticky stuff and oily gear internally. Be carefull what you buy, when i did mine, there were no tailgate hinge brackets or a hole to put the NATO socket. My wiring had been chaffing when I pulled it out of the chassis so I left it outside cable tied along the top.

Nice find, I'll pass it on as well. Fascinating era for PW British MV fans.

Every month - MMI CMV LRE LRM Railway Magazine Classic Plant and Machinery Earthmovers Irish Vintage Scene plus 4 or 5 others on an ocaissional basis. Also 6 Stud and EMLRA newsletters. Most of the subscription ones turn up here in plain wrappers via Swiss or Swedish postal service, good job the postman knows my interests!

Guinness should be cool, many UK pubs sell it too cold, even have an extra cold pump. I always asked for the warm one, I like to be able to taste it! You can still be comfortable at a show while maintaining a military appearance. We won best camp at a show in Belgium because our nearest rivals with the most kit had a plastic picnic table. The MMVG's mess tent has all the home comforts as do most of the members tents but nothing non military is generally seen outside.

I bought a Waeco 45L fridge one Sat night on ebay after consuming too much vino. Damn good purchase despite being nearly £400, will run for best part of a week on a leisure battery no matter what the ambient temperature. Holds vast amounts of beer at 3deg along with a bit of grub! Lidl over here were knocking out porta potti's for E40 a few weeks back, got one for those ocaissions where the previous nights curry gives you 30 seconds warning and it's a long trek to the nearest turdis!

Loads of interests outside Land Rovers and MVs but with a definite historcal or mechanical bias. Main ones would be classic plant and machinery and railways (especially the Irish narrow gauge) plus military history. Always have to have a book or mag to hand acompanied by a glass of red if not otherwise occupied.

Bob was a bit of a character alright! Fortunately the group still has a variety of characters to keep us amused around the mess table.

Yes, that was Bob. Has moved on to other things, no longer a member.

I missed Carver Barracks but heard it was interesting! The group in an early form were there.

Facilities at Irish shows can be a bit primitive, bought my own private portaloo at Lidl last week for €40!! Steam fair we attended a few years ago in UK, bunch of pikey yobs overturned a Turdis with a Belgian trader inside late one night, turned up at our mess tent dripping unmentionables and dyed blue, not a pleasant sight or a nice welcome for a visitor! Renting your own at a big show is a sound plan, need a padlock though, members of public will stiil try to use it even when hidden under cam net.

Something like 27 years in to Land Rovers with an accidental drift in to the MV world about 22 years ago. Met Paul about then and the MMVG sort of came about. Totally got out of hand since with the ocaissional comment of 'it was so much easier when we just had Land Rovers' Like the pic of Catweazle, have ancient pics of MMVG members on tour in Holland and Belgium 20 years ago!

This will be the first Odyssey I've missed due to commitments here which is a shame as I've always enjoyed it despite the hard work putting all the MMVG kit up. It is a show for re-enactors and displays and as Tony says, the MVs are props. The best one was about 3 years ago when they sold Skullcrusher in the beer tent, Saturday afternoon was a write off after 5 pints lunchtime! Can't get to MM either, hopefully next year they will still be on consecutive weekends and I'll come over for both.

There's one of those in very good nick here in Ireland, saw it at Charleville show last week (forgot my camera!). It was based on Achill Island and is still in its yellow paint, suspect many of these end up in local authority use after demob.

Rule 29 Always take your own loo roll with you.

Rule 23 Never go round gun stalls and other expensive delights after spending 3 hours in the beer tent, it can severely damage your credit card. Rule 24 Drinking red wine and/or whiskey instead of beer in the evening means you don't have to later crawl out of your warm sleeping bag so often. The resulting hangover will be far worse though! Mmmm, do I have a drink problem?!

How to spot a Limpet at 50 paces! It's the sort of knows it all but knows nothing character you can't shake off once you make the mistake of talking to them while your mates disappear and leave you to it.

Try the Great Western Society http://www.gwsmainline.org/ or do a Wikipedia search Most of the pre and post grouping companies have dedicated sites and forums with access to staff archives etc. I think you need to aim for a specific group rather that general railway interest, it's a far bigger subject that MV's! Removes Southern Railway and Iarnod Eireann anoraks and puts cammo one back on!

http://activearmour.piczo.com/?g=1&cr=6 Website with lots of piccies of the Irish MV and re-enactors scene. Done by a really nice guy from the north who owns a Piglet. Two recent events I was at are Curragh 2008 and Duncannon Fort 2008, my 101 features as well as my mates DAF YA 126 along with ACMATS, LRs and jeeps. As is the case in the UK, german re-enactors seem to out number allies 2:1. There is however a healthy number of groups doing British 'Irish' regiments, notably London Irish from WWI and WWII amongst others, recognising that the Irish formed a large proportion of the British army and no longer be ashamed to comemerate it. A very good battle re-enactment was held at Duncannon in the dunes with lots of gas and blank firers, pyros etc, spoilt 2/3 way through by a downpour of biblical proportions! I have never got so wet so quick, even my boots filled up! I can recommend a trip over, the craic is great!

As Berni and Tony say, peg it down and then push it up before erecting anything else. Once the net is up and secure, you can make extra openings. MMVG have got lazy and usually put netting up only for 3 day shows but it is about 100' by 50' (4 sheets)! We bought all new nylon netting and paid for it by flogging alll the old bits. It's two sided as well depending on time of year, the green on one side is brighter than the other.

Know anyone going to Bangkok? Get pretty much any software with a crack code. I have copies of CAD programs from my last job fom there. Very dodgy commercially but only way I can have CAD at home without paying through the nose. I'm purely 2D, even sober I can't get my head round 3D moddeling!

Yes, it was a lovely motor, sold 20 years ago. Was ex TA, very straight and 18000 on the clock, had to sell it as I was broke at the time, always regretted it. Had a Q plate lightweight a couple of years earlier, didn't matter too much at the time. The 110 was a bit different, looks civvy but military chassis no, 12/24V and Clansnan kit, NATO hitch and wiring two years before the MOD bought any. Sold by LR to BAe who used it as Rapier development vehicle and then a yard tug for a couple of sites. Fitted with a rare short bellhousing R380 gearbox at some point. Very straight and rot free but the Naturally Asthmatic diesel was a pain on long runs. Sold it back to it's previous owner at a profit, now in Bulgaria at his summer home!