RSSRobot

Made the most of the good weather today down at the Fort with Stuart (SaracenStump). Whilst he removed his Saracens silencer for repairs I had the load bed cover off little Maud and proceeded to sort out the mess in the back. By 16:00 I'd managed to: Refit the towing cables (inc finding a lost shackle) Remove a side glass handle from a spare and refit to the near side glass - now both emergency exits are functional Fit the BV shelf in its appropriate place, fit the BV in and get the strap adjusted to fit. Find the new starting hanlde and fit that into position in the cab. Sort out some of the cab CES (work light, inflator etc) and stow in the correct positions. Measured up and refitted the Alvis triangle on the swimboard - had to put a clearance drill through the screw holes in the plate as the Ally had reacted with the steel screws! Fitted the name masks, sketched the letter outlines and painted them back in white (might need to redo as the paint was a bit thin) Quite pleased with the days work - had to bring the bridging plate home as it needs further work and I also brought one each of the damaged mirrors so I can go get either total replacements or replacement lenses. Going to have to ring Kerry at RR on Monday though - a pair of nearly new clansman aerial have gone walkabout from the loadbed. And I still need the inner hatch handles for the roof hatches cos without them it's a pig to close once they latch onto the aerofoil. Closer examination of the cab interior reveals that at least two of the rifle clips are knackered beyond repair so I'll to replace them as well. Then - at some point - a couple of early spec deac SLRs might be in order. IF I can convince the missus they are essential to complete the vehicle.... :rofl: :rofl:

Rang Kerry at RR today to see what the latest status is on little Maud. Apparently the brakes are al now 100% but on the final test the head gasket blew..... They are now in the process of replacing this for me. Luckily it went for them and not on the second trip home!! They've also now got the intercom system working properly and the fuel gauge and brake lights.... Just waiting now for Kerry to let me know when we can go collect her again!!

Son (near Eindhoven) 1944 & 2006 Nijmegen 1944 & 2006 Then & Then + 1 week Utrechtseweg in Arnhem 1944 & 2006 "Lonsdale" Church in Oosterbeek 1944 & 2005 Hartenstein Airborne HQ 1944 & 2005 Elizabeth Hospital 1944 & 2005 Arnhem bridge, September 1944 - 2004 (I know, taken from the wrong side of the road) Not really a Then & Now picture but it's the same location. Polish Para brigde lands on Dropzone O near Overasselt on September 23 1944 and the dropzone as it is now.

Seemingly things are looking better on the luck front.. I heard last Friday the main turret gun for the OT will be here within 3 months together with a mount slide for the PKT. :yay::yay:: Took the OT to a Bond themed 21st birthday party on Sat night and had a great laugh - the OT certainly drew attention from the party-goers definitely an interesting experience!!

Well here is the plan. To write a diary of the 'journey' of acquiring an Autocar U7144T. It will be added to everytime I do something towards the 'project'. Stay tuned.

Well - went down to RR today to hand over what we both hope is the final payment is the restoration of little Maud after last years incident. Just came of the last roundabout on the A28 before turning into Sandy Lane when there was a big bang from the front of the wife's Explorer and we both saw something bouncing in the road behind. We assumed it was a stone - till we tried to turn right into Sandy Lane..... Steering was bloody heavy! Got to RR & popped the bonnet to find the serpentine drive belt all tucked up on one side of the engine bay. Called out the RAC and it seems we have lost an idler pulley of the front of the engine, below the alternator. :cry: Finally got home at 17:10 hrs - a wee bit later than the 11:00 originally planned!! Looks like my luck is still firmly in the brown and smelly... :argh: Good news was another week should see little Maud finished at last. Take a look at the thread in British Vehicles for the pictures of her to date. The lads at RR have done a fantastic job in the rebuild and I'm really looking forwards to having her back "home". :yay: :yay:

Went back to Sidcup to day to try and complete the OT's registration process. And was greeted by the news those oh-so-helpful-and-friendly people at Chelmsford have been phoning around complaining about over-size vehicles being registered!!! Staff at Sidcup were as helpful as possible and took the paper work (all of it) for processing together with the fee of £145.57 as well as my phone numbers and said they'll be in touch if anything goes wrong with the application. If it goes through I should hear within 3 to 5 days. So -right now - any prayers for a successful completion offered to the deity(s) of your choice would be much appreciated!!!

Went down tot he DVLA office in Sidcup today - what a difference!! Staff there could not have been more helpful!! They checked all the paperwork and said all was in order - but I needed an letter from a UK MV club stating the year of manufacture; the letter from the Czech equivalent of the MoD wasn't enough. Once I have this I'll be OK. In honesty the lady said she could have processed the application without it - but that would have given me a "Q" plate and she felt that as I'd gone to so much time and trouble so far it would look better wiht an age related plate. No arguments from me there!! I think I might have got one of those from Richard, if not I'll get in touch with IMPS or the MVT (again) and try and get one ASAP. As you might tell - I'm feeling a lot happier today!!

Had a busy day yesterday getting the OT out and about - Started off having to get up at 03:00 and out of the house by 04:00 to get to Gt Yeldham to meet Ken and Rex's low loader. Got to Gt Yeldham at 05:15 as planned and meat John, the hangar mnanger there who thoughtfully provided bacon butties and tea. Ken arrived at 05:45 and we fitted the out riggers and boarding ready lo load the OT. Thats when we found a slight problem. We had out-riggers on the load bed - but not the ramps. Tried to load the OT but the tracks went aither side of the ramps. So we all had a head-scratching session to work out what the hell to do and the John remembered there was a pile of narrow guage railway sleeprers at the rear of the hangar. We borrowed 12 of them and biult temp ramps either side of the loading ramps and drove the OT on. Worked very well - excpet by the end of the day I was totally knackered from having to haul these sleepers aroud to make the ramps extensions half a dozen times!! We were supposed to have arrived at Fords Dunton plant by 02:00 but we actually got there at 10:15. Uloaded the OT and Ken left to pick up Andy's Antar whilst we rumbled onto the test track and parked up. I'd had to co-opt my daughter into being commander as security at Ford meant I couldn't ask Jason (AMVG) as I'd planned. Had a pleasant day chatting to frineds and former work colleagues which was nicely capped by picking up the runners-up prize in the Miscellaneous class (also known as the WTFIT). Interesting thing was there were a load of Czech engineers on site from the Rumanian project and the all went wild over the OT when the saw the Czech roundel on the front - so much so we had two hitch a ride when we moved the OT around to the loading point. Ken returned at 18:30 and we reloaded the OT ready for the trip to the hop farm. Because of having to build the ramp extensions every time it was taking about an hour to load and about 20 minutes to unload. Time we got to the Hop Farm, unloaded the OT and parked it up in the America's field, walked back to the F-250 and loded the sleepers on board the returned him it was gone midnight. Was supposed to have gone down to the W&P show to stay today but nothing was packed due to the late arrival home plus I'm feeling shattered and the feet are killing me after yesterday so I'll off tomorrow instead. Looking forwards to that!!!

Whilst getting ready to go & refuel the OT this morning the dog suddenly got agitated and started woofing at the front door. This was followed by a thud from outside so we whipped the door open - to find two oiks trying to man-handle my old Landie engine down the drive. Told them to put it back and b*gg*r off but got a mouthful back and things deteriorated such that we dialled 999. Val ran out and got their reg number which we passed onto the police controller. Less than 5 minutes later we had 2 police cars outside the front door whilst a third had located and pulled the van. Turns out one of the thieving low-lifes was in possession of a fake credit card so it was an instant nick even without the charges of trying to nick my engine. Finally got out at about 11:30 (instead of 08:00 as planned) and headed up to Gt Yeldham. Pulled into a Texaco filling station just outside Braintree and they gave permission to fill all 6 cans. Got 4 cans full - started pumping into the 5th only find myself standing in a rapidly growing pool of diesel... #5 had a rust hole in the bottom I hadn't noticed.. So I whipped the can up and decanted it into #6 - only lost about 2 litres over the garage floor!!! :cry: Got to Gt Yeldham only to find we had no funnel so we jury-rigged one from a railway lamp and an old magazine then poured the fuel in. I now have 185 litres on the fuel gauge/indicator tube. Cranked the girl up and moved her out ready for the low loader on Tuesday before leaving. We finally got home around 17:00 and have been trying to lose the smell of diesel ever since.

Went up to Tanks-a-Lot today for the H license training and testing. Original plan was to spend the morning training on the 432 then have the tests in the afternoon. So in the best tradition of comedy the examiner arrived at 09:00..... We wound up doing the test straight away - not a problem I hear you say - well, probably not unless like me you've never set foot in a 432 before!! :shake: I had less than an hour to learn how to drive the 432 and maneuvere it. Also it seems Nicks persistence in getting block bookings had upset the DVLA so todays tests were conducted very striclty. So I felt not too bad when the examiner told me I'd failed - on only one point. I forgot to check the mirrors when pulling away after the final exercise, the emergency stop. Rest of the test was. to quote the examiner, "perfectly carried out". Not bad for never having driven a 432 before and especially as the OT-90 is so different. There were 6 of us there today and the examiner failed 2 of us. Spent the rest of the day playing with the humvee and the Soviet 2S1 "Gvozdika" SPG including a pleasant interlude eating lunch at the local pub (no alcohol, soft drinks only!!). Waiting to hear now from Nick as to when he can get a re-test booked for the two of us who were failed. Should be OK next time.

Well folks - Friday 13th lived up to it's name. Within 5 minutes of leaving home I almost lost the front of the wifes Explorer when an old biddy stamped on the brakes right in fornt of me at a set of traffic light. Cue four wheel skid #1 of the day. Got halfway to picking up Jason when the phone rang. Pulled over to answer it and it was the truck driver - conversation went: Driver: "Where are you mate?" Me: "Just leaving Dagenham to pick up a mate and I'll be at the destination at about 10:00 Why, where are you?" Driver: "I'm sitting outside the warehouse at Gt Yeldham - didn;t they tell you I was delivering it at 08:30?" Me: "No - I was told you were leaving the yard at 8:30 - it's going to take me an hour to get to you" Driver: "mump, mump, mump, get here as quick as you can mate" So I hot-tooted it throught the back lanes to pick Jason up - only to have a bimblehead in a BMW (what else) pull out of a side road in front of me and proceed to bimble along at 5 mph. Cue four-wheel skid #2 of the day. Anyways - collected Jason OK and had a more or less uneventful ride up to Gt Yeldham arriving at 10:17 - not bad timing really considering. Thats when Friday the 13th bit again... THere's the OT sitting on the back of the low loader, unchained and with the ramps down ready to come off. But no "Tee" key to unlock the OT with. So there was no way we could unload her!!!! Driver was even less amused as he had another job to go to so we got the tools out and after a few minutes of twiddling and twisting persuaded one of the rear door locks to open. From there it was plain sailing - I jumped in, started her up then reversed off. As I was coming off the driver was whipping off the outrigers and boards and by the time I had stopped and put the hand brake on he'd got the ramps up and every thing chained dowm. Signed for delivery and he was off. Then I had to leave Jason sitting guard on the OT whilst I shot off and picked up the chap who runs the storage - he'd just come out of hospital after having a toe amputated. Once the hangar was unlocked Jason guided me in and we parked up between a Bedford QL and a Leyland Leopard. So - despite the worst Friday the 13th threw at us - SHE'S NOW HERE IN HER NEW HOME!! :yay::yay::yay::yay:

Events yesterday turned into a right fiasco.!! After having been told the OT was being collected I organised access to it's storage location at Gt Yeldham (should have had keys issued by now - but the council inspectors broke the key in the lock and the chap responsible is currently in hospital...) and then drove up with Jason (AMVG) and the daughter Mk 1 to get the OT out from the garage at Russian Military. Once there we tried fitting the PKT into the turret. First we had a 7.62mm ammo canister stuck in the mount then we found a mounting slide was required. Having checked the other OT's in the yard, none of them had the slide in so Richard is trying to get one from the Czech's together with the KVPT. Failing that his merry band of fitters might fabricate one (Slide that is, not the KV). Once done we sat back and waited for the low-loaded. And waited.... And waited..... We'd had a call at 10:15 Hrs saying they were passing the A1/M25 intersection. I rang back around 14:00 and was told a Suzy had burst at Duxford so they had to call a fitter out but were then at the top of the M11 and expecting to arrive in an hour. True enough just over an hour later Richards phone rang with the haulier asking for directions - my mobile by then having a flat battery. This went on for another hour and a half until we decided it would be best to go find him and guide him in. We found him about 5 minutes drive from the yard but as we pulled up behind him he pulled off... So Richard rang him to tell him we were right behind and if he turned around we were minutes from the yard. Only to be told they'd had enough and were going home!!!! So the OT is STILL up at March and I used up £50 worth of diesel getting there and back for more or less nothing - so I'm not a happy bunny, even after sleeping on it overnight. Now I've done what I maybe I should have done before - got Richard to arrange for it to be shipped down rather than trying to organize it myself. Just waiting to hear when his firm can do it. And how much... One day it will get home!!!

Had a phone call from the haulage firm tonight - we are Go for collection of the OT on Monday!! :yay: He's dropping a fork lift off at Duxford then coming on to collect the OT from March and delivering it to Gt Yeldham. So I rang Russian Military and they will have the OT out of the sheds ready. I'm going up first thing in the morning and taking one of the PKT's with me to see about fitting it in the turrret. Then rang the chap in charge of the hangar at Gt Yeldham to get let in Monday afternoon - only to find he's in hospital! So a mad bout of phoning then ensued to find spme one with a set of keys. Seems we were all supposed to have had keys by now - but the Council inspectors broke one in the lock meaning a new padlock had to be fitted and the whole key cutting business started again. Anyways - once she's home I can then concentrate on the two remaining issues: 1) Getting her registered and taxed. 2) Sourcing a KVPT for the main turret weapon. Looks like good news happening at last!!

Still no sign of any insurance certificates so today I rang Footman James. A very nice and helpful lady the other end of the phone line checked the system and confirmed they had been despatched on the 21st May by 1st class post. She was less than complimentary about the Post Office's abilities these days and promised to put another set in the post today. Lets hope these do get through!!!! On the OT front the collection scheduled for Sat has had to be cancelled as no one will be up at Russian Military to oversee the loading - they are off to the Czech Republic at the weekend. I'm waiting to hear from Richard and Malcolm as to whether it's rescheduled for this Friday or someday next week. Meantime - I have an invite to attend an Ford employee/Pensioner event on July 8th with "one of my vehicles". Stalwart is still off the road so this means the OT. If I've not got her taxed by then I'll need to find another haulier to get her from Braintree to Dunton and back! Fingers crossed!!