Saracen Build-up

[montie]

Hi Oily,

 

I will write Richard from Banister's to check if he has got a set of reduction box gears. I have had a lot of promises but timewise it is taking a bit long and have to search other alternatives (also planning a visit to the "Saracen graveyard" Ugh.... ugly word!!)

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

Good news, Richard at Banister's has spares, either loose or as units. I am planning to visit the "graveyard" over the weekend or very early next week, if they will sell spares, it will be a quicker solution. The way these Saracens has been butchered, there is bound to be loose spares around, maybe even a front bevel box. It should probably also solve the possibility of ratio differences if any existed.

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[oily]

Hi, Monti.....

 

can you ask about the seat-back pads too when you are at the graveyard? I need 10 of the vinyl type ones, sort of NATO green, with a leather-like grain, but if there are only canvas ones, they'll be better than nothing....:-D

 

cheers mate, and happy hunting for bevel boxes!:cool2:

[montie]

I've got the DVD, didn't give it a thought when I watched it. I'll check if its there.

 

Hi guys,

 

Just to confirm, we rented the movie, sure enough, it is in there. I saw it in two scenes but no real closeup shots. Did not enjoy the movie,though. Ridiculous science fiction.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2010 by montie
pics added

[montie]

Hi all,

 

Worked on Sarie's Right front wheel again yesterday.

 

Eventually got the tracta fork with all meshing components in, slided in nicely exept for that last 3/8", part of the seal on the brass collar still sticking out. I guess it could be the brass collar that does'nt line up properly with the locating pins, but it only a guess. Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Monty.

[oily]

I'll look into my manuals tonight......:-\

[Richard Farrant]

Hi all,

 

Worked on Sarie's Right front wheel again yesterday.

 

Eventually got the tracta fork with all meshing components in, slided in nicely exept for that last 3/8", part of the seal on the brass collar still sticking out. I guess it could be the brass collar that does'nt line up properly with the locating pins, but it only a guess. Any ideas?

 

 

 

 

Hello Monty,

 

If you have not got the two pins aligned with the inner tracta housing, this could be the problem. are you able to twist the wheel station in its sling, either one way or other? In fact standing back and looking at it might show if it is not hanging true, centre of swivel to be at top. Another possibility is that the tracta has come out of mesh. Did you "wedge" the tracta halves in the forks as I described?

 

regards, Richard

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for the replies. I still think the locating pins are the problem. I am going to try to twist the tracta housing to see whether it will help, got hold of the right size spanner yesterday.

 

Richard, I did wedge the tracta halves but if this twisting does not locate, I am taking the wheel station out again as this was problematic before and I might have overlooked the problem. It could be the inside spherical joint, it did seem a "bit loose", maybe it is becoming undone. I have got no info on the tighening specs for it though. Oily, see whether you can pick up anything about this in your manuals, please.

 

Ah well, I might just be on a wild goose chase, let's try the twisting thing before jumping to conclutions.

 

Regards,

 

Monty.

[oily]

Hi, Monti,

 

Some how I have a feeling you may find the attached diagram and list helpful in your quest for reassembiling the puzzle of Saracen Wheelstation.

 

.....the pins you are referring to, I think are numbered:

 

'48' - Intermediate Shaft Pins

 

I did the best I could with my A4 Scanner, the diagram is on an A3 'fold-out' page, in Manual:

 

'Wheeled Vehicles V 612 A.P.C., WHEELED, SARACEN, Mk 1 & 2'*

 

 

*all Saracens are really Mk 1, Mk 2, or Mk 3's. Mk 3's have RFC (Reverse Flow Cooling, -fitted for use in hot climates) Higher Mk's are substantially mechanically the same as earlier versions, but with minor non-functional differences, e.g. a Mk 5 is a Mk2 with additional armour to Kremlin 2 spec, a Mk6 is a is a Mk3 with additional armour to Kremlin 2 spec. No Mk 4's entered service.

 

Did you hear the good news on H.M.V.F. about my Saracen?.... it's up and running again, all seems to be ok with the gears, and the steering and brakes too, - I did two emergency brake tests at just over 25mph, on gravel it locked up all six wheels and stopped in about 20ft, on tarmac it stopped in about 15ft- from the way it felt, I wouldn't have been at all suprised if it didn't lift it's rear wheels when slamming the brakes on when on the tarmac!

 

Anyways, hope the diagram helps a little, keep us all posted on how things are going down there.....

 

Kind regards

 

Oily

 

P.S. I originally tried to email this to the address I had for you, but it was rejected by the email postmaster thing. Can you PM me your up-to-date email, in case you need me to send bigger files?:-D

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

Some feedback. The twisting of the tracta cover did not help much, so the wheelstation is coming out again! Oily, you read my problem like a book! Don't know what is wrong with my mail, nothing is changed. Maybe the data pack was a bit big.

 

Visited two MV yards today. The first one had a Saracen. According to the owner it was complete and did not want to strip for spares. Maybe he should check again, it has already been robbed of a lot of spares and needs a lot of work to get it back to a serviceble condition!

 

 

 

 

 

He had some nice Land Rovers too, as well as a variety of other vehicles. He is selling refurbished vehicles to mid-Africa somewhere, with some MV body's retro fitted to Tata truck chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on his property this unknown MV. Looks really mean! I unfortunately did not get closer for better shots.

 

 

 

I found the other MV yard much more interesting with a lot of HUGE surprises. More about that later.

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[chevpol]

nice series 3 station wagon, I assume ex SADF judging by the colour?

 

Any more?

 

Mark

[oily]

Hi guys,

 

Some feedback. The twisting of the tracta cover did not help much, so the wheelstation is coming out again! Oily, you read my problem like a book! Don't know what is wrong with my mail, nothing is changed. Maybe the data pack was a bit big.

 

Visited two MV yards today. The first one had a Saracen. According to the owner it was complete and did not want to strip for spares. Maybe he should check again, it has already been robbed of a lot of spares and needs a lot of work to get it back to a serviceble condition!

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29309[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29308[/ATTACH]

 

He had some nice Land Rovers too, as well as a variety of other vehicles. He is selling refurbished vehicles to mid-Africa somewhere, with some MV body's retro fitted to Tata truck chassis.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29320[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]29318[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]29315[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]29314[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29316[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29317[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]29313[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]29312[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29310[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29319[/ATTACH]

 

Also on his property this unknown MV. Looks really mean! I unfortunately did not get closer for better shots.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29311[/ATTACH]

 

I found the other MV yard much more interesting with a lot of HUGE surprises. More about that later.

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

I try my hardest for you, Monti.... us 'saracen-nuts' must stick together!!:angel::beer:

[montie]

Mark,

 

They only had the three Landy samples at the first yard and nothing at the other. I'll post some more pics as soon as I get some of nice examples.

 

Oily, thanks man, I appreciate the trouble you have taken so far!

 

Nothing going to happen today, I have to go fix somebody's sliding gate and the a trip scheduled this afternoon to Pretoria for my soon-to-be's bachelor party. It also is where the SA Defense force is/was(??) stationed, I could maybe get some pics of other MV's in working condition.

 

By the way, the other MV yard which I visited yesterday, the owner is a Dodge nut! I have never seen so many Dodges in one place and never knew of the existance of 95%!! He unfortunately is out of the country at the moment with a consignment of MV's destined for some museum in Europe, so no negotiations for spares. (At least they are conserving some history!!) I will try and convince him to join the HMVF amongst other things when visiting him as soon as he is back in the country...:cool2:

 

Hopefully I will get around to posting pics tomorrow.

 

Regards,

 

Monty.

[oily]

...so you're gonna be a bachelor then?..... is the saracen too much for your Mrs?:embarrassed:

 

My girlfriend loves mine to bits,...-I've even taught her to drive it (but she'll only drive it round a field....:-D)

[montie]

Oily,

 

Confusion reigns when one is in a rush! It should have read "my future son-in-law's bachelor's"

 

Sorry, s**t happened.

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[oily]

Ok, mate, ....did you check your emails yet? sent one this afternoon about saracen goodies available over here, very, very cheap!!:-D

[montie]

Hi Oily,

I have received your e-mail, the prices are very good indeed. I am cash strapped for the time-being, my daughter is getting married and all funds are channeled there, available or not.

I am consoling myself with trips to MV scrap yards (It just makes matters worse by the way!!)

Here are some the long-promised pics from the other day.

 

A nest of Saracens!

 

Some Dodges,

Overlander,

 

????,

 

Ex-Police vehicles,

 

New MV's for the export market.

 

 

 

There are lots more, I will put them up on another thread.

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[oily]

If you finish the saracen in time, you could take your daughter to her wedding in style!:-D

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

Some details of the field telephone connection and stowages.

 

 

 

 

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

I am battlelingto post, sometimes 3 or 4 times before the post attaches. I also continously have to relog to the site. Is it just me or what?

 

Thanks,

 

Monty.

[montie]

Hi Oily,

 

Sadly no, the Saracen is going nowhere fast, still way too much work outstanding. Would have been nice though.

 

Guys, here are some pics with South African saracen details.

 

Drive pulleys and brake boosters

 

 

 

 

 

Turrets and gun-ring detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oily]

I like the birds nest in the gun mounting... very cute...... I once saw a mouses nest INSIDE an exhaust manifold..... can't recall whether it was a ferret or a saracen though....

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

My system is offline at the moment, now using my betterhalf's laptop.

 

I checked out rog8811's thread on the google earth finds and promptly checked out the one scrapyard on google earth as well. It's huge!! I haven't even seen a third of it! Now I am wondering what is still hiding out there!

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[montie]

Hi guys,

 

My daugther's marriage went well, with all the time consuming stuff finished.

 

During the morning preparing for the big occation.

 

 

 

During the ceremony.

 

 

 

And I got to dance one dance with her too!

 

 

 

Now back to some work on the Saracen, re-installing some the removed panels, etc. Getting to the gear change pedal, I have a feeling that there should be a spring somwhere pulling the lever up? Am I wrong, my manuals does not show anything?

 

And that troublesome front wheel is waiting for me!

 

Cheers,

 

Monty.

[oily]

...I think the mechanism inside the gearbox causes the pedal to move back up.......please pass on my congratulations to your daughter (who happens to look absolutely stunning, by the way!), and your new son-in-law. I'm glad it all went to plan, and may they have many happy years together:hug:, now good luck with the rest of the saracen,.... I'm about to embark on a pain of a job, with mine.... fluid flywheel replacement!..... engine out, methinks.....still, I can look forwards to finding all those 'lost' tools, that lurk under the engine, in armoured vehicles......