Dartmoor Tom Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Hi all - just saying hello here on this board. I live on the edge of Dartmoor with my wife and son - we're in the last stages of converting a 1960s Bedford RL into a travelling theatre, by taking the drop-sides, hoops and canvas off and replacing it with a cedar-clad living space and a stage that folds down on the passenger side. We've had the RL since 2012 and I think we've got just a few months of work left now... You can read more about what we're up to here. This is what it looks like at the moment... Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but it's putting the old RL into good service and means it'll be well maintained for years to come! I'm looking for advice about what oil to use for the RL and where I might get a spare wheel for mounting underneath (not to mention what kind of winch system is used for getting it on and off...) All the best from Dartmoor Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Tom that's certainly a bit different. Here are a couple of pages from the Servicing Schedule. There is a list of civilian equivalents in here: http://www.hmvf.co.uk/pdf/POLcompact.pdf If you tell me the Asset Code, which is 4 + 4 digits on the chassis plate I can tell you which Group yours is in for the tyre pressures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Ah just twigged this is ex-AFS so Asset Code doesn't apply. Are you aware of https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/RSOLES/info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMP-Phil Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Hi Tom Great 2nd life for a military vehicle, much in keeping with military vehicles being used to entertain the troops. I'll try and find some photos. Sure the truck will draw attention itself, along with the stage performances. Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcot1751 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Welcome Tom, nice to see an RL doing a job of work. Looks a great project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartmoor Tom Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Thanks all - and particularly for the info, Clive. From the looks of it, then a SAE 10W/30 would be the oil to use... (And yes, I've seen that group on yahoo - I'll be pestering them too ) I'll post more pictures once we're up and on the road... Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartmoor Tom Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 (To add to that, for anyone looking for engine oil for their Bedford RL - just rooted out the workshop manual for mine and it seems that post-1955, the engine oil is OMD-330 - which would translate [if I understand all this correctly, which is always open to question...] to a 20W50 such as the various 'classic' oils about. Checking in the yahoo RL group seems to confirm this. I'm guessing that your notes, Clive, are for earlier models... Thanks again - learning all the time about this amazing behemoth of a vehicle...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm guessing that your notes, Clive, are for earlier models... The publication is dated October 1973 that includes 68 military variants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I emailed the link to this and your site to my friend John Thompson who wrote The Green Machine book all about AFS vehicles. He came back with the following details, which I hope may be of interest: "Its an interesting Vehicle (JJD231D) Chassis No: Bedford RL 49022, one of the very late (1965) registered Home Office AFS Vehicles. It was built as a Hose Layer and was allocated as part of the Northern Ireland Emergency Fleet (Fleet No:37) and was in store at Marchington as part of the NI Fleet in September 1998. It was at Witham Sales in March 2006 and was subsequently sold." Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartmoor Tom Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thanks Scott - that's really interesting. We knew it had been in Northern Ireland, but didn't know any exact dates. Please send my appreciations to John for the info Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thanks Scott - that's really interesting. We knew it had been in Northern Ireland, but didn't know any exact dates. Please send my appreciations to John for the info Tom No probs, will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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