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haha so all this time you have had pictures of the tanks!

I have a selection of nail guns and sharp chisels, what could possibly go wrong 😬

If it’s just slightly weeping try Steel seal, I used some on a gpw block about a year ago and it still seams ok.

I recall a stubborn tyre on a Allis Bucket at RAF Bruggen back in 1981. Eventually dropped a Dozer blade on the tyre, that shifted it.

Must be Stuart Brays? I have an MDD (and MAF) Both correct, so loads of pictures. Ron

Unfortunately that what this thread is a waiting game ,I Answer questions that people ask to the best of my ability until as such time as the aprons are removed will any body know if I'm wrong or right ,I don't control what goes on at this site where their priority is to build house's on a 300 +acre site ,I wish it wasn't just as much as everybody else . Having said that I live 170 mile round trip from the place and as there is no access to the area in question there isn't much chance of seeing whether or not there is any activity near or on the aprons ,there is however a layby of sorts on the A10 mid way between the traffic lights at Denny end road and the ( going north) business park roundabout ,this layby is approx 1200 metres from the aprons ,in a few weeks the leaves will drop and one should be able to see across to the aprons , I figure that if it is what I say then they would have to mag off the spare parts that were crushed on top of the tanks ,that would require a fairly large machine which could be seen accros that distance ...layby is really only accessible traveling south as it's on a fast bend ,layby has more than it fair share of deep holes .. Apron 52 °16' 49" N. 0° 11' 21" E Layby 52° 16' 59" N 0° 10' 17" E Having dealt with this lot ,agents and Hammond I wouldn't trust them more so because of the fortunes involved ..

That looks like a casting fault to me it's not a stress crack they are more linear and run along the grain boundaries what you have is a small pit imperfection in the casting that has probably been there since manufacture. The first question I would ask is have you seen any water seeping out from there? if not my advice would be to leave it alone, certainly don't go digging around inside the pit. Pete

Your better off putting the slightest smear of Vasaline on the heel of the cam, don't use oil it can get thrown off and foul the points then all sorts of bad things can happen. The felt pad is used as it soaks up the oil and releases it slowly. If your going down this route then one drop of clean engine oil is all that is required for several thousand miles of use. As Nick points out most point systems don't use this so you'll be fine without it, just set up your points to 20 thou with feeler gauges or use a dwell metre if you have one at 32 to 34 degrees of dwell for a six cylinder engine. Once again to echo Nick's good advise do not slacken the distributor body pinch bolt and start changing the static timing if you are not confident in re-timing the engine, if it ran fine before leave it alone. Pete

Pores rather than crack I think, it'll flex every time that head bolt is tightened. Clean and cover, but don't be too hard on it as it is eighty years old. 8-) Running the cooling system unpressurised would be the thing.

Yes but not easy. The big problem is finding the extent of any crack, and if it is porosity you are limited to sealer.

Would anyone happen to have some rough dimensions -- or at least clear photographs -- of the correct 4WD sump and (ideally, but optionally!) the oil pump pickup that would go with it? I've been squinting at the 1955 (Amended 1958) manual and from the pictures given there, the oil pump appears the same as the one I have, except for the pickup tube. Now, I know I have a later engine, but the oil pump is in the same location on the engine; and the pickup I have is basically mounted directly on the bottom of the pump, whereas the diagrams given in the EMER show a much longer pickup and an oil-pan that appears to be much more square with the sump moved further forward and seemingly a good bit deeper. In summary, same volume, but with a smaller footprint. A crude digital crayon sketch -- not to scale, of course -- illustrating this, is attached below: I think, as best as I can tell, that the difference in pickup is just vertical height -- which is a relatively simple change to make -- as opposed to any fore/aft displacement. In which case, I should only need a sump! (Well, I could modify the one I have, but I'm already going to struggle to meet my self-imposed target of having the engine running by the end of the year as is! Not been in the greatest of shapes, mentally or physically, this year; and that's slowed things down.) The engine is mostly assembled by this point, though, so I'm not a million miles off; and I've got a MUST/SHOULD/COULD set of lists going. Anyway, I've also had to move all the wheels into the unit as they're no longer allowed to live outside (so sayeth the landlord) and now it's nearly impossible to move in there! So, seeing as I don't particularly want to use them, they have to go. ...the wheels, that is, not the landlord. I did try breaking one down, mostly for the experience (we don't do split-ring wheels at work) but also in the hope that I'd be able to make them compact/light enough that I could stack them onto the truck more easily; but holy crap that's a colossal pain in the behind. I do have video of me struggling... (I'd put them on par with doing a 17.5" tubeless tyre, with levers and sledgehammer. And the tyre seems to be stuck to the wheel rim with rust. I can probably free it off, but at this point, eh...) So that's 7 9.00-20s, two of which are still mounted on the truck, and one is on the bed of the truck (so that'll be exciting getting it down.), and the one I started breaking down already had a crushed valve-stem so that tube is scrap anyway, but it was still holding air; and one 11.00-20 (which is also on the truck bed.) Most of them are Duramold branded, one is a Pirelli (I think?), and the 11.00 is a Phoenix brand. They're all of unknown age, all have age-cracking, and there are a couple of cuts in the tread-blocks here and there. And they're all -- except possibly one? -- on 10-stud 335mm PCD wheels. If anyone's interested in 'em, for whatever reason, let me know! And with that, I must sign off again... Spent near enough a full day doing an EGR valve on a Transit, thanks to a rounded bolt, and now I must go sleep in order to face up to the damn thing again because it didn't fix the warning light...

Looks like a concrete block maybe? what a fascinating vehicle

It could be a crack, or a small porous spot in the block. One of the things most people don't realises just hollow pressure the cooling systems are on these engines. A new truck and radiator would have a 4psi radiator cap on it, and it would only reach that pressure when working really hard. Clean it and paint it again, maybe with some sort of sealant, then turn your radiator cap back to the first click so it is locked in place but not pressurising the radiator, and just drive it

f Fit it if you want, most distributors dont have them

I feel this thread isn’t going to go anywhere tbh. It just doesn’t add up to me.

As above post re oil to lubricate the points heel, fitting new points will not affect the ignition timing, Do not move the distributor if your not familiar with setting ignition timing

3 in 1 drip oil is listed Halfords and most supermarkets and tool shops

De coloribus et de gustibus non est disputandum! 😁

Completely forgot about the cupola cover, these are bread and butter stuff for RCH, they finished this one for the Tanker ages ago. Quality job, fits perfectly, but I am keeping the plastic lid on while she is parked up and saving the canvas one so it looks crisp and new when we are at shows. I should also mention their prices are well affordable, can't recommend them enough

Busy weekend for Tankering one way and the other, good results all round. First off, Must big up Richard and Charlotte from RCH canvas. After weeks of measuring making and adjusting, we finally got to the end of the canvas that joins the tank and the pump room. It has been a considerable challenge for them, complicated shape, no pattern and nothing to copy from, built completely from scratch. But they were up to it and the finished product looks pretty good. Top section rivetted on Off side And the near side. Unfortunately I ran out of rivets, so couldn't finish the job, but it all fits nicely and should keep the rain out. After that excitement, moved onto another on going saga. Trying to find the "right" shade of red paint for the drain tap tops and the fuel out valve. I've tried various shades, and didn't like any of them, either too dark or too pink or orange. Got a result earlier in the week and finally found a shade that I think looks right. Minor downside is, it is a coach enamel and takes 3 or 4 days to dry, then several weeks to harden off. Next problem, what colour primer to use, as I know this will affect the final colour. A search of the net suggests white, yellow and even blue. Best answer set up a test From left to right, white, yellow, blue, and red. Interesting result here, not much difference in the white yellow and red, but the blue gave an unexpected bonus. The only blue I had, for the test, was some gloss left over from painting the Saltire badge. Painting over gloss is never good as the new coat tends to slide off, but here it only slid off from the lettering making it look like they had been highlighted. Photo doesn't really do it justice, looks really striking in the daylight, but black lettering would be better than blue. So, clean it all the different colours off. Start with a base coat of gloss black, then red over the top hoping it will slide off in the same way. Again, photo doesn't bring the colour out right, looks pink here. This was taken a few minutes after painting and the red is already sliding off the letters quite nicely. Looks really good Fuel valve looks orange, but honestly it is the same red paint as the valve handle On the other hand, it could be pink. Either way it has got a fortnight to dry, as we are off to Yorkshire to visit the in laws. Plan A, when we get back, is full steam ahead with finishing the pump room now that the new canvas will keep the rain out. I'll let you know.

Many, many parts to sandblast and prime ... hence some more pictures. It seems like it never ends !😁 The smaller parts in labelled bags, in a box, on the shelf ... Bolts, nuts, washers, springs etc., etc. in jars with oil ... This is how the Bedford is at the moment. The next step is to sandblast the bulkhead. When this is done, I hope to be able to continue with the fun part, which is reassembling all the parts that are waiting on the shelf!

Mice? I had a full walnut in the glovebox of my Halftrack. When I brushed out the muck, crap, moss and nesting materials I used a pan to collect and through under a hedge. That walnut has now sprouted, it must have been in the Halftrack for decades.

Small Jobs List. Hi. Just a quick update on the list of small jobs. Rad Drain Cock. I didn't put a photo of this but just to say that the drain cock was sized and the handle had been broken off some time in it's history. Bit of a sod to remove it from the rad, but a couple of swear words , spanner and a bit of pipe it gave up the struggle and taken into the workshop to be stripped down. The handle had been broken off flush with the spindle and then trying to strip the drain cock down was a right pain. With plenty of penetrating oil left to soak for a hour and with a gentle tap on the end of the spindle the cock came apart. All rusty parts cleaned up and I had to drill a small hole in the remains of the handle, out a small stud remover and out it came. Checked the threads and found to be B.S.F and I had a piece of brass bar at the correct size to make a new handle. The valve was put back together with a slight smear of silicon grease and went back okay. Passengers Side Foot Rest. No photo, as all I could do with this was to forget pyramid nosing and put strips of steel down for the Passenger foot rest. Rear End of The Lorry . Right I have been studying the war time photo of the Albion as shown at a depot on delivery. There is a bar fixed to adjustable shackles and held in place with two brackets and I have no idea what the purpose of this item was.? I have checked every book and museums as to what this bar does and no other details of the brackets apart from the photo so I have made up my own . The first photo shows the lorry bed and you can see the bar on the adjustable shackles and the chain secured to it. So I made a cardboard mock up as shown in the 2nd/3rd photo and kept measuring until it was correct and cut and bent one out of 3mm steel I still have to make another one but should be a lot easy. The bar as shown in photo 4, was cut out of 1.5" tube with a couple of wooden bungs fitted in the ends and a nut/bolt fitted as well. The - call it a safety chain had been cut being withdrawn from service with the bar or during standing in the scrap yard. I brought a 38mm 'U' clamp as fitted to a car exhaust and made a small bracket for the chain to be fitted to. I had to replace 14 links of chain to get it to hang correct and fit the bracket as shown in photo 5. The bar still has to be adjusted some more as it's on a slight slope to the Drivers side. Photo 6 shows the nearly finished job apart from making and fitting the last bracket. Photo 7. Shows some sort of cardboard device, well it's a mock up of the side rollers with brackets as fitted to the rear towers. These are the next project to be made up and from the Black and White photo the rollers look like turned wood so might have to change these to steel pipe. They where fitted to guide the boats on the chassis, so there is very little chance of the lorry carrying folding boats again; so might just leave them fixed and just for show. Many Thanks. Paul Burns

The timing cover had the appearance of ageing concrete. So after a lengthy process of cleaning solvent, hot water with bleach and fairy liquid, brass bristle brush, light grit blasting, wire wool and finally a light polish with Solvol........It's acceptable now. Ron

Data plate is missing sadly but there is one screw left in place. Clips and remnants of grommets for cable run still exist along with 2 circular marks where the junction box and switch for the lights used to be.

The Environment Agency are just one of the consultees in any planning application - in the case of a proposed residential redevelopment of a brown-field site, their involvement may go a bit further than for Joe Bloggs sticking up a new conservatory, but they usually simply offer an opinion on the potential impact of a development upon the natural environment. This is generally in terms of flooding, etc., but possibly in terms of disposal of contaminated soils if they've been identified by pre-development sampling. They do not have the deciding vote on anything in my experience & are regularly overruled by planners (e.g., in the case of developments that have been given permission on flood plains & the like). And yes, seeing what to us is interesting history being dug up would be something to look forward to, but to the developers & a great number of people in society at large, it's just a load of scrap, sadly. Regarding your final paragraph, this is all the more reason for the developers & planners to be upfront about all of this. The last thing they want are surprises that lead to hold-ups to their programme - groundworkers & brickies stood around twiddling their thumbs costs money. So your hints at secrecy & underhand schemes makes no sense at all - sorry.

It took most of the day to pack the B-17, move the Jeeps and strip the body down. It was strange to see the Dodge as a pickup truck after so long with the Flying Control body fitted.

Mine is the DC40 type (original) Ron

Ah, I must be going blind!! sorry! then it's more difficult, but you could have one turned from solid brass I guess? here's mine, also brass. Lex

Are you saying that the gearbox inhibit switch has been overridden? If so that is one really dangerous practice.

German with British army tool box on the back. Dunkirk. Photo taken from my original negative .

Just realized how long it is, was the E type for the 12000lb 'triple cookie'?

Nice little find. What are the plans for it?

An old friend downsizing allowed me the privilege of rummaging through his many sheds. I managed to amass a lot of (good stuff) some of which will help with immediate restorations. The rest will more than likely sit collect dust in my sheds. 😂 But I definitely need it… Water bowser parts I turned up some nice original ww2 brass 7/8 bsp hose tails with nuts and extension unions. We spent many hours discussing where my haul came from. One of the tails that the brass fittings were just a small handful that didn’t make the scrap heap in the 50, 60 and 70s the family business was to buy sell ex military equipment. Water trucks/ bowsers were a a good sellers. Buy them cheep at dispersal auctions. Sell them high broken up. Water tanks were sold to farms for water feeders , trucks were then converted for general haulage. And sold on for a new purpose, Water trucks apparently were always good low mileage trucks. water filters/ pumps pipe work, sold for scrap. Apparently there were a few filters sold to local farms for filtering the spring water….

Thanks Barry. I have thought about investing in a buffing machine but my experience has always been that it is very difficult to maintain a crisp edge with them. As the crisp edge is such a feature of the Dennis rad and this would be the only big job I would have for one in the foreseeable future, I have desisted and had a go with a flap wheel instead. I did the back with a wheel in the pistol drill, keeping it moving to avoid grooving. That was fairly painless and I finished off with some emery in my hands. The badge was some coarse emery on a flat sanding block and it came up quite quickly. Then I had a go at the front. The flap wheels in the drill and in the angle grinder certainly took the surface off very quickly. However, it took a great deal of care not to groove the surface and then a lot of hand-rubbing with emery to take out the marks. So far it looks pretty good but will need some fine wet-and-dry paper to finish it off. Tedious but coming along. Of course, the big top surfaces remain.... As a bit of light relief, I thought I would make up the replacement studs. I have given in and used stainless for them as the originals have corroded so much and couldn't be removed. Studs are something of a pain, I find, as they are such devils to hold. The first end thread is easy but the second always difficult. To hold them whilst cutting the second end, I made up this holder. I have tried in the past to put a thread right through and simply back up the stud with a bolt but, unfortunately, this didn't work very well as both stud and bolt tended to screw right through when cutting the thread. To get over this, My locking bolt has a finer pitched thread than the stud so the stud cannot screw in during the cutting process. Once the thread is cut, simply back off the locking bolt and the stud will unscrew. This is a good trick to know! All done and I am getting closer to reassembly now! I have some cork gasket on the way for the main joint and am trying to pick up some jointing compound. I think it is going to have to be mail order again. Steve 🙂

My trip to Grantham was successful and I picked up the extra ten tubes and 3000 gills. They are now all threaded and ready for another trip to deliver them for soldering. 136 tubes and 16000 gills with a few left over. All threaded by hand one at a time. My fingers are sore! Steve 🙂

Also restored a WW2 toolbox, and cut some stencils for it, to put in the ballast box, it just fits! Also bought a lot of old tools, with big sizes. Lex

its like the stories of rows of buried B17 engines and jeeps in crates buried on old airfields in Norfolk and Suffolk, so far after 70 odd years has found any, the buried dumps are just that, dumps of scrap and junk. interesting junk though.

That is a very good point, at a time when raw material was in such short supply why wasn't it all just weighed in??

If she runs fine I would probably leave it as is, at some point she has been modified and that just adds to her history in a way. You would not know the difference if the bonnet is closed.

been following this thread for a while, as my dear old dad once showed me some bumpy ground up on Etchinghill and told me me it was a grenade/piat range, and there were 3 tanks buried there.... the resulting dig proved him 100% right. Other gentlemen on here may have come across the larger than life W&P frequenter, who claimed to have found a holy grail of tanks, and produced photos of the glacis plate to prove, and know how that story panned out. but I cant for the life of me fiqure out why at huge expense, this dramatic operation took place at a time when resources were in short supply. Gas axe it and weigh it in.

The correct carb is a Solex type 35RZFAIPO/C581/0. C581 should be stamped on the carb. That is the 35RZFAIPO specific to the MW, as it was also fitted to other Bedford’s such as the QL

You have a Zenith, correct one is a Solex 35RZFAIPO The inlet manifold is a civilian spec as well as the mounting for the carb flange is different.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/historics/catalogue-id-historics10015/lot-e2cc80f8-c2d0-4bec-98e8-ada200a19cb7

I am following this line up. The picture was taken on 3.9.1944 in Fleurbaix, France during the Liberation of Northwest France just outside Lille. On the 75th we drove her fully bombed from Sussex to Ghent and back on the route the 8th Army took, we passed within half a mile from the picture location. The picture is still a great peace of history and thank you for your reply. Mick

for ordinary use (daytime etc) the standard No17 periscope would be used as the night sight is only supposed to be used in daylight in an "emergency" the actual nightsight is: Periscope AVII L7A1 for training purposes only during daylight a special filter (the thing painted yellow) is fitted to the objective lens the drivers "leg armour" indicates your Ferret has received the mines counter measures upgrade. If your intention is to revert to Aden spec it should really be removed... along with the other work associated with that M suffix on your vehicle mark. (extra fire extinguishers for example). Kevin Brown is the expert on Aden ferrets and would be best place for advice if you want to be historically accurate. An expensive proposition as the most visible features would be: a) fit a complete Larkspur radio and intercom system as you have the fittings for Clansman - external visuals therefore would include replacing the antenna bases and reverting the B set antenna bracket to being the old, unarmoured, version. b) as you already hint at, that would also include reverting the drivers hatch to the original, non night sight version as of course that came much later. It would be a bit more than a paint job and a few decals !

More like Bwiskaveetsa, translates to lightning and was also the name of a machine gun produced by the Polish resistance.

This from Wikipedia, "Major General Karol John Drewienkiewicz CB, CMG is a retired British Army officer, generally known as "DZ"." But, probably the most famous is probably ORP Blyskawica, built at Cowes in 1936, now the Polish Navy's museum ship. During the war she served with the RN who, struggling with the name, stuck with "Bottle o' whisky"! Of course, pronouncing crossed out "L"s as a "W" doesn't help! - above example is something like Bweeskaveetsa. Easier using Cyrillic!

As some of you may know I refurbished and used to own a V8 Petrol SUMB KSJ141 which I sold about 18 months ago prior to moving house. I have always regretted that and I recently had the opportunity to purchase a replacement which is available to work on and close to my new home. The "new" vehicle has been fitted with a Volvo diesel engine and auto box and was used for extreme off-roading and has therefore been stripped of its tilt, hoops and many minor fittings. I now have about 3 months to make it roadworthy and relocate it to my own premises. This will be a restoration rather than a refurbishment so I thought I would start a topic here to record progress and seek advice. To start, here are a couple of photos of the new SUMB: And this is where I hope to end up: At the moment I am starting on the electrics (which is my professional background so easiest for me) and have retrieved the dashboard boxes (all easily detatchable and surprisingly all made of plastic) to start assembling a new wiring harness as most of the original lighting has been removed and many of the wiring harness connectors are corroded and/or crushed beyond reuse, and I am in negotiations with a local forum member to get a replacement hoop and tilt made. Iain