Pumpkinate

The clean up went well. I did a general service (change oils/filters/brake pads). I removed armour to get the seat out which is very easy (about 30 min to get the cockpit exposed) and took the seat out to respray it. Painted a few other bits too. While I was doing this some electrical issues (eg various lights not working) all fixed themselves which I presume was something drying out! I'm yet to fit a reversing camera but have the kit. It drives very well and I've had it up to 70km/h on my driveway. It also comes in handy for receiving deliveries when semitrailers won't come up to my house!

I have been playing around with electrolysis to clean up a few rusty parts.... very fun and effective. This piece cleaned up in one hour from a rusty mess:

Definitely worth the effort! It's a great machine. Probably won't take it to shows though, Australia quite big and transporting it won't be cheap.

Well, I received my Shielder a few weeks ago and was able to ship spares with it luckily. Overall, it's in great condition although there are a few issues to sort. It arrived with dud batteries and it appears during it's quarantine cleaning they managed to bash the tachometer sender wires off, so at first it wouldn't change gear. Both those problems were an instant fix. Some of the electrics aren't working which I'll look into. The braking and steering feel a bit weak but it may just be rusty/oily discs as I've only run it up and down my driveway twice so far. Annoyingly, the quarantine cleaners left it in the rain for a week I'm guessing with the hatches open and bolts removed from the rear tray inspection plates... it arrived with water in it and sadly my spare filters etc were in the rear storage compartment so bits were going rusty and the spare air filters were soggy and spotted with mould. It now sits in my shed and I plan to give it a thorough service and fix all issues before running it again. Will take the armour off the cockpit so I can get the driver's seat out to respray it too as it's the only bit that looks a little tired.

Thanks for the replies everyone. The Shielder has a Cummins 6 litre turbo by the way.

Thanks for the replies. I suspected there would be no problem as long as the CCA was similar but I had a nagging feeling that maybe a smaller battery wouldn't like being charged by the bigger alternator, ie get charged to fast. Those Varta J3s are not sold here in Australia. I'm considering the North Star AGM35 due to its compact shape: https://batteryspecialists.com.au/northstar-pure-lead-12v-60ah-880cca-agm-battery.html

Hello, my Alvis Shielder's batteries are stuffed (they are the UK6TNMF or UK6TN's). They are an unusual shape (almost square) so to replace them is difficult.... I've been looking at smaller batteries that would still fit in the battery tray. If I stick to the same or larger CCA rating does it matter if the replacements have a smaller capacity (AH rating)? Specifically the originals are 800 CCA and 110 AH and what I have in mind is 880 CCA and 60 AH.... I'm not likely to start the engine multiple times in a row or use power with the engine off. Thanks in advance for any opinions! Cheers, Steve

It must have been a truck load of work getting the new forum running! Well done. One bit of feedback..... some members (myself included) have dropped back to a zero post count for some reason?

Anyone ever dealt with Militaria Anhol in Poland? http://sklep.militariaanhol.pl/en/ Any positive or negative feedback? They sell a selection of Soviet MVs.

I am a petrol head and I agree with you, they look to be the future

You can't change history.

I'm considering electric for my next commuter too because of the minimal maintenance and also my electricity is virtually free with a large solar array. Electric car for work, ICE for fun on the weekends.... The only catch is there seems to be nothing in the mid range performance-wise at the moment. There are a few super slow shopping trolleys and then the very fast but very expensive Teslas.

I understand the UK ban on using asbestos was late 1999. When did they stop using asbestos in brake pads etc in practice? Was it some years before 1999? I have a late 90's vehicle in transit from the UK at the moment.

I like that MAZ537, what a bonkers truck.

Thanks Justin. I found Ian Galliers on Milweb. Is Andrew Baker a member here? Thanks for the insight, I knew the track was unique to the Stormer series, but didn't know the road wheels are shared with the CVRTs. I'll have a look on thexmod site. I also just discovered cvrtparts.com

Thanks everyone for your replies. Richard... that's a great find, that place looks promising and not too far away by Australian standards. I will get some photos up soon. I have not seen it in person, a friend inspected it for me and took some pics. I decided on the better offering available for the exact same reasoning that spares are going to be hard to find, especially over here. The big question is, where to find spares? Withams don't have anything. I've emailed Marcus Glenn and Green Machine Surplus. Where else to look? Does anyone know of any spares around?

I just purchased a low hours Alvis Shielder from Withams, got to now get it shipped to Australia :cool2: I'd be grateful for any advice on what I should do when I first receive it (I presume replace all fluids as it has been sitting around for years). I'm going to buy the manuals from greenmachinesurplus. I'd also be keen to get some spares if anyone knows of any. It comes with a few spare track segments but that's it. I would really like a spare road wheel and sprocket wheel. And anything else that anyone can recommend!

The prices are truly impressive

Thanks Diesel, well spotted, that one didn't appear on my internet search. Cheers, Steve

That CET at Marcus Glenn has sold. Are there any other CETs for sale currently in the UK? Has anyone seen the Shielders for sale at Withers/LJackson and Co/Tanks-a-lot? I wonder what condition they are in. They look very clean on the sample pics but I guess they use their very best example for the photos.

Thanks for the insight! You certainly know your stuff. Actually, this raises the question that as the "newer" vehicles (with ECU's and TCU's) are sold off, is maintenance going to become a bigger issue? I think it will... a lot of people on this forum are happy to tinker with 1960's technology (purely mechanical) but I reckon the majority of them will shy away from an engine with an ECU, especially where replacements ECU's are no longer made. Yeah, I agree with you. I watched this video and thought that if I was going into the driver's cockpit I might as well take a packed lunch, because I'd be there a while fiddling with all the controls: You guys in Europe are lucky, here in Australia even if someone gave me a vehicle for free by the time I import it it's going to end up expensive.

Great info Sleeper, I had assumed they were just a Stormer with a tray back. So if you were to buy one it would be wise to pick up some spare parts, especially as they were a rarer vehicle too I believe?

Yeah, not everyone seems to like practical. I don't mind guns on vehicles but if they are deactivated you are just carting around weight really. Are you referring to the Combat Engineer Tractor? There's one for sale at the moment at Marcus Glenn for 8.5k which looks very nice in the pics. I'm seriously considering picking up either of the CET or the Alvis Shielder (or both LOL), they might even come in handy on the farm.

I guess rubber pads aren't ideal if you are plugging through mud!

I've noticed that these two vehicles don't get mentioned much and their prices seem low considering their mileage and condition. I wonder if they are viewed as too much of a "working vehicle" rather than a fighting vehicle? To me they are cool vehicles! Anyone here with one or the other?