fv1609

Luke they are indeed. If that is 05BK02 there should be drill rounds in the launchers under the canvas covers. Well they were there when I returned it to the Museum a few years ago. Apart from the GPMG the crew were provided with two SMGs there being a mount on each side of the cab behind the front seats. There was also a Pistol, signal, No.1 Mk 5 I expect you have seen the storage box for that. You also of course have storage boxes for ammo beneath the driver's step. The other side was used for the brew equipment. I'm afraid have no particular knowledge (or interest) in guns so can't provide detail of the racks. The definitive reference should be a User Handbook but there wasn't one. There was a pamphlet RAC Training Armour Part 5 The Parachute Squadron RAC published 1965 but that was more of a tactics document focussing on the GW role. The nearest thing to a User Handbook was EMER GUIDED WEAPONS U022 Part 1 1962-3. Unfortunately that describes the pre-production/very early Hornet. Originally the racks you show in the photo were not there & neither was the extractor fan. That space was occupied by a rather larger box containing Stabilised Power Unit No.2. It was only when that was replaced by the transistorised power unit was that space available. A word of advice if you are making a model. Be wary of official photos as they are predominantly of prototypes not the in service vehicle. I have seen a model that one side is from a prototype & the other from an in service launcher. So it ended up with a jerrycan on both sides at the top! But the modeller seemed unconvinced as he had official photographs. The position changed with the change of power units & the addition of the extractor fan. Also bear in mind the length increased with the addition of the smoke launchers & IR headlights, so official documents understate the length as indeed does the Para Sqn RAC website (& a few other details).

I've never seen a S3 one but I do have the UHB for Rover 9 & Rover 11. They are not much different so I expect the S3 UHB just contains the many mods that were gradually applied to Rover 11. These UHBs are a disappointment because they are the standard 88 & 109 UHB with an ambulance supplement. Anyway I have spent over 3 hours this morning locating, scanning & sizing the images into a pdf for the Rover 11. I know it shouldn't take that time but I am not geared up as a professional copying outfit. I have sent the pdf to Lee to put it in the section with the other Rover Ambulance related pdfs. I'm afraid I have watermarked a few pages & put some characteristic identifiers. There are sites that are now selling some of my pdfs when they are posted here intended for free exchange of information

Jase the FV2381 is interesting as there appear to have been no specific contracts for the Mk 2. Official literature referring to Mk 2 only makes reference to two contracts, but these are the two contracts for the Mk 1. Given the large numbers of mods it looks like Mk 2 is a significantly upgraded Mk 1. I would be interested in a shot of your contact & modification plate for the archives. I have a Mk 3 a rather different thing but I hope this might help you a bit.

Well yes there are large numbers of vehicles of various kinds that have horizontal coils. The manufacturers clearly have confidence in the integrity of the seal.

That's the oil that is there to transfer heat mainly from the primary winding, which is actually wound over the secondary, to the case. It also confers insulating properties. If you can hear liquid it suggests some air has got in as the result of oil leakage. Many coils are filled via a hole in the HT terminal. The central screw has a bunged washer this maybe be loose. For that reason there is an argument that suggests a coil should be mounted with the terminals uppermost. Insufficient oil causes overheating so that the coil fails. You then search for the fault, find nothing and then it runs again until it overheats again!

Pekka published information on the newer codes is somewhat sparse. There was much more information on the earlier systems although more complex they were easier to understand & conveyed quite a lot of information. Of the 8-digit code the first 4 digits form the Establishment Code Number or sometimes called the Vehicle Establishment Code Number. This defines its Establishment Name & normally remains with that particular vehicle for the rest of its life. These are the codes used in establishing vehicle scales & entitlements. eg 0110 SCOUT CAR. Liaison 0120 SCOUT CAR, LRV 0130 SCOUT CAR, Recce 0150 SCOUT CAR, Recce/GW The last 4 digits define the make & mark or model, for which I can find no list. The 8 digits taken together formed the Vehicle Code Number. At one time because of the data storage system VESPER it was referred to as the VESPER Code Number. Nowadays usually referred to as Asset Code or Liability Code of the equipment which may be something other than a vehicle eg concrete mixer, generator, plant etc This is sometimes prefixed with two letters. The first letter is the Equipment Management Code for the Equipment Management Branch. The second letter is the Equipment Asset Type.(eg A vehicles, B vehicles etc) Equipment Account I think is a stocktaking mechanism where assets & liabilities are in various Commodity Accounts such as equipment, misc stores, unit spares, accommodation stores, clothing, ammunition, POL etc.

Forgot to say, I think ODA = Ordnance Depot Antwerp

In case someone spots it, strictly speaking I should have mentioned Asset Codes were 4 digits + 2 digits + 3 digits to be replaced with 6 digits + 2 digits + 3 digits in 1956. Then replaced by 4 digits + 4 digits in 1967. Curiously 6 digits + 2 digits + 3 digits often continued to be used alongside the new Asset Code but now referred to as the NSN - which it ain't! But I think this is where an NSN had not yet been allocated or would never receive one. Equipment Regulations Pamphlet No.8 1964 Army Code No.14249 continued to be amended up to 14249-7. Then in 1968 so heavily amended it became Army Code No.60293 below is 60293-2 amended in 1969. Retention Class R = Retention NR = Non Retention = Obsolescent

At least these Asset Codes are easier to understand that the earlier 6 digits + 2 digits + 3 digits published in Equipment Regulations Pamphlet No.8 1964 Army Code No.14249. They were changed to 4 digits + 4 digits in 1967 in the AC No.14249-6 as below

Chris if I had a Toastie or earlier (bearing in mind the 40A system was originally retro fitted to Rovers Mk 3 & Mk 5) I would be tempted to test the electrical properties of the rectifier & see how it performed. There are a few vehicles around that function perfectly satisfactorily with the original installation. It is always a particular delight to see them. Selenium rectifiers in radios set invariably would be for the HT supply typically 250v not 24v. In such circumstances an electrical breakdown could have unpleasant consequences, particularly a design that just uses a dropper resistor in series with the mains! The situation is rather different in the 40A system. The negative output of the rectifier is not 'earthed' it is fed to the control board through a current regulator & the radio supply output is fused. Unlike a domestic radio that would be used indoors, in the event of a failure where noxious fumes would be most unwelcome they are somewhat more removed by being in the engine bay & may be limited by the action of the current regulator. A little while ago someone posted pics of his 40A system on EMLRA. The rectifier had few & thicker fins. This seemed very odd but on scrutiny you could see silicon diodes pressed into the holes accommodated into the fins. This looked to have been done quite some time ago. I don't know if this was a sympathetic restoration or an official update. Although I have never found any EMERs relating to such a change.

Chris the CAV type RUS-3 is quoted as having a forward resistance of 10 ohms. Of the 9 elements, 3 are for a common negative, 3 vehicle +ve, 3 radio +ve It is not made clear whether that 10 ohms is per element (or pair in series) or per trio in parallel (or per trio in parallel in series with its trio pair)

Wayne it is indeed a curious system. The FV1609 had a 24v flasher & it had to be 24v because the flasher function was shared with the 24v stop light. Then the production FV1611 Pigs came along with 12v flashers! The stop/turn lights in the FV1909 are 10w each, so per side the flasher has to switch 20w. But the turn lights on the FV1611 are 21w each, so per side the flasher has to switch 42w. So when the design was finalised in 1959 perhaps there were not resilient enough flashers around? But they side stepped that issue by having a flasher to drive a relay that does the heavy duty switching! The resistors around the flasher are to provide a load to cause flasher to heat up & function in lieu of a direct connection to bulbs. This seems odd because a bulb rated at say 12v 21w will draw twice the current of a 24v 21w bulb. The Hornet used this system as well. It was a pain towing the cipher trailer although I used either the Wolf or Hornet both were 24v but with the Hornet I had to change the trailer turn lights to 12v. Yes & often forgot to change them back again! But should a Hornet being towing a trailer? Well it had a NATO hitch! However Pigs in the NI experience seem to revert to 24v turn lights. I know that because my old Pig had 24v flashers & the current Pig that got the Mk 2 mods had 24v. I can find no EMER instructing a change but I suspect it was a LOCAL E&MEI N IRELAND. I have very few of these because they are by definition of limited circulation & generally are required to be destroyed after a year. The 24v flasher conversion would not have been exclusively a Mk 2 conversion as my old Pig was a Mk 1. It must have been a widespread conversion because I have an EMER dated June 1978 specifying a replacement for the turn light warning light & that was a direct electrical swap & it was rated at 24v. So a good question Wayne & good that you are doing your EMER research. But it is something I have also wondered about for some while

Yes Wayne especially when you are meant be working I suppose you have been studying the stores label & sniffing the waxed paper. :cool2: Don't worry it'll soon be Friday

Wayne ok on the conduit situation as I suspected. I wouldn't bother with the letraset, wasn't originally there as it was intuitive, well meant to be! Your switch hole I see has not been modified & is in the original upper position.

Last month I taxed one in my village Post Office but that has closed down because an unfavourable contract was being forced on them. A facility has now opened in the only other shop we have left. I went there to tax two vehicles a couple of days ago & they had not been sent any tax discs for this month. So did it online, which of course is what they want us to do.

The question is Wayne which way up are you going to mount it? With the little pointy bit uppermost (I think you need to make it a little more pointy) so that it points in the direction of the turn or put it upside down so a less accomplished driver can assume the paddle at the opposite is the pointer for the direction? That will depend on where you want the hole to be. The original position was higher than the later position. The change took place from July 1963. BTW you don't happen to have a picture of the rear wheel arches showing the cable for the rear lights crossing into the rear locker. On one side I have an armoured channel but not on the other side. I suspect the cable was au naturelle & the cover a NI embellishment.

Richard well I very nearly fell into that trap myself :-D It just didn't make sense with Clothing Regs. I think marking it in that way to a design pattern is much like many MT items using an FV number as the identifier.

Yes CM does equate to that in VAOS, but this item is 1984 & by then would have a NSN. I have COSA Section CM 1986 & there is nothing there that tallies. All the items are NSC Group 84 (Clothing & individual eqpt) CM2312 seems to be a design spec from the Army Scaling & Cataloguing Authority that corresponds to 1020-99-960-4327 as Bag, artillery, cleaning The NSC 1020 covers guns over 125mm up to 150mm. Beyond that I have no idea other than that it was also used by Denmark.

Wayne I imagine you'll have to remake your footwell lockers or are they fairly intact? There was no way I could bend it all in one piece, so decided on two sections. The first one I made for the other side was a symmetry between the two sections. This was a mistake not only was bending more difficult but there was a vertical join in a pair of facing walls. The second method was much better. The sheet in the grip of the "bending machine" was just bashed flat with a wooden block to try to get it at right angles. When you get the floor up, I would be interested to see how the tops of the small lockers are formed. I had imagined I might have had to weld a small strip around the perimeter, but it seems fairly rigid as it is. I suspect in the original the edge was just folded back on itself. I would start soaking oil into your floor fixings now, as the cup washers trap moisture & it ensures the thread is pretty rusty. The Urwin set will be handy but will snap them if you are not careful. Although you must have got the top off the rear locker ok. Being able to get the floor up easily does make life easier. Not least as it is the only way to get to the infamous upper stud on the torque reaction bracket.

A wealth of interesting stuff in here:

The secret Terry is that I don't know much but often know where to find the documentation :-D

Jim ok as you specifically asked I will respond & stick my head above the parapet! I thought the comment I made had died along with the thread that has now since gone. That thread was in fact a duplicate post that just had a news clip & I posted my first reaction to seeing it. I didn’t know there was already an established thread giving the background. You will note that I have not reposted it on this thread. It was only there for a short while but has clearly caused you hurt for which I apologise. Some 40 years ago I used to live in Clifton & even then the parking situation was “difficult”. Much as one might sympathise with the cause I had reservations about the use of an armoured vehicle in a public protest. As I wouldn’t want it to cause concern with anybody in authority. Admittedly much further up the protest scale there was an armoured vehicle in the Newbury Bypass & G8 protests. I don’t know at what point a line is crossed. A couple of years ago it was suggested that I use my Pig in a protest about part of our neighbourhood being annexed into a National Park. But I declined the suggestion. My comment was not based on jealously; I have no particular interest in any tracked vehicles. But I do have admiration for people who can restore these vehicles & bring them to life. Having said that I am a Friend of the Tank Museum but that is based on my interest in wheeled armour & guided weapons. If a tank arrived on my driveway I would have no idea how to go about restoring, maintaining or even driving it. But I am glad there are people such as you who have the skill & determination to preserve such vehicles particularly if it is done with limited resources. You are quite right I cannot match your “ba..s” (as you put it) in comparison I just dabble with a few vehicles that suit my particular interests & yes I do enjoy reading books. So in summary your skill & work on saving, restoring & maintaining this iconic vehicle is not in question. This can be seen by the praise & acknowledgement, forthcoming on this thread. My only point is that is that I just wonder where the line (if there is to be one) might be drawn in using an armoured vehicle in a public protest.

The rear floor locker issue was solved with ready made trays & got the storage of the larger items sorted. No ready made options for the smaller footwell lockers. Skilled metal workers should look away now! These are just posted to encourage other Pig owners to make use of the holes & bracket supports that must surely exist in their own Pig. I decided not to make a drain hole as I didn't want the locker contents to get damp whenever I puddled or power washed the chassis.

Paul there isn't a Page 2. I think Page 1/2 is relating to Page 1 Issue 2. Looking in EMER E&M A 001 (the detailed index) it lists D 309 as only 1 page. The scanned page I posted is actually A4 but I compressed it as there was a lot of blank paper. So if there was some further information they could have got some of it in there. I think the instruction is to just slightly smooth off the pointed end a little to allow the control rod to engage better on the valve seating.