fv1609

Ah you are there Bernard, biding your time. No its not either of those.

Very good thinking. It certainly does look like that on the second photo where it is rolled up but in the first photo it was lying flat.

Looks like it but this is bit higher tech.

It does doesn't it. But not the answer.

Maybe this will help?

Nope not that Tony.

You wish! This particular item is military but some have been made for civilian use.

Andy the colour variations are just chance.

Looks that of thing but not the answer. Its a bit smaller.

Nope but it is steel.

Not a barracks Tony.

Not that but it certainly has sharp square corners.

Sounds very plausible but not the answer.

It does indeed look something like that. But you are right it's not the answer

What's this all about?

Yes body rot can be a challenge for Humbers these days. But even 30 years ago there were very few Humbers on the show circuit. The Humber below suffered badly from this but with skill, perseverance and above a love of the FV1600 series. Large sections of the body were remade. This is not a filler & gloss effort, proper engineering far beyond my skills. It quite rightly won a first prize at W&P last year. If I had my way I would have given it best in show, because I watched this vehicle for 25 years. At one stage it had a FV1604 body modified to fit on & it had been going down hill rapidly. Not just a bodywork rebuild but look at this exhaust Y-piece made by hand. If you really love them its amazing what can be done.

I've seen one go for £100, but that was before the reprint. (I took the photo on the front cover )

Joe the Bedford is an amazing find anyway but in such a good condition makes it especially important. Thank you for sharing those pics, many of us will be keenly watching the progress on the project.

Joe yes save it! Here is the one at SEME Bordon

Yes very. I know of only one in the UK On the Humber on the passenger's side put your head in front of the the front wheel. So wheel on your right & the front wing on yout left. Directly in front of you vertically on the chassis should be a plate 6in x 3in (appx) There should be a 5-digit serial number & below it a 6-character vehicle registration number. If you take the last for digits of the serial number & insert "BK" between you will see it corresponds to the registration number. Thus serial number 32959 is the chassis for vehicle registration 29BK59. Yes

James brakes are not really a problem. They are operated hydraulically by Lockhead & lot easier to set up than Girling in Land Rovers. The handbrake acts directly by a linkage on each cylinder, not a transmission brake like on a Land Rover. You won't get new slave cylinders, you will have to rebuild them. They are a bit fiddly but the cup is the same size as for a 101. Master cylinders are fairly easy to get & service kits. But at least the clutch mechanism needs no hydraulics, it is just a pedal & linkage to the clutch. As for tyres unless the tyres are good it immediately knocks £1,000 off the value in my view. For that is the price you might expect to pay if you found some surplus ones.There seem to be no sources of run flat tyres of the required size any more. So you have to rely on a chance purchase of someone having a clear out, giving up etc. Someone has fitted truck tyres but they are not RF so carrying a spare with a Pig doesn't really look right. What you have to get used to is that there is no Humber spare parts autofactors where you can buy something you need. The B60 engine spares are available at a price. You can get brake hoses made up & there were a few servos around at a price. But most other things you can sort out equivalents or make up yourself.

Joe welcome, some interesting finds there. I suspect your Humber was one of 5 imported into California in July 1997. I have the registration marks of them but if you can tell me which is yours I'll dig out a basic history. As a Mk 2 there should be no fancy unit markings other than perhaps inch high white lettering on front wing of the driver's side. There may be markings hidden further down the paint layers dating to its life as a Mk 1.

The officials figures are 6.25 mpg with trailed load on the road & 3 mpg cross country. PS Official top speed 32 mph

James welcome. Your choice of vehicle sounds very sensible. There are quite a few pictures here: http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?7062-Humber-PIG-Pictures&highlight=humber+pig+gallery

That's quite possible I suppose. No explanation was given but space must have been at a premium particularly when women were transported as "the space required for women is four and a half times that required for a corresponding number of men."