fv1609

David, I've just noticed some interesting things. The yellow tube is the OS fuel tank breather feeding the red item which is a flame trap. Originally the breather tube on each side would exit beneath relevant antenna mount on each side. This modification was to prevent fuel spillage in the event of the vehicle overturning. It was an urgent EMER issued in 1976 for NI applicable to Mk 2 Pigs. I suspect this is in fact a Mk 2 that that been retro-converted by a previous owner to Mk 1 format. The fronts of the wing locker lids look a little curious as does the mounting on the OS front belly armour. I suspect there is no curtain rail beneath the canvas roof cover. If you have some more pictures it would be nice to see if there are any features that indicate its true past. In conversations I had with Cornwall I think we are going to find that the engine SN is going to be 8930. This is correct for a Mk 2 Pig Squirt bearing that registration. If this is a reconfigured Mk 1 it is not a disaster & from where I'm looking it looks pretty much like a Mk 1. The principal benefit to you is that the Mk 2 tyres will be not only stronger because of their construction but newer than if they were Mk 1 tyres. In the rear wheel stations you mayhave better the stronger Birfield rather than Chobham joints. The things in the blue boxes are the front seat belt mountings fitted to Mk 2 Pigs in 1974.

Yes. BTW what I said about the 4th antenna mount is correct for all FFR Pigs. But if an earlier FFW had a 4th wireless set it had a 4th antenna mount as well. I have a number of EMERs that cover the layout of various combinations of sets & receivers. The seats were up to a max of 3 pedestal seats according to the role, I would be cautious about the authenticity of 6 fold up seats in a wireless Pig. I don't know whether there are other sets fitted but if there are I would not assume they should all be there. Enthusiasts can get carried away with fitting just too much stuff & bear in mind this was used by a film company.

Ah yes there are some errors in the display at Bovington. FFW/FFR difference is not as it might seem a change from 'olde worlde' nomenclature! All Pigs were manufactured with three antenna mounts. This included the personnel vehicle FV1611 with 12A dynamo & the FFW version FV1612 with a 2-speed 25A dynamo. FFW was basically an installation tailored into the vehicle, whereas FFR was a more modular concept of installation that with minor adaptations could be installed in another vehicle. A key external indicator of a FFR Pig is the fourth antenna mount locally manufactured by REME & mounted on the rear OS corner. Although we both know you have a Mk 1. Don't be shocked or too confused because I think you will find that the chassis plate will call it a Mk 2! Most Mk 1 plates make no reference to Mk. But on some contracts it says Mk 2, because the real Mk 1 is the FV1609 of which there were 20 manufactured in 1956. So the ones to follow are really Mk 2 & when the Army uparmoured them in Op Bracelet they should have called them Mk 3.

David it is a FFW FV1612 & has not been converted to FFR as there no 4th antenna mount on the rear OS. I think you will find the radio set up & seating arrangements are to the fancy of a previous owner. The operator's seat should just be a swivel chair, that has a choice of two fixing points. The engine SN is here: Did this come from Cornwall? You say it looks like one on WarWheels, which particular one were you looking at?

Yes. The difficulty comes knowing the legitimacy of the military registration. It is not unusual for the registration identity to be dreamed up if the chassis plate is missing. 32 BK 06 is a FV1612 Mk 2 upgraded to a Pig Squirt, I'm afraid. If you give me the engine serial number I can tell you to which Humber it was originally fitted.

Shame its a 1-day event, if it was a 2-day show it would justify the fuel for the Pig or Shorland from Salisbury.

There was a nicely illustrated WMIK article by Richard Stickland (of Janes) in LRW Feb 2011.

Snap!

Richard. Excellent that you have a range of manuals, an essential part of good Pig stewardship. Did you have to import it or was it there already? At the time it was finally struck off there was, I'm led to believe, a CI connection with C J Evans Ordnance who had a number of Pigs for sale.

Richard I have nothing on Unit histories so would be interested in seeing what you have got. A bit ironic that it was struck off after "The Troubles" had started only to be recovered 3 years later. Anyway no need to worry about bleeding the clutch:D Good that it came with all those bits. For basic reading I would get hold of the User Handbook reprint: http://www.shop.milweb.net/proddetail.php?prod=mlrs_1128

Welcome Richard. I wonder what the military registration was? I will be able to give you some basic history. You say it is non-runner, in what way? Does the engine turn over & nothing happen? Or doesn't it even do that? Or does the engine run & it doesn't move? There are a number of Pig owners on here who will be particularly pleased to see you & watch the progress of the restoration. Your front OS tyre looks a bit low. Always a bit misleading with runflats, I have driven a Humber with 0 psi in each front tyre although the steering was a bit peculiar!

Yes in the 110 Wolf. Tried to buy some lunch, but the only burger stall had problems with their cooker being stuck on a low gas setting. After waiting 15 mins to see no visible sign of their sausages getting at all brown just gave up & found a nice warm pub in the New Forest.

Orange William, but what happened to it?

Bournmouth airport today saw military C130 with Oman markings

Rather me repeat it here to be harvested, have a look for the Lightweight advert on 26 January http://www.milweb.net/classifieds.php?type=14

Something strange on the android this morning. It wouldn't let me log in & required me to change the password as it was 1036 days old. I came on the PC & logged in normally. Went to the android & logged in ok with the original password. What was that all about? The other thing I've noticed if my chubby finger extends beyond the edges of the correct button on the android screen, I get send to amazon to do some shopping.

But I can still log into the real forum: http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?_IXACTION_=file&_IXFILE_=templates/pages/forums.html

Just tried it, 2 out of the 5 links work ok for me.

Working ok for me on 3 out of the 4 routes I use. It's the last one not working at moment for me. http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/ http://mapleleafup.org/forums/ http://orbit.dnsrouter.com/~mlu/forums/ http://www.class-five.com/~mlu/forums/

Sorry Dan ERM = Equipment Registration Mark a more embracing term to VRM = Vehicle Registration Mark as ERM embraces not just vehicles but trailers, concrete mixers, plant etc as well. I have see VRN = Vehicle Registration Number used occasionally in military parlance but more generally as a civilian identification. But of course it is not just numbers there are letters as well. It also has ambiguity with VRN = Vocabulary Reference Number (as in stores accounting) Yes you are right MS was a way of identifying a vehicle which had lost its in service identity once it had been struck off census but had not been discharged from MOD retention.

It is covered in EMER WHEELED VEHICLES Q 025/13 Installation Instruction No.6. The roll-over bar (Culvert mine) protection kit fitted underneath is covered in Inst Instr No.5

Ken that's brilliant news. Your state of elation must be very high & makes up for those dark days of frustration. Pity they didn't bench test the starter with volts on it first rather than rely on a visual or even an ohmmeter which doesn't count for much. Anyway that's in the past. The brass starter terminals are silver plated, even a small amount of resistance in the system at that sort of current will cause a dramatic voltage drop & corresponding amount of heat (proportional to the square of the current x resistance) Good luck with the tyres.

Ah Dan 91MS73 being its military sales ERM. I hadn't got a note of that most, Pigs that acquired such an ERM were in the 91MSxx sequence. Can you remind me of its 'BK' ERM please. BTW it does look rather like Wayne's markings & even those on his Pig;)

Dan I'm having difficulty judging size & orientation. Have you got views stepped back a bit? Are scraping this paint off cold? I think it would be worth applying the gentle use of a hot air gun (not a flame!) to plasticise the layers of NATO green & try to shave/scoop it off in layers with wall paper stripping tool.

I was thinking of something like these: Discovery is fun you are lucky Adam didn't get there first.