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Must feel good to get that amount of dirt out. You can clearly see the left hand threads on the wheel studs in the picture. There's even a button head grease nipple on the hub so you can get grease inside it without taking anything apart. There's a lot of foresight gone into the engineering.  

More good progress. It's great to get away from Christmas for a few hours and go and tinker with machinery. 

Just out of curiosity, what thread pattern are the nuts and bolts? BSF, Whit? Probably a bit early to be UNF/UNC but you never know. And are there left handed thread items on the left hand side?   

Great, looks like there's a fair amount of meat left on those brake shoes too.

I'm working on something a bit smaller this Christmas. I've just started taking the gearbox out of my Land Rover so as to change the cutch over the bank holiday period.

Best wishes for the season!  

Every weekend it seems like there's less rust and more fresh primer. Looking good. 

Nice 'n' shiny! Looking good. 

For sale on Ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AEC-Matador-Timber-tractor/263306274119?hash=item3d4e46e547:g:CkEAAOSwpOxaAf64

Looks like most of it is there, plus some spares, and a rear aftermarket crane which is currently off the vehicle. Could be a nice little project for someone.  I shan't go for it myself because I'm not ready to buy just yet, but I hope someone can give it a home.   

Great, let's hope it stays nice and tight. 

Great, looking forward to the next installment. 

22 minutes ago, doug fleet said:

the reason I haven't taken all the axles and running gear apart is simple . it runs and drives and I can get every gear in hi range and low range and evern the air brakes all move  as the air starts to come up . all the air tank drain plugs were taken out so couldn't get much pressure  but enough to make the brake chambers move so didn't rearly see the point . the oil will be drained and replaced

 

Yes, I see what you mean. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I must admit curiosity would get the better of me though.   

13 minutes ago, doug fleet said:

I have been queit surprised about the intrest this has got . yes I know there is not many of this type about and evern fewer in private hands . this one is going to be restored back how it was on the fairground where it spent most of its life . in a long time from now we may possably put it back to full speck but in many years .  so far I have scrapped off about 75kgs of mud . grease and hardened oil which has kept it in good condition .I have repainted it as it was under all the muck . I have not only used a wire brush on a grinder but beleave it or not a needle file and a very small screw driver which I use to get into all the small bits . takes a while to do but I think its worth it .I didn't get anything done last weekend and don't think I will get much done this weekend . I picked up new old wood for the back as I have got to take some out to repaire a small bit in the chassie rail  where the floor box was fitted .

It's a fantastic job. If it was me doing it, I'd be having a look inside the mechanism a  bit more. I'd like to see inside the hubs and diffs. I bet there are some very handsome gears in there. 

Just looking in to admire the pictures and see if I can pick up any tips. There's a lot of skill and dedication going in to restoring those timber framed cabs!  

Thanks for putting up all this AEC goodness. The Matador is my favourite, but there is some sterling work on that Militant too.

And make sure there's enough thread on the clamp bolt to get it nice and tight. I had one like this that wouldn't clamp, and it turned out to be that someone had put a bolt in whose thread didn't go far enough.   

1 hour ago, rog8811 said:

Welcome, The Matador has always been one of my top two trucks on my "if only" list, keep us informed, lots of photo's when you get it, all the info you will ever need is here!

Thanks for the welcome. I've done a lot of Land Rover stuff over the years. For vehicles mostly made out of aluminium they don't half rust a lot. The biggest thing I've had so  far to work on was a Bedford O Series, so the Mat is a bit more meaty. But it's just about the cutest shape that AEC ever made - that wonderfully flat front with the big radiator and the wheels that stick out beyond the front of the vehicle, the gear driven winch,  the leaf sprung tow bars. What's not to like?     

Firstly, a confession - I don't have a historic military vehicle at the moment, but I've long hankered after AEC Matadors, and one day soon I might be able to get one. I was prompted to sign up as a result of seeing the pictures of Doug Fleet's excellent work.

This looks like it will be a great source of knowledge and information for when I finally get an AEC of my own, so I will be on here asking naïve questions no doubt, once I get busy. Probably  sometime round about the middle of next year.         

I've signed up to the forum especially to say how much I have enjoyed this thread so far, and hope to see more in the future. For a number of years I have wanted to have an AEC Matador and work on it (finally, I'm in a position to start saving up!) so this is both inspiration and a source of useful pictures of the  details of the work, It makes me tired just thinking about all those hours with the wire brush on the angle grinder that much have gone into this.

Hope you're having an excellent weekend filled with Matador goodness.