paulbrook

Heyup Stuart

If there's anything I can help you with then shout. I am doing a DT cab at the mo possibly a bulkhead and a brace of mudguards too at some point. I think I also have a manual and a parts list somewhere.

Feel free to give me a shout - the number is on the website or get me here.

I am based in Appleby.

I wonder if folks here might be able to help.

A mate of mine has a 7 1/2 ton Merc beavertail and it is going in for annual test soon. He thinks it will need some work and wondered if I knew anyone or anywhere in the Bicester area that would be reliable and reasonable (he has just moved into the area)

I said I didn't but that I would ask around.

So - can anyone suggest where to start?

Many thanks in advance.

Since around 8.30 this morning two helicopter gunships flying overhead again and again and again........

Enforcing the hosepipe ban?

Yes it is a steel body that david built to similar dimensions as the proper one fitted to the Mk3A variants. It also has the hydraulic PTO plumbed in with a spool valve mounted on the rear N/S wing but I cannot recall what it is connected to. This is the ex Cooper Antar.

The hydraulic connectors on the rear wing connected to the hydraulics of the 60 ton trailers which had hydraulic ramps. The 50 ton trailer had mandraulic ramps. The hydraulics were driven by the famous/imfamous "wobble pump", a phrase that still gets whispered amongst "A" tradesmen of a certain vintage.

The wide ones are Mk 1s and 2 with Meteorite petrols and the narrower ones are Mk3s (tractors) and 3as (ballasts) with RR diesels. There are some oddities too I believe and a batch were made with AEC diesels, so you had Mk2s with narrow bonnets.

See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornycroft_Antar although I seem to remember that there was more than 1 AEC engined Mk2 (and I think the whole batch of them ended up in Canada).

Although only this side of 300HP they were all quite competent when it came to towing capacity, limited more by the weight of the vehicle than the strength of it - the ballasted vehicles were just shy of 40 tons on 3 axles.

The museum will charge but they are pretty helpful. You will still need a verification from a recognised representative authority though (such as the MVT)

Contact the MVT verification officer. He can provide suitable verification for DVLA.

Pictures soon. I couldnt operate the camera anyway as I was driving it at the time.................

A second Antar going into the Big Shed...........................

Deep joy.

I am making loads of stuff for the one in the shop right now (see the website) so if anyone needs anything making shout now and we will do what we can to help.

For instance I am just about to make a set of door skins (zintek) and will be doing windscreens in time. Plus we now have patterns for most of the timbers and bracketry that holds it all together. I dont need wings for this one but can make them up using these as patterns. I have even sourced the tiny little rollers that go in the side window mechanisms although I have yet to get to grips with the intricacies of the sliding roof! I have no mechanical spares though.

Please be advised though coming along after this one has left the premises means that I will be much less able to help (although I will still try!!)

Should anyone want to come along and photograph and measure the frame that is going into this one feel free to make an appointment, although be aware that we are exceptionally fond of ginger Crunch Cream biccies.

Happy to quote for any fabrication (steel or timber)

On the downside the Big Shed is a bit full and will be for a while yet!

When I was at Sandhurst in the 1970s our SLRs took quite a beating during training. Prior to the hugely competitive drill competition (well competitive amongst the C Sgts anyway) all our SLRs were treated to a tidy up by our Platoon Cpl of Horse with satin black from Halfords. The bayonet scabbards got gloss black and we dropped a single point on the inspection as one of the drain holes at the bottom was slightly bunged up with paint. We still won though (well done 2 Pl)

So my guess is that if a bit of spray paint was good enough for the Household Div to apply to fully functioning weapons then its going to be OK now!

How far north? I might have some cheap space available in CA16 (between Kirkby Stephen and Tebay in Cumbria)

Oh deer.

Oh and a top tip (although I bet it has been mentioned already)

When you take them off roll them up the wrong way (ie starting with the tape and making sure that the dart seam is on the outside of yr neat roll). Put your elastics round the roll to keep it altogether for storage. Then when you come to put them on in the middle of the night in a rush you can bang them on unrolling them round the top of the boot and top of yr sock nice and neat and firm (but not too tight) in a jiffy.

Ohhhhhhhh Lord - the smell of wet puttees..............

great video!.

..I'd hate to be paying the fuel bill though! hahaha when he gives her some proper stick I reckon I can hear the fuel cascading into her!

......incidentally....

the Stalwarts prime job (as I understand ? please correct me if I'm wrong) was as an ammunition forwarder to keep our tanks supplied in the event of them coming to blows with the Ruskies way back when..........

so.........seeing as we still have tanks and all the Stalwarts have been disposed off.....

...what vehicle would be tasked with that job nowadays?????

cheers

Support Vehicles (SV), in other words standard trucks rather than the special that the Stalwart was. That said tanks never took that much support, as in tonnage terms their logistic requirements were not too bad although they are a bit thirsty. Even then though the stolly could not carry very much and was a pig to load and unload. It became obvious that a standard 12000 litre road going Foden with multiple fuel nozzles was a much better bet than a UBRE with a dodgy donkey engine and a single nozzle, even if the panzers had to drive a bit to get to the support.

The other users were Arty, but again once it was realised that the guns might need to fire a few more shells than they thought it became obvious that Stollys were fun but useless. Enter DROPS stage left.

And in the mud Stollys were never great - once that flat belly sat on the mud sticktion took its toll and how we laughed in our Mk1 AECs as we rumbled on past the boat-drivers!!!

On a frozen rough bit of N Germany though stollys were (and probably are with the possible exception of a 6 wheeled Pinz) gravity defying flying machines. And the brakes caught many a German lorry driver by surprise as the stolly in front realised at the last minute dot com that he needed to turn left just here and did the lets stand on the front axle trick.

Damm

I need a low loader doing the same trip....

Sadly this isnt quite big enough.

Those welds are there to stop any distortion in the first place. The box that forms the step has a flange all the way round the bottom edge so it is a case of using that flange to keep everything nice and flat. As the flange is quite narrow and the welder turned up very hot they actually burn into the flange - from the outside it looks just like the original spot weld and more than strong enough for the job.

I can't believe that this has gone to 2 pages - the correct answer is, of course, "give them to your batman".

The Antar continues to take shape. Soon it will be dragged out, say hello to Mr and Mrs Sandblaster, then get turned round for its backside to be sorted out.

The sharp eyed will also spot a Tilly in there - more on that another time!

There are some useful links here http://rustytrucks.tripod.com/id7.html

Spark plugs are the same.

Pick up thy drag bag my son and go here..................

http://www.tanktransporter.co.uk/

There will be no problems mixing oil grades. Worth both taking the plugs out and giving them a clean (spin the motor over while they are out as the lack of compression will give the starter motor a fighting chance) and worth too cleaning the points and ensuring that there is not too much surface rust on the cam (or you will be without a spark on mile 87). Check the state of the radiator hoses and that the water pump has a squirt of grease (they can dry out). If the engine is really tight then taking the plate off the bottom of the bell housing and easing the engine over with a big screwdriver on the flywheel teeth is a very effective way for these engines.

I think that there is a sort of "less is more" approach to this - very much in line with Gordons previous post about oil. If it is going to let you down it will probably do it in a way that none of us could have imagined, so take your tools, relax, and enjoy the experience! That way the chances are that it will be a trouble free trip.

Pity its so far away - I could have run it through the workshop for you in half a day....