paulbrook

Actually come to think of it 48mph does seem a bit quick for an MK. I drove a UBRE once that had it so bad it scared the living daylights out of me. Good job it had wipe-clean vinyl seat covers...

It is a resonant frequency in the steering gear that manifests itself as a shaky steering wheel, loose fillings and all your pukka ingredients being scattered on the floor. It was particularly prevelant in ancient MKs (but may have got better over the years!)

I do rate them but this happened last week with a flathead V8 I was doing that had NGKs in rather than N10s. I could not work out why it kept misfiring even though it was set up by the book (or so I thought)

The answer was that the electrodes on the NGK were longer than they should have been and the valves were actually tapping the gaps down to about 8 thou! You can just see the witness mark on the edge of the valve in this pic.

Mind you they may have been counterfeit plugs as the market is flooded with them, so no offence to NGK. But dont blame me if I dont use them when I can find the original specified make and number!

Oh and Champion J8Cs or AC 44 (or 45s if you need something a little hotter for burning that excess oil that short runs result in) are better plugs.....

Spin them in by hand then nip them up no more than half a turn with a nomal 1/2 in tommy bar made into a tee. Too tight might present difficulty next time you want to get them out, and unless they are flapping about a little loose is fine (watch for bubbles round the washer when its running).

As it happens an engine like yours will run for years with the plugs in hand tight, but follow the book and you can do no wrong. I see far more problems due to over enthusiastic tightening (although even then the monkey metal that plugs are made from is no match for decent Bethlehem cast iron!)

Just firm with a T bar is perfect.

Its going to be done as one from A Troop 3 Tank Transporter Squadron Royal Corps of Transport..............:-)

oooops -

Never mind that, does all the stuff fall off the shelves at 48MPH when the wheel shimmy cuts in?

Welcome that man!

If ever you want to come and bash some tin over here in Cumbria just shout - you will need a visa for your passport and a chain on your mug but there is no reason I can't reimburse your fuel and give you hob nobs to go with yr coffee.

On the downside I try not to work too much at weekends (although Mrs Rustytrucks would say different)

Do you have any particular skill or interest (on the vehicle front obviously)? That said I am sure that there is plenty that can be done witout too much prior knowledge.

It helps if you are not afraid of Big Rusty Things......

Find me via the website below or pm me on here.

that lot should keep you from getting bored for a while

A million years ago in a transport regiment in Germany the OC Workshops had a fine sign in his office:

Gate Guardian job - is the plan to 'tyrefill' the tyres, or stand on axle/frame supports? Biggest visual let-down / continuous maintenance on these static vehicles is flat tyres!

With over 16,000 trainees going through DST every year, and many of then slightly the wrong side of "angelic" I doubt whether there will be a shortage of - er - volunteers to do a little work here and there so I don't think a little maintenance is going to be an issue!

That said I bet these tyres have had no maintenance for 20 years or more and they are still in good shape. I am more concerned about keeping the ravages of the tinworm at bay. Matt green paint and black nasty can only do so much...

And the Humber....

And another....

Right then - here we go.

Gracing the workshop for the next few months are not one but three MVs all needing various bits and bobs so I though to myself "why not share the joy?"

One has been the subject of a little debate on here, and its a Mk3 Antar. The second might have had a mention, as its an M38A1 and the third is a rather lovely Humber Heavy Utility.

Over the coming months I will be trying to keep you up to date with progree on all 3, but in the meantime I will be posting pictures at regular intervals on Photobucket (search for rustytrucks); for instance the Humber ones are here

http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/RustyTrucks/Humber%20Heavy%20Utility/

Inevitably my hands will be a bit full so please dont expect a rivet by rivet account, but I will try and highlight what I consider the interesting bits along the way - or alternatively if anyone wants to know how I did something then shout.

Anyway heres a picture to whet your appetite....

Paul,

 

Way back in the mists of time, do I recall that the M74 was exchanged with a Saladin, as the Germans used to use them for Border Patrols, and had not got an example of one?

Oooh no - it had been liberated by then...

Technically speaking it was originally exchanged for an empty space where a M74 used to be. There were other deals thereafter (the last of which, as I recall, was never honoured, as the promised conqueror hulk never arrived. By the time anyone noticed the Berlin wall had come down).

I have a whole bunch of pictures somewhere of the M32 in Pristina, but I can't seem to find them. Must be my age....

I might also have a picture with the M74 in the background in about 1982...but that will almost certainly be a slide and take even longer to find. But it was in Germany not Belgium.

One M74, ex-Belgium and the other that came from Kosovo was a M32

Just checking ......:-)

I know the M32 came from Kosovo, and if that is the only M74 then I am confident I know about that too!

It is brilliant to think that it is running - well done to all concerned. M32 next. I seem to remember (but could be wrong, it's happened before) that had a radial in it?

that said, does the museum have 2 M74s?

Not so much "prank" as "seemed like a good idea at the time"!

And one certainly would just be so much scrap iron by now if it were not for the good idea, as it was on its way out onto a range to be a target when it was, er, discovered late one winters night......

Judging by it's markings, the M74 TRV is an ex-Belgian Army example.

Correct!

And its mate came from Kosovo not Croatia (hence the markings on the side "POD Thess" stood for "Point of Debarkation Thessaloniki" which to you and I means port. Thess was the main port for stuff going into and out of Kosovo).

I think I have some piccies somewhere of it in Pristina....

Best if the M74 origins remain hidden in the midsts of time and ancient Tank Transporting legend...........

Only decent beer in vast quantities will get more out of me.

Oh and is the RM Musicians school not at Deal still? Must be worth a phone call at least?

No offence to anyone but I really must get to Specsavers.

I read the key word in the first post as "budgie" not "bugle".....

Anyway well done that man - you can do it, a bugle has no buttons to press....

My advice, from bitter experience is that assumption is the mother of all **** ups. Strip the whole lot down, then put it back together exactly like the manual says it should be.

Had a very badly running vehicle in the workshop the other week. "It can't be the carb" said the owner "it is brand new". Very shiney it was too. It turned out (because I check everything) that the float was upside down in the float chamber.

So assume nothing!

Now sorted with a load thanks!!!

Just on the subject of sales generally and as a recent "insider" I can tell you taxpayers out there that the current set up generates more income than any previous set up, so that can't be bad. And all contracts have to be competed for (across europe as it happens...)

The more money this surplus kit makes the better it is for Defence and the taxpayer. Not quite so good if you are after cheap garden ornaments though.....