Ivor Ramsden

I don't like "What's it worth" threads but I'm a bit stuck where to look to find an idea of value for this. It's a barn find 1950 M38, 24V, with hood, side screens, tools etc. It looks like it has never been repainted and it just needs the dust removing and checking over before being put into use. If it was a wartime Jeep or even a Series Land Rover I'd be in ecstasy and have no hesitation in buying it, but it's an M38 and I know absolutely nothing about them.

Aye, awesome progress. I don't know what Howard's on but I'd sure like some of it!

Thanks Clive. I don't have those. Can you identify mark numbers for any of these below? Rover 519908 LU54948833 I've got this as Rover 8 24V engine harness. Rover 531595 Chassis harness LU821482 LU820761 LU822024 engine harness They all look like Land-Rover harnesses but I don't have much in the way of Series 2 parts books; Series 1s are my area.

What's the part number for the harness? I've got a couple of new ones which look like FFR ones but I don't have a parts book for the Mk8 24V so I can't identify them. If one of them is correct I'll gladly measure it for you.

Before replacing it, try a good dose of WD40 or similar in the back of the switch followed by switching on and off many times. This should clear any corrosion that's on the contacts.

FHC is the axle type, followed by the axle serial number. The FHC axle is fitted to the CS8 Mk3, C4 and late CDSW.

http://www.ep-services.co.uk/ This company was recommended for water pump rebuilds by someone on here a while ago. I haven't used them myself though.

I thought I'd resurrect this thread because as well as the good bits, running a museum has it's not-so-good bits. Our museum is only open at weekends at this time of year; we open daily from the end of May and through the summer. Some time ago I was contacted by a prospective visitor and I agreed to open up specially this morning for him. He accepted my offer to collect him from the steam railway station, to save him having a 3/4 mile walk. Today I duly picked him up. During his 90 minute visit he had a good look round, taking lots of photos and making notes, and he seemed to enjoy himself. As he departed ( I even took him to his next port of call) he left £1.50 as a donation which just about covers the cost of the electricity. Man, I'm so peeved! I guess you win some and lose some.

Tighten it until all play has gone from the bearings, then back it off slightly so that the play is just noticeable. This will be no more than 2 flats on the nut. Give it a good spin by hand to make sure everything is settled, then check that the play hasn't increased. Adjust again if necessary, then fit your locking washer and the top nut. Bend the locking washer over both nuts.

Here's the info that I think you need. I've only got a parts book for the CDSW but I guess they and the CS8 both have the same seal, part number LA.7101. The seal's details, taken from an ancient Payen catalogue: Inside diam 1 21/32" Outside diam 2 13/32" Depth 5/16" Payen number 5633 Going by those dimensions I'm afraid you'll probably have to stick with felt. It's one of the few M-C seals that are an obscure size. To be honest, felt provides a decent enough seal if it's installed tightly enough. The seal is simply a ring of felt, square in section. If you can get hold of some thick, dense felt it wouldn't be impossible to make one.

Jules, I don't think you'll need any very elaborate tools. All the M-C seals that I've come across are very straightforward imperial sizes. The shaft diameter and housing diameter are easy enough to measure so the only dimension you'll have trouble with is the depth, but you should be able to estimate that. If you can't get imperial seals locally they are available on the net. Mike, to give your M-C fleet a future, simply stuff them all in a container or two and put some postage stamps on it along with my address ...

Can anybody tell me anything about this 110? I'm told it's ex-RAF but the only evidence of service life is the contract plate on the seat box below the driver. It also has a Land Rover Special Vehicles plate under the bonnet. Other than the plates I can't see anything non-standard about it. I wonder how much extra the government paid for the two plates! It has been re-registered on Manx plates but I've got the UK number recorded somewhere.

That might be correct but judging by the instructions in most early wartime WD drivers' manuals anti-freeze wasn't always in use by the army because drivers were instructed to drain their radiators when their vehicle was out of use in freezing conditions. Vehicles with anti-freeze installed were specially marked to that effect in an attempt to stop drivers draining them but I can't recall seeing any pictures showing such markings before about 1943. (Cue a flurry of pre-1943 photos, hopefully!) Steve, be very careful freeing off your Series 1 tap. The brass can be very brittle and it could break. Also, once it's freed off, you might find that it leaks because the spring that keeps the twisty bit (sorry about the technical jargon) tightly in place in the tap body might have rusted away. It's not a big job to repair it but I've found that it's difficult to find a replacement spring that won't rust away in a short time.

The letters are usually DT, for drain tap, I guess.

I think you might get a flatter matt finish by spraying the paint rather than by brushing it. I've used French chalk or even talcum powder to matt down shiny paint. The more you add, the more matt the finish and it doesn't seem to affect the colour. I don't know if it affects the durability of the paint so if you try it and it buggers up your Katy please don't come chasing me!

It's from a Series 2 or 3 88 inch wheelbase Land-Rover. The hardtops are the same for both.

I'm going by what it says in the book. However if what you say is right, it could be that there's a typo as the list refers to several "Truck 15cwt 4x2 W/Tk model MW" which are obviously water tanker trucks. There's only one reference to a single W/T truck and it is probably just a missing letter "k" . As the song goes - "What a Difference a K Makes......"

According to the "B Vehicle WD Numbers" book contract no T8102 included these GS vehicles: Z4144914 to Z4144919 Z4144921 Z4144923 to Z4144937 Z4144939 to Z4144942 Z4144944 to Z4144955 Z4144958 to Z4144959 Z4144961 to Z4146413 (although this final batch included a mix of all body types as I've listed below) These GS trucks were part of a contract for a batch of 1499 of various body types (GS, anti-tank portee, water tanker and wireless) which started at Z4144914 and ran consecutively through to Z4146413.

Photos of anything in Pounds yard would be very welcome!

I can confirm it's not Morris-Commercial C4 or C8 4 cylinder but the number on the casting isn't far off some of the part numbers for those pumps so it could be for a different species of Morris. Not much help, I know, but it's narrowed down the field a bit!

Well spotted, Wally!

I'm not so sure. It looks fairly authentic but I couldn't find it in my reference books.

My references aren't very detailed for home-based units but my best guess is HQ Corps Troops (17 on a black square) or Corps RA Staff (17 on a red/blue square). However I would expect Corps Troops vehicles to have a white strip across the top of the square so this might be wrong. I can't identify the formation sign either so there's much teeth-gnashing going on here.

Those are great photos, Derek. With my serial number anorak on, one is very interesting because it shows the vehicle's census number hand-written on the bonnet. I assume this was done by the factory to ensure that census numbers linked to chassis numbers. Some manufacturers didn't do this so there's no exact correlation between the two, and they vary by up to maybe 30 numbers. Most of the other photos show that the hand-written number was cleaned off, presumably after the signwriter had painted it permanently on the bonnet. There are dates marked on the bonnets too, but only a day and month. I'm assuming the dates are in 1945 because I don't think the C8GS was in production as early as March 1944 - or do you know better. The colour of the tilt on the steel bodied C8GS is interesting in that parts of it appear to be black. I've never noticed that before.

Hi Tom, Have a look on the Land Rover Series One Club Forum, www.lrsoc.com/forum . The guys on there will tell you everything you want to know about your Minerva. I've restored Series 1s for many years so I can probably help with questions about the mechanical parts. Your cats look like one of ours who was killed by a car last week. We're in mourning.