robin craig

Andrew, welcome to the forum, finally, glad that you overcame the challenges and stuck with it! Dont mention your rare 87" Land Rover, they wont understand. Your 101FC is an FFR not a GS by the way! Oh, yes, FYI, I just spoke to the elves at the North Pole about that drippey letter you sent about a Saracen and a Green Godess. . . . They say it doesnt look good but wanted let you know the glue pots also requested from the same address as your letter are on the way! As a public service I have attached a picture of Mr Jones so others might recognise his cheesey grin and, well, run! Your sad southern mate Robin

Ask me no questions I tell you no lies. . . . . . . . R

Somebody please pass me a hankie, Im going to cry, seeing "dead" Ferrets has that effect on me. Sob, sob R

Mr Nixon check your emails! R

Clive, is it too simplistic to suggest that they were a good idea but dont work? R

Does Hendon charge? whats the proper address and department tow write to? We have two ex RAF vehicles, an LR 90 and at least one Bedford. R

Welcome to the forum, and after you have practiced on that Ferret in Yate then hop over the pond and do our two and the two CVRTs that want cleaning from the last romp around the field. R

Cher Supertrack, Votre efforts sont absolument fantastique. Vous avez le space pour faire le travaille et les machine pour faire le elevation des pieces et un source des pieces incroyable dans les freres Beke. Je pense qu' un vehicle tres gross come Le Ward est possible plus facile parce que les piece sont plus gross? Le piece qui sont casse en haute du mechanism pour le winch, je pense si vous trouve quelqun qui est un bonne soudeur c'est possible de fait un bonne reparation avec le MIG. Moi je suis soudeur est j'ai fait reparation au metal comme ca sans problem. Merci pour les mots est les photograph. Je m'excuse que mon francais n'est pas la meilleur. Robin In English for everyone else:- Dear Supertrack, Your efforts are amazing. You have the space in which to do the work, the machines to do the lifting and incredible source of spares in the Beke brothers. I think a large vehicle like the Ward is more easy as the parts are very big. The broken top cover for the winch, if you find someone who is good at welding with MIG it is an easy repair. As a welder myself I have made such a repair with no problem. Thanks for the words and pictures. Im sorry my french is not the best. Robin

DOH! Should have searched! Silly old me! R

Richard is right, checked the tag today "603A" R

After I left this morning to do some work my good lady watched an episode of the program. A gent came on with some very detailed large scale models of military vehicles that had been found in an basement of a UK museum that had burned to the ground 20 plus ago. The presenter / expert believed that the models were of prototypes that never made it into production. Im hoping to watch the episode if it re runs tonight. Can anyone shed any light on this? R

Neilie, how about some pictures? R

Hmmm, thanks for the info Mike, I have no clue as to who made it apart from a tag on it with Mercedes name on it. R

Only Challenger I know of is one that Terry Brooks has down south or maybe he has sold it, it was an instrumented test bed years ago I think. Chally 2 I dont think has been released, but someone will prove me wrong likely. R

So, while the pack is out we have decided to do a bit of prudent maintenance on the engine. We have selected the water pump and the thermostat as the two items that should really be changed as they are of unknown status. Also they are awkward to do in situ. We will obviously do oil filter and oil and coolant anyway. I rang the local Mercedes dealership and talked to the parts guy and said I was after the water pump and thermostat and quoted the serial number and model only to be given the old " what vehicle is it in sir routine. I had to tell him that he wouldnt know it anway! Anyway he called back in ten minutes to say both items in stock for a total of $280. There are few minor items that are to be sorted at the same time, a couple of broken brackets and a ground terminal and a couple of broken bolts. R

Engine is 6 cyl turbo charged diesel made by Mercedes, the gearbox is 3F 1R mercedes automatic. interestingly in this application there is no park in the tranny. Im not sure what else they have used this in. It is a way superior fitment compared to the V6 petrol engine version. Having had ours and a V6 side by side working in the same terrain ours walked all over the petrol version. Just loads of toque to slog through deep snow. R

The vehicle is made up of a front and a rear car linked together, thats why I use that terminology, its how the vehicle is described in the manual. R

After a brief Homer moment and a group DOH! we realised that the carriage had been put into the beam the wrong way around and we hadd to pull the stop bolt out of the beam and allow one st of rollers past and then put the bolt back in as there was no way we could lower the pack if we could not get it all the way out. Once outside the car and still in the air the access panel was removed under the engine and the toque converter bolts were removed. The alternator belt was used to turn the engine as there is gear reduction doing it that way rather than off the crank. Once the bolts were out the pack was lowered to split the tranny and engine. The tranny has been delivered to the repair shop and they hope to get back to us with repair estimate next week. R

So, mounts undone the pack gets airborne and comes to a stop when we find it fouls one of the seat backrests on its way out. There is no deviation apart from muscle power as to how the load hangs from the carriage, as the ends of the beam are fastened to the roof of the car. R

Here is the carriage with the winch attached and on the end of the wire cable is the frame that clips onto the pack to lift it out. The winch is able to raise or lower anwhere along its travel on the track. Notice the black handle at the left end of the carriage, this is a lock that stops the carriage sliding in the track and holds it steady. The other picture shows Doug tensioning the winch prior to undoing the last pack mounts R

These two show just how tight the pack lies inside, partial parts removal is already underway. R

So this was the start position, two doors off and the brush bar off and unseen is the interior fibreglass cover removed that surround the pack. Note the OSB platform we had made one to go down either side of the vehicle, as its a fair height up into the car. They were worth their weight in gold once we really got into things. The lifting beam is in place but the carriage with hand winch is not on so we didnt clonk our heads while working inside. R

Our machine has led an interesting life, having originally been powered by the petrol V6 and repowered to the D6 or 6 cylinder diesel standard later in its life by Hagglunds. This tag documents that conversion. R

For those who are not aware, while the BV206 is a very capable over snow machine it also swims. As a direct result of this the hull of the car has no access panels underneath to get at the transmission or the oil pan. Servicing is awkward. Oil for the engine is drained by using an engine dipstick tube siphon. Any servicing to the tranny is a pack out job. This is the bay in which the power pack sits, seen once the pack was removed. R

Seeing Simon M's pictures remind of a time in my old Ferret when i went through an intersection a tad too fast in the snow and the rear started to overtake me, a real brown trousers moment! R