robin craig

For some reason the name Terry Brooks comes to mind as an owner of one of these prototypes, I may be wrong. R

Paul, I guess a lot depends on your desired level of adventure as far as maintenance goes and the depth of your pockets and the size of your workshop and your storage. There is a father and son team in Toronto who as complete newbies to MV ownership with gobs of cash bought a Saracen just over a year ago. I am slowly watching the machine go from a runner to a project vehicle as they dont keep it indoors in our winters, prefering to use the self destructing ubiquitous blue tarpaulins. They barely have a 3/8" drive socket set let alone anything bigger. They dont have a proper workshop. I have tried to steer them along to HMVF but have yet to see them appear here although he was once on the AFV Soc forum for a while. Sadly I think it is going to go downhill and has become unloved. Thats always my biggest fear, they loose interest and cant admit its too much for them and parts are hard to source. Being in the UK you have it easy by miles compared to us in the colonies. The nearest CVRW Fox to me on this side of the pond is three time zones westwards, and you think UK is far to travel around to get help and parts. I see you own a Green Godess, so im guessing the Sadcan may be for you, my advice, is buy now while there is a glut of discretionary toys on the market, as always happens in a down turn of the economy. I would also start vacuuming up every spare part I could ever need as items do dissapear over time. Even used assemblies are worth storing properly for rebuild later. Have you thought about tracked armour? A CVRT Spartan is very likeable and easy to work on, a fave of mine. R

Gents, I really feel for the hurt you are enduring and the grief it is causing. Everything in Ontario Canada that we drive on the road in the collection is road registered as a matter of SOPs. That turns up some gremlins as the Construction and Use part of the act here is different that what the mechanic, yes a licenced mechanic not some paper pusher, has to sign off on. The Mk2A Supacat needed a windscreen and wiper fitted for the test, which I made, and once passed then removed. We have to have anything over 4,600 kgs annually tested for safety. Because of the "fitted at time of manufacture" clause we can get away from having to put reversing lights on a LR 90 for instance and seat belts in a Ferret. The diesel heavies such as Bedfords and M35 have to have an annual emmisions test based on year of manufacture thankfully but it is in for the life of the vehicle unlike the 2.5na diesel LR 90 and the 6 cyl diesel Hagglunds BV206 which have escaped because of their weight being under 4,600 kg they are only emmisions tested out to 20 years old. Both were a visual test which is open to interpretation and abuse. Legislation is such a jungle to get through, and as someone who has represented two owners groups to the Provincial body reponsible just because they say yes at the table doesnt mean that is what comes out in law later. Very frustrating Robin

My concern, as a welder and fabricator, is exactly that, because is the casing bears stress you will likely see cracking in the 90 degree corner first if it was not properly prepped. It good to see a job like that done to keep a vehicle running. You mention the vehicle having been a target, can you explain more? Perhaps pictures before as well? Very interesting and a bold route to go down and hats off for that. Could I be more rude and ask what you had to pay for that work? R

Being quite frank I would stay away from the Saracen. I think you will open a new chapter in your learning of the realm of confined space mechanics. While im sure everyone who owns them will say they are a doddle I kind of feel that is a large amount of bravado based on the "ive bought a shed but wont admit it" line. I think there are far more supportable MVs to own as far as mechanics and parts supply with just as much sex appeal. Just my opinion R

Did they make a full penetration weld ie the complete thickness of the casting or did they just lay a weld over the joint line? Did you see it welded? did they use pre heat at all? R

IMHO looks like a surplused Chieftain bin put to good use. R

yup interested, price? R

This for me is the best of all the pictures as it shows the carriage that the power pack was mounted on, the holy grail that all newbies wonder about and ask about. I still cant resolve what the tank is in post number 4, I think this may be a different or later vehicle as the header tank in this one is not round as in that post. My and im sure your thanks go to Alan Turner of the RAWHS mob for taking the time to show us these pictures Robin

The first two are the Front of the engine but remember because of the instaltion its at the rear. The middle is the fuel filter. The last is a jig for a wheel station, does anyone know what the swinging locks on the sides do? R

This is the air cleaner / filter. As I have not had ours open I cant comment on whether this is what is inside. What I can say is that like the Land Rover 101FC the top of the filter has vanes to get the air to swirl and deposit out coarser particulate material, common to a heavy duty diesel engine style air filter. R

I believe these may be an early header tank for the radiator system, anyone else care to comment? R

Details of rear of engine bay including oil cooler. The first I believe is a bilge pump by way of the fact that it has power in and only one pipe for discharge and the fact that it is mounted on the floor of the hull R

You will note the construction of the volutes is not quite the production vehicle shape. Also the fan bevel box drive pulley is not the same as a production vehicle. It amuses me that the stand I made for our fan unit ( in the blog section) is just about an exact replica of what they used. I had never seen these pictures R

Alan Turner from the RAWHS mob has asked me to post these pictures as he is having trouble loading them. So by the miracle of data transfer from the Uk by way of Canada and back to the UK here are some very interesting pictures of a believed SP registration vehicle. You will note that some item are changed from what went into production like the engine roller asembly shown in the manuals but not present on the vehicles. A couple of pictures are orientated wrong but I couldnt change them. Please comment on what you see, I do not know everything about Foxes. Regards Robin for Alan Turner

Bob Morrison"s book Land Rovers in the Gulf shows related kit as used, well worth the pennies for it. R

what level of serviceability are you trying to get to? where did this all begin? R

Thought I would throw this in, bought it a while ago and it turns spray painting into a veritable joy and only cost about $5. Can be used with any spray can. R

I dont know how other people do it, but for years I have found this is the best way to store fasteners as they come out, its a bit space consuming but it works very well. Just like to show our method but always interested to hear how others do it. R

I think I have decided that because these brackets are just not around I am going to make a new pair in mild steel as the one on the right is hooped as it was flipped to be an opposite hand. I would like a matched pair. They are buried and more functional than cosmetic, so I will copy them and paint and mark and install using the unmolested left one as the template. R

So, I have made a stand for the fan unit to be worked on as opposed to the storage stand that is wooden which is in the background. We never skimp on making jigs or stands. They always pay off in spades as the work is safe and if we ever have to do the job again its always in our tool crib. We make them out of odds and sods in the small scrap pile. We always prime and deburr for safety and tidyness. R

Chris, That sounds about fair. I'm making a new bracket in place of that junk thing that we were supplied with. I guess I will make up shims accordingly. No parts around in your spares eh mate? R

Chris, what kind of tension do I need to set up in the generator belt? I looked at your gallery, thanks for that. I'm looking for FV 723847 strap support FV 723844 strap mounting FV 724224 mounting bracket assy anyone? R

These are the supports at the top from the fan assembly to the engine block, buddy didnt have one of each so he butchered one to make it an opposte hand. I think I will remake this in steel and paint accordingly. I cant see any reason to go with aluminium, can you?

This is all I have in my parts manual for the generator, not one page shows it, just the pulley that attaches to it at the belt. Item 35 is the duct we dont have and can only help the cooling of it as well so i will have to fabricate that also. R