robin craig

Wow, that is gorgeous. I am curious, I have been asking about getting replacement plates made for my wide track trailer which the previous owner sand blasted, what a dolt! Do you think your supplier could do that for me? Any clue on costs in ball park figures? Less than 100 pounds? Robin

Great, So we have clearly established V8 110s as a run of the mill vehicle then. From other research it seems that there were both left and right hand drive versions. So, the deeper problem, how do we fix a military registration to the vehicle as it has no data plate. That bar code sticker on the seat box, that must be some kind of asset management tool? Would that reveal anything if scanned by the proper software? Maybe I should get a close up and post it and see what happens? Robin

Can anyone enlighten me to any contract details of any 110s acquired by the British Forces and what they would have been used for? There is one here in Canada that appears to be a late 1980s 2 door full length soft top with the jerry can stowage lockers and a V8 installed. I was expecting it to have a 2.5 na diesel. The data plate on the seat box was removed and is lost. The only remaining clues we have is a typical Land Rover VIN which we will go after BMHIT for an answer on the build sheet and a very small bar code on the seat box. Any hints and tips we are missing? I am awaiting pictures. Thanks Robin

An alarm bell is going off in my head that the unit sits on top of a large tube ie a barrel. I have seen it in a picture somewhere, but alas the exact place is beyond the capability of my memory. Robin

He is around and very much alive, he just cashed a cheque from a friend of mine for a vehicle. He is likely watching here. Robin

Welcome to the forum Robin

Dear Ferret Fixer, Once again I am thankful for more information. However, I will not mount anything to the vehicle itself as my own policy is "no new holes, nothing welded on". That is why I made the new battery box lid. Out of curiosity, the Boiling Vessel lead has 4 pins, why? Robin

Dear Mash, Thank you for your input, I will follow your lead and see what I can assemble as potential parts and post things up befor I start cutting and soldering wires. Robin

There was a cottage industry made spin on oil filter adapter that was sold from a Ferret website under the name Ferretware. Does anyone have one for sale, been trying to contact the seller listed but nothing ever comes back. Thanks Robin

Tiffy Massive thanks for the input, The data cards are what I am basing the assertion of where it served on but I also don't dispute your memory. The boiling vessel aka BV was on my list but was wondering about what electrics I will have to source to run that. Our BV206 has a special control box for the breakout. It would add the perfect level of luxury that is missing. Thanks for the input Robin

Near Kingston, Ontario, and yourself? Robin

It looks like whoever did the tidy up in the UK used Detroit diesel Alpine green for paint. Is anyone here willing to admit working on this one at Withams before export? Robin

I am a bit behind but anyway, last week we used an electric pump to drain down the fuel tank before pulling it out. This fuel tank had the rubber mounting points sheared. This is the third vehicle I have worked on that this has happened to, so obviously everyone should be suspicious of their integrity now that they are this old. Glad we found that. Once the tank was out it was the usual process, yes it does get a lot easier when you do a job for the umpteenth time rather than the mystery of the first time. I have to say I am getting a bit blase about it and it instills confidence that I may actually be learning something and doing my own Ferret will be easy. So, the handy lifting frame I made years ago came out and into service under a tractor this time and up and back and trunions removed and out we came. We will split the power pack this week and then stop for Christmas. If all goes well then I hope we will be back together and running in February some time. Robin

Recently at work we have been in the process of repairing another Ferret and that has given me some inspiration also. Add to that it is the end of the year and I just received my honorarium as a volunteer Fire Fighter on the island we live on and that has topped up the restoration fund a bit. I am now lining up parts that I can refurb over the winter when I am not swinging a hammer. Feeling much better that a place and the funds are once again in place to get going. I put the family car inside the garage and our tractor and there is still room. 24 ft by 26 ft isnt the hangar I wanted but I am able to afford this. Robin

For those who don't know we have to get a minimum of 4 and I like 5 feet below grade level to protect from any chance of frost heave in the spring. We decided on what we call a pole barn style building, cheaper on concrete and we will not have a concrete floor for a while. I have watched others for a while and a roof and walls are the key elements, plywood can last a long time and if you level the floor will work well. I am on a budget and we had to replace the family jalopy 6 weeks ago which was a nuisance and blew the budget. A surprise windfall put us back on track and the delay in winter allowed me to fill the garage with random field stone which was a salvage scoop 3 years ago, knew we would need it somewhere sometime. Once that was in I then had to pick through it all and remove the pieces that were just too big. Then I filled it up with 3" crushed limestone mixed with fines and installed a drainage tile around the outside and backfilled around. I can now start the wood framing and go upwards even if we get snow and frost in the ground. Feels good to have finally caught a bit of a break on the project. I am feeling quite enthused and keen to continue despite the cold that I know is coming. Regards Robin

As you will have noticed absolutely nothing has happened for quite a long time. We tried doing things at work but it really caused more problems than I ever could have imagined. This triggered a very large decision to be made domestically, build a garage first then restore the Ferret. There has been a lot of head scratching and a design was struck and work has been going on, slowly. We are now in December and I am supposed to get 5 weeks of holiday a year but have only had one week thus far and that was at 20 hours notice, so working takes a lot of my time up. Anyway, a building we have gone. Here are a few pictures of the build process so far. This past weekend saw 8 degrees above zero and some spare time which is unheard of in our part of Canada. Holes were dug and sonatubes inserted with big feet bases and concrete poured and re-bar inserted and saddles fixed in place.

Dear James, Please don't ever think that what you consider to be mundane boring work or maybe even drudgery is not of interest to the rest of us who are watching around the word. Far from it. I love the simple solutions that you have used when faced wiyth problems and the lateral thinking is inspirational and ingenious and simple. Keep posting every screw and grease fitting and shaft and seal and keep the info flowing. Wonderful Thank you Robin Canada

Dear Roger L I don't know that I personally have put much up but go ahead, use what you will, as for others, I hope they say yes also. Robin

I feel like my thread is going off topic and wandering here. R

Welcome along from a fellow Ferret lunatic Robin

Welcome to the Forum Heath, great variety of vehicles you have to work on Robin

I would say by the photos that is Baz at Rack Fix that did the work for you? Robin

We use ziplock style bags and label the bags and then zip tie them to the items as we take things apart. It is a discipline that we have learned as it may be a while before things go back together, often longer than we want or planned but with this system we are covered. We also use crates for parts so we can close them up and put everything away at short notice if another project gets dumped in our laps. As you can see by the detail shot the mice have been in this vehicle, the bane of my life darn mice. We have found a spray for storage of vehicles with an inhibitor smell built in so we shall see if that works So this is where it sits until next week. And for datadawg, just outside of the shot was a Land Rover Wolf, just for you. Robin

So, Last night we went hammer and tongs at the the Ferret and within a short number of hours we had it to the point that next week (we do this on Wednesday nights only) we will suck out all of the fuel from the tank and pull that and then pull the power pack. This vehicle will be the first petrol (gas) vehicle tht we are going to convert and rig for running on an external fuel tank. We have made the decision that not enough mileage is being done and petrol degrades so darn fast these days that we will substitute some fabricated parts for the OEM ones and slide them into the fuel system set up so that we have a quick disconnect for a small tank to be mounted externally on the jerry can mounts on the rear. The exact routing of the hoses etc is yet to be decided. Frankly, Ferrets are one of the easiest vehicles to work on for me and one of the ones that I have the most familiarity with. Having a nice dry well lit workshop doesn't hurt either. The mystery that is a Ferret is quite a thing of the past for me in so many ways, my mate Gerry our resident mechanic teaches me something new but I am turning into a well rounded apprentice. Somehow the weel rounded bit has more to do with my lady and her cooking than anything else but dont tell her that!

Once again, I am going to beat Chris to reply, nut that is only because of the time difference. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CRVFOX/ Robin