john fox

it can be driven on a car licence if your licence allows you to do up to 7.5 tonnes (post 1/1/1997 licences do not) if registered correctly it will be historic tax class so £0 road tax it is classed as a motor tractor and therefore at the moment MOT exempt (see the legislation thread here ) if insured on a MV policy with Footman/Roadsure etc it will be around £100 for social domestic and pleasure, therefore you can pick up the kids from school but will be guilty of driving without insurance if you go to work in it (commuting use is not included) fitting a rearview camera is wise if driving solo. Also be very aware that sweeping approaches to modern roundabouts mean you have a big blind spot for stuff coming round the roundabout, eg fast motorway/dual carriageway junctions, however, using an appropriate driving style/experience deals with this. prices are whatever you are prepared to pay: say £4,500 - £6,500. Mk2 with turret generally more expensive (desirable) than a Mk1 without turret reliabilty depends on who previously owned it and what they did to it, Ferrets are at least 45 years old and things will be wearing out by now

whilst you are learning it might be better to leave the gear selection lever in whatever gear is actually engaged at the time so you do not make the mistake of having neutral engaged on the box but the selector indicating a gear is selected :nut:, however, if driving on the road then the sooner you master the idea of having the selector lever at the position of the next gear you will want to use, rather than the one it is actually in, then you will appreciate the full benefits of the pre select driving experience once you master it you can easily check what gear is actually engaged on the box by feeling the position of the GCP with your foot rather than relying on the selector position, ie pedal flat to the floor means box is engaged in neutral, up a tad means a gear is engaged.

re fowd/reversre lever - yes you have misunderstood. If you get the lever in neutral when the engine is running you must ALWAYS switch off the engine and re engage either forward or reverse (whichever was the one it was in previously) before restarting the engine, never try to re-engage forward/reverse from neutral with a running engine, this will damage things badly. the normal procedure (the same as Ferret or any of these pre selects) is to move the lever fully from forward to reverse (or vice versa) in one continuous rapid but smooth operation without pausing at the neutral spot. The vehcile should be stationery and the engine running at low (ie at or very near idle) revs only, (if you have problems your rev setting maybe too high) (some people advocate pressing the GCP at the same time so that the pedal is fully depressed at the exact point in time that you are about to engage the new range, however, this is regarded by others as the sloppy way of doing it as it does cause some additional wear to the bands and is unecessary if the correct conditons are in place to start with) sorry I can't help with steering diagnosis but that does not sound right to me, mine is free moving and essentially silent from lock to lock

The company listed by gritineye is the one operated by the son. His father runs another camera company from the same address and often undercuts the son's prices! They both sell exactly the same products I bought this system from the father and have fitted it in my Fox. i would never drive an AFV again without having a camera fitted and much prefer the 7" screen. I have a 5" screen fitted in my Ferret and simply move the control boxbetween the 2 vehicles as required. I use the 2 camera system becuase of the poor visibility to the right on Fox & Ferret so the 2nd camera is mounted using a magnet on the side of the vehicle (and is removed once at a show) http://www.parkingcameras.com/store/product.php?productid=28&cat=8&page=1 Ok its more expensive than the one gritineye originally linked to, but it works on 24v so not messing with rigging up a 12v source (or fitting a step down transformer)

so your objection is if the consulation removes exemption from a motor tractor, then the consequence is ... what ? err... it is you will have to pay to get an MOT - if the MOT was free it would not matter. QED having a voluntary MOT is a bit like paying for insurance on your house, if anything happens you can produce a bit of paper which will mitigate the consquences, ie you can prove to plod it was independntently and authoritatively certificated as road worthy at one date in the last 12 months. I like that level of reassurance as a personal choiuce, but agree it is wasting money in the current context - that said I know one Freet owner who can't even drive his properly let alone maintain it. In contrast my opersonal choice is that I only insure one of my houses (the tenanted one) as it is at higher risk than the other (untenanted) property. We have never claimed once in 46 years so again a waste of money!

sorry Jules but there is no logic to that arguement - you might as well say that a car is not used commercially, is not load carrying and so should not be tested - unless it is a company car :nut: the only reason we are all objecting is because it costs money to have a test done, as you have so clearly pointed out. Therefore, trying to argue the case on the principle of fairness is not relevant since the bottom line is this is harmonisation with EU rules and stuff has to be made to fit whether it is fair or not with only a little wriggle room left for HMG to exercise its discretion within

OK by me (for obvious reasons ) the earlier we start the more fun you'll have extracting me from the bottleneck when I get stuck :trustme:

both the male and female versions are available on eBay in packs of 10, but the price is enormous (and normally I don't think twice about cost on Ferret stuff) As you have found, the female versions do tend to corrode internally and cleaning them out is a right pain. The male version can easily be de/resoldered buI have found that the rubber plug bit is not always a good fit into (even new) female onnectors because the rubber has perished and shrunk enough that it's now a loose fit the alternative is of course to use modern bullet connectors and lots of black heat shrink to get, at best, a semblance of the original

:-D yes you do - buy shares in oil companies and get the big dividend you mention :cool2: - convert the vehicle to any of the many alternatives you list :cool2:

Hah - that means mine is def a GPMG one then cos that's what I got - I always through the hatched rubber was rather poor quality hence I said his looked better condition!

April 24 or 25 fine by me

certainly looks like my GPMG sling, albeit yours is in better condition :-D

Griff as you have already worked out a 303 deac Bren is realistically the only weapon you will be able to purchase in the UK without spending over £2,000 on a deac GPMG or SA80. I think I have only ever heard of one deac LMG yet alone seen one in the flesh, asides from the straigh mag (which could be bodged to fit) the flash suppressor is a big visual difference from the Bren and could not be changed on a deac as that wiould be interfering with the deactivation so illegal. Ferretfixer once said LMG have been retained in war reserve so not released for anyone to deac anyway. at the risk of opening a new line on the originality arguement, many people get away with deac 303 Brens on what is, in all other respects, a later equipped Ferret the BB SA80, or a wooden/metal dummy GPMG are very good visually and therefore of course absolutely subject to the VCR Act, so is a definite risk if in your vehicle

the governor is actually the rotor arm inside the distributor - assuming you have an original rotor arm! the rotor arm has a spring loaded section which grounds (earths) the circuit at the relevant revs and obviously therefore stops the spark circuit from being completed - I can't remember the rpm for when it operates, as I have only hit it once and that was not an experience to be repeated (committed to overtaking on a motorway :red: )

it is best forgotten as there was an earlier one which was even worse

yes please - I'm currently residing in herne bay so rather convenient for me :-D

Whilst I side with SIRHC's viewpoint in principle, in the case of Mike's specific vehicle i would not have known any better as I am not familiar with series LR and all I would see is an MP marked LR equipped with a capstan winch which I would take to be a genuinely presented interesting example of an early MV. :nut: I think that to joe public would also assume it is an MV, so the question in the context of displaying such a vehicle (which you did not :-D) , is whether it is damagaing to our historic heritage if even one person goes away from that show believing that they have seen what MP's used to drive at "that" time. Obviously the use of an information board with the vehicle will educate those who read it and that may be all that's needed in such a case :-D However if for example the tankedup.com lot turned up at an MV show I would find it disagreeable and suspect them of either a) seeking free entry to get a bit of publicity for their business but having no interest in the MV side of things and/or b) being nutters who want to play with ego trip butch toys rather than honour our history :mad:

that stuff is not bad but it looks to have a rather open weave? I bought some braiding which is identical in weave to the original at the Beaulieu auto fair, but as ever, there is a compromise as it has an orange plastic strand woven along its entire length (but hey ho only £1/M) the stall also sold some neat end caps for it, but sadly they are no substitute for the original threaded gland caps and no way I can see (short of butchering an original one and brazing it) to get a threaded bit attached to the new end cap

have you found a source for these, I need one :cool2:

you will find it difficult to store the poles for a 9x9 on a Ferret and almost impossible to do the canvas and poles for a 12x12 the CVRT/W shelter is what I use, even then it is designed for a taller more slab sided vehicle than a Ferret so, to have it up comfortably, you will need to use an extra pole at each end for the "rear" wall, I use a short pole balanced off front/back vehicle wing plenty of room for 2, the whole lot, incl poles, pegs and hammers fits in a normal kit bag and that looks v good strapped to the engine deck

correct, once the prv blows then this is just a tube darining to outside the vehicle, as Chris says it often blocks when creepy crawlies or dirt get in it and then the water finds the weak spot in the system and will obviously vent inside the engine bay as a result

get your 101 out! I had great fun driving from Herne Bay to Canterbury this morning

I haven't got my notes to hand but I think the only data I have seen is 2 degrees ATDC and that is for static timing only using No1 plug, I don't think there are any figures for dynamic timing

the parts book shows item 3 (see pdf below) is number 599497 - "ball joint assembly LH thread" (picture clearly shows this part has the steering damper attachment) 20100210175810206.pdf

I have seen a bigger one somewhere but don't have the link saved on this PC Machine Mart do 1 litre cans for £7 http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/tyre-paint-1-litre-black