sirhc

BS381C shade 101 Sky Blue. It won't stay looking nice for long though! Chris

This is the one Barry had. There was another one, painted green and black, which was exported to the US. One of the guys on the Ferret Heaven list had it and wanted to cut the collar off to turn it back to a 2/3! Chris

What was the military reg number? There was a 2/2 restored in Kent a few years ago. I met a guy at Beltring who used to crew them, in Malaya I think. He had a photo album with him which was very interesting. We introduced him to the guy who was restoring the 2/2 and it turned out to be the same Ferret that he used to crew. I'll dig out a photo when I get home.

It sounds like you've got a pump which is too powerful for the application. Maybe you need to fit a flow restrictor of some kind?

It is possible to use a civi jag engine, however the installation is very different from a car. I think the water pump is the same, but the electrics are completely different. It's all 24 volt and screened for radio interference. The alternator is mounted directly to the hull, as is the fan. There is an engine/gearbox heat exchanger too. It's much easier to fit the real thing than try and adapt something else. Vince (grasshopper) has used a jag engine from a fire engine before. Are they road legal in your state? Chris

Yes they are easy enough to restore, but it's hard enough finding some of the parts here in the UK where they've been in service for nearly 40 years. Remember they are also in service in approx 18 other countries. When it comes to selling spares these other countries will pay much more than a private owner and the dealers will price spares accordingly. Over here in the UK it's possible to find bits at shows, on ebay or through contacts who are breaking them. That will be impossible to do from 3000 miles away. I've had 3 CVRT restoration projects, I also looked at Darrel's Strikers. They are fairly easy to work on, but don't under estimate the ammount of work required to make a nice one. Especially those Belgian Scorpions and Scimitars, which have been standing outside filling up with water for 10 years.

I think you'll find owning and restoring a British AFV in the USA a lot different to crewing one in the USMC, especially when you have to put the fuel in it and pay for the spares when it goes wrong! You might be better off buying one already in the states, in running condition, rather than importing a project.

What will kill you is the cost of shipping over all the bits. You won't know what you really need untill you get in to it. I can help with NOS engines, wheels, tracks etc. If you have the money it will be worth filling the container with everything you might need. There is a guy over in the US who bid on all the CVRTs in a tender sale once, and won them all. He didn't realise they were all partially stripped, needing engines etc. As for restoring a CVRT, they are fairly easy, have a look at my website. Chris

Burnt points = condensor failed.

Lee, Thats interesting, the guy who charged me more on the way down said it would be cheaper if it were an in service vehicle, the guy on the way back charged the cheaper rate. It sounds like I need that special bit of paper! Chris

This thread has gone off at a tangent. My original thoughts were on bolting on things that clearly did not belong on the vehicle. Latest Bowman stickers on a vehicle which came out of service in the 70s or 80s. Random Wolf parts on a 110 etc. The comparison with the Hellcat would be fitting Clansman radios, a GPMG and marking it up as serving in Iraq in 2003. I don't think anyone would do this to the M18, but for some reason people do when it comes to Land Rovers. Anyway I think I've offended enough people now, maybe time to move on!

Richard, I have nothing to do with the services either, but I do have a CVR(T) Sabre that will be at the War & Peace show in a few weeks time. If you wanted to take photos or measure anything that wouldn't be a problem. Chris

Martin, I think you missed the point. Nothing wrong with doing what you want to do, your 101 will look like one in Australian service, and that's great. If you put big wheels on it, painted it black with chrome all over it then that would be different. Sadly there are people who would do that to a 101, and then still take it to a military vehicle show. I think we need to differentiate between customised vehicles and historic military vehicles. Chris

Here you go..

John, I have July 42, April 44 and Jan 45. I'll have a look through them if I can remember where I stashed them and see what I find. Chris

I think you need to get some experience with the B60 in the Ferret before deciding to remove it and put something else in. It's a great engine, very reliable and it makes a lovely noise... the Ferret is not slow, and lets face it you wouldn't want to go any faster without doing something about the brakes. It'll do 55 without complaining. You won't find any US armour sitting in yards over there, it all gets destroyed. If you want wheeled armour you're kind of limited to the Ferret, Saracen or if you have lots of cash a Saxon, all have to come from the UK so won't be cheap. The best bet is to check ebay.com and the various US dealers websites and see what comes up.

Thanks for the positive comments John, having had 3 CVRTs and a Fox I've built up a lot of contacts when looking for parts, most of whom aren't generally willing to deal with the public. If I can help people get what they need and make it worthwhile for me then I'm happy to do it. As for the AFV Society, Agripper, I think you need to give up with your membership. You're the only person that I know of who paid for membership!

He edited his message after I pointed it out to him! It did say: "Ive got this forklift, and all i know about it is the following: It was used in ww2 by the RAF, to load the V-Bombers. Its a Coventry Climax Diesel It was made in 1956 and is F (1st time round), this must be when the MOD released her. since then it has done farm work. My questions are what have i got here, whats the history of her, and out of interest what's an approximate value, want to know if i got a Bargain. "

Last year on the way they charged me £4, £2 for the Land Rover and £2 for the trailer. They charge the MoD £1, I was lucky on the way back that the guy on the desk thought it was still an army vehicle

Nice photo, I wonder how effective that paint scheme was? It looks like some kids have been tagging it with graffiti! Looks like Arabic above the cab too.

Neil, I have to ask, why did you decide to 'rebuild' your Stalwart by turning it into another one, rather than just buying another one? You'd have spent much less money and probably got a better vehicle. Chris

What about this one then... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Land-Rover-Lightweight-Light-weight-88-4x4_W0QQitemZ110406913618QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item19b4c3ce52&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C240%3A1307%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 'You are bidding for a unique Land Rover - a totally original Lightweight 88.' Then he goes on to list 101 things which aren't original.

I hope I didn't offend either of you too much, the pics just illustrated a point I was trying to make.

No problem Sorry, I know nothing about forklifts...

WW2 ended in 1945?