sirhc

The Americans won't let anyone own US armour. Some did come up for sale in New Zeland, but they had to cancel the sale and cut them up instead. They end up like this... Chris

You won't find many 'shops' selling CVRT parts. Make a list of what you want or need and send it my way, I have access to a lot of spares.

Neil, Are you sure this is the same vehicle? It doesn't look half as clean and tidy as the one you posted photos of while it was being repaired/restored? Chris

I think it's great that the owner of the house let you do this. Too many people would have just scrapped it without even bothering to find out what it was.

Yes, sound is important, I can't imagine a Ferret without the B60 burbling away. Maybe my last post was a bit narrow minded... I know that sometimes you have to compromise originality to keep a vehicle on the road, or improve safety such as adding indicators and mirrors. If the engine change keeps a vehicle on the road rather than on a slow boat to China then I can't see anything wrong with that!

I think originality should mean the vehicle should appear as it was in service. I see no problem with bolting something on of the correct period, or marking it up to make it a bit more interesting. If you're going to build a 109 recce Rover then I think that's fine, as long as you keep it correct to the period.

The fuel shut off solenoid is the device with the red insulation tape on the conduit. This was like this when I got it and it worked ok, I think it was a wiring fault fixed like this in service. The engine only had 80 hours on it. The other 432 had a loose wire inside it, again low hours engine. First remove the cover plate (3 nuts at extreme left of photo) and see what happens when you try to start the engine. If it doesn't work, stick your finger in there and push it up, it should hold in place. If this fixes it I'd take it apart and see what you find. I bet you can get it to work ok. As for spares, I had one, but when I didn't need it I sold it on. There are always people looking for them. Chris

Finally, I'm not alone! I know what you mean about the plates CW, I have magnetic or easily removable plates for all of the armour and the Wolf. Only vehicle I don't swap the plates on is the Lightweight, but I'll order some if it makes you happy!

Ok, not always, but often... look at the Ferret on the cover of CMV a few months back, it looked like a Christmas tree, yet there are loads of good Ferrets out there.

I guess my point is its always these pimped vehicles we see in magazines or on the web, rather than accurate vehicles.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but get more and more wound up when I see vehicles with all sorts of junk bolted on to them. I really can't understand why people can't be happy with what they've got. Instead they either try to make them into something they aren't, or just bolt bits on because they feel like it. Land Rovers are the worst, I've just looked through the photos of Chatham at the weekend and here's a selection of what I'm talking about... 1) This Lightweight was probably released before Clansman came in to service. Why is it wearing a Clansman wing box? Why does that wing box have a current issue Bowman sticker on it? 2) Where do we start on this? What's with the lights? Why the mesh covers? Chequer plate, after market headlamp guards, WMIK bonnet basket, again Clansman wing box and Bowman sticker. What really amuses me is the Wolf air intake and snorkel. Surely it's one or the other?! 3) A really nice Lightweight, ruined by the Clansman antenna base bolted straight on the wing. If you knew how these radios worked, you'd know this would never have been installed like this. 4) G90 tyres, Wolf wheels, tow rope on bonnet fair enough I suppose... but again my pet hate for the day, Bowman sticker on a Clansman wing box! When taking photos of vehicles at shows you really need to be careful with these. I know it's up to the owner to do whatever they want with the vehicle, but people new to the hobby or general public might not know any better. It's a real shame to see some nice vehicle ruined by bolt on crap. I'm begining to wonder if any 110s will make it into preservation without any Wolf bits bolted on. Rant over, I think I'd better go for a lie down.......... Chris

The link in my signature still works ok, I did have some problems a while ago but it should be working now. I haven't updated it in a while, but the gallery has some new photos in it.

Sounds like it could be a sticking fuel shutoff solenoid. There is a cover on this which you can remove to check if it's working. These are a common problem on 432s, I was going to swap one but I discovered it was just a damaged wire, so you might get lucky too.

If you get a Reo with a multifuel engine you'll never need to buy fuel again!

Duncan, I see nothing wrong with fitting a stainless one. I intend to do it once John has them made. Our exhuast isn't original at all but I think the one on John's truck is pretty close. Hopefully he'll post a pic if he sees this. Chris

Hi John, The MW will be at Beltring, all being well. It's booked in, and I'm sure it'll make it, I don't know if I will though! Come and find me when you're down there. Keep me posted on the exhaust, I think ours has just about had it. Chris

Alan, I'd look at that very tidy RL on ebay, could be a good first vehicle if you wanted a truck. Chris

Hi John, Not put much effort into the front hoops yet, been busy spraying a trailer, getting the Sabre ready for Beltring and putting my Lightweight back on the road! I know what you mean about the brown thing, ours seems to change colour depending on the time of day. I do really like the Rippingham drab though, I need to order some more to finish off the rest of it. Have you decided if you're coming to Beltring yet? Chris

The problem is probably the cork gasket in the fuel change over tap. There's not an awful lot to it, but that little tap can cause all sorts of problems. Unfortunatley new ones seem to be very expensive, but you should be able to make up a new seal if you can't find one.

Mike, I doubt much of it will get in to collectors hands for a long time yet, if ever. It'll be at least 20 years before we can get hold of the MAN trucks. Any of the newer armour is unlikely to be released at all, I would expect the Warriors, Challenger 2s etc to all go abroad much like the Challenger 1s did. CVR(T) has just had another upgrade and they are still convering 432s to Mk so none of these will be released for a good few years either. They tried to keep the electronics on the Land Rover Wolf to a minimum to make it easier to repair in the field, there is nowhere to plug a computer in, but you'll have to wait a long time for any more of these to be released too. Chris

Hi Bob, nice to see you here. How are you getting on with the Saracen? Chris

Degsy is right, the reason why people on here are talking about ww2 vehicles, Land Rovers and British armour is because that is what people have. The only experience I have of CUCVs is seeing them very occasionaly at shows or reading about them on the mil-veh mailing list before this forum came along. That might be your best bet as I'm pretty sure nobody on the forum has one! http://www.mil-veh.org/

Nato green is BS381C shade 285.

Not entirely, I work in manufacturing and a lot of stuff still gets made in the UK. The stuff we make here is specialst engineering such as aircraft engines, landing gear, wings and turbine parts for all kinds of power stations.

Yes, that's what I thought when I saw it!