sirhc

I think they switched to the metal idlers in the early 80s. The later split spoked idlers are fairly recent, these probably only appeared in the late 90s. If you look at current in service photos it's not uncommon to see mixed idlers, ie 2 piece on one side and 1 piece on the other. I guess it just depends on what they have left in stock. Obviously the rubber idler is shown on this thread, here are the other 2; Single Piece http://www.sirhc.co.uk/gallery/album/CVRT%20Spartan/Running%20Gear%20Respray%20(4).JPG[/img] 2 Piece http://www.sirhc.co.uk/gallery/album/Withams%20Tender/Withams%20Oct%2006%20004.jpg[/img] Chris

EP90 is equivalent to OEP220!

David, The early style rear idlers were basically smaller roadwheels. They were changed to cast spoked ones, with the latest version being the 2 piece spoked idler. I think the rubber must have worn out quite quickly on the rubber ones! Chris

I have the MERLIN database printouts for most of my vehicles. Those which were painted in green and black state "Army/NATO Green Disruptive Pat IRR' or similar for Colour.

Yes Neil, but we were going to do it with 4 foxes in formation! I did get the email from the Major today... sounds interesting, especially if he can arrange some transport....... Chris

I still think we should have gone for that convoy round London afterwards!

Take outs from Withams will without doubt have a problem, why else would they have been taken out? Recon in the box engines shouldn't be a problem though.

It sounds like you all had a good run down. We started to head down in the Fox on Friday night. We made it to Warwick before the fan belt decided it'd had enough. I was following behind and spotted fluid dripping from the back, and got my Dad in the Fox to pull over. We'd boiled the coolant, but when cold it started and ran fine, so hopefully nothing more major. I did have a spare belt, but it was getting dark and everything was bloody hot (and heavy) so we used Roadsure to get back home. £54 well spent, we'd only renewed the cover that morning! Chris

There have been known thefts from W&P vehicle owners too. Back in 2004 one night someone decided to help themselves to the white light lenses from my Lightweight. At the time they were hard to find, a walk around the stalls turned up a couple at £30 each! While I was inspecting for other missing bits the bloke camped opposite came over. He'd had the clamps nicked from his antenna bases, the guy next to him had some wheel nuts nicked from his 101.

I guess you'll want lot 569 or 570! http://www.witham-sv.com/tender/lots.php Chris

Hi Tim, My Spartan is 48 AT 14. What's yours? I have lots of photos of RAF Spartans so may have one that'll interest you. I did a history search through the EMLRA while I was a member. It bought up the RAF history on the original record card, and also the Army service through the Merlin printout. Chances are your history will be similar, at least for the RAF portion of its life. Mine had a more interesting time with the Army, out in Kosovo and Bosnia. Try these people for the printouts: ES (Land) Cencus Team, Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell, Nottingham, NG9 5HA. Mine looked like this: http://www.badb.co.uk/AFVsociety/assets/Chris_McMillan_Spartan/spartan%20hist%203.jpg[/img] http://www.badb.co.uk/AFVsociety/assets/Chris_McMillan_Spartan/spartan%20hist%201.jpg[/img] http://www.badb.co.uk/AFVsociety/assets/Chris_McMillan_Spartan/spartan%20hist%202.jpg[/img] Chris

The army doesn't always apply the black disruptive pattern. It depends on where the vehicle is being used. If it is a front line vehicle, such as a tank or other AFV then it will always have a disruptive pattern, either green/black or green/sand. Vehicles which aren't used on the front line, such as some trucks, tank transporters, Land Rovers etc are often left plain green. The exception is when vehicles are used in the desert, and then they are normally just sand. Although green and sand is sometimes used! Chris

Nope, it's a Humber Scout. The Ford Lynx is a lot uglier!

No Land Rovers. No Jeeps. No GMCs. It was great!

Avoid the IRR paint if you can. It will look terrible after a year or so. Much better to start with decent paint. I painted my Ferret with Cromadex paint 6 years ago and it still looks good. I didn't have time to get some to do my Spartan with 2 years ago and ended up using MoD paint. It looks awful now & I'm going to have to do it again!

Paul, Sounds like you need to get yourself an ex military JCB in the next Withams Tender! Chris

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I'd expect you to need the correct licence to drive one, even if you taxed it as a private hgv. They weigh in at over 10 tons. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_%28vehicle%29 Chris

Rick, You can get a stencil for the weight markings from C&S Tat. Look on the EMLRA website. Chris

Rick, The camo scheme is basically made up by whoever paints it. You can get hold of BS285 Nato green quite easily and make up your own sheme. They should be roughly 2/3 green and 1/3 black. Modern army vehicles don't tend to have many markings but it may be worth getting in touch with the Anglian Regiment and asking them. Chris

Mark, The are based around the TM. Price wise I'd expect £5000 for a non runner and £10,000 + for a better one. They were built in the 80's and are heavy, so you'll need to have the correct category on your driving licence. Chris

The RSN12Y is basically the same as the civi Land Rover plugs and they cost 98p. If you can be bothered to change the leads over this seems like the best bet. I bought a set to put in the Sabre but the engine had new ones in it when I got it so never bothered. A job for the future though! Chris

455 photos here http://www.sirhc.co.uk/cgi-bin/emAlbum.cgi?cmd=show_thumbs&path=Household Cavalry Pageant&tn=1 Chris

Matt, There was an article in Kit! Magazine about correctly shimming the running gear. Chris

Tony, 2020KG will be the weight! Chris

Steve, I have hundreds of photos on http://gallery.sirhc.co.uk Chris