sirhc

Time for another update.

After last years W&P show I had some repair work to do to the rear of the vehicle after a loading incident on the return journey. Some new parts were painted and fitted which solved that issue.

I had another issue with one of the tillers requiring a lot more travel than the other. After re-bleeding the steering it was no better, so I fitted a pair of brand new master cylinders, again no better. At this point we noticed a leak from the radiator, so decided to swap it for a good spare. This was when we noticed the pins holding the pads in place on the calliper with the issue were very rusty. A quick clean with some scotchbrite and the issue was gone! I have since fitted some new pins, but worth checking if you have the same problem.

Transport to the show this year was cancelled at the last minute, but Rex stepped in at the 11th hour and got our vehicles down there.

During the road run on the Wednesday evening the fan started to get louder and louder, I was praying that it would survive until we got back to the showground. As I was driving through the town I heard a noise and then a pinging sound as something bounced around the engine bay. When I hit the throttle pedal it was slack. A quick check showed that the nut which holds the ball joint onto the injector pump for the throttle cable had come off, not the problem I was expecting to have!

We always travel prepared, so the A frame was fitted and we were towed back to the camp site by Andy's Striker.

The road from the middle of Hythe to the showground is all uphill, and some of it steep. Andy was pouring with sweat by the time we got back, after doing 10mph at 3000rpm for around half an hour in the drivers seat of the Striker!

To get to the throttle cable, the top deck has to come off. Not too difficult when there are some spare hands around the place. I was amazed how many more people came and looked / photographed the vehicle when it was in pieces than when it was together and working!

This is what was left of the fan bearings. I had seen some fans in the stalls the previous day, but when I went to go and get one they were all gone. I tracked down the German man who bought them all, who refused to sell me one. We then took a trip to Ashford bearings, who tried and failed to get the fan apart. Plan B was to get the spare fan from home, so my Dad drove the 400 mile round trip to go and get it.

While he was gone I replaced the belts with a new one I found in the stalls. Worth doing while it was in bits, and finding a difficult to source bit in the stalls was a bonus.

After loosing out playing in the arena on Thursday, the Spartan performed well on Friday and Saturday. It is now caked in mud, which I still have to clean, but I am very pleased we made the effort to take it to the show, despite the break down in Hythe. Life would be boring if we didn't have these adventures!

What about yellow hatches?

If you have a dead one you can swap the bits to a 101B CVRT engine. They are much easier to find!

Chris

I have A 17 digit alphanumeric in block E of my V5. Of course I can't find it anywhere on the vehicle and of course my USA DMV now won't take the 6 digit alphnumeric registration as a VIN because of the one on the V5. Anybody have any ideas as to what the one on my V5 might be?

Post the number and we can see if it means something or is just made up!

That conversion in 1980 was probably fitting clansman radios. The sabre conversion would have been in the early/mid 90s and the scimitar conversion between 2004 and 2014.

Post some photos and the Merlin report in this thread, there are some de-coding experts out there!

Chris

I think this is your vehicle...

Ok, well that explains why you won't find an SCI number. Your vehicle was built as a Scorpion, then converted to a Sabre, and finally a Scimitar. You'll be looking for an SCO number. The tag with this number is welded to the back of the hull, see attached photo.

The hull number is the SCI-xxx number. What is the military registration number?

Chris

You can buy most of the manuals here:

http://www.greenmachinesurplus.com/cvrt-cvrw-63-c.asp

They are not available as pdf, when you see how many pages some of them are you can see how much effort it is to reproduce them.

Chris

[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

10.45hr this morning A50 west bound South Derbyshire, Volvo unit & low loader with 2 x cvr(t) maybe Spartans, with a Saracen in between them. No sign of paintball residue & had been numbered with white spray paint, so maybe from ranges somewhere. Looked like they'd been out in the elements for some years.

These were at Bordon as training aids, sold in the Withams tender sale the other week and you saw the same Hamptons truck I did.

We were there Sunday to Sunday in Kitchener's field with the CVRT Spartan and Striker. Had a good week, despite a few mechanical issues. The Spartan broke down on the road run into Hythe due to the throttle cable coming off the injector pump. During the repair we found the fan bearings were totally knackered, I missed the fans for sale at the show the day before and Kent Bearings couldn't help, so had to get the spare from home. Other than that it was an enjoyable week, despite the rain.

I thought the show seemed quiet at the start of the week, but filled up by Wednesday. Yes, a lot of vehicles were missing, but how many of you went for the day and left your vehicles at home?

I thought the officials dealt with the mud very well over the weekend, despite all the idiots driving around when they shouldn't, and all the cars which got stuck trying to get through the mud.

Looking forward to next year, as long as there is a show I will go. It is what you make it, and for me a week off work, camping in a field with my friends and playing with our toys is what it is all about.

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the info. We hoped someone would be able to use it as originally intended, but not many sunderlands about!

Chris

A friend found this in a shed, it is broad arrow marked. Does anyone recoginse it?

Chris

Sadly not our armour as it looks unlikely they will make it after my transport let me down at the last minute. My backup transport is also not working out.

Reconditioned engines would be fitted at base overhaul, and it would be rare for a vehicle not to have been through at least one of these, check the data plate. You have to also remember it's often quicker to swap an engine than try and fix it in situ.

An engine swap on a CVRT is only going to take one or two hours, so they wouldn't mess about with trying to fix an issue when they can do a quick change and let someone else deal with it!

The paperwork for my sturgeon shows it had a new engine when the temperature sender went wrong. I have paperwork for a J60 which did 125 miles from rebuild before being removed for a head gasket issue. Any CVRT, Fox or similar may have had 20 or more engines over its life.

Chris

The electric fuel pump on the diesel vehicles is just there to prime the system. As soon as the engine starts the mechanical pump on the engine kicks in and the electric pump just circulates fuel round the bypass.

Buy track now and keep it for tomorrow. There will be a time in the not too distant future that all of these vehicles are out of service and tracks will no longer be readily available. Remember CVR(T) track and Stormer track are not the same!

My Sturgeon had 10 links of stormer track fitted on one side!

Terry,

Did you fit any shims between the hub and idler wheel and in between the halves of the idler wheels?

Chris

The Vixen hull is very different to the Fox hull, apart from the hatch at the front it is actually wider in that it fills the gap between the wheels where the fibreglass side bins are bolted on a Fox hull. The Polecat was a fox hull with the turret removed and a Peak turret and adaptor collar fitted.

Chris

For info Stormer track is NOT CVRT track!

I hope the new organiser moves it back to the hop farm!

Are you buying the Sabre in the UK or in the US? Personally I've never had any trouble with engines or gearboxes either, but as you are a long way from readily available spares I would suggest having a spare one of each in stock is a good idea. If you are shipping a vehicle from a UK take the opportunity to fill the container with as many spare parts as you can afford.

They are easy to work on, the parts are fairly easy to find and not too heavy, and when running and driving well are fun to drive. The biggest problem seems to be fuel, since the tanks are so big and usually full of water/sand/other junk.

I do disagree with Terry though in that I actually prefer driving the diesels!

Chris