Stone

Aha, thank you! Is it supposed to stick out that far, or are you supposed to shove it back in? There's about an inch of untarnished metal before the red stripe so I guess that means it's ok. I did wonder what they were for! (if you mean the ones above the dual air pressure gauge, that is) They looked a bit out of place - would never have guessed they were just attached to the battery. That does make it a lot easier then. Yeah, I'm happy with the sparky leccy bits Cheers Stone

Hi all, While I get halfway up to speed on our Bedford's aspects mechanical, I keep running into more questions. Here's a little list of things that's been bugging me; if anyone can shed any light I'd be very grateful! 1) Oil spec is listed as OMD90 - what's the best civvie match? Fully-mineral or semi-synth? How often will it need changing? Same spec for engine/gearbox/hubs, or different? 2) Same question with coolant: what civvie types mix with AL39? I've been topping up with deionised water for the time being but I don't want to dilute the mix too much - equally I don't want to use incompatible antifreeze and have it clot in the block though! 3) Same question with brake fluid - is it actually brake fluid or oil-based (know the CVR(T) catches people out...)? It's labelled OX8. 4) While we sort out C licenses for everyone we have an ex-TA guy who's been driving for us. On his initial walkround he pulled out a steel pin (rusty outside, clean and shiny on the inside, with a tiny strip of red/white tape on it) from the rear edge of the brake master cylinder, peered at it then replaced it as part of his checks. When I asked him what it was for he just said 'no idea, we were just told to make sure it moves freely'(!). What's it for? (pic attached) 5) Has anyone added anything in to the electrical system? Where's the most convenient place to splice things in? I was planning to run an extra wire from the battery master switch under the driver's seat - but this will obviously only work if it isolates the positive side of the batteries from the rest of the electricals, rather than isolating the negative side from the chassis (which makes more sense and prevents 'dropped spanner' incidents, but hey, it's British!). Need somewhere to run the stereo off! Thank you Stone

Didn't realise you had to take both seats out to get the panel off - the centre panel (with the ignition on) is clearly a separate entity but the bolts are all quite well-hidden! To be honest it'd have to be pretty serious to get me to take the top off, it runs just fine (and got the OK from an ex-REME chap) so I don't want to be tempting fate by fiddling Totally understand about the starter switch - our switch body has two flats on it but the hole is perfectly circular. There's nothing to hold onto on the back without slicing up your fingers on the contacts, I think we did a pretty good job regardless! Stone

I know where there are at least 5 432s/434s in better state than that, along with a fair few Snatch landies. Unfortunately they're right in the middle of a heavily guarded defense site :stop: Gods know what happened to them but they're really smashed up and all painted yellow so it's a fair bet they came back from the sandpit...as freight Next time I'm there I'll try and get some reg numbers / callsigns. Stone

Yeah, but none of my tech manuals match the vehicle, as per usual ;-) (classic example: rekeying the ignition to match a new door handle. 'Remove engine compartment top cover to access lock' Errm, except you can't, 'cos the idler control and stop handles are stuck through it and it's welded down. Much crawling around on top of the engine (cab still on) ensues. 'Lock is located in hole by two flats' was also a lie as they don't exist! We ended up with the apprentice tightening the screw-on bezel from the outside while I shredded my fingers resisting the torque at full stretch from inside the engine bay. And I only dislocated my shoulder once. But I love it really :-D) Thanks for the warm welcome, I'll try not to cause too much trouble! Stone

I really badly want to own an SA-6 Gainful (2K12 Kub) or its radar unit (1S91 Straight Flush). To me they just look like the epitome of tracked kit - the radar in particular is such a massively excessive piece of kit, it's fantastic - real heavy metal. They're also not mega-expensive! Unfortunately I've nowhere to put one, and they're ~3.2m wide so the DVLA would take great delight in refusing you a road registration. Spoilsports. Stone

Hello! I thought there was an exemption for tachographs for non-commercial carriage of goods but since the last time I looked VOSA have changed it to <7.5t only :argh: It's a total minefield, you can see why people flout the rules... Any chance of some pics of the Stolly? Stone

There's an American company that sells these conversions commercially. http://www.mattracks.com/ They look strange but cool! Check out the videos... Stone

Evenin' all. I'm Nick, but everyone's on the Internet's called me Stone for the last 10-odd years. I'm an electronics bod living in Luton - but my workplace has just bought a Bedford MJ to stick some kit on and I seem to have acquired a bit of a weakness for all things green! Hopefully I can resist a while longer, until I have some garage space at least. I've been lurking a while and joined so I didn't feel like I was missing out on the pictures :-D I have family living in Brentwood and actually visited the Secret Nuclear Bunker last year (is that battered BV206 still outside with the target drone?) so I may well have met some of you already! I'm not very mechanically minded so am very impressed with the lengths you lot go to to keep things going. Hopefully our van won't die any time soon but it does make me feel somewhat better knowing we have somewhere to turn if necessary for parts or advice. That's enough from me, anyhow. I'll be around... Stone