Meteor mark 4B

Welcome to God's Country Wayne!

LW Vass are advertising 650-16 Goodyear tyres. I've bought tyres for my Land Rover from them in the past, but please note that the ones on offer now are trailer tyres, in case you were interested.

Just had a second hand O/D fitted to my lightweight. All very quiet and while I haven't done a good run yet, it certainly transforms the vehicle. The advice I got was to check the oil OFTEN as it might well leak into the transfer box, and definitely only use it in 3rd and 4th.( Why would you use it in 1st and 2nd anyway?)

Haven't seen it yet, got it recorded. I've read the book. The question is....was it of great strategic importance, or was it the RAF wanting to get in on the act? After all they only hit the runway once. What it did show was that we were in range of Argentina, which was a great concern to them, and thereby helped us win the war.

A few points here. I've owned and run virtually daily, (that's by far the best way), a series 3 lightweight, or air-portable Land Rover since 2002. It's a 24v, and people said in the early years, oh, you need to convert it to 12, 24 is problematical and expensive. While some items might be more expensive, eg plugs, in my expereience the system is bomb-proof, as it was made to be. You can poke about on E bay for instance and pick up the bits if you wish. I bought a set of screened plugs for £22 delivered recently. Tyres? I've always had Hi-miler 650x16s, they are proper military, (and noisy), I've worn out one set, one set is in situ, and another set is in the shed. I bought two vitually unused sets from LW Vass for sensible money, I recall the second set was about £220 delivered to Cornwall. That said I suspect they are rarer now. Transmission? I suspect you need to expect whining and the odd clunk now and then! My gearbox isn't the quietest, and you have to remember, as with the engine, it's an ancient design. No racing changes I fear. Oil leaks are normal, or rather small oil leaks are, it's a Land Rover. Obviously the bulkhead, vent panel and chassis are important and need looking after, and can be a major expense if they need repair, keep slapping on the waste engine oil. I've had my chassis properly waxoyled internally as well on a few occasions. Probably not a good idea to buy anything with a dodgy bulkhead, you can see if it is, it's all out in the open basically. If the LR is direct from the military, the chassis will be well covered in underseal. This is not necessarily good, but apart from getting it all off and undersealing again, what can you do? (Apart from slapping on the waste oil!) Sometimes you read of high speeds and also dubious road holding. I shouldn't get too excited about high speeds, and if you want to corner at speed don't buy a middle-aged LR! As has been said, you don't need to buy the first LR you see, although I did, (thankfully), you see see by looking whether it's OK or not, but it won't necessarily be dent and dig free. Hopefully it won't be messed about with, wrong wheels, big tyres etc etc, although you can put it back to it's original state. Mark Cook's book is a good buy, and what you also need is a local, friendly, enthusiastic LR expert who comes recommended! You will learn SO much, and then you can do a lot of the work yourself. There will be things to repair I suspect. Meanwhile, whatever you get, use it and enjoy it, there's no point having it if you aren't going to do that! Keeping the vehicle garaged is a plus. Finally....please keep it military!

On the occasion my LR broke down with the oil cooler pipe burst, I said to the lady on the breakdown line, look, don't send a van, they won't be able to mend it, send a truck. And they did.

Funny old business! I used RAC a couple of years back to recover LR and they were excellent! Rang Green Flag today, eventually got through to correct dept, and I wasn't really filled with confidence. In spite of what it says when applying on line, (no vehicles pre-1987), they do actually cover older stuff. Oh well.......

Thanks for all the advice. After some trawling around and phone calls I've found that the £103 the RAC ask, for two vehicles and two drivers, for roadside assistance and recovery is competitive enough for me to stay with them.

I worked at FVRDE Chobham in 1968/69. The Fox was being trialled by A2 section, wheeled armour, as opposed to A1 which was tracked armour where I was. The guy who was the Fox driver always turned up for work well dressed and with a briefcase, unlike the rest of us who were less well turned out. Not a lot to do with all this, but of interest I thought!!

Britannia OK if you are in the CSMA, I'm not. The RAC seems to be better already....but I might ring Green Flag.

Thanks so far, I was recommended Britannia, and my wife is in Unison, so I'll give them a go.

I have always had breakdown cover. When I bought my Land Rover in 2002 I added that to the cover. No worries with the age of the vehicle. My current premium is £105 for two vehicles, including recovery. I have looked about on line for other deals, and the £105 appears to be competitive enough. Other company's offer this and that, but when you have added all the details, the price is much the same. Some will not cover vehicles pre-1987. (Green Flag for one). Is there someone in the recovery business out there I don't know about?

Only a Lance Corporal Rog?

Spent the first 18 months of my army service nearby, where it says "disused army camp" on the map. Nice spot....not!

Not much help sadly as to the Comet's whereabouts after it left. Someone might get back to me.

Reply from an Old Comrade who lives that way: That comet stood outside of the Fort at Horsley Hill South Shields. ( About 1 mile from home ) The T.A centre was home to the Northumberland Hussars and other units. Have had many a new years eve party in that building in the background. I recall it being put onto a tank transporter, but can't remember it's final resting place. Hard to believe but it was never vandalised.

Definitely recovered! Couldn't mend the pipe, and I only carry a pint of oil. I told the RAC switchboard lady, don't send a man with a van, send a lorry! And she did.

No damage to the engine, LR engines are made of good stuff, obviously there was still some oil left in there, and also I stopped a bit sharpish when the oil light came on. I thought it was a bad connection on the sender unit......

I can sympathise here. A while ago I was off to a show and one of the oil cooler pipes burst. Result, a very well protected bulkhead, no oil in the engine, and a lift home courtesy of the RAC.

I would say that at least some of the pictures are of the 11th Hussars, the original Desert Rats. Note the berets with no badge, (no badges on berets, none issued), and the badge on a peaked hat (was issued) in one of the other pictures.

Way back in the 60s a mate and I christened our Centurions with the names Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies on the side bins. The names didn't remain there very long...........older members will understand!

Unrestored?? http://www.warandpeaceshow.com/component/option,com_marketplace/Itemid,88888973/adid,683/catid,8/page,show_ad/

I note the highest bid now stands at £3500, after earlier being £7995 (Withams price?). I'm also reliably ingformed that Vampires shouldn't have a back door. Certainly the one I knew of didn't. Odd.

If it's a prototype wouldn't it have an "SP" VRN? £100000 with no means of propulsion sounds a bit over the top! What happened to the Withams 101 Vampire with nothing in it I wonder? About £8000 was bid early on.

For some reason the whole event was in doubt up until recently. As a result I am unable to go which is a bit of a bummer! The contact number is on the first message on this thread.