ArtistsRifles

Had a stroke of luck this week - been looking for a replacement radiator badge as mine is missing. The firm that used to advertise them on the web told me that the firm they got them from (who were to original suppliers to AEC in the day) had folded after the EU introduced some weird law regarding red vitreous enamel. Very nice chap I spoke to asked why I wanted one so I told him and, long story short, a very nice OEM badge arrived in the post today in exchange for the appropriate amount of beer tokens. This will now be put away safely until the cab is repaired and painted.

Surely this is the very nature of the insurance business?? I pay £200 for the fully comp insurance on a 1998 Range Rover. If I have an accident and they pay out the market value I would have to be insured for 10 years for them to break even. So too with break down cover. Assume they charge a round £100.00 per year. If 100 users pay that figure then the company nets £10,000.00 per year Assume that it costs £1,000 to recover a vehicle then they would have to recover 10 vehicles a year to lose money and the reality is more like 1 or 2 vehicles. Reality is more like 200 or 300 users pay for the service and the breakdown recovery can more often than not be carried out with a wrecker thus reducing that £1,000. Oh - and insurance firms won't be charged the same rate you or I would pay as private individuals - they will have a negotiated rate at least a little lower in return for the contract. When I had that accident in Little Maud in 2007 Autohome sent a low-loader out, no questions asked, and, apparently, the crew had no issues in recovering the Stolly onto the loadbed, i say apparently as I wasn't there by then being in hospital watching the blisters grow. But those who stayed back and helped out did not report any issues.

Mine was fitted with a Weber when I bought the vehicle - very good for fuel consumption but - on a fully loaded FFR - a nightmare on hills. When I rebuilt the engine last year I fitted a NOS Zenith from Dunsfold and so far it has been much better for overall performance. One of the issues with the Weberh I had was the choke cable would not reach the fitting. OK - the Weber might have perhaps been jetted wrongly but it looks better I think with the OEM Zenith sitting there and I find I can now get up hills at a reasonable speed.

Playing devils advocate then... Driving them IS a part of the fun! And, possibly apart from the Audi/BMW brigade, seeing these old vehicles on the road is a source of entertainment to other road users. So provided every effort is made to travel "out of hours" - i.e. between rush hours then providing the travel distance is reasonable (note use of that word) then why not drive? For these distances, say around 40 to 50 miles it can be non-cost effective to use a low loader. So if you leave after rush hour finishes in the morning - say 10:00 and are either at your destination or parked up somewhere before the afternoon one starts at around 15:00 then I think such a vehicle has as much right to be on the road as any. As with all things - common sense should prevail. Part of the problem seems to be the lack of lay-bys these days - far too many have been closed by local councils for various reasons - mainly the fact the travelling fraternity tend to set up home in them bu there are other reasons - so even if a driver wants to pull over and let a traffic queue go by - there is nowhere safely to do so.

IIRC - it was "Night Probe" - story was there were two copies of a treaty - one went down in a shipwreck, the other was lost when a train was stolen by a "daring train robber" who blasted the entry to the tunnel it was hidden in - and over cooked the bang sealing everyone inside.

I was quoted £105 for the Militant about 2 months ago Paul.

Very impressive job Rob Hows the hearing after all that hot riveting??

Crawled under today with a set of M10 taps to check the thread pitch. I suppose it was inevitable but - of the 4 holes three were M10x1.0 and one was M10x1.25!! So I have ordered 4 bolts in each type from Namrick. Hopefully they will be here Tuesday so I can get the prop back on and use it for Military Odyssey next weekend. Fingers crossed!!!

When I had Little Maud the Stollie I used Autohome for recovery purposes. I know it's not tracked but - a Stolly cannot be towed due to the transmission so needs to be recovered on a low loader. That was around the £95 mark IIRC. And before anyone says it - yes - I know REME could do it by removing the the hub gears in the rearmost wheel stations and fitting special spacers - but I don't recall it ever being a popular option!

As above - Equivalent of OND75/80/110 (SAE30) in both Engine and Gear Box with the equivalent of OEP220 (EP90)in the central lubrication tank.

Thanks David - made a note of that so when we get the engine covers off I'll give it a try

No work update as such - well not strictly true. The oddball fitting on the inflater has been replaced with a modern push-on fitting now and the radiator topped up with 5 litres of antifreeze and 3 litres of water. All this so that yesterday we could pump the soft drivers side front tyre up and then move her back up to the top yard as the farmer wants to build a hay barn where she was originally. Good news is she started first flick of the lever and rolled back sweet as a nut. I think once that air leak is sorted driving will be a pleasure. Only cause for concern was the temperature gauge. Needle was flicking back and forth like crazy with the engine running faster than idle speed. As we rolled back with the engine having been running for about 10 minutes the needle was hard right on 240 deg. That seems excessive so I suspect either a faulty sender or faulty gauge. Probably sender (I hope!!).

Sadly our group won't be there this year Our events guy was working overseas and by the time he got the form in you were fully booked...

Have you tried the dreaded eBay? I got my 6x6 GS one from there - think the seller was "vintage manuals".

Where is it starting out from - France itself or another country ?? From memory anything crossing into Germany first is a minefield of paperwork - get it wrong and its trouble with a capital T If buying from a dealer then they should know the ins and outs of the various routes to the UK and the paperwork required to get it here.

According to the news today a bigger problem seems to be persuading the "Facebook Generation" to leave their beloved social media for up to 90 days at a time. The Navy is having trouble recruiting submariners in general and engineering grades in particular because they can;t bear to be parted from social media whilst the Gov't is laying off the older hands faster.... Give it a few years and we'll have submarines that can't put to sea because they have no crew.

If found - peel off and stick on the nearest COSCO ISO container being returned to China..... Let the buggers track THAT!! :-D

Parts arrived from Trapper this afternoon so it was out and under time. First thing found was that the cross-member stops you getting the hand brake drum on. So out come the spanners to remove the cross-member. What is is with Russians and using different size nuts to the bolt heads?? 19mm spanner on the nut, 17mm on the head. Bolts came out easily enough given the corrosion and mud caking them. Getting the cross member off was a different story and required the application of brute force fuelled by anger. Once it was off I fitted the shoe retainers that were missing - and then found that the brake shoes had sustained a bit more damage than I thought. but not enough to stop them working. I also found one of the return springs was missing from the anchored end of the passenger side shoe. This I will have to live with for now. A bit of faffing - first with the adjuster and then the lever saw the drum go one - and then the red mist descended again. Is it too much to ask that the holes for the retaining screws actually line up with the threaded holes in the gearbox flange?? A LOT more faffing later the brake drum was on so I went to fit the prop - and found the biggest bolts I had were M8 whereas the bolts needed were M10! That's where things ended. Prop is temporarily bolted to the axle and the nose is propped up in one of the cross-member brackets. Did I mention the rear prop bolts need two different size spanners too?? Bolts are ordered from Namrick so as soon as they arrive I'll whip the bolts out of the rear U/J and fit it properly then refit the cross member. I am really hoping to use it for Military World this weekend so fingers crossed the bolts arrive in time.

http://www.bookworldws.co.uk/british-military-trucks-cold-p-6844.html?osCsid=64a815db33254c7b249dd7ad1be652f8 £34.99 + £4.75 P&P Just ordered a copy

I actually enjoy watching the show - but the OH has mr Bruce classified as - and I quote - "a greedy little bar steward" for his antics. Great fun watching him at shows - just to see if any familiar faces appear!! But as Jack says - it advertises the hobby generally to a wider audience which has to be a good thing.

New rear brakes fitted and bled - Landie now able to stop.again. Got a shock taking the leaky side apart, as I pulled the drum off the friction material just fell off the shoes..... Then when fitting new shoes I managed to try slicing the tops of my right hand fingers off when the pry bar slipped. Ouch!! Fuel gauge is still fooked though Fitted a new gauge and it still just reads "Full" even with the connection to the selector micro switches removed. Don't understand this at all. Seems to have started when I fitted a new bezel and glass to the multi-cluster instrument housing but I am at a loss to see how that would affect the fuel gauge......

Might have the parts delivered in time to take the UAZ thats booked in.

If its an EU company is VAT paid at source to them with no additional taxes from HMG??

Prop shaft now removed and ready for the new-ish one to arrive from Trappers along with the hand brake drum and a set of shoe retainers. Handbrake shoes now back in place and the drum retaining screws are out and stored safely. Remains of two sheared off bolts safely removed via Ez-Out so all is ready to fit replacement parts.

Finally get someone home to help me bleed the brakes on the Landie - and the first wheel I go to to start bleeding now has a blown wheel cylinder!! :mad: So - two new wheel cylinders and shoes on order from Paddocks to be fitted ASAP. Looks like no Damyns Hall for me this year as the UAZ parts won't be here till next week either.