ArtistsRifles

So much for the best laid plans Rain stopped play today Got up early to get over for a full day - and it was p*ss*ng down here. Things are such that I could not afford to risk £30 worth of fuel getting to the Militant in the hope the weather was better there. Rain did not ease off till gone 13l00 hrs at which time it was too late to head over - journey time is an average of 80 minutes - as I had to be back home by 17:00 to act as taxi driver. Hopefully better luck next weekend!

And then either back to East London or point of origin if I have to pick my vehicle up. All my spare cash now is headed towards getting a Militant back on the road. Had I still been working I could have taken a couple of days leave and covered the costs. Sadly as it is the only income I have is my company pension currently.

Sort of I get restricted to weekends - usually just Saturdays - as someone has to be home to look after our elderly dog. He has kidney problems so the vet fitted a catheter and he has to be drained every couple of hours. The hour plus drive each way depending on traffic limits the access to the old girl. So - will be over there tomorrow. If I can get the genny to run I'll have a stab at the pressure washing and vacuuming. If not then I want to have a look at the engine cut off. try and get the horn working and see if the airline that came today will fit the inflator on the vehicle. And possibly have a look at the leaking air valve at the rear end, She's holding air pressure whilst running but as soon as the engine is killed the air bleeds off rapidly. If I have the time too there is the single stroke wipers to look at. They have to be turned on and off between every sweep.

I wouldn't mind doing it - the only issue for me is the cost of getting back home again..... Being out of work I have the time required - sadly being out of work I don't have the ££'s to pay the return ferry fare and then get back home to London.

At first sight they look odd for Russian cold war. Soviet boards (Pogini) are usually parallel, not tapered as in the photo. And the rank stripes also seem odd. NCO stripes are normally parallel at right angles across the boards just above the CA letters (Советская Аpмия). Aviation units, regardless of type, normally have a blue board with the yellow stripes: 1 narrow stripe for a corporal 2 narrow stripes for a junior dergeant 3 narrow stripes for a sergeant 1 broad stripe for a senior sergeant This is the typical Soviet Russian air force shoulder board for an enlisted man: Up until 1963 there is also a broad strip running 3/4 of the way up the board which then meets a broad stripe going across the board and no CA letters on the board - this is a staff sergeant. After 1963 the broad strip runs the full length of the board, again no letters. An unlettered board with 2 small stars on it in line is a warrant officer, 3 stars is a senior warrant officer. For the army the rank marks are the same but the boards change colour: Red = Motorized Infantry Black - Armour, Artillery, Technical Even on the subdued uniforms brought in during the Afhgan war the stripes were still straight. Post Glasnost the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did adopt the chevron style markings - but not as pictured, the chevrons fit within the board - which remains the same shape and the lettering changes to reflect the branch of service: ВС — armed forces personnel (Bооружённые силы) Ф — fleet personnel (Флот) К — army and air force military student (Курсант) Anchor — naval military student Н — students of the Nakhimov Naval School (Нахимовское военно-морское училище) СВУ — students of the Suvorov Military School (Суворовское военное училище) ВМУ — students of the school of military music (Военно-музыкальное училище) КК — cadets of the cadet corps (Russian: Кадетский корпус; kadetsky korpus) МКК — Kronstadt sea cadet corps (Кронштадтский морской кадетский корпус) ВВ — internal troops (Внутренние войска)

I'm going! Not sure what in yet - but definitely going.

Cheers Rob. Parts book did indeed have a diagram - I had a look through it today waiting for the garage to ring back about the Landies MoT (it passed OK). One source of frustration is the big red service manual has section R missing - which is the one dealing with the pedals!! It jumps from Q to S. However - I now think I know where to look with your advice and the pictures. Still trying to get the genny to run as without that I am kind of stuffed - I need the power to get on with the next steps of vac'ing and pressure washing.. If I can get it going tomorrow I will be back over there on Saturday.

I'll add that to the "to do" lest then :-) Low priority as the existing lights do work. Not sure about hi/lo beam as I need a volunteer to stand in front whilst I use the dip switch. Never did understand why they never had a high beam warning light fitted. One thing I do recall from days gone by was the number of times Militants were involved in night collisions with cars - usually side on -because no one ever saw them!! One thing I do need to sort ASAP - the engine stop. When I lift the accelerator you can hear the engine slow but it will not stop. She has to be stalled out in 5th gear at the moment. Is there any adjustment on the linkage or is it likely to be the stop valve itself??

Hopefully I'll be able to go next year for the first time :-)

Thanks Rob - the belt numbers will be much appreciated. Luckily my Landie is also 24v so I am OK (at the present) for a set of spare bulbs. just need to get hold of a pair of headlamp ones. Toying with the idea of upgrading the head lamps though... Maybe 24v LED units - as my admittedly now dodgy memory is telling me the beam pattern and penetration on the originals was on a par with useless. Good for daylight running so other drivers actually noticed the rather large lump heading towards them on narrow roads but for night driving in unlit areas - no :-)

Some nice photos of 375 UXK over on the AEC Society's page on FaceBook Rob.

Cheers David, I found a couple of vendors on eBay that do sets of220's matched to the same key. Hardware stores around here are a thing of the past - the likes of B&Q etc. have closed them down. Good tip on the spark plugs - again we must have been lucky as this on e is about 3 years old and until now has worked fine. I guess, then, we were overdue for a failure!! :-) Leg is not so bad - just sore but healing, What's causing me issues is the back where I actually hit the ground across and just below the shoulder blades - its rather painful to twist around and coughing really does bring tears to the eyes!! It will pass eventually though

So - veering off topic a moment - section 28.12 means no weapon deactivated prior to April 8th can ever be taken to an overseas event like Historia Mundi - or, worse, the Somme commemorations this year. Unless we pay an arm and a leg to have valuable items ruined and assuming the Proof Houses can ever agree with the EU/Home Office on how to deactivate to the EU specification in such a way the deactivation certificate actually means something. Wonderful! :-( :-(

We must have been lucky with the gene then - till now it has been fine Never got a chance to sort it today - too much rain all day. I remember the small lever on the door on our tippers - as you say it locks the door open so you could access the hand throttle without having to clamber up and down into the cab. Your tanker should have the same arrangement I think? I do not remember seeing it on the doors of the GS wagons I roamed around Germany in though - but that might just be failing memory. Right now I am having problem remembering how the hell the passenger door locked. I know the drivers door required a key like any other vehicle but I am damned if I can recall how the passenger door worked. Old age is a terrible thing Thanks for the advice on the rad cap - I will add a copper mallet to the tool kit. It will also be useful for freeing off the clamp on the spare wheel steady. General consensus is the MK airline should fit on the AEC's inflater so I have ordered one from eBay. Hopefully it will be here before next weekend and I can try it out on that soft front tyre. Also need a set of 3 padlocks - Squire 220's if my failing memory serves - for the tool, jerry can and oil can lockers. What do you use as regards a jack and wheel brace for yours Rob?? I will need to replace everything once the lockers have had a good clean out and a couple of coats of paint. Including an Interstart Cable The Interstart is very low priority though. As long as there is a jack and wheel brace in the tool locker with some adjustable in a tool bag on one of the cab shelves she will be good for the road. Looking her over on Saturday I am definitely leaning towards your idea of giving her a coat of paint once all the loose crap is off and going to a few shows during summer then come the end of the season sanding back the areas around the corrosion and patching the holes. I took a closer look at those taped seams on the roof on Sat as I was taping those two holes up - the back and sides are fairly flat and feel solid under the tape. The front edge is a different story though - there is quite a pronounced "raise" between the front of the cab (around 3mm) and the roof section and pressing very hard with a finger gets an ominous crunching sound.....

When it runs - which in fairness it usually does - its very good. Normally we use it at places like W&P to keep the caravan battery charged - which is what it will be used for once the Militant is on the road I think it was worth the money. Mine now lives on a farm/stables a good few hundred feet from the nearest known power point hence why I wanted to use it yesterday

Excuse me whilst I go upchuck my dinner down the loo.....:banghead:

Given the weather of the last two shows that is stupid! Most people I know with armoured vehicles - and a fair few with softskins - get the vehicle ID's laminated so they can be affixed externally without dear of the rain trashing them. The rules say they must be displayed prominently thought out the show: If they are not sent out before hand how can owners arrange for them to be protected from the rain and the arena?? Also - having read the rules again to find this I also noted that they now say: If I read this right - as of April 8th virtually every weapon owned by exhibitors are now classed as a "defective deactivation" and thus not in compliance with current UK legislation so cannot be taken to the show. If we all follow this rule to the letter it's going to be a pretty boring show for the public especially in the Living History area.......

This is the first time I've tried an MOT exempt vehicle - the only other one I have is the UAZ and that only got registered last year, Which reminds me - that must be coming due soon too. Went back over today with the car loaded with the Karcher, extension lead, hose reel, grinder and a generator with a can of fuel. Plan was to pressure wash the exterior to get all the loose crap off and vacuum out the interior of the cab to get rid of the mass (literally) of spiders webs that cover everything in sight and touch and then carry out some small jobs to finish off. Note that I said "plan was"!! Having got there the bloody generator refused point blank to run!! Worked fine last week when I tested it - today the bugger would not have it!! So bang went the plans to pressure wash and vacuum her... I got on with the smaller jobs instead. The repaired indicator switch lever was refitted and tested - works OK so that is that issue resolved. All the locks were soaked in penetrating oil and I managed to free off 1 of the tee-key locks and the padlock on the tool locker. I was hoping to find the airline for tyre inflation in there but sadly not. Do any fellow Militant owners know if this Bedford MK unit will fit the take off on the Militants inflator system? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bedford-MJ-Air-Line-Ex-Army-HGV-Tyre-Inflation-/272229507205?hash=item3f6224a085:g:5jIAAOSwLN5Wj~4J The other two tee-key locks refused to budge so I left them soaked in oil and will have another go next week. I also managed to get up in the front bumper via a step ladder and got the pin holes in the roof taped over with duct tape That should save the inner roof getting any wetter and thus rustier :-) Tried removing the radiator cap by hand - wouldn't budge and I had nothing big enough to grip it and twist. Next week the tool box comes with me. (didn't think I'd need it this week!). :-) The padlocks on the jerry can and oil can holders are so badly rusted I cannot get the key in so they will have to be cut off. I took a grinder in case - but again the recalcitrant generator stopped me doing so. Two things I did notice - firstly the door handle on the drivers side is starting to slip making it hard to open the door. Feels like the square shaft might be rounding off but again I soaked it in penetrating oil - just in case. Might work. I think I may need to replace it though as none of the keys I have fit the lock Inner handle works absolutely fine. The other thing that struck me was this on the bottom of the drivers door: As far as I can remember these were only fitted to vehicles that had a hand throttle on the floor (tippers, tankers, winches) so why it's on a GS truck is a bit of a mystery!! Anyone care to speculate?? :-) :-)

Usually by now we have received the Entry Packs with things like the Vehicle ID's in. No sign yet though, and no news from the organiser on what is happening. It is kind of frustrating - as others have said, we know the new team will be picking up the pieces as they go whereas Rex's people had it down to an art but in this day and age of Information overload it surely would not be too hard to issue regular updates on social media or forums like this on how things are progressing????

Log book arrived today - complete with a prominent warning about the new taxation rules that mean sale of a vehicle cancels the tax! So I had a look on line at www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax and yep, it was untaxed. I've been told a few times recently that you cannot tax an MOT exempt vehicle on-line but I thought - "what the hell" and had a look. Punched in the reg num and the 11 digit V5 code and was pleasantly surprised to get a screen up asking to confirm the tax request. Clicked on accept and- lo and behold - I now have a zero tax Militant taxed and ready to roll on the roads! Looks like DVLA's computer whizz's have got their act together and included the MOT exempt category into the on-line MOT look up that is performed as part of the tax application.

Rung Footman James today - got the OT removed from my policy and the Militant added. Total cost to me £32.21 - most of which was taxes :-) So the old girl is now OK to take out on test runs and jollys! :-) Yesterday I managed to find some super glue and tried reassembling the shattered indicator lever. A few pieces were missing so I had to use filler to make up the differences. I used some Milliput from modelling - but I think it had seen better days as it took an age to go anywhere near hard and is still easily marked with a thumb nail. However - at least I now have an indicator switch again. Before paint: [ After paint: Not wonderful - but it's in one piece and from a distance doesn't look so bad. It will do until I can find a replacement. :-)

Thanks Scott All I have done so far though is get the old girl back to her new home, document the known issues - and fall off the back!! Could have done without the last bit - but such is life Any real work is yet to start!

Aaaand - grounded a;; day.... Got up this morning to find the left arm basically non-op bue to bruising etc so I couldn't drive - not even the auto Rangie Means washing the old girl off will have to wait till next week now. I can get hold of some red oxide paint though so that any fresh metal and anything rubbed down can be given a protective coat. Think I might follow Robs advice and get the necessities sorted out - horn not working , wipers etc and give her a coat of satin green to tidy up then take her to a few days out/shows and see how she runs/get a feel for her ways.

Nice idea with the rotisserie :-) Should make life a lot easier. :-) On the whole I feel quite upbeat about the vehicle in all honesty, Some parts are worse than I would have liked, many others less so and on the whole I am happy. I think the areas to concentrate on first are the cab, tailgate (esp. after my leg managed to almost rip the drivers side bump stop off) and that front dropgate on the drivers side. Everything else can be as and when I can work through it. A healthy dose of penetrating oil should fix most things apart, I think, from the padlocks and the window regulators - they will need replacing. The cab roof does worry me a bit - that I will admit - as does the fact the passenger door will not open. The door feels jammed in the frame and I am wondering if the dreaded tin worm has swollen it, Same with the passenger windscreen - the bottom section of the cab frame has swollen so badly that the screen will not close onto the body properly and has actually cracked the windscreen. Not worried about the glass - that needed replacement anyway as it was going white from the bottom up. I think maybe a quick waft with a soda blast might produce interesting results, inside and out. As you said in your thread luckily most of the metal is flat steel sheet. The lower corners of the cab and around the bottom foot steps will be the tricky parts as they are curved. We will get there though slowly but surely. Sheet metal work is not my particular skill though despite a toolmaking apprenticeship. And AFAIK - we do not have access to benders and wheels where she is stored. There is a CV restoring firm a few miles down the road though who do have this equipment so I might rumble her down there and get the curved area patches formed there ready for welding in. Problem will be cost I guess (always is ) so a bit at a time. The cab interior and parts of the exterior also desperately needs the attention of a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the masses of spider webs everywhere. Right now though the effects of the nose dive are making themselves felt big time so you are right about that part - lower leg feels like its burning and I'm slowly losing the use of the left arm as it freezes up. Hopefully a nights rest will see these reverting to normal a bit. If not them tomorrow might a trip to the local walk-in centre as I have type 2 diabetes and there is a risk of the lower leg ulcerating if it does not get back to normal quickly. Won't be making that mistake again!! But I will have to sort out why the tailgate won't release from the locating cones - and why the lower cone on the passenger side is missing.

Inside the cab: Provided I do not lock solid with the after-effects of the fall today I will be back over with a pressure washer, hose and genny to clean her up tomorrow.