Tony Lawrence

A final few photos - every time I go to the garage now the radiator looks very tempting. You never know it might be out by the end of the day and then it's engine time. hello John, fancy coming round for a play and a beer?

At long last I have taken the plunge and begun the strip down of the airborne compressor trailer. It has been sitting outside my garage waiting for space and it required the help of several people to manoeuver it into place - lightweight it is not!! I took the roof off the other day and John Corden assembled his engine hoist for me this morning. I thought I would tinker with the trailer and got carried away. I WD40'd all bolts that I could see and then started undoing them. To my surprise all except one trailer stand bolt undid with no problem at all and so I am almost in the position to summon the nice and kind Mr. Corden to help me remove the engine and compressor. The cylindrical air tank is seriously heavy being made of 1/4" rolled plate. The following photos show progress so far While I was waiting for these pictures to download I have just removed the support plate/bracket for the air tank - four nuts undid with no effort it was also one side of the compressor crank case and in the sump the oil was as clear as thin treacle - a pity that the piston appears seized at the moment. This whole process so far makes restoration fun.

Have you had any result yet with this company? I'm interested as I would love to see their sources of dating information for jeeps that are acceptable for the DVLA as we are still having problems.

Simon, Sorry for the late reply - yes it was, the only Jaguar in the family!! With regard to the mystery brackets I have no idea - the only two on mine hold the convoy light and the trailer socket Bakelite switch which I believe is normal

Definitely civilian, possibly Brockhouse who produced a range of small trailers pre-war.

As John Corden has used a photo of my airborne trailer hitch I had better reply. As you can see, it has been cut and repaired at sometime but the diameters of the original part are 5cm internal and 10.8cm external.

I certainly would be interested to see the result and what source material is quoted on the letter, considering this company is not mentioned on the DVLA list of approved authorisation clubs, societies, etc. It seems that either DVLA are operating dual standards or the left hand is not knowing what the right hand is doing!

I would be interested how the DVLA accept this companies source material when DVLA specifically state that they do not accept information sourced from the internet. As IMPS DVLA Liason officer I (and the FBHVC) am having a hell of a battle with them as they have said in the past we cannot use 'books and the internet' as source material. Hopefully they are coming around to the fact that there are no other sources of dating information but they still reject dating letters apparently at random because all their clerks seem to be singing from different hymn sheets. Everything gets passed eventually but it is incredibly frustrating when, for example, for an applicant with a jeep to receive a rejection letter asking for export/import documents, a dating letter written in English on club headed notepaper (which the applicant has supplied as I do not write dating letters in any other language) and stating that our source material consisting of both books and website (which DVLA could check) is unacceptable when the same sources have been accepted in previous applications. This company appears to suggest that they can sort out the paperwork for any vehicle and as they obviously cannot have detailed source material for every type of vehicle I would be most interested in how they claim to provide information acceptable by the DVLA or are there two different standards being accepted by the DVLA?

Well done - a fine result. When will we see it on the road?

Just seen on the London to Brighton run on the A23 south of Redhill - pity the poor b*****s on the top. The weather was foul

As in model making, several fine mist coats with a time gap in between should prevent pooling of paint. However it is so easy to get impatient and carried away as I know from experience. Your idea of varnish as a final coat should work.

Dare I ask to see some photos?

Apparently it went before breakfast - John Corden and I were interested. It looks as though somebody got a bargain.

"Interesting comments, Tony. I seem to remember there are new regulations, or at least new interpretations, laid down which makes the requirements for proof of age very tight - something about it having to come from manufacturers' original records, if I remember right, though I can't find the reference now." All very well but how many manufacturers' original records exist for World War two vehicles - even Chrysler suggest alternative sources for WW2 Dodges and as for German or Russian vehicles? For those records that do exist then the internet is often the best solution as in many cases enthusiasts have compiled sensible data bases from these i.e jeep, GMC, Dodge. Hopefully now DVLA have seen the light and will accept our sources...as I said to them it is not much point nominating various clubs as authorities on their particular vehicles and then ignoring our advice/decisions regarding age of the vehicle.

I am the Verification Officer for IMPS and the system at the moment is a nightmare. Certainly get a NOVA no matter what, HMRC are quite used to the fact of issuing them for our type of vehicle just to satisfy DVLA. Since late last year DVLA decided that they needed a source for our dating information...no problem as we always quoted book references and sometime internet sources (not Wikipedia) where there were no paper references easily available. Suddenly DVLA decided that sources from books or the internet were not satisfactory (even though they tell everybody to use the internet to access government information)...also we used sequential dating, i.e. if a make of vehicle , chassis number 12345 to 12445 was built in 1942, then 12400 would have been built in 1942 as well. With the help of the Federation of Historic British Vehicle Clubs there was a great deal of correspondence pointing out that without this type of reference there could be no means of dating a vehicle . We had applications returned where we used the vehicle manual which quoted manufacturing dates, official Russian motoring organisations as well as other well recognised sources. In one case the applicant even involved his local MP (his three times rejected application was passed immediately using the same information!!). Incidentally, I have never been asked to provide a country of manufacture on our verification letters but it is a good point so I will include it in future. Hopefully we have got matters sorted now and DVLA accept that we are not a one vehicle group of people and that it would be impossible to hold source data on every type of ex-military vehicle. Finally, to add to the confusion, I found out the other day that one IMPS member recently registered a Ferret just using a letter from MOD Disposals that stated the date that the vehicle entered service - not the manufacture date. Imagine if that vehicle was manufactured in 1959 but only entered service in 1960 - would it need an MOT or not? It was so much better in the old days with local licensing offices who sent out somebody to confirm that the vehicle was what was stated on the verification letter. Progress or what?

That's another beer you owe me this evening!! If you look at the previous photos of my mortar trailer and others you will see that the pins are as I described so obviously there were many variations. The compressor trailer is completely dismantled (in my dreams)

Simon, A superb job so far but just to be a bit picky - shouldn't the rear tailgate hinge pins be facing in opposite directions, i.e the left hand one (as viewed from the rear) should be pointing in so that the tailgate cannot come off when it is lowered. Certainly that is the case on my mortar trailer and also most trailers I have seen. Both my hinge pins face inwards. Of course if there were holes on the chassis to fit it this way then there is no argument.

Alex, Yes please, the more information I can gather so much the better. Do you have any documentation as well?

Just to keep the Surrey trailer trash club going, I have just bought an airborne compressor trailer at the Durrant auction. John Corden and I have just towed it 145 miles home without any wheels falling off (admittedly we did change one wheel for a spare we brought with us as the tyre was U/S). It appears fairly complete but needs taking apart and a lot of TLC applied. Any comments or offers of parts or power tools that would have been part of the equipment would be appreciated. Photos of original or restored examples would also not go amiss. I hope to start this project in the next few months but in the meantime here are a few photos

It is certainly not a 10cwt GS trailer. On a GS trailer the wheels are outside the chassis members. This looks as though the chassis has a cut back for the wheels. The suggestions of a cobbled together body on a repair or machinery trailer are most likely. A look underneath may be of help.

Hi Dave, Thanks for the reply but I'm afraid it is beyond my budget - it is amazing how out of touch with prices one gets. No doubt you will have no problem selling it. No doubt see you at one of the shows. Yours, Tony

It's obviously derived from the wartime pintles - I will bring it to the pub tonight for you to waffle about

That seems to answer the question - any military applications?

Hi Dave, Long time no see - please pm me regarding what you would want for your Tilly as I might persuade the wife that she wants it!!

I came across this old pintle hook advertised as a 'paratroop trailer hook'. At first glance it appears to be just that, i.e size and shape of hook and the closing catch. The centres of the attachment bolt holes are 9.5cm horizontally (as per a real airborne trailer rear pintle but only 4.5cm vertically whereas most airborne type pintles I have seen are 9.5cm horizontally and vertically. However this, of course, will fit a jeep. It has a cast makers name (Bradley) and another cast number on the side of the hook base B101/4. Does anyone know if this was made for the military or civilian use? It is so similar to airborne pintles I have seen that it must share some relationship. Whatever, it is certainly better and more useful than the dummy casting that I have on my airborne trailer at the moment.