wildside

I restored an eleven cab chevrolet field artillery tractor way back in the early1990.s and it had been looked at by a lot of people who said it was to bad to restore i restored it over 6 years and on a beg scrounge borrow budget totally no help from visa or access at all. Also i partly restored a 1915 wos albion in the same way and this one had been converted from a lorry to a trailer these things can be done with a lot of time and patience and it you are are fond enough of the truck you want to restore anything is possible on a low budget and lots of pondering>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Strike force army surplus supplies near frome somerset have got a vast range of military clothing and can get nearly anything you need he has even got cold war hand crank sirens in their crates .

There was a matador 6 wheel tanker in a motor museum near calne wiltshire i think i t is called the atwell wilson museum. Last time i saw the tanker she was looking in a bad way But that was 5 years ago is she still there i wonder? I also Know of 7 matadors that have been used on timber haulage in various states of disrepair they are dotted around somerset...

I had a few humber one tons and pigs. if you look at the top of the engine above the fan there should be a little pot with a screw on lid if it is there undo it and you should find a piece of paper with all the modifications etc written on it I had these little pots on all of my humbers and also on the ferret that I owned...

Here are the pictures I have of my old hippos. If anybody is looking for a rear cargo body off of a mk2b hippo please contact me as I know where one is sat rotting, I drove a lot of miles in my old hippos and enjoyed every moment of it they are a great truck fun to drive and with the transfer box turned round will just about keep up with modern traffic.,

She is georgeous wish i had the room now to do a restoration like that!!!!

I had a Gama Goat for a while that had a twostroke supercharged Detroit in it

If any body would like to take their military vehicle there is a very good one day show on at corsley show ground on the 31st of august all you have to do is turn up with your insurance and drive in. It is just off the A36 near warminster in wiltshire. you need to be there before or by 9.00am

If you go on to google images and type in bitterwell scrap yard a bigger picture comes up!!! not very good with the computer so have a job doing things like pictures

There is possibly a german henschel truck sat rotting in a hedge near bristol at a place called bitterwell lake here is a picture of it

Hi there if you talk to these people they make new rubber brake pipes to pattern they may be able to help you....01280823117 ask for nikki

The easiest way to fix your broken axles is to find some humber one ton axels either front or rear as the parts you need are the same in both axles (there are still a few sat in scrap yards and hedges rotting away) and rob them for the tractor joints most later pigs had chobham joints fitted and they are getting real hard to find. one ton axle parts will do the job but you have to pull away gently not to much gas or you get a nasty clunk and bang goes your drive again. I repaired my pig this way and as far as I know its still ok. also as mine was up armoured I took out the extra armour to lighten the load on the axles about 3 tons in all if I remember rightly.also remember to take it out of 4wd on the lever once you have pulled away or you get wind up in the drive train and another nasty bang. Hope this is of some help to you.

The pic of the red hippo was taken at monkton farleigh ammunition depot in wiltshire. she was fitted with a 680 power plus 1200.20 tyres and had the transfer box turned round and would scorch along at 50mph the brakes were for show!!!!!!!!!

Here is my steyr daimler puch haflinger as found and throughout its restoration, It was parked in a barn for 25 years dead before I purchased it in 2007. the floor pan was non existant and as new floor pressings were not available i had to use ford escort spare wheel cover as it is identical profile and without ebay the restoration would have been a lot more difficult. It is fitted with a genuine roval naval aircraft towbar as this type of vehicle would have carried when used on aircraft carriers such as hms bulwark ro8 for pulling wessex helicopters about on deck. The marine commando also used them in borneo and in many other theatres as a very useful general purpose truck with their outstanding off road capability

Hello my name is Jason and I live in deepest darkest somerset and have just restored an ex royal navy steyr puch haflinger that was in a very bad way it has taken two years. I have been restoring ex military vehicles for about 20 years starting off with a 1941 eleven cab chevrolet fat and progressing up to hippos gama goat, austin champs, k2,s, k9,s daimler ferret, humber 1 tons, humber pig bedford rl, commer q4 ,various military landrovers. fmw works truck, 4 other haflingers. ford f60l, ford 11cab fat,ex civil defence austin gypsy, scammel pioneer,bedford ql.Aec matador.All of these vehicles were going for scrap or were in scrap yards and I rescued them and saved them from the jaws of the crusher all I own now is the haflinger and a lot of memories and photographs...