The Bedford Boys

Now I might be completely wrong about this - a redherring? - but I was admiring a New Zealand built carrier at Ferry mead many years ago. It looked the image of the Australian carrier. On enquiring as to its lineage I was told that the New Zealand units were built from steel that was not armour-plated because the plate was not available in NZ during the war. Is this true?

 

Robert

No, it is not 100% true. Our LP1 carriers were not armour plated, and as such had a small triangular plate on the hull that stated they were not armoured.

Our production LP2's and LP2A's were armour plated, and you can see this as many hulls feature plate with a "proofing mark" on them. (Bascially a dent near the corner of the plate).

Our LP carriers were very similar to the Australian model, but featured detail differences.

As for rivetted carriers in New Zealand, they are of both English and Canadian origin, from manufacturers ranging from Ford to Sentinel Wagon and everything in between. There are also a number of English built welded hull carriers in this country, as well as some actual Bren Carriers (not Universals).

There were also a bunch of Loyd Carriers that came to New Zealand too.

As far as I am aware, no Windsor or T16 Carriers came to New Zealand, however, there is a Windsor carrier dash in our friends shed, and another friend has the exhausts for a T16. How they came to be in the country, I do not know.

Don't forget, the Kiwis built Carriers too!

Hi guys,

What is the weight of an FV433 Abbot SPG without any ammo, equipment etc? Just the basic running vehicle itself.

Cheers

I forgot to mention to you at the swapmeet that MW headlights are the same as Series 1 Landrover and are very similar to some Fordson Tractor headlights. We have some of the tractor headlights, I will take some photos of one beside a genuine Bedford MW one for you.

Charlie, I think this is your truck.

A friends MW I put back on the road had this issue, except the foam was brown. After flushing the cooling system several times, I managed to get rid of the foaming. White foam is usually indicative of oil in the system.

I'd remove it and replace with a modern alternative. Just take precautions when doing so. Always wear protection.. :cool2:

Why would you want a Sherman instead of an M10??? :undecided:

 

Too bad!

 

An English friend of mine used to comment heavily on Henry's cheapskate engineering, he would only be seen driving "proper English" vehicles

English vehicles were just as bad...

Mod Edit: Quote removed at the request of another member.

I would like to know who filmed this as they were tresspassing when doing so. I know the owner of the land and all of the people that own the equipment. Some of our own vehicles are stored at this property. We have issues with people stealing and this video does not help the cause.

Ah you know who! Do you think he'll ever do it?

Covenanter went to "you know who". I would like to see him do it as it is more interesting than anything else in his collection

The Valentines went down Carterton way. Dad has known the owner for ages. Packman, I'm guessing you are the son of said owner?

Sorry for Hijacking the thread AJ.

When I was a kid growing up on a farm in Taranaki, New Zealand we had boxthorn hedges around our fields. Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) originally came from South Africa where I think it was grown around native kraals to keep the lions out. Boxthorn is an extremely tough plant with long sharp thorns that can easily penetrate a tractor tyre or go right through a man’s tough leather boot.

It was excellent as a very thorny stockproof hedge but trimming it by hand was a nightmare and eventually the hedges were neglected and grew up to 20m wide and started to encroach on valuable pastureland (stay with me guys, this post is about historic military vehicles!).

 

In the early 1950s the innovative Taranaki farmers found a solution to the boxthorn problem by converting ex-army Stewart tanks into mechanised hedge trimmers. They removed the tank’s turret and replaced it with a shaft on the end of which was mounted a huge 12-foot-long rotating blade, with flails of one-inch-thick hardened steel. When the hedgecutter came to trim our boxthorn hedges there was great excitement, as an army tank was not something we boys saw every day. It rumbled ponderously along, clanking its tracks and shaking the ground as its rotating blade slowly build up speed to about 500 rpm. Then it simply drove into the hedge from one end, “whack-whack-whacking” into the branches and throwing them a hundred feet into the air. Any onlookers had to keep well clear in case they were hit by flying branches and once one of our sheep dogs was killed when the whirling blade chopped his nose off. The largest boxthorn hedges were so big and wide that the tank could be completely hidden inside them. The hedge-trimming contractor also had two bren-gun carriers with a buck-rake on front to sweep up the trimmings into heaps for burning. The drivers were protected from the thorns by a heavy steel mesh and they certainly needed it when the bren carrier charged full-tilt into a length of cut hedge, peeling it off and pushing it out into the paddock to make a heap. Sometimes we saw a huge house-sized heap of boxthorn moving along as though under its own power, with a bren-carrier buried somewhere in the middle, growling along in low gear. These machines became a common sight around south Taranaki, but we never tired of watching them when we were kids.

Butler Brothers did a lot of the hedgecutting in the Taranaki. They used a lot of CMP's, NZ Pattern Armoured Cars and Universal Carriers. They found tanks too heavy and were not very fuel efficient. Some of their vehicles are now in the Tawhiti Museum just outside of Hawera. Bruce Alexander converted at least one Valentine and a Stuart to hedgecutters. The stuart has now been restored into a gun tank and the Valentine is owned by a Military Vehicle collector. If you read this Eddy, no, you won't be able to buy the Valentine from him :noyay:

UK Loyd wreck located!

Not much left, you can see a tree growing through it...no hull left and the chassis is burried at the rear in waterlogged soil!

Worth getting if you can though. That diff and all the little brackets will be helpful

These were used in New Zealand and overseas as Minefeild lane marking lights with either green or red lenses, green for one side of the lane through the minefeild and red for the other.

Battery was a flat looking beast with a long and short terminal on the top.

A modern plastic case that you put two d size (I think) batteries was available at one stage.

Many people here bought these post war and replaced the lense with a clear glass and used them as work lights or torches.

Regards Kiwisapper

Does anyone have email address or contact details for Villiers services ?

Regards Steve D (NZ)

Does any one have detailed photos of the blackout assembly for a James ML headlight or similar WD type.

Does anyone make repro parts for James ML especially tool boxes and exhaust chambers.

Is there any detail on the resister used in place of the ammeter on a james.

Thanks

Steve .

Adrian, Nice to see her out and about....however considering the short comings in Sherman based vehicles in terms of offroad capability especially without rubber or steel chevrons do you have to be carefull where you take it? I.e. I imagine wet grassy fields could be troublesome, I know they are from Land-Rover experience. More to the point....who is going to tow you out!

Ahh Alastair, you must become accustomed to the art of Land-Rover drifting. One can make it through any wet field in a Land-Rover, 2nd gear and light application of throttle will see the machine sway sideways. Have your friends hum a ballet tune as you merrily dance your Landy across the field in varying arcs and figure eights. You will get there in the end, so long as you maintain momentum. :cool2:

Adrian, M10 drifting, lets see it :-D

Great information.....thanks.

 

How do i identify an original engine?

 

What areas of the body are prone to rot?

 

Any features i should look for to identify originallity?

 

Thanks

 

Richard

As Richard says, look for the MW prefix to the engine number. If you were a real purist and wanted to fit a genuine MW engine, I know of a couple here in NZ, although they would need complete rebuilds.

The ones we see here in NZ are usually completely knackered, but the rot seems to be in the front lip of the front guards and the bottom corners of the firewall where they go really badly. Basically, do the usual check of wherever water can sit.

Chassis number is between the step brackets on the drivers side (If memory serves correct)

Bedford MW's are absolutely brilliant trucks. Parts for the running gear are easily sourced as many can be found on later model bedfords aswell.

Any 214ci Bedford motor will fit into an MW, as long as you change the fly wheel and bellhousing to that of the MW. On some model 214's, this involves dropping the rear main cap off so you can punch out the extra two fly wheel locating dowels. Also, if you want to be able to start the motor with a crank handle, you will have to change the front mounting plate to that of the MW, so the motor sits lower and the fan doesn't clip the shroud.

Brake cylinders always seem to need sleeving. You can find the same rear brake cylinders on J-series, RL, K, M, O (If memory serves correct). Brake master cylinder seals are readily available, as are front brake seals.

An MW pulls about 40mph, but anything over that and you are revving it a bit hard in my experience. Diff ratios can be changed to suit road driving with a 4.7 diff from a J-series I am told. 1st gear is only an ornament, you will never use it unless going up a vertical wall. I start off in 2nd gear, however it will pull from a stand still in 3rd gear easily. There is certainly no lack of power.

Working on them is a joy. They are well thought out and very basic. Nothing is too much of a challenge.

Driving an MW on road is a pleasurable experience. You hardly ever need to change out of top gear. But offroad is were I love driving them. They go very well offroad for a 4x2, only being let down by those crap bar tread tyres. Having said that, they trudge through mud very well and having a bit of weight on the back will help with traction.

Fuel consumption is not at all bad. The MW I drive does more miles per gallon than my fathers S2a Landrover! :-D

All in all, they are excellent trucks with no real downfall other than not being able to keep up with traffic as standard, but that is just like most other ww2 MV's. Pop the higher ratio diff in and that won't be an issue :cool2:

Basically, go for it. Had more fun in an MW than I've had in a Jeep. :drive:

Really decent effort going in here. I love the enthusiasm and that you are actually repairing rather than becoming a cheque book mechanic. Look forward to seeing more progress.

You mean he's not even able to fire blanks? :blush:

#23, the owner of this I believe does not have another in parts. I will find my pics of the Loyds in NZ and send them to you when I get the chance.

There's about 10 in NZ alone that I know of. 4 of which would be classified as restoration projects. The other 6 are restored runners.

Is there any particular reason for the link to be hollow? Perhaps a solid replacement could be manufactured to prevent this issue?

Hi there, can anyone provide dimensions for a seat and exhaust system for a wartime James ML? My 'bike is missing these along with a few other parts.

Cheers,

Alex