The Bedford Boys

I have that photo aswell, magnificent as you say. That carrier is a NZ Pattern carrier. New Zealand did not use Indian Pattern carriers. One was imported for research into building our model. The Indian Pattern carrier is virtually identical but the two can be differentiated by hull construction, wheel size and driver's position. The Indian patern hull is rivetted, the Nz welded, the Indian Pattern uses 16" wheels, the NZ 20", the Indian pattern has the driver sitting above the chassis rails, the NZ between the rails.

Have yet to take some photos of our projects sorry. Alot of the NZ Pattern Carriers were converted into forestry fire tankers when they were withdrawn from service in 1957. New Zealand recieved 99 chassis from canada during production but only around 76 of these ended up as operational vehicles. A fair amount of unused chassis from NZR Workshops ended up in the fire tender role as early as 1944. The carrier with AVIATION on the side was once owned by the Museum of Technology And Transport in Auckland, but unfortunately this vehicle was scrapped. In service, the NZ Pattern Wheeled Carriers were known as LPOP's (Local Pattern Observation Posts) or FAOP's (Field Arillery Observation Posts). The LPOP's first saw service in Guadalcanalin August 1943 where seven vehicles were sent to 3 NZ Division. The vehicles performed extremely poorly ofroad and were found to be overweight and underpowered. The only vehicle capable of recovering a wheeled carrier being the Scammel. Also an interesting point to note is that the clutch, brakes AND accelerator were all hydaulic.

Hi guys, thought I might put up a few photos of a rare vehicle , the New Zealand pattern wheeled carrier. These vehicles were powered by a ford flathead V8 which was situated in the rear of the vehicle. The New Zealand pattern vehicle was based on the Indian Pattern wheeled carrier, the main differences being the chassis, wheel sizes and hull construction. We and another forum member collectively have three and a half hulls and two chassis of these vehicles. There are only three (possibly four) of these vehicles restored. I do not know of any Indian Pattern Wheeled Carriers that have been restored. The only pictures of one in existence I have seen is next to a sherman ARV in Iraq (Sorry if it's not a sherman, I don't know my tanks. Picture is from this forum). I shall post pictures of our projects in the near future.

Good to have you on here Dave!!!

I see what you are saying there, but I don't believe this could happen with the vast majority of MV's. So many MV's have been melted down for scrap metal over the years.

I believe that if you have pieces of a vehicle and are keen enough to build it, all credit to you. I am a firm believer in keeping history alive and not letting vehicles disappear into the depths of history. This means that you could start with say a chassis and build eveything else, it doesn't matter, you have revived that vehicle, you have stopped that particular piece of history from rotting away. However, you CANNOT parade the vehicle around stating that it is an "original" or "restored" vehicle. You must tell people what you started with and what you made. This applys especially to when you sell the vehicle.

PENTHOUSE :whistle:

Daimler Armoured Cars had two steering wheels, one for forwards and one for fast reverse!!

That was a shambles. We can't even buy obselete radio sets from the army any more. This is because they are american made. It's really pathetic.

I see what your trying to say there Mr Barrell, but what good is it sitting in their yard rotting? I am a firm believer in rescuing military kit from scrappies etc, but only if you are going to restore it yourself or flick it on to someone else to restore. :readbook:

What annoys me more is when people won't let anything go at all. Most of these people have yards full to the brim of bits and pieces, and they just say "Oh I'm going to do that one day" or "that's next on my list". Hacks me right off.:computerrage: But then again, it's their kit, it's their decision. :coffee:

Many thanks :bow:

A couple of months back I watched a FV432 do some car crushing. He squshed the car first go but then had another go with a bit more welly. The whole vehicle came off the ground by a foot or so. It then landed and the driver impacted on the front armour, smashing out 10 of his teeth and crushing his jaw back into his head. He had to have over 100 stiches and his jaw wired up. There were teeth marks in the armour. This is a lesson to all that you have to be so careful when "playing" with your kit.

That is something we might experiment with on my friends MW. It has a Bedford A2 engine fitted because the original MW engine blew up. Aparently they have a few more horses aswell. As a side note, what model Bedfords have the same FRONT wheel cylinders as MW's? , as we need kits to do my friends ones.

Cheers for that. Very infrormative. What is the diff ratio of an OB compared to that of an MW? Alex

Wha wha whats a turbo? :???

Hi guys, having read through this glorious forum of ours I have learnt ALOT. I am currently collecting bits for my Bedford MW restoration and I have a question. Does a 214ci Bedford TK engine with 5 speed gearbox fit into an MW? I know that the TK engine can be fitted to the original gearbox by changing the bellhousing to that of an MW type. I ask this as I would like to increase the cruising speed of my MW a little to make long journeys a little easier. I am also looking into changing the diff ratio. Do you guys have any suggestions? Cheers, Alex

I don't believe you. Landrovers get overtaken. They don't overtake. You have managed to reverse the mere fabric of the universe.:shocking:

Cheers for clearing that up mate, very valuable knowledge to have :tup::

Is it ALL j-type rear cylinders as I thought it was only J1 rear cylinders?

That's exactly what we are doing. Dad's making up a jig for mounting the cylinders in the lathe. We will then make up stainless or bronze sleeves and fit them in with loctite, and then machine the bores to size. We have about 12 rear cylinders and only one is able to fitted to a truck. Even this one needed a good hone. I replace seals as a matter of course, even if they are passable, I replace them. Seals are the cheap part. Bedford rear cylinders seem to be at a premium the world over? Maybe I should start making them? :readbook:

125 QUID!!!!! THAT'S LIKE NZ$250!!! Brakes are over-rated anyway....

Loving this resto!! Ox's are just gorgeous!!! May I enquire as to where you got your rear brake cylinders and what they cost? The ones on my mates MW are completely flogged out. Keep up the good work!

Health and safety can get f.........Whoops can't say that on here!! Good to here that there are volunteers at the museum, all credit to you guys. I read in a magazine (mind goes blank when I try to remember what mag in particular) that Bovington sent alot of AFV's to scrap a few years ago. I will dig out the details. Hopefully this sort of thing is in the past and they still aren't doing it!!

I am curious as to how the museum came up with that figure? Can anyone tell me if they have volunteers working on their vehicles or paid staff? At the National Army Museum in Waiouru, there is a band of Military vehicle enthusiasts that go up there once a month (or something like that) to work on the vehicles. They don't get paid, they just enjoy what they do. They get to play with and work on vehicles that they could not otherwise afford or obtain. The museum pays for parts etc. If Bovington tried, even not very hard, I am sure that they could rustle up a merry band of dedicated enthusiasts with skills in the MV area to do the work for them. Supply tea, biscuits, tools and you're away!! BTW...Converted, 56k quid is about NZ$120,000. Now that would get me ALOT of MV's!!! Or one top notch bedford MW!!!!!