FerretDriver

It seems that a number of historic military vehicles which were equipped with Lucas ignition switch panels had the switch lock barrels removed. I suppose too many troopers lost keys at inopportune moments. I have a number of the original, high quality lock barrels and replacement keys if anyone needs them. I attend a lot of events at which juveniles are invited to enter the sacred crew compartment of 00 DC 81. Up until recently I had to be very, very sure that no one was going to tinker with the switches and possibly start the engine. Now with a lock that problem is averted (unless the kid brings his own key! Contact me off list if you are interested for a quote on locks, original and generic keys. iwallace@columbus.rr.com

I wonder what L. Jackson & Co. would say to a "bulk sale" of all the Ferret stuff they have. It would require some foolks familiar with the Ferret and probably a lot of work to sort through unrelated items, but it might be worth the effort in the long run. If they were looking at a 5-10 GBP sale it might encourage them to sell it off!

The "red face syndrome" obtained while driving a Ferret is easily cured. Go to a local automotive glass shop and have a piece of laminated auto glass cut to fit your drivers port. It will 15" x 17" with 1" radius corners. If a glass cutter does exactly that, it will rest in the opening without any form of retention. I used 1/4" wide thin adhesive backed foam weatherstrip to cushion the piece. Make the beginning and end at the top to prevent water leaks! You can even tint the upper portion of the glass if you want. Another tip is to make sure you raise the barrel of the MG so you don't chip the glass when lifting it out. There's possibility of it leaning out forward if you have to brake very, very hard, but I have had a glass in 00 DC 81 for over six years and so far so good.

Then can we assume that the spares that Alvis had were sold off as surplus, and found their way to the vendors that we buy things from today? It would be wonderful to exhume a stash of parts in some secluded Alvis warehouse, wouldn't it? Oh well, I guess I will have to continue to dig into my pockets for "disposable income" to buy more Ferret goodies. I have found that if Ferret "goodies" are suitably purchased in intervals that the "significant other" does not catch on because my purchases mingle with her online purchases of used books. So far, So good!

Alvis Limited, in their brochure for the "Ferret 80", new version of the venerable Ferret, states that "1,500 (Ferrets) are still supported in service by Alvis today". Does this mean that Alvis is still shipping and otherwise providing parts for the versions of Ferrets may of us own? And if this is so, might it be possible to obtain some of the very difficult to find parts through them? Of course they would probably price such parts out of our reach as collectors, but there might be some help there from some sympathetic Alvis executive. Alvis Limited's business has declined over 60% in the past five years, so that does not help the matter any. But still it might be worth the effort for someone there in the UK to see if there's a way to obtain "stuff" for our Ferrets! Then probably have a stockpile of old parts, but again, very pricey.

Surprisingly the US government has allowed over 300,000 original (pen and ink, pencil) mechanical drawings of vehicles and other such from post WWI through about 1985, I believe, to be sorted and organized by the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. I am one of those sorting drawings and it is a rare treat to come across the original drawings, dated in the very early days of WWII, so some vehicle. At least someone had the good sense to save these drawings rather then toss them into the nearest Dumpster!

In the US the greatest problem with law enforcement is ignorance. Now before you get excited about that statement, my reference is in the level of knowledge regarding the motor vehicle code as it applies to classic or historic motor vehicles. The police academies here have little time to take a young man from being a civilian to a fully commissioned police officer. If you were to take a look at the laws he/she have to enforce, the volumes pile up higher than his head. Then take the court decisions that modify those laws, and then add the rules and special orders that are required knowledge. It is truly mind boggling. The end result is that the vast majority of the "street cops" have little knowledge of the special sections regarding your historic military vehicle. For example many states allow an owner to register an appropriately old vehicle, usually 25 to 30 years since manufacture, using a "military registration number" such as might be painted on a bumper or hull. The title and registration will probably list that number, however the owner has the option of displaying the issued "collector car" or "historic vehicle" plate(s) OR using the painted number for identification. This means that no officially issued plate need be displayed, but one is probably required to be carried in the vehicle to be displayed upon request. I know of one fellow with a well restored and equipped HUMV who regularly drives on and off a military post to pick up friends. The vehicle is NOT owned by the military, but because one HUMV looks like any other to the Department of Defense gate guards, he comes and goes at will. I suppose this is a dangerous tactic and the time could come where he and his HUMV might be parked in the impound lot. The best defense is a good offense, it is said. So arm your classic historic military vehicle with all the documentation necessary to satisfy an police officers' curiosity. At the minimum you probably already have your registration and insurance papers. Add to this a copy of your state's motor vehicle law section covering your vehicle, especially if you have a "no plates" option. If all your required safety equipment (brake lights, turn signals, etc.) are present and working, then that's a good thing. The worst thing a driver of a historic military vehicle can do if stopped by an officer "with an attitude" is to respond to his demeanor. You may well end up having to defend your position in court, and even worse, you might get your vehicle impounded. Another issue that is really unclear in many areas is the level of driver's license required when operating "big rigs". In some states if the vehicle has air brakes, then a commercial drivers license (CDL) is required. Some states either limit or exclude historically licensed big trucks from carrying anything but passengers - no cargo even if it's your lumber for your garage expansion. The bottom line is that you should know your vehicle and your laws, don't argue, and hope for the best! I have driven my Ferret over 6,000 miles in two states and have not been approached by an officer EXCEPT to take a look and enjoy seeing old military vehicles out on the road. My experiences in 38 years of law enforcement give me some background to comment on this, as my main tasks involved traffic enforcement and training police officers in accident investigation.

If yuo've followd this issue you know it all started over one man's attempt to license his newly purchased (from out of state) Ferret. Only one person in the chain of bureaucracy had a problem with it, and as the issue grew, he entrenched his position and refused to back down. Evantually he managed to convince his administrative head to issue a ridiculous policy banning armored vehicles. This broad brush was a bad idea because the State of Kansas usually has the power of review over such policies with a widespread impact. The signer of the policy had no idea what she was signing, and the amount of attention it would generate from the legislature. This is a bad thing for a bureaucrat, being proved to have issued an irresponsibly stupid policy. We believe that the current legislative bill will be withdrawn and a substitute bill introduced which will have far more reasonable language. We have to remember that military vehicle collectors are a rather small proportion of the public, and aside from our friends and family, no one really knows much about them. This education is what is going on now with the members of the Transportation Committee that will eventually pass a bill. They need to know that we are not screaming nut cases (we aren't, are we? ;-) and that our vehicles probably exceed the equipment and safety levels of almost all the 10-15 year old cars and trucks on the Kansas streets. This all goes back to the one petty mid-level bureaucrat who stepped way over the line marking his level of authority. He's had his pee-pee slapped, and should now slink into his cubicle and obscurity.

Here in the US some Ferret owners have very successfully replaced their fluid coupling seal with a double lip seal from John Deere. The seals were installed without pulling things out, just moving enough to have access to the seal. The seal materials are far better today then they were when the seal was first specified "way back when", and one would believe the "new" seal should last longer, and perhaps survive some abuse as well.