FridgeFreezer

You have a message :-D

Welcome! Got any Tatra 813's? :cool2:

I'm looking at a similar situation, but it seems you can register anything as long as you can find some sort of serial number on it and let the DVLA take a look at it. If you can't find a serial number they will even make one up & stamp it on for you.

Just a further thought on the 4WD thing (although I'll grant you it may be a bit late!) - the 2nd gen VW campers came in 4x4, as did Mk2 Golfs. Both I believe were called "Synchro". TBH if you stick some off-road tyres on it (BFG All Terrain are an excellent all rounder) it shouldn't have too much trouble.

There are numerous ways to achieve a bit of 4WD help without putting a full drivetrain in - for low speeds you could use simple hydrostatic or even (a-la bike engined kit cars) a starter motor & ring gear driving into a diff. Free-wheeling hubs for Land Rovers (£20-50 per pair) could be adapted to let you disengage any drive to the front once out of the water. Just a few ideas for the think wok.

This is excellent, I've seen far worse fabrication by people who have all the toys & should know better. Originality & history has its place, but so does just having fun! I couldn't be trusted with anything that needed preserving, like you I'd just want to drive it & use it, so the idea of just building a new one really appeals. Just a thought, but if you're going to swim it it may be worth looking at getting the body galvanised before you start throwing paint around. People dip Land Rover chassis & bulkheads for not much money, and it does postpone tinworm very effectively.

Well, most of this shouldn't be described as "scrap" but it's definitely in a yard and I reckon some of them are relics: All "spotted" like sitting ducks at PADH in Germany picking up Jez's Iveco Magirus Deutz 110-17AW seen in the background, and a lovely truck it is too. He even has a LWT Landy and a green goddess both going mouldy. The old Deutz & Merc fire engines he has are beautiful trucks (wood panel interior) we were both wishing we had a good reason to buy them.

Looks like I'm in Bulgaria for Christmas, where abouts are you?

I've just skimmed through this thread but thought I'd shed some light on "That slab site". It's an MOD tank training area, to include recovery of heavy vehicles off-road. A lot of Land Rover clubs etc. use it for play days, racing, challenges etc. There are loads of dead trucks, tanks/AFV's etc. in there but you are not allowed to touch them (when we run events we get in trouble if kids climb on them!). There are a couple of footpaths that run across it, and all the locals use it for dog walking etc. when the MOD aren't doing anything, so you're free to wander in & look around (just don't block the gate with your car, and don't park inside the gate if it's open as the ranger will just lock you in!) I know the AWDC (All Wheel Drive Club) run occasional "heavy" play days where you can bring anything (tanks regularly turn up) and drive it round. Those of you with vehicles weighing under 3.5 tonnes should be welcome to join & play with the Shire Land Rover Club which is local and regularly uses these sites (I'm a member so I'm biased ) - although they're a LR club they aren't snobbish and will allow anyone to join, you just get a bit more stick if you get a Jeep stuck than a LR :-D Those looking to have a play "off road" could do worse than run a green lane day across Salisbury Plain - the are loads of tracks which are legally public highway, although a map & GPS & a good knowledge of what's legal or not is strongly advised, as is contacting the range wardens in advance. If your vehicle is road legal there's no reason it can't be out there driving on the unmade public highway. Today's trivia fact is that Slab was used in the opening of a recent Bond film where he's in a hovercreaft being shot at / chased by Vietnamese(?) soldiers. Here's some photos & a video from a play day we ran at Slab. I wasn't really looking at the green stuff so a lot of it is a bit incidental... Something went wrong...

I'd say it's massively dependent on the individual vehicles. A lot of stuff people commonly do for economy on cars will likely make naff all difference on a big MV that's heavy, has massive transmission losses and the aerodynamics of a shed. Free-wheeling hubs are popular on Series Land Rovers yet I've never found anyone who has found they make a measurable difference to MPG. Just giving the thing a damn good service, adjust everything (tappets, fuelling, timing, etc.) will make a significant difference. Electric fans are good but realistically compared to the HP it takes to move 10 tons of steel about the place you're not going to see a great difference at the fuel pump. On wheeled vehicles, it's possible more modern style wheels & tyres would help lower rolling resistance significantly, although I'd be guessing people would want to put the pukka ones back on for shows etc. One thing that makes a difference for petrol engines (but could get me burned at the stake) is to fit fuel injection & electronic ignition (MegaSquirt & EDIS being my favourite as it's an open-source community project aimed at weird and wonderful vehicles), the difference between a carb & points is night & day. With a bit of care it may be possible to do it reasonably stealthily, retaining the original fixtures & fittings and hiding or disguising the new bits. As an example from the world of Land Rover, the same engine in three different guises: Rover 3.5 V8 in Defender (carbs, points, tuned for poor fuel, low compression): 100bhp & 10-12mpg In Range Rover, carbs & points, higher compression: 135bhp & 12-15mpg In Range Rover with old Lucas EFI & very basic electronic ignition: 165bhp & 15-18mpg For diesels, with a bit of care there's the usual options of bolting a turbo or two on (even low pressure), or running propane/LPG as a catalyst (you can run nitrous oxide but propane has a similar effect & is more readily available).

Welcome! I've just joined myself but work on Hayling. I'll have to keep an eye out for you - if you get waved at by someone in a blue Freelander or big red Land Rover 109 it'll be me (or a yellow Ibex, which is my boss!)

Cheers (again) Stone :bow: I don't think I can go MOT exempt as it really is "only" a truck in the eyes of the law - and frankly I'd rather have a ticket than not, if you've got it and don't need it then you're better off than the other way round.

I'm new here and not presently the owner of a HMV, but I do play with Land Rovers and the anoraks there are the same. I had a guy come up to me at a show and ask how big my tyres were. When I told him, he pulled a tape measure out and proudly reported back that I was 1/2" off :nut: - frankly, he's welcome to his tape measure and thermos. The fact is, the day anything leaves the factory is probably the last day it's original. From fluffy dice to make-do repairs, a lot of what makes a vehicle interesting or historic is the stuff that's done to it over the years. Dents, scratches, bullet holes, layers of paint, transplanted and modified bits - everything tells a story, and wiping it all out to put it back to factory seems a disservice to the history of the thing. A friend of a friend pulled a good one - the prototype Range Rovers (very rare & valuable if you like that sort of thing) all had a certain series of registration numbers (YVB 15xH), he had a hacked about Range Rover hybrid so phoned the DVLA and bought as a cherished plate the next number in the series (which was never used) and nailed it on. Anoraks were almost in tears when he took it to shows thinking he'd chopped up a long-lost prototype :rofl:

Right, after being cut off by the DVLA's automated phone system a few times I've managed to get through to a very helpful lady who talked me through the entire V55/5, so here's what she said: A lot of the grey areas she said I should either write a covering letter with the form or visit the local office and get their opinion. An awful lot of this seems to hinge on whether the vehicle is young enough to have been type approved, as that wipes out half the boxes in one swoop :-\ which I imagine would be the case for pretty much anything green & historic. Reg mark - blank (they will issue one) Tax class - (whatever you're going for, Private HGV in my case) Make / model - As it says on the tin Type of body / vehicle - Seems fairly free-form, others are registered as "agricultural", I'll probably put "flatbed" or something. Wheelplan - As it says on the tin Colour(s) - Green :-D Type approval - Not relevant due to age (1986), leave blank Variant - " Version - " Length - " HC - " Unladen weight - " Numer of seats - As it says on the tin Max net power - Not relevant due to age, leave blank. Permissible maximum towable mass of trailer braked/unbraked - Not relevant, leave blank. Width - " NOx - " Revenue weight - " Number of standing places - " Max permissible mass - " Power/weight ratio - " Date of original registration - As it says on the tin Date of UK registration - As it says on the tin Euro Status directive number - Not relevant, leave blank. Country vehicle imported from - As it says on the tin LHD/RHD - If you have to ask... Type of fuel - Multifuel seems to confuse them (she asked if it was dual fuel like petrol/LPG cars), I'm guessing they'll just go for "Diesel". VIN / Chassis number - She said if we can't find one the local office will issue one, we then need to MOT it on that number and then put the V55/5 in to get a reg plate. Engine number - Fill it in if there is one. Cylinder capacity - As it says on the tin CO2 - Not required, leave blank. Mass in service - " Particulates - " CO - " HC + NOx - " Trailer weight - " Stationary sound level - " Engine speed sound - " Drive by sound level - " Year of manufacture - As it says on the tin I even had a sensible answer from HMRC on the import duty form VAT414, which was basically "Fill in whatever bits you can & send it in, chances are there's nothing to pay as it's coming from inside the EU"

Well, I started with a Land Rover Series 3 which now has a 4.6 V8 and axles from a Volvo C303, so we don't do things by halves :cool2:

Stone - we've not measured but all the tech specs say 2.5m which is the same as any other modern truck on the roads. In fact, the dimensions (2.5m wide, 8.8m long) are the same as the average 8x4 tipper truck you see in motorway roadworks etc. so it shouldn't be an issue.

Cheers Stone, that's good to hear. The Maggie will become a family camper wagon (although I've no doubt it'll see some off-road action too), the Tatra will stay mostly as-is as a service bus and cr*p carrier. I'm hoping to stick a HIAB or Atlas crane on it, some very long range fuel tanks, and that's about it... although a button-leather interior with wing-back chairs and a bookcase had been discussed The Tatra is a late T813 "Kolos" - it's rather cool 8-) Yes you can carry an ISO container (the bed is 2.5m wide x 6m long) you'd need the locks and that's about it I think. There's loads of stuff on the web (data & pictures) if you have a google. Niels - I won't post details of where/who I'm buying the Tatra as we're still in discussions at the moment. It's currently stored on private land and doesn't look like it's been out much, the owner seemed to have bought a few various military vehicles and then not done much with them. They say they can register it for a day and drive it to the docks, which is all we need. We do have a plan B if that fails though

Hi guys, I was pointed here by John C as he said you are a helpful bunch:yay: so unfortunately I'm now going to ask a load of questions :??? Being the big kids we are, a mate and I are looking at importing a couple of trucks from Europe. One is a Magirus Deutz / Iveco 110-17 AW, which is German and being TuV plated to 7.5 tonnes, at least while we get it home. The other is a Tatra T813 Kolos, which is 14 tonnes unladen and 8x8. It's in Denmark, where they can't road register it but can buy a day's road tax to drive it about if they want. It has no documentation with it other than a receipt from the last seller, and the current owner is struggling to find a chassis or engine number on it (I suspect one too many layers of green paint). Now, we've got as far as form V55/5 and VAT414 from the DVLA/HMRC but quite frankly the number of boxes that need to be filled in, or not, is hurting our brains. Neither truck is especially military - they're green and used by the army but they aren't armoured, armed, tracked, or "officially" historic, so should both end up (we think) as Private HGV's, as we won't be hauling any goods and will just be using them for pratting about and overland travelling. They have tachos but, again, we believe the official line is that we don't need to use them for private use - can anyone confirm or deny? I'm wondering if any of you guys have any of the relevant info to hand from your own paperwork that you could share (feel free to PM me if you don't want to post it on the net). I'm somehow doubting the Tatra will have a certificate of conformity, and hoping that that means I don't need to fill in a lot of those boxes! :whistle: The Deutz should have a load of TuV paperwork as zee Germans are very good at that sort of thing I'll just put the stuff the DVLA ask on the form and hope someone recognises it, it's all written in bureaucrat speak anyway so even an explanation of what some of the terms mean would be appreciated. - Type Approval Number / category details (From Certificate of Conformity) - Variant (from CoC) - Version (from CoC) - HC (Hydrocarbon emissions) in g/km or g/kWh - Max Net Power (kW) from CoC - NOx (Nitrogen Oxide emissions) in g/km or g/kWh - Revenue weight (found it now, see "1" below) - Max permissible mass (whatever that means, point 14.1 of CoC, apparently) - Euro status directive number (I'm assuming this is Euro-n emissions and hence the Tatra won't have a rating) - Type of fuel (the tatra is multifuel, I'll probably just have to ask the DVLA what they want to see there!) - CO2 g/km (From CoC) - Mass in service (whatever that means) - Particulates (pm) g/km or g/kWh - CO g/km or g/kWh - HC & NOx g/km - Trailer weight (I'll have to call the DVLA on this one as I don't know if they mean maximum weight or what) - Stationary sound level (are you allowed to put "f***ing loud" on the form? ) - Engine speed sound level (from the CoC) - Drive-by sound level (from CoC) DVLA website reveals: 1 - Revenue weight: Goods vehicles are taxed according to their revenue weight. This is the confirmed maximum weight for vehicles that have to be plated and tested. For non-testable vehicles this will be the maximum weight at which a vehicle can lawfully be used. 2 - Reference is made to the maximum authorised mass (MAM) of vehicles and trailers. This should be taken to mean the permissible maximum weight, also known as gross vehicle weight. Maximum authorised mass (total weight of the vehicle plus the maximum load it can carry) determines the driving licence entitlement needed. If a vehicle has a maximum authorised mass which exceeds 3.5 tonnes but not 7.5 tonnes then a category C1 licence is needed; if the maximum authorised mass exceeds 7.5 tonnes then a category C licence is needed. So three names for the same thing, wonderful! It's point 14.1 of CoC, apparently. There is a lot of mention of SVA tests on the form, I'm hoping this would not be needed as it would be a right pain (and expense) and I suspect the Tatra would fail on the noise part if nothing else. Sorry for such a long winded 1st post, as and when I get some answers from the DVLA I'll post up for future reference. And, of course, if I manage to get the thing home I'll post some pictures and maybe even try to get to a few meets. John

Morning all, I thought I'd better pop my head round the door and say Hi. My name's John, I live in lovely Gosport, Hampshire, and for some reason I find myself looking to import a Tatra Kolos from Europe. I've been sent a big pile of paper by the DVLA & HMRC so expect some highly tedious questions very shortly :help: