ackack

Don't galvanise or zinc plate the tank if it is for diesel as it will react over a period of time. It is ok for petrol though.

Wasn't there one of these at Rush Green with the top cut down abit? It was a light reconnaissance car but can't remember if it was Morris or Humber.

If you think the 9.00 x 16 tyres are heavy think about the poor souls who used to get a 10.50 x 20 up on the top of the Chevy Quads!

Incidently if it should have had runflats then there would be no spare.

Has anyone got any internal photos of their wireless/light-warning bodies?

Yes size and length of hoses is very important, bigger and shorter the better.

Incidently I use a Hydrovane road compressor with a 4 cylinder Perkins for air for my shot blasting cabinet, and a 6 cylinder Ford driving a bigger Hydrovane with a huge tank for my blasting pot which I use in a 27' lorry back. Air supply is adequate I certainly wouldn't like to have less. Get as much as you can afford. You won't need anywhere as much air for paint spraying.

Try your local scrap yard. Ours often has stuff like this for peanuts, 3 phase equipment is not in demand like single phase.

I like the colours, they look authentic, it would be a shame to repaint it. SCC2 brown was indeed very common, I also agree that OD would have been mainly used on new vehicles and then if only frontline, and black disruptive was being phased out towards the end of 44.

Wireless sets would not have been carried in the Light Warning bodied trucks, they would have served no purpose.

Always wanted to go onto a sewing forum and start a new thread!!!

Anyone else got any forum jokes?

First 2 pictures and many more are to be found in the excellent published years ago "Dieppe Through The Lens" including Churchills destroyed on the beaches. The shingle made it virtually impossible for the vehicles to make it onto hard ground.

I have looked through my very comprehensive list of radar systems and have come up with one very likely radar type.

It is the Inter-Service Lightweight Warning Set, known as the AMES type 6 in RAF use and the Radar, AA, No4 Mk2 or 3 in Army Anti-Aircraft use.

This is the basic specification;

Vehicle type mounted in 15cwt truck, into action in 10 minutes. Weight including truck 3.1/7 tons.

Portable type mounted on tubular framework in tent, into action in 2 hours. Weight 1.1/3 tons.

Mk2's were the preliminary rush-job. Few were handmade for North Africa landings, 13 were built by October 1942.

Mk3 was the production model, 993 equipments produced in 1943-44.

Wide distribution to dominions and allies including USSR.

Data for"putting-on" (first detection of enemy aircraft and getting info such as bearing, elevation and range) sent by telephone to the gun-laying radar( the system that sends very accurate information to the guns via a predictor) typically a No3 Mk2.

Power supply normally Douglas 350cc petrol engine drivng 3.1/4 kVA alternator, giving 80V at 2000c/s, and DC generator giving 29V at 350W.

IFF Mk3 (Identification Friend or Foe) was also fitted with vertical radiators (aerials), separate T and R, using the A-scope for display.

System technical spec;

Frequency : 176-212 MHz (1.42-1.7m)

Max range : 50 miles

Peak power : 100 kW

Pulse width : 2us

Pulse repetition : 400

Accuracy : Range +/- 1000yds, Bearing +/- 2deg

number of operators : 2

Aerial : common TR, 4 horizontal Yagi's spaced 2x2 giving

3-dimensional arraywith 4 directors each. Upper and lower pairs

of Yagis may be fed in phase or anti-phase for gap-filling or to

give height indications at 90deg and 15deg. Manual rotation of

array to paint PPI, or motor driven at 4rpm. (PPI is Plan Position

Indicator and is the commonly known type where a straight

line from the centre of the tube revolves and any aircraft seen are

displayed as dots which slowly fade)

Display types : PPI and A-scope (the type found on an oscilloscope)

I have not yet found any drawings or photos of the equipment.

Hope you find this useful

I have recently acquired a 1952 Sentinel 2 ton 4 wheel trailer with a body type "caravan".

Has anyone else got one.

Yes and myself included!

There is a photo of loads of these awaiting disposal at Woolwich on the Canadian Register homepage;

http://www.canadianregister.co.uk

We have a couple of Cranes 7.5 ton recovery trailers in the yard, they will need a lot of work though and where you can you get 10.50 x 13 tyres?

Well you seem to be making a good job so far, presume it will be finished ready for next season?

I've had a look can't find any 16" wheels.

What you need is one of these to split your tyres. I can split a rusty 1400 x 20 in a couple of minutes.

Be wary of using the 10.50 x 13 wheels as it is very difficult to get tyres. They are used on the Cranes 7.5 ton recovery trailer and others and we couldn't find any good ones.

We have 2 trailers if anyone is interested.

Here are some pics of the 20 ton 16-wheel by Multiwheeler, just look at that complicated steering system! Also may be for sale.

What's the previous thread about Rame Head ?

Yes, that's the sort but they will need to be 8-stud looking at a previous photo.

I'll have a look but I think I've only got 10.50 x 20's and they're are a bit rough.

Have you found out what the original colour was, mine were BS381 shade 499 Service Brown previously known as SCC2.

Trailer type "R" is possibly receiver, and is most probably a radar receiver. Early to mid war radar systems had separate receivers and transmitters mounted on trailers. The transmitter trailer was a type "T". However later systems were combined so "R" could just stand for radar.

These were made by most manufacturers including Dyson, Brockhouse, Tasker and Scammell. Because they were so busy I wouldn't be surprised if Dyson supplied some chassis to be kitted out with bodies under the Brockhouse contract. Be carefull though I have found mistakes in the 1944 B-vehicle census book!

Both of my trailers were built by Taskers, but bodies were built by Metro-Cammell.

Haven't been able to find out which radar system yours had yet, many were fitted to larger 5 ton, 4-wheeled.

can't quite read the writing, is there a contract number?

Here is one well known survivor

I can't be sure yet but I suspect that the small trailer is ex-searchlight. There were many variations and manufacturers. Will try to dig out some photos of survivors. Most of these early light wartime trailers ran on WD split rims, but most of the larger stuff was commercial pattern, this enabled 2 tyres to mounted back to back as they are on my No3 Mk2 radar trailer. My tyres are 36" x 8" HP tyres, there are 6 and the trailers weighs 9.5 tons!

My trailer is made from 8" x 3" and 6" x 3" channel making it very heavy.

The round hole in the middle, are there any fixing holes in this? I think it is probably to allow something to protrude below the bed perhaps electrical connections/sliprings etc. rather than a central pivot point.

Most wartime trailers would have had a brass ID plate front nearside, look for screw/rivet holes. Braking systems on wartime trailers were very simple, cable braking early years, then air-assisted came in later especially with heavier types. Look for evidence of cables/ air pipes etc. Also a handbrake was usually fitted.

Looks like the larger trailer should have 16 wheels again these would have been commercial pattern. The bed doesn't look original and seems much lighter construction than the axles. The jacks appear to be for supporting the trailer whilst loading not for levelling during use as in radar/searchlight trailers, these are normally very complicated screw jacks.

We have a 20 ton 16-wheeler trailer by Multiwheeler (also made by SMT) in our yard and that has a slight step frame towards the front. This was designed to carry plant or small tanks at a push. This runs on 29" x 8" tyres.

Can we see some more photos, also some dimensions would be usefull such as track, wheelbase, bed sizes, height above ground etc.

Most of the trailers in army use seem to be well documented, those in RAF and RN less so.

Don't forget Dyson and Taskers have been around for years and made thousands of trailers during peacetime so it might be very difficult to find much more information.

Try rubbing down the paint on different parts to see if they match, i.e. axles, wheels, springs, bed etc.

Where is this yard in Staffordshire mentioned earlier ?

What is the thread about the radar restoration?

Seem to remember at least one Antar at Rush Green. They kept saying "Did you see the Antar? No, where is it?", eventually we found it, so much stuff there it was easy to miss!!!

Can't wait to hear the good news...

It would be excellent if they were still there.