gas 44

Evening I know the truck in question, it is an ex Royal Engineers 20 ton ballast tractor, I presume it was purchased off Richard Wilson from Turboventure. At one point in its recent civilian life it belonged to a friend of mine on Oldham, Lancashire. It was built with a Meadows petrol engine but at some point had a Leyland 680 diesel fitted. The rear canopy was added when in the ownership of my friend, to provide covered accommodation during the Normandy 94 tour.

The wide front bumper is not original and was also added during its civilian life, in my opinion it is hideous and should be removed as soon as possible !

I also owned the exact same model for a number of years which had the original petrol engine fitted, when I sold it the new owner also fitted a Leyland 680.

First of all thansk to everyone for their input.

Antar if I may turn to you. Thats just the type of input I was looking for re the recent history. Also correct on the bumber !!! May I ask how you are sure this was a ballast tractor,looking at NOS listing is it possible that it could be a gun tractor ? Was the fuel tank fitted to the passanger side at a later date ?

One last but realy stupid question,how do you turn the lights on.

Thanks again to all.

^{Not quite a boot find, but a sweet old lady knocked on our door over the weekend and asked if we would like an old tent , bed, and cooker that belonged to her dad, to go with our truck.. She also showed a photo of her family using the tent in 1933. She said it was last used in 1938 !}

^{also with was a great letter from a London chemist , handwritten, with the formula for making your own waterproofing mixture.. Lots of chemicals including red lead and alum...}

^{Tent came with all the original pegs and ropes... Great bit of history}

 

I thought she would have repaired that bed before dumping it on you.

Good evening,

Its not mine, but the other half of "GAS 44"

He has brought a 1955 Scammell constructor military spec. I'll be involded one way or another, at this stage just after a bit of background really.

What was this model Scammell designed/used for.

Im also trying to trace a little of its recent history. He purchased it from Newcastle. By the stickers/plaques it seems to have been up that way for a few years. It done the Normandy trip in "94" and also Arnhem. Its been to Bethune in (I think) 96/97.

The rear had had quite a crude "camper conversion" and the engine is a Leyland desiel. It starts stops and seems not too bad condition.

Does anybody have any Instruction manuel for these.

Thanks in advance

For general parts in this country I would use Dallas Autos near Newbury or Universal Jeep supplies in Surrey.

Both companies I have found very helpful.

One or two others I would steer away from,but like most of us you will learn !!!!!

Good luck in you project.

Shame it sure beat driving two hours to find that the event had nothing to offer other than clothes :-(

I dont think "we" have woke up yet, these shows aint for us they aint for the traders they are the organizer trying to squeeze every last penny from the show goer.

The Malvern (november) show is always good why on earth is there a need for another show in September.....beats me.

So going by all the info in this thread, nearly all of the pre 1960 mv's (over 3.5t) are infact running on the road are illegal.

Of course I may be wrong, but I cant remember the last time I saw a,lets say CCKW that was truley unladen.

Now a question, do people form a load ? I mean for example in the rear of a vehicle.

Thats a nice looking radio Peter, well done

Gary.

PS hope you are well.

i didn,t chose bec i had to. w&p moved and my green army tent and all other nessesary items was stored in a container at Paddoc Wood so i had to bring it back to sweden since i didnt had any storage in folkstone area.[ATTACH=CONFIG]80932[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]80933[/ATTACH]

I'm glad you noticed W&P had moved.....correct closer to you and further from us......

I found the toilets near to me excellent. Perhaps it depended on what time of day people visited.

I did speak to a very nice lady who was part of the team cleaning toilets in the permenant buildings near the arena. She did every one every 2 hours and she said that every time it looked as if they hadn't been cleaned for weeks.

Perhaps we are all the guilty parties

OK lets talk toilets.......please do not include me in the " perhaps we are all the guilty parties" group cos we aint.

This is the problem, there is just not enough of them, simple.

I must admit that they were much better that before,so well done Rex and co. BUT there still needs to be at least double the amount, but we all know thats not going to happen cos good bogs costs lots of money.

I was the top end of kitcheners and there were no toilets up there, so if you were camping and needed relief during the night a long walk was needed. OR much more likely a p** in the hedge.

Re toilet paper, I'm used to French campsites, as the norm there is no paper supplied,its take your own so there is NO paper all over the floor.

BTW can anybody please explain what angle you would need to be at to get sh*t up the walls........I dispare at mankind.

You have made a very good point thankyou. IF your vehicle is infact ex-mil or UN that's fine as I said before.

The point I was making if you read correctly was people simply marking up a vehicle just to get in cheap.

I can tell you what was on my form

Military Vehicle 1944 Ford GPW

Military Vehicle 1944 Dodge WC 51

Support Vehicle Motorhome,or camper (as W&P describe it)

My Motorhome was covered and cammo'd up and I will tell you this whilst other people treat the toilets and shower's like pigstyes I will ALWAYS take my motorhome, along with a genuine ex-miltary vehicle.

You also say you have to travel 1200km...infact you dont have to....you choose to.

Wasn't this previously posted by Johnny Loot?

Your right of course.......BUT another chance if you missed it to see how to enjoy youself with a jeep rather than count rivets and look for the "F" bolts.

I loved it the 1st time and loved it again.

Thanks for posting Tony.

excellent reason to be a member of a Military Vehicle forum...

My post was in jest..........

There was NO offence meant,just some light hearted humour. Hence the smillies.

As promised an update.

Well Degsy wins the gold medal. there was infact too much liquid in the cells. Completed 120 miles this weekend and NO problems. Thanks for ALL the input.

I think that when a problem is solved is important not only to report the solution but to thank everyone who contributed.

Sitting here reading this thread,my wife shouts to me "what's making you laugh so much"

I then explained that when my dear old dad had one of "those" talks with me as a youngster he told me,

"Son, if ever you find yourself wanting down in the marriage tackle area :undecided: take heart. When others start boosting you can always move the conversation away by telling people all the toys you have, have had, or intent to get"

I never really unstood (at that time) what he meant but since have found out........,

I'm proud to say I am the owner of a pushbike :-):-):-):-)

Ok couple of quick checks revealed that with engine at about normal road speed, voltage at battery reads 7.6v. I would have thaought that was ok.

However after checking the level it was infact too hi. :blush: i remember topping it up a couple of months ago:blush:.

Seems level in these 6 volt batteries charged with genorator and reg box is more critical than 12 volt charged from an alternator.

I will report back after a run or two, but in the mean time thanks for all the input.

If the battery is overfilled this problem will occur, the electrolyte should just cover the top of the plates.

Thankyou, I had not thought of that one Degsy. I will check that later.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far.

my gut feeling would be gassing as there is no loss of liquid when standing and No sign of leaks.

Interestingly there seems NO marks on the battery its self,just the surrounding metal work. (the post are spotless and dry)

As a matter of interest what should be the upper limit of voltage be when running.

LOL, that was my first thought.

But I have had a good look and can see no leaks. IF the jeep sits there for say 2 weeks there is no problem.

Its more noticable after a good run and sat say overnight.

As the title suggests, seem to have a bit of a problem.

6 volt, jeep.

After a longish run I keep getting the white oxidisation (white powder) around the battery area. It seems to be getting worse.

I had cleaned the area but after a run yesterday of about 60 miles and checking under the hood today its back again.

Seems to be charging ok but could it be over charging ?

It seems to start on the stud from the top battery frame and then move down,I can now see it on the inner wing.

Any suggestions please.

I had long ago stopped commenting on this sort of thread, but there is only so much smugness, arrogance and even downright rudeness a guy can take. Brace yourselves people, this may come as a shock to some of you.

 

Owning a military vehicle does not make you any better, more special or more important than anybody else. You can't decide what members of the public should or should not see at the W&PR because - and here's the clincher - you are members of the public, you just own an ex-military vehicle (or don't)!

 

If you don't want to see civvie vehicles, disguised or otherwise, at a show then organise your own show and tell the owners of them that they are not welcome. That way you can sit in a cloud of your own sense of self importance while you pat yourself on the back for being so immeasurably greater than the rest of the world, who will no doubt stay away in droves.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Rex organises the show, and if he either doesn't care or chooses to ignore it then thats good enough for me and it should be good enough for you. I'm sure he would extend the same courtesy to you and me were we to organise an event (which we won't of course, because it's bloody hard work).

Ok I'll run with this too.

At NO stage have I suggested that MV owners are any better (if you think thats the case get yourself down to specsavers)

I am not deciding what MOP should or should not see.

I have also not said that I dont want to see civvy vehicles.

Please read my first post and if possible try to understand the plain english.

Another member brought the cost issue to the party, to which I commented on,if you can please read the 2 (two) questions I asked after that post.

The other member and I have pm'd....kissed and made up

nowhere in the name of the show does it say 'military vehicle show' it does however mention peace..

lol..

Well, for me the main reason is financially.

 

No Idea if my car was a military one, probably not.

But neither was on this show AFAIK, the Carden Lloyd carrier (replica), Armored Jeep (converted civvie), a few Replica German vehicles, the Technical in Living History, and many many more.

 

As said I do agree there are way to many civvie cars, some who don't even look like MV's.

I at least tried to make it look like a UN vehicle.

 

But again, why just target me? Because I defend myself?

Why not go after the officials on wrong vehicles? Because their not here or dare to speak out?

 

How many Green caravans or motorhomes were military? Why not go on about that?

Some were still white with a camonet, way more out of place than my little car.

I will ask my second question again, how did you describe your vehicle on the entry form ( remember you have said that its probably NOT an MV)

Again I did not target you, I made a broad statement re civvy cars, you brought the money side to the party.

How is it not fair on others?

Adrian, I have too much respect for you.

I believe that you understand what I am saying but incase anyone is not clear I will repeat it.

IF THE VEHICLE IS REALLY EX-MIL,REPRODUCTION (WITHIN CONTEXT) TRULY EX UN THEN NO PROBLEM.

However if o/d paint,stickers or badge's are applied to gain cheap camping/entrance then shame on you.

When I fill my entry form I tell the truth. Ok this year it was just one of those "orrible see every where jeeps" .But it is ex mil 1944.

So its basically about money and not the vehicle itself.

Clear.

 

Still, for the 3rd time; I pay the same as for the other participants.

Olaf, you are the one making this about money.

I will ask you two questions

1, is your vehicle that you took to W&P this year an ex military one ?

2, On the entry form that we all fill in how did you describe your vehicle ?

I understand you paid the same, but you paid the same as some one who went to the trouble of bringing a military vehicle.

My first post on this subject only mentioned that I was shocked the amount of civvy vehicles there posing as MV's which some were.

I dont see the problem with that type of vehicle, if the displayed vehicle was actually used by the military. BRIXMIS used Opel Senators and a variety of low key vehicles while "spying" on East German activities, and I drove an LDV minibus at Brize Norton on "Guard Commander" duties, fun at 2 AM seeing how fast I could change guard shifts!! holds more interest to me than line after line of jeeps.

Just the point i was making. There is no issue with real ex mil vehicle of any type in my book.

What I said was I was supprised at the amount of civvy vehicles that attended. I was at the back of Kitcheners field and by friday night I was surrounded by for example....Ford Focus, VW Golf I could go on. If these vehicles are used to transport true ex-mil vehicles or even kit to a degree OK. BUT when they are used just as method to get cheap camping and entry I for one dont think its right and not fair on others who have made the effort.

I would be interested in what they filled in on the entry form.