rampant rivet

Never try to eat more than you can lift !!:nut:

Having lunch at work today and spotted these ------

Not strictly military but they do have four wheel drive :-)

Couple of carrots and friends for life

Being mugged at lunchtime :-D another great reason to live in the F.O.D. Cute eh ! make good eating too :shocked:

Groundhog day !! yes heres the other cill being done have just a couple of more small patches to do and thats it all the tin worm is sorted

this side seemed to have suffered more from rot but still salvable.

I think this conversasion is going off topic :-D

The closest I think I got to know the shaft where the jeeps are tipped end on is somewhere near the forestry school at Coalway what d'reckon ??? even if they are there by now they will be as rotten as old baked bean cans, did you see any of the ammo box,s etc they pulled out of the shaft on the British :shocked:

What you want in a couple of years time is a lovely fully restored Austin Champ and I just might know where you could find one, failing that I met a bloke in a pub who told me that his mates uncle told him about all these old jeeps that got chucked down some old mine shaft locally think you may have a similar story :nut: but seriously did I tell you about the half buried jeep I found in some woods nr Redbrook well it all started at the old North Nibbly steam rally years ago I was talking to ..................................................

Yes I was lucky in 1993 to find my GPW I think I paid £1400 which was a lot of money at the time for a jeep with no brakes, no floor and no exhaust but then jeeps were fetching around the 4K mark have you thought of buying a project vehicle there are still some nice ones coming in from the states now and again lots of people doing spares though I think that good original engine blocks are getting thin on the ground now.

Go on you know you want to do it :cool2:

Thats the problem as long as bank interest rates remain low I am afraid that jeeps in particular are looked upon as good investments due to their year on year appreciation, I,m glad I bought mine nearly 20yrs ago even then I could only afford a project vehicle and had to rebuild it myself which was the start of a slippery slope !! even the Norton which I found when I was 19 came in a tea chest and that took untill 2003 before I got around to putting it on the road :-D

I have a spare Champ with chassis No. 78BE44 with the MTRS No. B269 dated 4 / 57 if thats of any help to you.

RR

Hey Bob

When you gonna get yourself a military vehicle then ??? :cool2:

hahaha I'm gonna upset the Gipsy fans on here now cos half of whatever people were paying, would have been way too much to pay for a Gipsy! ...hahahah..

I'm only having a laugh but I do have to say.........

I came across a few Gipsys now and then in my days back in the 80s and 90s messing about with the AWDC and also in normal road use and I gotta say I thought they were awful vehicles...heavy , slow , not particularly good looking.....pretty rubbish off road.....and ....they rotted for fun....

...in fact....

....about the same as an Austin Champ! (ooooer! christ! thats gone and done it now! :-X)

mind you..........I am a an absolute died in the wool Jeep and Series One Landrover fanatic so I'm honour bound to fuel the old Landrover v Jeep v Gipsy v Champ debate ....

and..having said all of that....

..... we can't all like the same things and life would be pretty dull if we did so its nice to see them surviving

so .....where d'you all reckon they've got the brand new Jeeps stashed then ?? hahah!

I think that RR B40 crated replacement engines had these fitted, open it up and have a look, found one on my Champ and inside was the original "passport" showing when it was built with two inspectors signatures a real time capsule, maybe you'll be lucky and find one in yours. NB had to use some persuasion to get the lid off but it was worth the effort, regarding my tinwork I treat any rust with "Genolite" a rust treatment goo, but mostly the best way is to cut out the bad bits and replace with new material, apart from the cills which I replaced with repair panels that I got by trading a rear hub for most repairs are simple flat panels.

The most damage caused to my Champ was caused by a mouse making its nest in the rear winch well which has proved the most difficult and time consuming to restore darn that mouse !!!

Am restoring a 1952 Austin Champ at present and would like to mark the vehicle up to represent a champ as used by the wiltshire regiment circa 1952--55 as my wifes Grandfather served with them during and after WWII any help gratefully recieved.

RR.

Another day spent cutting ,welding and grindin, Mrs T made good progress on the bulkhead and managed to get a coat of primer on by hometime.

more sanding !! polycarbinate disc makes short work of paint.

Quick coat of primer.

Damage caused by mice making their home in the winch well !!!!

Enjoyed herself so much she's spending Sunday working on it too.

Lots of cutting welding and grinding today, sorted plates for rear seat,

Even Mrs T spent the day with me prepping the front body section

busy bee.

Couple more hours this eve on more tin worm darn stuff gets everywhere

floor rot

inner wing / rear seat mount rot both stiffner plates rotten will be replaced tomo.

no luck yet with any info

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO new toys ! ta for txt on champ engines I think mine had an early engine when built but now has RR unit, still hav'nt got round to using oiler yet as lots of tin worm to sort big push on bodywork this wkend even mrs T is lending a hand friday.

Am restoring Champ 05BE56 at the mo and as it is part owned by my wife Caroline I would like to mark the vehicle up in Memory of Carolines grandfather who served with the wilts regiment during and post WWII.

Can anyone tell me what markings a champ from around 1952--55 would carry when in service with this regiment ?

Thanks RR.

Sorry mate no chance to play with the twins will have a go on weds night as I,ll only get a few hrs tinker time I.ll have a go then, many thanks for lending me the super shiny one, did you get to autojumble sat ?

Nuther day working on the Champ thing replaced one of the cills today what a state even the inner cill was rotten started by cutting out the rot

eek!

just a bit of rust !!

Had to fabricate an inner cill

inner cill now for outer

tack welded

Gorilla welding ugly but strong !!

bit of grinding luvly

now for the next, time for a cuppa tea me thinks

Will try oil application by Andy MK 1/2 tomo :cool2:

I,m not sure wether to tow that old trailer of mine to the workshop as it may disintergrate on the way and I,ll have nothing left to restore :-D must sort new tyre first.

Many thanks for cover will come in usefull when I have rebuilt the poor old thing your trailer is in a lot better cond than mine :shocked:

Glad you got on ok with DC I think he will be a great help to you and your restorations like I said more landys than you can shake a stick at.:shocked: must remember to pick up those odd champ bits the next time I call by.

RR it is all relative as you have an aim and timeline. The vehicles are always Works in Progress unless you are a Rivet Counter.

 

I think what you are doing is great and the quality and transformation speak leaps!

 

After June you can always revisit some parts you didn't remove and make a judgement call on what you do I guess.

 

Did you get my reply about meeting DC.......

 

PM if you prefer etc................

 

Champ looking good indeed :-D