David Herbert

I agree with all of the above but I would point out that Germany has had a requirement for some time that armoured vehicles have 'windows' cut in the frontal armour (which can be filled with sheet metal and disguised) so that the driver can be shot by a cop with a normal hand gun. This has only affected the UK if we need to export to Germany or to a lesser extent if we want to truck a vehicle through Germany. It has not soaked through to the rest of the EU (yet). I wonder how many times the German police have needed to shoot a driver ? Possibly we should give Germany the credit for causing the invention of the tank and the production of the majority of vehicles that users of this forum play with for fun. In fairness though the far right is a much bigger force in Germany and there are huge social pressures built up there that are hard to understand from the UK. David

I totally agree. I can see that towing could rip the dumb irons out of the chassis but the TOP flange of the chassis would be in compression, not tension and there seems not to have been any movement of the dumb iron within the chassis or loosening of the bolts. I think that this is fatigue cracking due to normal driving stresses and cold forming. David

Actually the limit is that the entire supply of air for combustion comes from a very high pressure cylinder. There is no way that a supercharger is going to produce those kinds of pressures and still leave much power to drive something. This engine produces the power that it does because it is only designed to run for about a minute and does not have to suck in air from the atmosphere and then compress it itself to produce self ignition. Having said that I expect that it would be most impressive to run it off a 250bar full size cylinder of air. It might need a prop to give it some work to do to stop it over speeding though. David Sorry everyone, this is a response to the last post on page one, I thought I was looking at page two !

Please tell us more ! David

64EK26, Yes they were as you say on DD amphibious tanks but the subject here is the inflatable decoy tanks, trucks and also aircraft that were used to pretend that the invasion force was other than where it actually was. There were also decoys made of canvas over very light frames, that could be erected quite quickly and flat packed (sort of) to allow easy transport. David

Hi Lewis, It would help if you filled in the location part of your profile (not just put it in a post). Then we would know what country and area you were in and you would be much more likely to get a response to this and future questions. Good luck with the rebuild. David

What an excellent summary Simon ! David

CVRT track has a single guide horn running between double road wheels. Pz2 track has double horns with a single wheel running between them. Not really convertible. David

As you say, this part of the chassis should not be under great stress, particularly if the bolts / rivets have not been loose. However the Goslings' J was cracked in almost the same place. I wonder if it could be a result of weakness caused by the manufacturing process ? And why only the LH chassis rail ? David

If you get them Lost Wax cast there won't be any machining other than cutting off the feeder and any vents. The originals would almost certainly have been precision sand cast with the pin holes cored exact size and not bored afterwards. That does result in very rapid initial wear as the high points wear down but speeds up production and reduces cost enormously. This is how British dry pin tracks were cast until we changed over to rubber bushed live tracks for Challenger II. Please, no one tell me that this can't be done, I have watched new Chieftain and Challenger I track being cast and watched the whole finishing process up to dipping short lengths of assembled track into bitumen paint. But it does require very close quality control and scale to do it properly so not really practical for a single vehicle set. David

Good grief ! There seems to be a huge variation in the price of these. I suspect that a show with a good autojumble might be the place to buy these reproductions if you are not in a desperate hurry. David

SWB series 1 Landrovers were only 80"wb until 1954. They then went to 86" wb which resulted in the rear edge of the cab doors to be vertical instead of sloping and the load area became 6" longer inside. In 1956 another 2" was added to make room for the diesel engine so the front axle and front cross member were moved forward. The resulting 88" wb was carried on into the series 2. I think the one in the photo is an 86" so built 1954 to 56. David

Unfortunately they are not a matching pair and are very rusty. David

Looks like the truck the Morris is on is in Japan though. David

Err, it's not water that they are selling guys ! David

I have a NOS Panzer IV track link if that helps..... I know the feeling, my Canadian Ram project started with an armoured filler cap cover. David

It does have the transverse rear spring though. David

AU is Austin and I think LK is Lockheed so Austin brake hose is probable but with no FV number showing I suspect it pre dates Champs and K9s. Others will correct me ! David

Russian real men ! Soft westerners wouldn't have even tried. It has got a manual gearbox which helps. David

Jon, I wondered how long it would be before you spotted it ! Simon, Are there not bolts (1/4" or 5/16") through the bottom ends of the hoops and the pockets they locate in? David

My feeling is that these were pretty reliable technology untill alternators came along and as long as they are set up right and not corroded inside should be fit and forget items. Certainly setting them up is often seen as a black art but if you follow the instructions to the letter they will work, often for the life of the vehicle. David

Simon, I think that the idea of the long hoops and extension pieces for the canvas was that you could have more headroom within the truck if you were not needing to be very mobile. The centre hoop could not be lengthened as it would overlap the wheel arch opening. Certainly you could use it as a tent (and there are photos of that being done with 8cwt tilts) but the radio instalation is very much built into the 15cwts and would then not be protected from the weather. This is a purpose built radio truck, not a GS truck with a radio. If the tilt were raised as I suggest the wooden planks that tie the hoops together would be useful in preventing the tilt blowing inwards . David

Hi Sigve, Your truck is amazing, my first MV was a Bedford MWR which I bought 48 years ago and was not remotely in as good a condition or as complete as yours. David

Hi Sigve, Is this truck in the condition it came out of the military or was it restored, say 30 years ago, and then left in the barn to mature ? Which ever it is, it is in remarkably good and complete condition, a great find ! David

Looks great but if it rains, any rain stopped by the windscreen runs down it onto your feet ! I am glad things have moved on ! David