David Herbert

It is not impossible that it was a bad casting and that repair was done when it was new ! David

What on earth happened to the left hand one ? That is pretty comprehensively destroyed. Sherman ones are different depending on the engine instalation but the ones in the photo are not any kind of Sherman ones. I do not have any M18 books so can't look them up but air cleaners for radial engined Shermans (M4 & M4A1 and their derivatives) come with either a round or a square body (equivalent to the lower half of the ones in the photo) and a round oil pan that clamps up to the underside. Unlike the ones in the photo the mounting brackets are separate clamps that go all the way round the body of the air cleaner, not welded directly to it and there are two air pipe connections, inlet near the top and out below that, both about 4" diameter. The ones in the photo have louvres that let in the air to be filtered, the Sherman ones have a sloping top and no louvres. The round or square Sherman ones are mearly different manufacturers. Each factory would tend to use one type at any given time but they were both used from early on and are fully interchangeable. As I said I can't say if the ones in the photo are M18 (I guess the M18 in the background is a hint !) but they are not Sherman of any kind. It might help you to know that basicly similar air cleaners were used on large construction plant post war as they were a fairly standard commercial item. David

Or lowering the floor by two feet ! That way the authorities won't notice. The railway might be a problem though. David

Might the split charge system be the standard civilian Range Rover option for charging caravan batteries ? David PS: I am in the middle of changing a front suspension air bag on my 2005 RR L322. Not expensive at £72 inc VAT and P&P and would be quite an easy job if the two bolts holding the strut to the hub carrier had come out sensibly. They needed about 10 tons force as they are an exact fit in their holes and had rusted in. I have never had a vehicle that I have loved and hated alternately so much !

Other points of view are available..... David

I notice that the lower wishbone is much more substantial on the Saracen, is that standard ? David

As touched on earlier in this thread, you need to make anyone claiming that it is their long lost trailer provide evidence that it actually is their property. Otherwise what is to stop the local scrap man claiming it when they see the notices ? David

There is no question in my mind that transmission wind up is a major issue on hard surfaces. A WW2 Daimler Dingo has a similar H drive layout with both wheels on each side permanently coupled together and then independent suspension with tracta joints. It weighs only about 3 tons and in a straight line on a hard, flat surface can be pushed by two people. As soon as you try to turn you need about ten people to push it. Add two more wheels, more grippy tyres and a lot more weight and the extra drag is tremendous, hence the difference in driving on a firm but slippery surface vs a road. I totaly agree with all that 101 Ron wrote above. David

Remember that when the drive is disconected both the drive shaft, driven shaft and the coupling are still rotating at almost the same speed unless you get serious wheel spin with it disconected. On the road the difference in speed is only that caused by different circumferences on tyres and the different paths that the wheels take on corners. This is enough to cause huge stresses in the drive line on a hard surface but actually amounts to very little relative movement. The biggest problem is moving the modified muff coupling so that there is no load on the selector mechanism at either end of the movement and the actual bearing between the muff coupling and the mechanism is lubricated. You could have a spring to keep it either engaged or disengaged but then the bearing would be loaded the whole time it is in the opposite position. This works well enough with a conventional clutch but that only spends a short time with the bearing under load. David

I think that the reason for these studs is that if there were four plain bolts it would be possible to mount the wheel with the bolt heads not in the clearance holes in the wheel and the wheel still away fom the flange by the thickness of the bolt heads. With the single stud the wheel would be obviously not seated properly. David

Also different makes of the same size can be different overall diametersand very different tread widths. David

Ahh, sorry, I had thought that you had a much bigger one with four wheel drive and equal size tyres all round. My mistake ! As you only need to think about the two you have a fairly free choice. One option is the 12.00-20 bar grip tyres that Bedford MKs use. Part worn ones are pretty cheap and good for traction if you are actually pulling aircraft about, plus they are a little bigger so top speed is slightly greater - handy if you are trying to go somewhere. David

People do H licence courses for two reasons: The course should hopefully teach you to be tolerably safe driving on the public road and get you through the test too. If your primary interest is just to get the licence because you regard yourself as a competent, sensible and safe driver and you would like the official stamp of approval (a perfectly reasonable position IF you are the above) my advise would be to do it in a minidigger ! There is much less scope for things to go wrong, the tester will be familiar with the type of machine and the resulting licence is identical. I am the first to agree that it is a totally different skill set but if the object is just to get the licence I believe that is the simplest way. David

Not been mentioned so far is that traditional military cross ply tyres such as 11.00-20 are 100% profile so the overall diameter is 20" (the hole) + 11" + 11" (the extra radius of the hight of the tyre twice) = 42" An 11.00R20 is probably 80% profile (may be almost anything though, and should be marked) and that will be 20" + 8.8" + 8.8" = 37.6" diameter which is a bit different ! This results in a 13.82" difference in circumference or how far you go for one turn of the wheel. As your vehicle has four wheel drive you must have the same size wheels on all four corners or bad things will happen to the transmission. It is a bit hard to see how issues like speed rating and adhesion qualities are relevant to this application but not destroying prop shafts or diffs is in my opinion David

This is crazy, there must be some around even if you have to remove them from worn out rubber track. David

I bet you are not the first to have mangled a blast skirt that way. My sympathy though. At least the bolts that hold it on will undo easily ! Nice new tyre too ! David

Well done ! I am wondering though why the carb was so caked with carbon. This would suggest either ignition point before the inlet valves are shut or leaking inlet valves I think. David

Rather depressing but it might weld as those are not very stressed places. The damage must have been caused by ice or I suppose it is just possible that someone was using the two studs that screw into those bosses to pull the head off when it was stuck on its studs. David

I notice that both the photos of post war MWRs show a standard MW tow bar which was not fitted to MWRs when new. David

Try Joop Staaman in Holland. Link to his website on Milweb. David

I have a DIY grade Bosch POF500A router that I use as a die grinder (have a look on Ebay). I have both 1/4" and 6mm collets for it so can hold both router bits and grinding stones in it. There is a parallel section where it clamps into the router frame that is just right for clamping it to a lathe and the bearings are fine for light grinding. If anyone is thinking of using any kind of toolpost grinder on a lathe, do go to some lengths to stop the grinding dust getting on the bed in particular but also anywhere there are parts moving against each other - which on a lathe is pretty well everywhere ! Even the chuck will not be improved by a sprinkling of carburundum grit. David

I used to walk past Gregorys of Maidenhead on my way to school a long time ago ! (plate on tappet cover) David

I spent my early driving years driving left hand drive cars on the left side of the road in the UK. No real problem as long as you are sensible about it and have a decent size door mirror. I certainly wouldn't bother converting it to RHD. David

Hi Jon, I have just spoken to my contact that has recently restored a Morris and the reproduction plates he got were actually the lubrication plate that is fixed to the engine cover in the cab and the circular gear change instruction plate. No wiring diagram plate. Sorry for the confusion. Also he didn't think that he still had the seller's details so that is as much as I can tell you but someone here must know who it was that had the lube and gearchange plates reproduced. David

Not an answer to your question but someone was recently offering reproductions of the very impressive wiring diagram brass plate that is fixed to the engine cover in the cab. I am sure someone here would know who it was and if not I think I know someone that had one off him so should be able to find out. David