TooTallMike

It's a 1994 Cummins C series Turbodiesel. Approx. 220hp from 8.3litres. I rebuilt it with majority new or re-con components so it's basically an almost new engine. I chose it because it was the largest American engine which would fit straight in the hole without having to cut or modify the truck. As can be seen from the photo there's 5mm of clearance between the crankshaft damper pulley and the front crossmember. Just enough space to get the accessory drive belt in and out! I wanted an American engine because the bellhousings are SAE which makes the conversion so much easier as they will go straight on the original gearboxes. It also makes clutches and pressure plates much easier to source. Time will tell whether the transmission will take the extra power (100+hp extra) and I'm having issues with the clutch dragging but I now have about 1500 miles on the engine and I'm still smiling :-)

I dipped the tank this evening and worked out I got nearly 12.5mpg on the way home without all the stopping and starting. It would have been even better if I'd cruised just a bit slower but I was anxious to get home before the heavens opened :roll: I'm seeing more and more diesel conversions on the rally scene - some better than others (both in terms of choice of engine and quality of installation). Perhaps that's the niche I should be going for :whistle:

Thank you Tim (too). I'm ashamed to admit that the only pic I took the entire day was of my own truck. We spent a long time crawling under and around the Daimler comparing it with the near-identical AECo 'Y' type bus that my friend is doing up. I really liked the way the Daimler had been restored: the work had been done sympathetically using as much of the original as possible. Non-structural corroded metal parts had been cleaned and painted but not filled so the old pitting shows through, and the woodwork which had been bashed and chipped is just sealed and painted leaving the war wounds showing. The restoration perfectly captures the essence of a hard worked old truck.

If you present a recovery vehicle for voluntary testing what do they test it as? Do they just treat it as they would a truck of the same age?

Grumpy, Thanks for all the info. I find this whole thing fascinating as the legislation is just not designed with us in mind. I've quoted part of your post above here. I don't consider that to apply to me as the Ward is registered as Historic not as a Recovery although that IS it's body type on the V5. I think I remember that you tow a trailer? so is your Militant plated? What are you going to do about the 'O' licence? As regards mine, my train of logic goes like this: Truck is exempt from plating because: 1. it's Historic (which supersedes all other categories) 2. if I turn up at a test station to get it plated, what are they going to test it as? It's a recovery truck and therefore exempt 3. it's not carrying any load and is therefore acting as a heavy motor car, or a heavy locomotive if towing a trailer (like a ballast tractor) I think I'm going to take the truck to our local test station and see what they say. Mark - a pre-1960 trailer is still only exempt from plating if you aren't carrying a load. The moment you put anything on it, it has to be tested. I'd say the grey area is in the tow vehicle.

Was that an 80.5t weight limit on that bridge??? :schocked: Does the extra 0.5 make that much difference?

Looks like you all had fun and I'm sorry I missed it. I particularly liked the shot of the jumping jeep :tup: I know you're all still recovering and it's early days yet, but if there's going to be a repeat performance next year can the date be decided a bit earlier so more of us can come and play :-D

We did the London to Brighton Run yesterday with the Peterbilt tractor unit and my WLF. I used 25 litres of diesel from the farm to B'ton seafront which works out as approx. 10mpg. I'm very pleased with that, especially as it was a stop-start route on country lanes and through villages. We came back up the motorway cruising at a comfortable 40 mph, including steaming up Handcross Hill in top gear. I lurve diesels! Other MVs included an Austin K9, Tilly, swb S1 LR, Dodge WC, Scammell Pioneer gun tractor and my star of the show - a solid tyred 1914 Daimler 'Y' type lorry in WD colours. There were a lot of other interesting vehicles there including a solid tyred Pierce Arrow with a van body which may have been a former liberty truck. There was also an Austin A35 painted up as the 'Anti-Pesto SWAT team' van from Wallace and Gromit's Curse of the Were Rabbit. I'd have liked to have been in Salisbury but it was a good show nonetheless.

Well, I had fun driving an unregistered & untaxed vehicle on the road to and from the MoT station. Got a lot of looks including from drivers of sports cars. It goes well but there are some carb issues to deal with. Also charging and a few other bits and pieces. MoT was easy and there were no advisories or problems. Now I just have to do jump through the DVLA bureacracy cr@p to get it registered which I'm not looking forward to.

That's really cool. You'll never lose it in a car park :-)

I've got an MoT!!! :banana: :clap: :beer: :yay: 8-) Details to follow...

Grumpy, I'm looking at buying a drawbar trailer for my Ward to transport a CVRT. I accept the trailer will have to be plated and tested but I was under the strong impression the truck didn't need to be because as body type 'recovery' it is exempt even when used as a heavy locomotive. I thought I would also remain exempt from the new 'O' licence regs because I'm private (like a Private HGV). My truck is also exempt testing because of its age if not towing a trailer. Have I made a boo boo? - Mike

Friday's good for me. We can leave the CVRT(s) in there for the drive-round afterwards.

Mark, Any progress on this? Thought of another problem for you (sorry :roll:): An M52 is a 5-ton tractor unit. That means the plate in the cab will say 5 tons on road (tractor unit payload). Now we all know that a military 5-ton rating means it's actually good for 25 tons, but VOSA will only plate and test it based on what it says on the data plate. You'd have to do gawd knows what to get it up-rated. Also, talking to the guys at our yard the general consensus is you'll have real hassle with getting the air-assisted hydraulic braking system through a test.

The Halftrack pictured in the Beltring arena is one of ours!

Cranes are much more useful than big boxes anyway. And if you want to sleep on it you just swing the booms apart and sling a hammock in between. 8-) :sleep: It certainly is a big project but I wouldn't be daunted by the physical side of doing it: it's well within the capacity of my mechanical and bodywork skills - in fact I'd love to take it on. The problem is the strip-down and rebuild would have to be done in a shed, which I don't have, and would occupy that shed for maybe 2 or 3 years. :-( Doing a chassis up rebuild outdoors would be a nightmare - I know, I've been involved in comparable projects and it's two steps forward and one back. A project of this magnitude would have to be done in the dry or it would never get done. :roll:

'If' I were to keep it, I'd get hold of the box body off a GMC or M series workshop truck or trailer and convert that to represent the original. The dimensions and profiles are similar enough and it would save a huge amount of work.

Is that a crane I can see peeping out from the back? You can't go wrong with a tow truck :-) I like the way it looks without the front wings.

The rear end of the chassis has been shortened by some 5' to accomodate the crane, but the original rear crossmembers have been re-used which is very handy! They had also used the front end of the original body to make a tool box similar to that found on the pontoon tractors. It looks very much like the paint on the rear of the cab and front of the box is the original grey. Interestingly, whoever converted it to a wrecker didn't install a pto for the crane so it must have been operated manually :shake:

Now the most important bit of news: This is not a 5-tonne Pontoon tractor. That would have been exciting enough as there are only three known of in the world. This is in fact a 5-ton K31 radio van. Almost certainly one of only... one in the world :-D :-D :-D There was some debate about it as the Tankograd book states that the radio vans were not equipped with a front winch, but this winch is original. Other clues as to its true identity are that there is a chassis-mounted tool box, the remains of the radio body floor, crossmembers, side members, wheel arches and vertical front end, including a 1943 York Hoover data plate, brass earthing strips along the chassis and under the old body, and today we found the data plate in the cab giving the relevant TM numbers for this vehicle - the radio van TMs! Now waiting for the TMs from Portrayal Press.

We swapped the beavertail and the tractor and I became the first person in many years to 'drive' the Autocar, albeit backwards and on the end of a straight bar, into its new home alongside the WLF.

We unloaded the Autocar from the beavertail today. Fortunately the movement of its transportation had freed off the locked rear wheel which made everything a lot easier. Nick pulled it with his tractor while I controlled its descent with a Tirfor.

Did the ignition timing today: I stripped the RF shielding off one of the old leads and clipped the stroboscope's induction clamp over it. Once I located the well-hidden timing mark on the crankshaft pulley I found the timing wasn't far out. It's now spot on. I also re-set the valve clearances. It sounds a lot better and pulls well (:naughty:), at least up to 35mp - I can't go any faster until I'm en route to the MoT.

Perhaps I should christen it 'Lady Sarah' to continue our fleet of vehicles with Girls' names :flower:(btw. pink is still an option, cash up front though :-D)

Took the MUTT for a spin last night, just up and down the private road leading to the farm. 8-) Apart from needing some tuning and steering adjustments it's not bad.