TooTallMike

Brush. Always brush, even large panels. You get to know every square centimetre of your vehicle intimately which is important to me. Spraying is very impersonal (stop me if I'm getting too metaphorical :roll:) I don't like rollers because you can get that stippled effect and I dislike the way they drag if you overload them. I use a 20mm brush for complex areas and a 40mm for everything else. I can't be bothered with the prep involved with spraying plus I don't work anywhere clean enough. Spray doesn't get in the crevices and most importantly, you get a very thin cover. With a brush I can lather it on and once you've had some practice, brush marks and runs can be avoided. After 3 or 4 thick coats it should be fairly well rustproofed :-)

What did the police say when they saw what you were really doing? Not interested?, or are you posting from prison?

mmm... Autocar U-7144-T... :drool: I want his cab!

On the HCVS Brighton run last year I was approached by an old guy who looked at the Ward and then told me he'd broken up a Federal aircraft wrecker 2 years previously. He hadn't thought there was any market for such trucks. It drives me mad.

Just to keep my record up-to-date, the front wiring loom is now installed. All light units are painted and fitted. Battery cables are laid in and awaiting batteries this week, then I can finalise cable lengths at the battery box end. Washer bottle is fitted. Spare wheel is mounted. Screen frame and hood sticks are in top coat. Additional rear reflectors are fitted. Interior parts such as switches and choke/hand throttle control cables are in. I'll chase up the head this week so I can get the engine re-fitted. Cleaned and primed the bonnet today. It's not very flat but I'll use it for now and swap it out for a better one at a later date.

Allied invasion star? Trouble is, public tend to associate it with the US side of things.

Best wishes to everyone who's doing driving tests in the near future :-). The weather's improving so go out there and enjoy it. I spent half my test blathering to the examiner who was ex-REME. I don't remember most of the drive!

Here's another pic from Matt to inspire any potential owners. This time an open cab Diamond T 969 servicing a tracked crawler.

Very good point Jack. Still racking my brains for a single image to sum up the invasion. Is a silhouette map of the coastline sufficiently recognisable? Incidentally, anyone in Surrey up for a run out on drive-it day - 22nd April?

And another WLF photo from the dribbling archives. :drool: This one is courtesy of Matt :-). Check out that row of jerrycans. There's a shot in one of the books of a Ward crane being used as an impromptu meat hook. I wonder if it follows on from this shot...

LeeEnfield's "Lest anyone forgets" has a good ring to it and also implies that people are forgetting, which is the message the campaign is trying to get across. Icons are good because they give a sense of cohesion more than just the words. A bit like the poppy has come to symbolise Remembrance Day. I'm thinking something like the outline of a Sherman, a US helmet or a roll of barbed wire. I just can't think of any single thing which specifically identifies the landings against the rest of WW2 in the public consciousness. Perhaps a stylised version of the open door of a landing craft as viewed from inside (as in Private Ryan etc.) ?

Given the lack of awareness about D-day it might be worth sticking a couple of laminated posters to your vehicle to show why you're driving it that particular day. I'm just thinking of something simple and snappy along the lines of: D-day 6th June 1944 We will remember them It would be good for the campaign to have a logo too but I can't think of a specific D-day icon. I'm sure one of you clever chaps will point out the obvious to me!

Cheers guys, I'm still grinning like a twit :-D I did a 5-day course which cost about £950. I've been driving big stuff for a while and I've done a fair bit of flat and suspended towing but even so it was quite a step up to an artic. I know it seems obvious but the cut in of the trailer takes some getting used to. I brushed a kerb during the test and had to mount a pavement to get past another truck in a narrow village but in the end I only got 6 minor faults, mostly for mirrors. Apparently anything in single figures is good on the artic so I'm happy and I thoroughly enjoyed the week. I think that's it for driving tests after 3 in 6 months (h, C and C+E) although I do fancy the road roller and tractor ones... Incidentally if anyone is thinking of doing any truck tests in the near future, the minimum vehicle requirements are getting much stricter in July and the rigid (class C) will have to be done on a box-bodied vehicle with a range change gearbox and ABS. They reckon most people will need minimum 2 weeks to get used to it so the course price will effectively double. Do it now!

...so now I can drive artics and tow big trailers :banana: :banana: :banana: I'm going to start keeping an eye out for a cheap flat bed trailer to go behind the WLF to carry min. 7.5tonnes. Any leads appreciated :-)

Yup, December 2005 :-D. I have it here. Sadly not me driving in the cover pic though. I also got 4 photos inside but only one with me behind the wheel 8-). More period pics to come once I've dusted off the scanner. For anyone who's now inspired to join the elite WLFOC I'm about to post a 'for sale' ad. in the classifieds section.

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Quick... Nurse... bring sedatives... :drool:

Having done all that it may no longer be as waterproof as it once was. I've washed canvas with Fairy liquid then coated it with Nikwax/Texwax (sp?) but those types of products are hideously expensive. Apparently you can use Ronseal or similar types of wood preserver but as yet I have no experience of this.

IIRC the guy perched on the side of the WLF in the centre is standing on a row of jerrycans stowed between the wing and the locker. It's an authentic 'feature' I intend to recreate on mine at some point 'cos there's precious little storage space on these things. I'd not noticed the plane wings before - I'd only really looked at the wreckers. I've a load more action shots of WLFs to bore people with. I'll scan & post them up next week :-).

But it looked so much better with all the pretty yellow bits... :whistle: Seriously, your truck's looking really good. Just needs a coating of Beltring dust/mud to complete it! Just had another member of the WLFOC visiting for exchange of parts and a chat about engine conversions and winching.

Well I'm 34 years younger than mine... :whistle:

I then lowered the front down onto it, repositioned behind the Autocar, lifted the rear, then backed the whole thing onto the truck. More info. to follow about the Autocar (to be posted on my original thread). Thanks to all concerned (Grasshopper, Nick Hobbs, Paul McDonald & Pete Moore) for 2 days of good muddy fun and not a little learnin’ :-D 8-) .

We had no decent ramps for the beavertail so I lifted the front as high as possible, and Paul reversed the truck underneath it.