andreadavide

I had a UAZ 469b for a few years. They were common here in Italy because they have been imported by the thousands in the seventies and eighties. cheaper than any series Land rover and cruder... As long as they have been properly serviced (get a good grease gun, they're like prewar cars with greasing points aplenty all around) they are well designed and reliable beasts. Bodywork is heavy steel and rusts, but less than a Land Rover bulkhead, and the frame doesn't rot! Inside they are HUGE and much more comfortable than a Landie. Andrea

They have pulled it as soon as I forwarded them the sellers' reply. now I am heavily dealing with the seller about the escrow europa service. By the way, he wants the money sent via moneygram to Westbury/Wiltshire, but I have seen that there are a few different Westbury around UK. What if I tell him that by mistake I sent the money to the wrong Westbury and he hass to travel a bit? Andrea

I bought it! 2,400.00 quid delivered! Oh... what a bargain! Is there anyone in Westbury / Wilts who could find this self styled ;-) Alan McDonnell (additional details available privately)? I'd like to send him a one-quid moneygram (did you know that Western Union is a eBay preferred partner now?) just to have him showing himself at the post office having someone snapping his pissed off picture, or any better (worse for nim) idea.... Andrea

Benvenuto Stefano! Are you based in Tuscany too? Andrea

I 've sent my usual naive mail from Italy... 8-) Let's hear from him..... Andrea

Oh... what a pity. I told the seller that i was buying the car and I just needed where to come and get it....

me too, in 1999. Andrea

Fred, I am curious, how exactly do you fix people? Maybe we are colleagues... Andrea

I wrote him asking where to send the money, but got no answer. Mabbe he's starting to feel too closely controlled. Andrea

Klopftest was a term that I learned from my father's colleagues at a big German computer firm in the late sixties. When (and it happened frequently) a "Fehler" (error) light went off on the big mainframe, the first action of the tecnician was to bang with more or less force the machine in the hoper that it was just a loose contact in the modules. This was called "KlopfTest" and it worked more frequently than one would suspect now. Andrea

Did you try a klopftest first? Andrea

Even if I have an old BAOR Land Rover when I am at shows I wear my obsolete Italian CDU model 1975 with webbing belt. The belt was adopted from the British Army and the uniform (sterile, i.e. no insignia) could be mistaken for a Brit one. It is pretty comfortable and useful when working on the Land or offroading. With the 109" there are no alternatives. It has been a boy scout carrier most of its active life and I wear my Scoutmaster uniform when at shows... Andrea

It should be noted that also the "orange Party" as we called at the time here, were using gloss paint on their vehicles. Easier to clean, mantain and if a vehicle is properly stored can last indefinitely. Also with modern warfare, if we exclude small commando and guerrilla actions or the mess curently going in Babylon , most of the wheeled things don't need to be camouflaged. If it's needed a quick spray and the vehicles are set. BTW giving how trigger happy are the current "word leader's" army and air force and given their complete air superiority it's actually better to be seen than to risk "friendly fire"..... Andrea

I've seen the Opel 4x4 at the Army Museum in Chelsea. Impressive bit! Andrea

I just say "Wife, clean my clothes!" Oh, the answer is usually "Vaffa...." Andrea

Showing once more the ineptitude of the Italian monarchy and of the Badoglio government in dealing with the events of September 8 1943...http://www.hmvf.co.uk/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=38&topic=5561.0

I know I'm wrong, but shape and holes would be perfect for the transmission cover on Series Land Rovers, there is even the small hole for the Yellow lever! Andrea

Posted one day early because mmy computer needs a decent Shabbath... On September 8th 1943 the armistice between Italy and the allied forces was announced and came into effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_with_Italy While surrender was unavoidable, given the events of the war, the monarchy and the prime minister Badoglio took no action to prepare the armed forces and prevent retaliation from the German, and fled from Rome leaving in effect the Nation fall into anarchy. The result was nearly two years of occupation and civil war in Italy, with the armed forces and the civilian population being the target of German retaliation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cefalonia#World_War_II'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cefalonia#World_War_II'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cefalonia#World_War_II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cefalonia#World_War_II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino It has been said (with reason) that 8/9/43 was the day Italy ceased to be a nation, we still have to recover from these wounds... Andrea

As a Model T owner I'd say it doesn't look a pre 1916 T. Andrea

Well done! Before becoming a restoration fanatic I found a DKW 175 motorbike that I wanted to use as an everyday runner. Of course this would have meant some serious modification because most of the spares were too expensive. A collector told me that it was, indeed, a rare version so in the end I gave it to him for an amount double that my purchase price ( twice nil is still nil). Now that motorbike is shiny like the day it rolled out the factory.... Andrea

With my Ducati Scrambler the theme is "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, guess why... With the 1979 Land 109" it's any punk Brit thing of the age because that was probably what they were listening at Solihull. With the rover8... still have to decide. Andrea

Nice place Woolwich. I've spent lots of time at a friend's place near the Prince of Wales in Plumstead. I wish all the best to Emma, but please let her have a look at randomreality.blogware.com before embarking in such a job. Andrea Oh... my jobs... Retired Army Captain (but still available to run refugee camps) Scoutmaster Land Rover Restoration not-expert as a hobby University teacher 8-)

Last time we pretended succesfully to have won a war in Italy was at the end of WW1. With WW1 we also finally added to our country the last missing pieces (unfortunately we also added afew troublesome Austrians but this is another history...). WW 2 for us ended...oh well... a bit titsup. First we lost the war. Secondarily we had our nation splitted in two with a part of it pretending to fight together with the allied forces... ... to cut a long story short we now celebrate the armistice (for us at noon November 4th 1918) as a national day of the armed forces and National Unity and we'l keep on this. Andrea

andreadavide: simply my name. Davide (David) was added to Andrea (in Italy a male name) because I was born at the start of the six days war and my father was... erm... an Israeli supporter 8-) Andrea

Back on the topic: LPG is a good solution cost-wise for any petrol powered MV. It needs a bit of advance tweaking but surely it isn't a major headache. I dreamt of getting a Green Goddess and having her LPGed, but since i could never drive her legally in Italy I gave up. However, if you have troubles with your carburettor LPG is the quickest fix since all you need is a venturi and a butterfly. Andrea