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Withams have been sending 432s to EMR for months so I wouldnt be surprised. They are going for such low money at the moment that you can get more for scrap. A mate of mine who works for EMR, was telling me that the ones they are getting are like new with as little as 300 hours on the pack.

All of the 432 parts are for sale I just dont know what he has got. I know we have got new and used spares for centurions, 432 and some parts for stollys, I think there is even a crate engine for a ferret. The parts were purchased as a side line to the main business to use on the vehicles when we ran military vehicle driving experiences, which we no longer do and have not done for a number of years. I will try and get a list together of what he has got but I do not want to be in breach of HMVF terms and conditions so I would prefer contact via pm rather than the forum. Jason

That depends on what you call decent:-D there is a mk1 that looks restorable and possibly a mark 2. The glass is still intact on these 2 and the hatches were locked shut so vanadals havent got near them. Ive no idea on running order though as all 6 were parked up around 8-10 years ago! there are certainly plenty of usable parts if somone was prepared to break them, but i think in scrap alone they're worth around £1800 at the mo. The scrap dealers have been hovering like vultures since the word got out that they might get scrapped!:cry:

The handgrips were put on to help customers climb on board, as they were used for offroad driving experiences. I have no idea what the winches are like as I have never worked on them or driven them, but all 6 stollys ( I found an extra stolly hiding in the bushes) have been kept outside exposed to the elements for years. Much of the interiors have been vandalised or removed although 2 of the stollys are in fairly good order inside, as the hatches were pad locked shut.

If anyone is interested in any parts or the complete vehicles let me know. The stollys are going to be sold of for scrap, so if I can salvage parts I will. I would of loved to save at least one of them but I dont have the funds or the time to do so. Thanks Jason

Thanks for the info. All that remains of the tatra are the rear body, chassis and 3 axles. The engine, gearbox and front axle were sold as spares with another tatra that we had. We only have one tatra left now, which may be up for sale for the right price, as it is only used to tow start the centurion!! I believe that the engines in the back of the stolly are for sale but I do not have a clue about the price. My boss seams to have collected rather a lot of stalwart, centurion and 432 parts over the years and im currently having a sort out and trying to see what he has got as i dont think he even knows. So far i have found 5 40ft containers full of stillages stacked 2 high with parts in, and 3 more 40ft containers with stalwart parts and 432 engine packs:shocked: I think that due to scrap prices being quite high at the moment, the stollys along with the 3 centurions will be off to the scrap yard very soon:cry:

I am about to move 2 stalwarts and a tatra 813 as they are shortly off to a new home. All 3 vehicles are inoperable as they have not been moved for upto 10 years! They are parked tight against a fence, behind a building making access difficult. Many of you may of heard or seen the vehicles in question as they are at Manby Motorplex. Can anyone give me any advice on what i may need to do with the stalwarts to move them? Will the brakes need to be wound off? I was unsure if they had air brakes or not. Im going to attempt to pull them out on wednesday, the tatra is off to the scrap yard but the stollys fate is yet to be decided. I hope that out of the 5 we have at least 2 can be saved. And if anyone was wondering what is in the crates in the back of the first stalwart, there are 4 new complete engines, all in there military wax paper and tags, without a spot of rust on them! they look like B81 engines:nut:.

Thank you very much for the link, glad to see it has gone to a good home and is being well looked after. Thanks again, Jason

I was having a trawl through some old photos at work and found a few of an old scammel explorer that we owned. Can anybody give me any info on it? would love to know if it has been restored and brought back to use. I believe it was sold in 2006 from Manby Motorplex in lincolnshire. Thanks Jason

Would anybody be intereted in a show in North East Lincolnshire? Our venue used to hold many large events with upto 23000 people attending in the early 90's. We are hoping to gear up and focus on more shows next year and organise them ourselves, like we have in the past. We used to run a lot of military vehicles in many different forms, so we are geared up for this as a venue, its all down to interest. It posibly wouldnt be an all military show, but with over 100 acres of off road terrain, 7 acres of hard standing and 2 1/2 miles of tarmac, as well as 300 acres of grass land, we have lots of space. I hope im not breaking any rules with this post, this is only an idea at this stage. If we could do this in conjunction with another party then i am sure its something that we could get going. Thanks Jason

Hi Adrian any information on how to adjust the brakes would be very much appreciated. I am just in the process of trying to sort out the accelerator at the moment. There is a small amount of movement in the peddle, but this does not rev the engine at all. I am assuming either something has disconected or has seized. It is certainly not fun working on these vehicles in the winter, it is like an ice box inside:laugh: everything is cold to touch and really hard to get at. Thanks Jason

I managed to get a photo of the rear doors on the sherman, it is certainly different from the photos of the other israeli shermans i have seen. I am unsure as to if this is an israeli modification or if it was done to fit the volvo engine, but the floor in the engine bay sits much lower than the rest of the tank. The tank is now running absolutely great, i have driven her evey other day for the last week and it starts on the button every time. I need to adjust the throttle cable and the brakes need a bit of work as its a bit of a work out getting it to turn at the moment. I think when it comes to it i will be sad to see her go:-( Jason

I will take some photos of the sherman next week when i get it out for a clean. The engine bay is accesed via two doors on the back and it also has a removable hatch on top. It has 3 fuel tanks, one either side of the engine bay and also one inside the engine bay. Are there any markings on any of the castings that may help id the tank? I know very little about this vehicle other than it is supposed to be a israeli super sherman m51. Thanks for all of your help i will try and keep you posted on any work carried out. Once this one is sorted i will then need to start on the FV433 Abbot:-D Jason

Heres a couple of shots i took with my phone, unfortunately the light was fading and we were in a hurry to get it moved so they are not brilliant. Will take some better ones soon.

Its alive:yay::dancinggirls::banana: Had the starter motor rebuilt, by a local firm, got it refitted today and after a few checks she was up and running within an hour. We then drove her over a mile from one side of our site into our main workshop, where she will be getting some more attention over the coming weeks to get her in tip top shape ready for sale:-( Thanks you all, for your help and advice, i am sure i will be after some more in the next few weeks. Jason

Im slowly making progress:D Ive not managed to start it yet, but i have discovered that the starter motor has seized due to a lack of use. The engine bay is certainly very cosy, i spent a couple of hours in there today checking everything over. The engine turns over nicely by hand, so hopefully once i have repaired the starter i will be able to get it fired up and running again. I had some assistance from two retired tank mechanics, who have spent every wednesday for the last 6 years restoring our centurion avre 165:shocked::nut:. Next week (fingers crossed) i will get it out of the shed and into the main workshop, i will try and get some photos or video taken and get it posted on here. Jason

Thanks for the replies. The photo posted above looks to be of the same layout as our sherman. I will take some photos of the interior next week and post them onto here. I just cant wait to get it started and take it for a drive, you dont get many chances of seeing vehicles like this let alone drive them. So i intend on making the most of it, before it gets sold of with the rest of our now unused military vehicles :cry:

I have been given the challenge of getting the works israeli sherman tank running. It was last started around 2 years ago and the guys that used to operate it are no longer here. I need to know basically how to start it and operate the gears. There appears to be no clear markings on any of the controls, so i am finding it a a little bit difficult to work out whats what. The cummins diesel has been replaced by a volvo unit but all the controls and instruments are or appear to be original. Am i right in thinking that the left pedal is for the clutch? and the right pedal is the brake? Im guessing that the gear lever is at the right hand side of the seat? How many positions does it have and where is neutral as it only goes forwards and backwards? The other tiny problem im having is working out how to actualy start it:nut: the main console to the left in front of the battery box has an on off switch to the right at the bottom of the panel, there is also a push button switch at the bottom in the centre, these dont appear to do anything when opperated. In line with the brake pedal, about 2ft above, there is a fuel pressure guage with a flick switch next to it, if i flick the switch a light comes on and i can here the solanoids next to the kill switches energize. There is also a black push button switch, that when pressed stays down, to release it you have to turn the outer part anti clockwise. Again none of these switches appear to do anything so i am either missing something or i have a serious electrical fault as i can not see any other controls. I hope someone can help me before i completely loose it:nut: sorry for the long post, but i am completely stuck having never worked on anything like this in the past. I look forward to your replies, thank you in advance. Jason

Thanks for the info guys. I will try and get back to you with the military reg plates and any id plates that i find. With regards to the centurion parts, i believe that the 2 turretless cents will be broken for parts and we also have new parts hidden away:shocked: If you do a search for Manby motorplex the contact info is on the website. The owner is probably known to people on here as he has many 432s, alvis stalwarts, tatras and also a Sherman tank and a couple of ferets. He has had them for years, many used to be used for the company the rest were his own collection, but none of it has been touched now for many years ( till i came along:-D:cool2:). I know he is quite keen to reduce the size of the collection at the moment as we need to create more space for some new arrivals. Thanks again Jason

Hi all, I have recently started working at a driver experience centre. Tucked away in the corner of the workshop is a Centurion AVRE 165 with dozer blade. The tank is being restored by a couple of old guys who used to drive them in the army, but they have not managed to find any history on this tank. Can anyone help me? the military reg plate has long since gone, are there any other markings on the tank anywhere that may help identify it? I will try and post some photos of it later on, i also have a short video of the engine starting up and running for the first time in 2 years. I have also found 3 more centurions in the yard 2 of which have no turrets and had a lot of parts removed but they do have military reg numbers on them. The third one is either a FV4006 or FV4018 as it has had the turret replaced with a huge winch, this is still in a salvagable condition. Any help or advice much appreciated. Thanks Jason

Had a bit of fun today! im currently sorting through the yard and had to move one of the 432's and load it onto a low loader. Can anyone tell me where i can find any registration details on the vehicles. Im planning on writing down as much detail of each one and then posting them on here to help keep records. Heres a couple of shots of it before it went onto the lorry, sorry they are a bit poor as only had my camera phone and i didnt have time to take anymore. Managed to roll it straight on with the aid of the lorries hydraulic winch and some gentle nudges with the forklift. We were quite lucky as only one wheel had locked up and there is no engine in this one making it considerably lighter.

Thanks all for the warm welcome. I will try to get more details of the vehicles when im back at work on wednesday, another bonus of my job is i only work 4 days a week :-D. As i say im new to these vehicles, and just walking into the the area where they keep there scrap vehicles i was shocked at the sizes of them as ive never got to stand near them before. I will keep you all posted with the progress i make with these vehicles in the future, a lot appear too of been neglected over time, as there is so many and there has just not been the demand for them over the years. Thanks Jason

Hi, i am Jason aged 27 from Louth in Lincolnshire. My background is in 4x4's mainly landrovers which i have been taking to pieces and driving for the past 10 years. Ive always fancied having a go at either a scammel explorer or an alvis stalwart but ive never had the oportunity. That was until last week, when i landed my dream job as a maintainance technician and instructor at a driving experience centre. I now have at my disposal several alvis stalwarts i believe there is a mix mk1 and mk2's, half a dozen 432's petrol and diesel versions, a couple of bedford trucks, 2 chieftan tanks, a ferret and 2 x tatra 8x8s. I have no experience with any of these vehicles so im hoping to use this site's knowledge to help me maintain the ones that are still working and hopefully revive the dead ones. I belive that there is still one stolly with swimgear that is still servicable and a couple of the 432s do run. The other vehicles are in good order though so i will just have to keep on top of the routine maintainance. I will certainly be having a good look throughout the site for as much help as possible as i am well out of my depth with vehicle of this size. I look forward to chatting to you all in th future, Regards Jason