Sean N

Hutch, to add a little to Rob's comments, for a pre-1983 vehicle you do not need the low air warning buzzer, just a visual warning. If the examiner did the brake test they will have kept an eye on air pressure. If you were in the driver's seat, I'd expect you would have automatically kept an eye on the gauge?

Often in a large vehicle you will not notice a substantial brake imbalance when driving as the vehicle's momentum keeps it in a straight line, but it'll get you into trouble in an emergency situation.

Rob is the Militant expert and may know how these figures compare to other Militants, but I think I'd definitely be going right through the brakes inspecting and adjusting everything. You have the significant imbalance on axle 3 and across the axles as Rob suggests, but on a typical vehicle I'd also like to see that front axle imbalance below 10%.

Your service brake effort is also very low overall, only 3% above the minimum requirement; and unless I'm miscalculating, the tester has based the braking efficiency on your current all up weight rather than the design gross weight. By my calculation on a design gross weight basis those figures equate to an efficiency of under 25% - not great.

"Some Karrier K6 spares including engines, body parts, axle, suspension, winch, gearbox, transfer box etc."

Cheers, we are looking to have some spares for our Humber Armoured Cars,

Fair cop! I'd forgotten that was even posted, it was so long ago now. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, not all smooth.

Anyway, I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous answer - I'd hope to be able to sort some stuff out, one way or another.

I hope the weather is a bit better for it than here, Steve. We have freezing fog, and I'm looking at the head gasket job I have to do outside and not feeling enthusiastic!

Geir, Issah, the Karriers are really for sale complete - we hadn't intended to break them, and there is interest in them complete. However, there may be a way of making some spares available; I'll investigate and keep you posted.

A lot depends on when in August, as there is lot going on in July & August (not round here mind you)

 

When you know a date & if, as your website suggests, you want multi-period then it might be worth posting on here: http://www.livinghistory.co.uk/index.php

Website has 19 - 20 August. Simon, would be a good idea as a matter of routine to post the dates, location etc. wherever you're posting about this - the less people have to jump through hoops the better.

Looks as though you have the RL brake master cylinder and air pressure servo as well.

I'd agree with Richard - AFS / Home Office body. A nice body and increasingly difficult to find, so find someone for it rather than destroying it, but at the same time probably fitted relatively recently in civvy life and no reason to worry about changing it if you want authenticity.

Considering the war effort of the Brits in WW2 its a shame so few (heavy) vehicles are still around, or even worse the apparent disinterest in the Brits themselves to portray the WW2 British soldier.

Guess US is easier or more glamorous? (Yes I portray mainly US but also UK)... So hats off to those who show the Brits were involved in the war and honor them by restoring/driving the vehicles or portray the soldier...

Those who have been involved in the hobby longer than I might have a perspective on this, but for me, back in the '90s there was a lot of British softskin, at least, about; but there seemed to be a big change when large quantities of Scandinavian etc. reserve stock, pretty much all US built, was released. I think there's also a Hollywood-isation of things - I don't think you're far off when you refer to 'more glamorous'.

A lot of the British built stuff must still be around, somewhere - I find it difficult to believe that vehicles that made it into preservation and survived until the mid to late '90s have been scrapped since.

The world would be up in arms if Sherman hulks would be scrapped, hell it wouldn't even be considered....well you know the Churchill's story..

Hence the aim of some of us to change things ... but that's for Rick to fill in the details, I think.

RAE Bedford was, as the name suggests, an outpost of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (having been a WW2 RAF base) where a lot of aircraft experimental work was carried out, including carrier and VSTOL development.

Given the RAE Bedford insp. dept. plaque it's probably for general mechanical / engineering inspection work, rather than a specific purpose?

2 weeks before Xmas is finals, and when the students leave so do all the profs.

Not here, Dragan - finals in the summer, normally. You're right though, it's unlikely that many staff will be around over the holiday.

He's very active on Facebook.

It's noticeable that many expert forums have become much quieter with the rise of Facebook groups. It's easy and pretty much zero cost for people to set up a group on Facebook, and natural for people who are active on Facebook anyway to get involved there, but I hate the way it sucks people away from places like this, to my mind to the detriment of the hobby.

Steve,

Given it's such a simple engine if you're suspicious you could just whip the head off and have a look for problems.

Anything between 85 to 100 psi on this size engine would be about right

 

Pete

Steve,

OK, so if you have not had the engine apart, I would say you need to remove the head and valves for a start

Regards, Richard

Sorry Richard, Pete, cross-post!

I was thinking maybe stuck valves as well, particularly if oil in the bores isn't sealing it.

Steve,

To recap what Richard said, make sure you have the throttle open. Test the compression in the same conditions dry and with a teaspoon of oil in each bore. If there is no change in compression, you either have very poor bores / rings, so poor the oil won't seal them, or you have a valve or gasket problem.

It's likely as you're testing cold the compression will be low anyway, but 40 - 60 sounds very low. I'm not an Austin 8 expert but from what I've heard I'd expect more in the 90 - 120 range depending on exact engine / head spec.

Having said that, it would be worth going through spark, fuel, timing again just to make sure.

Given it's such a simple engine if you're suspicious you could just whip the head off and have a look for problems, but if you don't want to do that and you have a compressor available you could invest £20 in a cheap leakdown tester of eBay, which would give you more information.

Been there 70 years, Rick, another few weeks isn't going to make a difference.

As far as university geophys is concerned I doubt anything will happen until a couple of weeks into January now.

The British ones I have seen have a cloth lining.

Ah, that's because the British Officer is used to more refined living...

Jules, as Ron suggests this type of sealing arrangement is very common with older vehicles - often known as a labyrinth seal. They normally work fine, but any problem quickly finds them out. You see them a lot on gearbox input shafts.

Before panicking, you might check that you are running the correct grade of oil and that you don't have excessive oil pressure for some reason.

I can't speak to the Morris as I'm not familiar with them, but typically you'd expect a drain hole in or near the rear main bearing cap so that the oil coming from the rear main bearing has an easy escape route. If that hole is partly blocked, say with a bit of sealant, it'll give you problems.

If you do have a problem with the seal being damaged and it is a separate part (not part of the block casting) perhaps it could be machined to take a modern seal?

Ron, it's basically another way for HMVF to be supported by advertising.

Automated software identifies what it thinks are references to products within the text and turns them into links to those products. If someone clicks the link, HMVF get paid a small amount.

What it links to is determined by who's paying the link company at that particular time. What gets linked depends on the software. Sometimes it's more accurate than at other times!

Good day again Gents,

having spent the last few days deep in thought about what I will be doing to my Millitant on my return in the New year, after looking at my Job / Questions list, I have come up with 3 questions to quiz my fellow Militant owners with :-

1. Tyre pressures all round 60 PSI? (Advised by two Milly owners)

2. Do the brake drums come straight off after the wheel has been removed, or do they require a puller type tool or some mild persuasion?

3. On my two rear axles around the (4) brake drums, there are rings, I thought these rings were like scraper rings to keep mud to a minimum, The MOT inspector thought that they should be welded up, I can see from photos on 0-5-2 thread that they are welded at various points around the drum. Do they serve any purpose and should I follow the same pattern prior to my next MOT?

 

Once again Gents, many thanks in advance

Hutch

Do you mean these:

?

In an earlier image, it's noticeable at least one isn't so well attached:

These are the 8" CAV type, as used also on the English and Loyd carriers...

Interesting seeing that photo, I think I have some lenses and reflectors for these. I'll have to have a look.

Any of you Hameln or RE guys ever get involved with these things:

??

Interesting news Sean - thanks for sharing the link. A rolling date would be nice - although I admit to seeing the logic of a dafty test.

I like a dafty test. I can think of some who need one. Autocomplete, I guess?!

Its true what you say about DVLA - my FFR Landrover has a "Y" suffix registration because the numpty in DVLA used the MoD Cast date as the date of manufacture instead of the actual build date of 17 December 1973!!

It is, or was, standard procedure. If you think about it, for most cast vehicles being registered in the normal way it's quite difficult for DVLA to establish year of manufacture - generally the paperwork to prove won't be available, unless an enthusiast has gone to the trouble of doing the research - so it's straightforward for them to take DIS as date of manufacture. You can get it changed if you can demonstrate the true date of manufacture to their satisfaction.

The situation with Militants is bizarre to say the least - Hutch's and mine are virtually identical - but because mine is registered with a build date of 1959 it is MOT exempt and I can drive it on a B licence provided its not used laden/for hire or reward. Whereas Hutch's being 1966 requires an MOT and - I believe - the equivalent of the old HGV Class 2 license.

It's always the same when you have a hard date for a rule change and the vehicle build straddles that date. You get the same thing with lots of vehicles, for example MKs not needing under-run bars while later MJs do, or different lighting (rear foglights) on post-1980 vehicles.

That's one instance where being able to prove an earlier date of manufacture is useful. That itself leads to some funny goings on though - I'm sure there are a lot more 1959 Thames Traders, Bedford TJs and TKs around than GM or Ford ever built! I suppose a rolling date helps here - if your vehicle isn't exempt, it soon will be.

I suspect also that cleaning up a heavily scratched original plate, were it possible, would be more time consuming and therefore expensive than printing a new one, which is probably why it's not done.

Louisa, you can message Austin using this link: http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/private.php?do=newpm&u=3323

Hi Sean,

After importing the vehicle to the UK, I had to declare vehicle to HMRC, they informed me there was no duty to pay as they had no interest in the vehicle, I then proceeded to get the vehicle registered with the DVLA.

They cam back to me with "The said vehicle needs and MOT" new legislation from eu hq, any vehicle built after 1960 requires an MOT. I am hoping this will change back to the old ways soon.

 

Hutch

Hutch, it's not really to do with the EU. Any vehicle which is not otherwise exempt must have an MoT; that's always been the law since roadworthiness testing was introduced. The Goods Vehicle (Plating and Testing) Regulations have an exemption for vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1960, used unladen and not drawing a laden trailer. More recently, harmonisation with EU regulations meant that this was extended to all pre-1960 vehicles, not just goods vehicles.

Brooky obviously assumed your Militant was pre-1960 which is why his question - and indeed it may well be, but the licencing authorities often use the date into service (DIS) given by the MoD as the date of manufacture, and in reality the two are not always the same. I'd guess your 1966 date came from MoD disposal documentation, or the previous owner?

You're right that this might now change; further EU harmonisation has resulted in a consultation, which ended last month, about further changes to the law. The option favoured by the Ministry is to change to a rolling 40 year exemption, which would make pre-1976 vehicles exempt as of current date. However there may be some wrinkles to it, as there is some thought of introducing a basic safety test, and scoring vehicles for originality per the procedure for registering heavily modified and kit built vehicles.

The proposed changes are here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/roadworthiness-testing-for-vehicles-of-historic-interest

Neil - might also be an idea, if there's enough length on the studs, to put a penny washer and rubber washer either side of the mounting bracket to cut the vibrations a bit more?