Sean N

Mike, presumably this is a known good engine that has been starting OK in the past, rather than a new rebuild? If a new rebuild, it could be that the engine is tight. If a known good starter, and assuming your description is as accurate as it sounds, you're looking for losses in the electrical system. Check all the connections and try turning it over a bit, then carefully have a feel of the starter switch, all the connections and the starter itself to see if anything's getting hot. Wherever it's hottest there's likely to be a high resistance, i.e. poor wiring, bad connection etc. Clean up any connections, replace any suspect parts and try again. Don't forget to check all the earths - engine, chassis, battery etc. Another point - has there been any rewiring? Low voltage electrics draw more current for a given power, so will need larger cabling; if it's been rewired has cabling to suit a 6V system been used? Also don't assume the starter is good just because it's new; if it's NOS it might have corrosion internally due to condensation, if rebuilt it may not have been rebuilt properly. Finally is the battery OK? Edit - sorry for the echo, Arcot, we posted at the same time!

Doug, I don't think there is a confusion really. If it's essentially a complete vehicle, as with this chassis and cab K9, there's no issue at all. It's only when the vehicle is built from bits of several other vehicles, as might be the case with a 'bitzer' restoration, a kit car or a special, that things get more difficult. That's because the licencing authorities are worried about two things; first, getting the age right, and second, not inadvertently laundering a stolen vehicle. They ask about the originality / source of the chassis, body and major units as they give a weighting to each of these when deciding how original the vehicle is and thus whether it can be given an age related registration; the biggest weighting being given to the chassis or unitary body, if I remember right. The chassis number is king here as well. You're right about the interpretation of the rules though, and one of the big issues with road vehicle legislation for us is the interpretation of areas of the regulations which are not well defined, and the changes in that interpretation over time.

The Bedford RL is interesting as I'm sure UXM 139 either survives or I've seen photos of it recently. There's what appears to be an AEC O.854 with Coles crane there as well.

You've effectively got the original vehicle as it came from the factory. DVLA aren't going to care that's it's got a non-factory body on since half of them came out of the factory as chassis & cab anyway, and they're not going to care that it's missing minor bits & pieces. I've registered a K9 with no body, no wiring and no cab interior before now. All they're trying to establish is that there are enough of the original major units - chassis, body, axles, engine, transmission - there to allow them to confirm that it's the original vehicle, issue an age related plate and not be in a position where they're effectively authenticating a bitzer. The form that MatchFuzee links to, as Brooky says, is not relevant here; it's for vehicles built up from parts of a number of different vehicles from across the production run, or vehicles substantially modified from original; for example a Ford hot rod where the front axle might be Viva, the back axle Jaguar, the engine from a completely different Ford, the body and chassis from different cars, and so on.

Are there no plate makers on eBay who could help? Perhaps one that advertises special shape plates such as those for Rovers and some other cars? Or could you get a piece of acrylic / polycarbonate, some letters and some of the reflective backing and make it up yourself?

It's the US East Base on Stonington Island in the Antarctic peninsula. Richard Byrd took the tanks out there to experiment with using them as tracked tractors. I think there are two M2A2s and a T3E1 tracked carrier.

Standard AC oil bath air filter used on Bedford, Austin and lots of other vehicles; difficult to know what without knowing the diameter and the ID of the outlet tube, possibly not even then.

Bedford 300 / 330 diesel

Randomly intermittently or when you do something in particular? Air pressure OK when the buzzer is sounding? Iffy pressure switch?

You probably know cast is prone to stress raisers if it's hit. Looks similar to a brake drum that someone's thumped with a hammer to remove. My guess would be that it's had a bash at some time and you just found it.

What shot out, Lauren? Are we looking at the damage to the edge, or the hole that looks like a countersunk screw hole? Could the casting have had some impact damage at some point and have a stress crack in it?

Odd how they can be bothered to find out the BRDM details, but still call the Saxon a tank. Why Bedford M owners? Not a lot of M-type in a Saxon, if I remember right.

Not a WF, Austin, it's a S3 cab K9 (can't recall the FV No.). You should know better! Nice truck, be nice to see it out & about...

John, am I missing something? What happened to the mounts that were on it? For a K9 and RL man there's a LOT of interest in the background of the photos!

Howard (and Wally), my apologies, I think I'm going senile. My own RL has a tailboard assister on and it'd gone from my memory completely! Howard, I'll email you the full res images. Austin, if you PM me your email I'll send them to you as well.

Not to mention the British Antarctic Survey and Vivian Fuchs' Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, though some things stopped them: One of Fuchs' Sno-Cats is currently on display in the Science Museum.

Howard, 1 - I can get a photo of brackets and probably pioneer tools fitted if you give me a few days (but don't let that stop you other chaps posting any) 2 - sorry, mine hasn't got them. 3 - In my experience gravity and muscles, but that's not exhaustive by any means.

Your Humber 1 ton obsession coming out again, Clive?!

If it hasn't been run for a long time, is an unknown quantity, or people have been in there pressing buttons at a show, double, triple and quadruple check before starting / driving. Seen and heard of too many machines that have done something unexpected (and dangerous) on start up because a valve or a lever is stuck or because someone left a control in the wrong position.

Thanks Richard. All I have to do now is find someone who has three of the few remaining Commer cab Fords and needs an auxiliary gearbox shift lever gaiter and a right hand window winder for all of them!

The people on Axis History Forum are good at this sort of thing, vehicles and generals. Might be worth trying there as well?

I have a number of Ford parts marked 2E-(part number). I can't identify 2E as a Ford model, but it's probably 4x4 as one part is an auxiliary gearbox lever gaiter. My guess from the era is that they might be for Commer cab Ford, but can anyone confirm?

I was just going to say, as I read down, that 436 BGJ is probably a number reversal and it's actually 463 BGJ - that sort of number or letter substitution is quite common in data entry - but Clive's confirmed it first!

Looking at the 2005 report on the page Ruxy linked to, they refer to 40 out of a collection of 157 vehicles having been disposed of, but no details are given of what vehicles or where they went to.

Thanks Martin, that's very helpful and confirms what I'd guessed. I'll give you a shout once I've decided what I'm doing with it.