Sean N

Good luck!

John, as gas 44 says, your truck, your choice. As you said 'fit in better with the era' I assume you're thinking as it was in the '50s? In that case, DBG gloss, prep it properly and spray it. From my experience with K9s they all started that way until there was a reason to repaint them - they got sent to Suez or Aden, for example, or they survived to the NATO green era - then they got the 4" brush!

It's horses for courses, whatever you're doing. What works for an A vehicle may be no good for a softskin, what works on steel panels may be no good for aluminium. Larry hasn't mentioned what vehicle he's doing, in this thread at least. I think tool and abrasive choice has a lot to do with individual preference, skill and technique as well; one man can achieve a good result with, say, abrasive flapwheels while someone else might struggle or gouge. Something that works on IRR might be no good for bare rusty metal or pre-war celly. You listen and learn, and find the techniques that work for you. All interesting discussion but a long way from Larry's original question about whether to leave the guard on!

The paint's probably coming off the DBG because the DBG wasn't prepared properly originally. This is quite common with military painting! The smooth shiny surface of the DBG doesn't allow the following coats to grip properly - it needs to be roughened to provide a key, which didn't tend to get done! If the paint isn't keyed the chances are brake fluid will lift it more easily, and it may penetrate the DBG less, but ultimately brake fluid will attack pretty much any automotive paint scheme. It shouldn't hurt the galv, that's a different thing entirely. Note that a mix of semi-melted IRR paint and brake fluid isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly stuff in the world and probably shouldn't be flushed down the nearest drain!

What's happening with the Commers?

Clive, I finally remembered to have a look through these. The ones with paint on mostly have DBG; some have NATO green, black, blue, red or yellow on. Some have black gaffer tape on. In every case it's where the wallet has been re-used and the old VRN has been painted or masked out.

Thanks Wally. You put it slightly earlier than me, but it's 5000 chassis numbers away from an RL known to have been built (though not registered) in 1957, so as I say from that and the design details I thought it had to be around then. I hadn't realised they stopped a registration sequence when the FY ended. Clearly multiple sequences were used in a FY though. CE would not have been the only registration sequence in 1957 / 58, surely?

Excess oil is quite likely to find its way out via the cylinders and exhaust. Interesting that the possibly correct one has FWD marked on it. If the engine fitted to the 4x4 has a different sump to that fitted to 2wd cars and yours is a dipstick out of a 2wd, that'd explain it.

Don't remove the guard. As G506 says, it's very easy to slip onto the rotating disc without realising it, and it will go through even fairly heavy gloves in a flash. If the disc explodes there's nothing to keep the bits away from you. When cutting, you won't be able to direct the spark stream away from you / critical areas. You should be using the flapwheel at a shallow angle to the job anyway, so there should be no need to remove the guard. You certainly won't be able to put the whole face of the flapwheel against the job, as it'll mark the job badly and jump around like a wild thing. Possibly a bit late now, but I would recommend buying a grinder such as the Bosch where the guard can be set to different positions. That way you can work in all directions without the guard getting in the way.

There have been times when dates into service have been discussed for a particular vehicle, and I've been surprised by the detailed records people have available - so here's a long shot! Would anyone have a build date or date into service for Bedford RL service registration 09 CE 77 chassis RLW27411 supplied on contract 6/VEH/26215? When last I tried, RLC couldn't track down any records. Judging by cab and chassis details, the CE registration and chassis number it's 1958 or 1959, possibly a year either side of that, but I'd like to confirm.

This topic: http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?47628-Bedford-RL-Truck-Flat-Bed-EX-British-Army-1968-5-4l-Petrol-Engine and particularly the registration of the RL reminded me of a really immaculate RL, PEU 82F, which was on the Dorset rally scene in the late '90s. Anyone know where it is now?

Valves, lots of valves! I've managed to pin down a lot of these but I've got some Thornycroft ones, 112576 and 112577, that I can't track down the fitment for. They're about 190 mm (7.5") long and 51 mm (2") diameter. Any Thorny experts out there? RE3043 mentioned in an earlier post is also for the early post-war 4 litre and 4.5 litre RR engines, as are EB 5853. I haven't identified the military use yet, but RE3043 are also marked FV141449 on the valve face if that helps. I've got some small inlet valves, 90 mm long, marked T-T 4071. Thanks.

Look at one of the parcel aggregators, such as P4D or Parcel2Go, or the shippers such as Hermes, UPS, ParcelForce. Provided you can get approximate weights and dimensions you should be able to book it all via the website and arrange collection and delivery. I'd recommend P4D personally, very helpful and have real people you can speak to.

Finger tight plus 1/3 to 1/2 a turn using the spanner. Having said that, I'm not sure they do a lot in reality.

I seem to recall there are extensive papers available online about all the minute variations, nomenclature, policy for phasing out, etc., if one is interested enough to read them. Personally I'm not!

Thanks all. Mike, I'm not sure if there are headlamp and spotlamp versions of these lights, or just different but similar looking lights. At one time I'd have been able to tell you instantly but having not dealt with them for some years, I'm struggling to recall a lot of the detail. If I find more I'll let you know.

Thanks Clive. I wasn't sure whether these generic classifications covered items that were specific to a vehicle type or class of vehicles but weren't from the vehicle manufacturer, if you see what I mean. John's found a similar cover though of a slightly different design. Be interesting to know what they were used on, or if they were a replacement for the old canvas covers.

Hi Richard, BCF is Halon 1211 / 1301, same stuff; it was banned under the Montreal Protocol except for essential users, which is how the MoD kept using it. There's nothing like it for effectiveness for such a small volume of extinguishant, but the MoD are trying to phase it out gradually, but the end date is between 2020 and 2040!

I have an observation hatch / cupola cover here which I bought ages ago. It's LV6/MT13 2510-99-825-0436 Cover, I assume it's designed to replace the old canvas covers as it fits well, and it's made of some composite plastic material. The NSN websites also list it as FV754028 Cover, Observation Hatch. Anyone know if this was just a general use thing or for some particular vehicle? I haven't seen them fitted to anything and I haven't seen any others for sale, but that's probably more me not paying attention than a reflection of its rarity!

I've never been too impressed with the Solexes of the period but I'm not sure you can attribute the differences in fuel economy solely to the carburettor and ignore the differences in engine design!

Anyone know any sources for FV headlight parts - the bowl, rim, ring, bezel, gasket etc?

It looks like 'No. 160-2'

Too young, I'm afraid, Larry - just! A quick Google throws up plenty of references for the series but none for anything after Vol. 10. Perhaps he'd just covered everything, or perhaps they weren't selling well enough to justify continuing? http://www.librarything.com/series/War+Planes+of+the+Second+World+War

Many Matadors with the standard bodies were also winch fitted.

Mike is right. A lot of the type approval etc. stuff is not applicable and you don't need to fill it in.