Sean N

Commercial Motor thinks it's an Ecomat 6HP900

Mailed fist (3 and 8) is Royal Armoured Corps, isn't it?

Without wishing to temp providence, my Photobucket images seem to be displaying OK...

I have noticed this issue recently on other VBulletin forums so it's probable it's something to do with the forum software or the way it's set up.

Justin, you can buy square drive tools as sets for removing sump plugs - they're available in varieties of makes and sizes and not expensive. Otherwise a bit of scrap or square bar ground to size.

A Detroit might sound amazing but I can't help feeling would be completely the wrong engine in a Martian. It seems to me the issue with the B81 is not the power per se - after all, most contemporary large truck diesels were around that power output - but the comparative lack of torque. I'd have thought the Detroit would suffer a similar issue in that although more torque is there, my experience is that it's in a fairly narrow band and you have to rev the thing to keep it pulling. With a vehicle like a Martian I'd have thought you'd want something with a wide, high torque curve which will pull well from very low revs. That might give you a gearing problem given that sort of engine tends to be fairly low maximum governed speed but there are other ways around that - a gearbox with a very long overdriven top gear(s), for example. If the Cummins is a C series IIRC they're around 190 - 280 bhp, 600 - 800+ lb ft torque and about a 2500 - 2700 rpm governed speed depending on spec - that doesn't seem too shabby to me and certainly better than 220 bhp and 335 lb ft for a B81 though the peak rpm is low.

I'm with Wally, I thought it was Millboard rather than Masonite. You can buy a modern version of Millboard from some of the vintage car suppliers.

If it's just the shafts (drive from the PTO) I don't think there's anything special about them - any propshaft reconditioners should be able to make them up.

Given Lacre's propensity for specials, could it be a PTO for a (near) vertical chain drive to, say, a tipping body or specialist equipment?

Back when I was frequenting Aston Down and other dispersal sales, it became a running joke that all vehicles seemed to have a mysterious piece of tooling that appeared to have no obvious or even possible function. I suspect your brackets are where the mysterious piece of MoD metal is stowed on a Militant tanker.

Richard, my eyes are probably no better than yours and I can't get the photo to blow up any larger (do you have a higher res version?) - but the pedals look LAC?? to me - is it possibly a Lacre? The radiator is roughly the right shape.

At a basic level, if you've got a good spark, compression, fuel and it's all happening at the right time then it's difficult to see what might be wrong. The logic of that is check through the various systems methodically, but I'm not quite sure I see the point in doing so when you have a known major issue with one cylinder; particularly since if your assessment of broken rings is right, the more you run it the more damage you risk doing. If your assessment is wrong, and for example it's just stuck rings where it's been sitting, by continuing you risk breaking them and again causing more damage.

The blue one at Rudders is our old one and although a different colour and with one or two minor improvements over standard it was pretty much original when we had it. I can't say what might have been done to it since. I suspect the RE Museum may be more amenable though. I will PM you my phone number.

Steve, Unfortunately we have sold ours so can't help directly, but still have a lot of documentation, photos and knowledge if that helps. There was a large scale model available (https://accurate-armour.com/our-products/135th-kits/k114d); and there's also a 1/72 (or possibly 1/76) kit which isn't bad. There are several surviving in the UK but not sure of the whereabouts of most now. The RE Museum at Chatham has one, as do Rudders Boatyard at Milford Haven. RE Museum might be your best bet.

I did, but I still couldn't quite see.

Lizzie, great photo of a hard worked late K9 in the real world. I like all the additions - put those on for a show and I'm sure you'd be told they never had them. Wonder if the channel was for use as a pusher bar or for unditching, or a bit of both - can't quite see if it's held on with wingnuts or something that would need a tool. I wonder what happened to the driver's side wing mirror, and what the big pile of canvas on the locker is? Clive, comparing the jerrycan to the front of the body it certainly looks light stone. However I think if I had a convenient rack, particularly if packing up quickly after a job or loading up quickly, I might not worry too much about mixing fuel and water cans if they were clearly distinguished as these are, and if I knew I could rely on those with me not to confuse them. It's interesting that there doesn't appear to be a jerrycan in the proper holder. This isn't that same truck that'd had a new driver's side screen in a previous image, is it?

ACMAT(?) 289 UYO northbound between Blandford and Shaftesbury, around 2 this afternoon

What is the evidence for it being the biofuel content rather than some other factor?

I thought the methanol was used in the chemical process to produce the biofuel, biofuels being typically a methyl ester, rather than being present as free methanol in the finished product?

Just to add to Clive's comments, I've seen odd Rover 11 and Series 3 ambulance with two registration plates, one above the bumper and one above the windscreen! I suspect these are probably local variation rather than anything orthodox.

And where are the photos of said Austin? :cool2:

One tip you probably already know - the distributor clamp, if it's the one which is essentially just a folded piece of sheet steel, is easy to distort by overtightening the pinch bolt - it only needs to be pinched up fairly lightly. Lights look fine and can always be changed later. Look at all the AFS trucks running around with those big square Rubbolite units on.

That makes sense - in fact, a lot more sense than the finder's assertions.

The article does suggest there are unanswered questions and that these were never issued - which sounds right, as otherwise how would 14,000 odd dog tags return to one place? If you follow the link to his (slightly odd and slightly incoherent) website he does say the tags are pre-, post- and WW2 numbers and gives the number for Driver F. H. Bills mentioned in the article as 14xxxxxx, so perhaps more consistent with your experience. Odd that thousands of dog tags should be stamped up (badly) and never issued, though, unless it's a cover story.

Post what you need with photos, might have it or be able to find it. There is an old saying - "when an old man dies, it's as though a whole library has been burnt". I wish there was some way of downloading the knowledge of the Franks of this world. Forums like this are a start.