Sean N

So in normal circumstances a 1956 DIS would indicate allocated to a unit in 1956 and therefore the 1956 to 1967 service history missing or incomplete for one of the book full of reasons you outline above?

2 not all vehicles went straight to units but held in reserve as replacements the one we are interested in may have been

have been one of these

Wally, books on the subject, human error and other issues aside, was the 'usual' or 'correct' system for the DIS to be on receipt or on issue to units? Your post implies on issue to units?

A DIS of 1956 yet no activity until 1967 would be inconsistent with my experience where DIS has roughly matched issue date. However, I'm only going by vehicles I've had full paperwork for which is by no means exhaustive and I don't know what the system, if any, was. This also appears to be Class 3 when the card was started, unless I'm reading wrong (which I probably am). Is it possible there is another, full card for this vehicle covering 1956 - 1967 which is missing?

I've asked Wally for his input.

Another popular system on tuned and race cars is Emerald injection, often using Jenvey throttle bodies.

John, I'd thought you had injection on the Conqueror but didn't want to say so as I couldn't quite recall. I'd agree about the reasons for fitting it.

Andy, on the two vehicles with the same chassis number thing, I had brain fade. I assume your vehicle shows registration 26 BR 34 and contract 6/VEH/17911 on the MoS data plate on the chassis rail, and the data card for the other vehicle showed a different registration?

There is some discussion of UINs on this thread:

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?49270-RAF-UIN-Unit-Idenification-Numbers

A brief search on Ebay while I was writing this seems to have turned up some NOS units that appear to be just the thing. Lockheed L4255-099.

Careful - there are two types. Both are 1 9/16" bore but you need to measure the brake pull rod diameter. 4255-099 fitted 1952 - 1961 has 5/16" pull rod while the later 1961 - 1969 fitment with 3/8" pull rod is 4255-103.

The repair kit is KL71452

This gumming is typical of those bisectors; often you find the only thing stopping them working perfectly is the dried grease. I've even had them with zero braking effort on one side due solely to the bisector being gummed up.

Yes, I believe you're correct though it still looks odd and hardly flexi should it come into contact with it

a human or object. At least it has a bobbly bit on the end!

They didn't have to comply with modern crash protection standards in those days!

If you make them flexible or even just mount them at the bottom they tend to vibrate with the vehicle, fatigue and break off. That's probably why it has that strap to the headlamp mount.

In real life it probably doesn't stick out as much as it appears to in the photo, so if you were close enough to be hit by it you're probably close to being caught by the truck anyway.

There's a K9 hiding behind the Landy.

Radek, sorry to hear about your father - best of luck with it all. Keep playing is my recommendation, but you must do what is best for you.

All the best.

Radek, give Richard Banister a call. +44 (0)1797 253211

http://www.milweb.net/go/banister/

Nice guy, very experienced, very helpful and in my experience sensibly priced.

Injection on its own wouldn't really yield significant power, maybe a bit here and there where the mapping is improved. My guess is it's an economy thing - Chris?

If changing engines you'd want to pay attention to required characteristics as well - for example, you might not fit a high horsepower, high revving engine in an application where flexibility and torque at low rpm was important.

I find it so cute that you Brits think that 180 miles is a long way

Terry, if you were paying two bucks a litre for fuel and having to drive on our busy, trafficky, slow roads you might as well!

The Rolls B range had an option of gas engines for the commercial market, so all the info is there already.

Although I guess that information might be of its time rather than current, so wouldn't have kept up with modern developments in LPG systems?

What is that stick thingy on the bumper of the MRA1? Maybe a convoy flag flagpole? A local modification perhaps as I've not seen this on one of these trucks previously.

I'm with Clive - a marker so the front nearside corner can be seen from the driver's position.

Chris, which Rolls? B60?

There are aftermarket injection systems used on performance and race engines which are very successful. A friend's 1970s vehicle, for example, overstroked from 2.3 to 2.6 and injected, will pull comfortably and cleanly from 20 to 120 in top (overdriven) gear. I can't see why they should be any less successful in your application.

You are looking at a significant investment though, given purchase, fitting, rolling road tuning and mapping. It may not be economically viable particularly for an engine that perhaps sees limited use - the costs would buy a lot of petrol even at todays' prices. Alternatively if the concern is economy, LPG may be a viable option.

Hi Tamber, keep going, you're doing a great job.

The cylinders should be fairly easy to come by as they were fitted to many Bedford applications right through to the 1980s.

When re-greasing the bisectors don't use normal lithium chassis grease. With some brands at least you can get a situation where with age, standing or high brake temperatures the oils drop out of the grease and contaminate the linings. The original specification is General Motors 4613-M but I don't have a cross reference for that. You could probably find a grease specifically designed for moving parts of brake assemblies.

the Libyan Arabs were revolting.

There's a very old joke there somewhere.

Bear in mind I am only putting two and two together and may be making five...

Little bit deeper into the mystery tonight with the RLC archives ringing me back only to find 2 different cards for chassis number 0859993 2 completely different vehicles doing different things, Both vehicles starting service in Jan 56 both going to Germany one ending service in 75 and one in 83.

So if you could find a post-1975 in service date stamp somewhere that'd say conclusively which one it is.

I took some photos while it was at Steve's, if Andy doesn't mind my posting them:

Is the MoD data plate still on the chassis ... If so you can pull the mil reg from that and look it up on the RLC Museums archive web site.

Hey Neil,

I have applied to the RLC and they are on it now...

It's an 8, Rob, it's still got it's MoS plate on.

Should have gone to Specsavers!

Is an FV11008 18' - I thought they were 16' ?

Not that this one is, but I also thought there was a short GS cargo, FV11007 at 14' ?

SEAN`

To try to explain as l said 1951/52 was a good year for the british army for purchasing new vehicles so much so that a number of blocks of registration numbers were issued in the B* range one of which was BJ The one shown with the K9

halftrack and Bedford RL binned which l make out as 42 BJ 70 was supplied as one of a batch of BJ RLs numbers

ranging from 42 BJ 40 TO 46 BJ 16 contract number 6/V/7951. These vehicles would delivered over a number of years

and any changes ordered or made would appear on the late delivered vehicles thou from the original contract

l hope this goes some way to explain other years when a large number of vehicles were ordered more than one block

of numbers were used the financial year 1963/64 used the blocks EL/EM as a example

 

WALLY

Hello Wally, thanks for chipping in on the service registrations, I hoped you would.

Point taken on the issue of large numbers of registrations, we have talked about that before and I'd temporarily forgotten. Having said that, there's still a conundrum there in the metal if not in the registrations.

Where large batches of registrations were issued - for example BG registrations for that first batch of K9s - were there ever circumstances where registrations were issued out of sequence, i.e. an earlier truck could get a later registration or vice-versa?

Wrecking bonnets? Lifting bonnets? No, take the bonnet off and sling it in the cargo body with the two spare tyres and the two camels who will be nonplussed! I suspect this K9 may have been abandoned? There looks to be a poorly Landrover too? Not too sure about the VRN on this one either! It does though begin with an L for Libya, doesn't it? The stripe markings on the truck tail mean what, I wonder? Would you carry camels in your K9?

What a great photo. The bonnet isn't even slung in the cargo body, just wedged between the cab and tilt frame - which looks as though it's suffered an attack of your healing brush at the rear offside ;-) !

Difficult to know whether the K9 is abandoned or not. If abandoned, why are the camels in it - would they really have climbed aboard to find somewhere to sit? On the other hand, if it isn't abandoned, why is the bonnet - or a spare - just chucked behind the cab like that. Certainly looks like a civilian Libyan registration and appears to be in Arabic and Roman lettering?

In the splendid colour photo above, did you see the K9? ... What struck me too, was that the cabs of the RLs 'appear' to be a different colour to their bodies, or a different shade of Light Stone. Is it me?

Didn't see the K9, unless it's the vehicle rear end just visible at the entrance to one of the further tents. The bowser partly out of shot to the right could be, I suppose, but it doesn't look K9. There's what looks to be one of those single axle generator trailers behind the furthest tent as well.

To the Aldershot question, I'd be inclined to agree that 'Aldershot' is likely to have been a generic nickname applied to all portable shelters of that design irrespective of size.

I fancy the ones Lizzie originally asked about are the 40' x 38' x 18' ones Richard suggested, though - using the truck and Ferret rear ends visible in the entrances to the shelters for scale puts them at around that size, certainly bigger than the dimensions Clive gives for SP2. Having said that, the one in the ARV image looks significantly smaller relative to the vehicles and scenery, so I wonder if that one is actually SP2?

Was the steel mesh called Dexion XPM? Maybe.

 

Why was the Hippo caged and not the others? Could it be to protect high-value or attractive items from pilfering, after all, the Hippo was in the Land of Pilfer? If so, why mesh up the cab too? Or, could it be that this Hippo was a returnee from that other Land of Pilfer across the eastern border ... Possibly, though I do not know if Hippos over there were caged at all, not even to prevent hurled rocks and other projectiles from breaking windscreens and harming soldiers. Or, maybe it has just been specially meshed-up to go to the H war for some reason...

You could see that a stores lorry - an improvised binner - might have a Dexion structure like that in the rear, but the only reason I can think of for covering a truck cab like that is riot protection, or certainly protection against attack by those who might want to steal what's in the rear, unless Clive or Richard can think of other circumstances in which that's been done?

My guess is the apparently shrinking tilts are in fact because the structures in the rear are a lot taller than a standard Hippo tilt frame, which aren't particularly tall.

If I remember correctly the generic name for that sort of mesh is Expamet, a contraction of EXPanded METal, and I guess originally a trade name; so XPM for the Dexion version would fit.

It's an 8, Rob, it's still got it's MoS plate on. It's been shortened. On first glance the arches look artillery tractor but in fact they're a lot flatter, and in real life you can see they've been modified to fit so they're actually from something else.

I didn't have a really good poke at it when I saw it, but did have more than a casual glance; if you look past peeling paint, the non-original body and general lack of love it looks like quite a decent solid truck.

Neil, it's an FV11008 and I don't think the rear arches are original. Body is MK.

Andy, no, sorry, I know nothing more about it than you - I just posted it up as I knew Steve was thinking of selling and those here might be interested. I know it came from someone over at Hurn Airport but that doesn't narrow it down as there are two big industrial estates over there.

If you want the military history you could see if the Royal Logistics Corps museum people at Deepcut have got it; that's where most of the soft skin vehicle records that survived ended up.

http://www.rlcarchive.org/VehicleSrch

This is the Militant a guy I know was selling, photo here:

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?53874-Karrier-K6-AEC-Militant-Dana-axles-Jeep-and-Dodge-D-M880-CUCV-parts-etc&p=475473#post475473

Well done Andy, I think from what I saw of it you've got a good basis for a restoration there; it's pretty solid and not too many issues, I think.