Iain Crosbie

Excellent work, better than new!

Have you got your tacho working yet?

Great find Nick. I wonder how many were made and what happened to them?

There was a cargo version, slightly longer wheelbase and all LHD. I believe these went to Africa on release, however I have seen a picture of one in the UK in preservation (on this site, page 10 of: AEC Militant mk 3 Gallery). I have also seen a mention of an armoured command vehicle version, but have never seen any pictures or been able to find any other info. It may have been planned but never put into production. There were approximately 200 recovery trucks produced.

Hi all

can you please take another look at the pic's of my fathers Albion cx22s its out there some where, i know it was sold by the REME or should i say it was sold by some one in the REME so please take another look. Thanks Skippypete

You could try contacting the Albion Archive with the chassis number and see if they are aware of its fate. info(at)albionarch(dot)org(dot)uk.

Nice workshop, you lucky boy!

Few more bits done whilst the sun was out;

 

1. Tidied up the wiring for the new Britax beacon.

2. Continued with the red oxide.

3. Checked operation & lubricated the spade anchor - is this meant to drop under its own weight without the hydraulics engaged? With them engaged it appears to move up & down fine, hydraulic oil needs topping but is not drastically low.

 

Also, does anyone have any photos they can post or email showing the interior rear section of the cab please? What I assume to be a radio mount & battery box directly behind the engine cover & passenger seat have been removed in mine. Any measurements would be appreciated too. Many thanks.

Here are some pics of the arrangement on my truck, also the passenger seat the back of which folds forward to make a stool for the gunner.

Dimensions of the chequer plate are as follows:

Width: 27 1/4''

Front to back: 17 3/8''

Depth of vertical part at front: 5 1/8''

Height from top of bonnet to top of chequer plate: 8 3/8''

As far as the ground anchor goes, once it is lowered under power you leave the valve in the neutral (centre) position so it will dig in and find its own depth. I haven't tried to see if it will lower itself under its own weight in the neutral position, but keep your feet out of the way just in case!

She spent her military life in Northern Ireland, hence the grey colour, still loads to do.

Very smart wagon. Did it stay in NI after release, or was it taken there and used in civvy street? I have seen a picture of one in action in NI, but I'm sure it has wire mesh all round the cab, and I think I have also seen a 'bomb-proof' version.

I commented on your clutch exercise in another post to Nick, wrongly thinking it was him who had done the clutch job- you are a braver man than I am!

Hello all,

 

Does anyone have one or know where I may find one please?

 

i have the user handbook 22214 & service schedule 60608.

 

thanks

 

Nick

I have most of it, but it's too large to copy. If you let me know which particular bit you're interested in I'll copy that for you. It doesn't tell you how to remove the clutch, which is apparently in Part A, one of the parts I don't have, and have been unable to find despite asking on here some time ago! I also have the parts book but some components are not illustrated, so it is not as helpful as it could be.

I spoke to a chap up here (Glasgow) who used to work for the local AEC depot, and he had changed clutches on these for the Army at the depot. He told me it was possible to do it by removing the top bell housing studs and refitting long bolts, on which the gearbox could be slid back. I don't see how this is possible without perhaps removing the top of the gearbox since this would foul the crane deck after about 3 or 4 inches of rearward movement as you have found.

There are lock stop bolts on the front swivels which can be adjusted to stop the tyres fouling the springs on full lock, also apart from the bump stop there should be rubber doughnuts between the spring and chassis at the front. Are these things all there?

How do you find your brakes?

Pictures of my Milly follow.

Managed to get two thirds of the Militant inside yesterday and out of the rain to patch some of the cab floor, needle gun & red oxide part of the body and investigate knocking noise from NSF wheel.

 

What did you find out about the knocking noise?

Nice one, about time......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018jhfr/features/the-wojtek-story

also on Wikipedia

On my Militant (Mk3) the cold start is operated by pulling OUT the cold start button with the throttle pedal depressed. Once started it pops back in!

Don't suppose any pioneers spoken of here are for sale? Only I'm Looking for another project ! Pm me if there is please.

Here's a project for you:

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?42826-Scammell-Explorer-and-Drott-for-sale&p=398624

Might the chains be to hold wheel chocks?

Tried to view various attachments in this thread:

• 
• Forum
  
• Vehicles
  
• Blogs of MV restorations
  
• Restoration Civilian Mk1 Militant
  
• Message 136 and others following
  

But get a message saying:

''Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator''

I assume the valid link is to be logged in, and then click the attachment. What am I not doing?

Iain,

Thanks for your prompt reply however I do know the SMVG guys and used them before. Unfortunately they only have WW2 vehicles and younger.

Willie.

There was a short article in Heritage Commercials recently with a picture of a WWI military Albion which is a runner and owned by someone from Cheshire. Perhaps this would be a possibility?

You will find some contacts here:

http://scottishmvg.org/1.html

Does anyone sell new military pattern connectors?

Andy,

What size are Matador front brake shoes/drums?

Milly Mk3 drum diameter 17"; shoe width 4"; thickness,? (book says 3/4", but I have got 2 new ones which are only 5/8")

Iain

The officials figures are 6.25 mpg with trailed load on the road & 3 mpg cross country.

 

PS Official top speed 32 mph

From Militant Mk3 Recovery Handbook:

Fuel consumption 7.8mpg

Road speeds (mph) at 2200 engine rpm

1st low: 2.5; high: 4.5

2nd low: 4; high: 7.5

3rd low: 7; high: 13.5

4th low: 12; high: 22

5th low: 18; high: 33.5

6th low: 24; high: 45

40mph is plenty fast enough given the large tyres and 21 ton weight!

As far as availability of parts is concerned I have recently been able to get a new air brake valve and an unloader valve. Some other bits I cannot find, but so far have not been required anyway as the existing stuff can be dismantled and serviced. I am told that the rear brakes are shared with a Routemaster bus, but have not yet been able to confirm this. The fronts seem to be unique to this model and are more difficult to find.

Try here:

http://www.thexmod.com/

Thanks for your info boys. As usual, I seem to have been concerned about nothing!

The only charge light switch that I am aware of is the ('ignition') key-operated switch which is part of the lighting switch assembly. I had a charging light problem on my Milly which I successfully sorted using your "All Charged Up Part 3" thread and so I would concur with the latest amendment to that (Part 4 v 4.1) which clarifies the position as above, i.e. the switch is the key, and not the convoy position on the light switch.

I want to top up the power steering reservoir on my Militant Mk 3.

The handbook says the correct oil is OM13, and I see from various threads on here (e.g. http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?9292-What-do-you-use-instead-of-OM13) that the Morris equivalent is alleged to be Liquimatic No 1 (ISO 10 viscosity) although there seems to be a difference of opinion on the exact viscosity.

At some time in the past the steering system seems to have been replenished using possibly ATF, as it has a red colouring and so I do not want to put a different fluid in there if it may be incompatible with the ATF.

The steering makes a noise under load when starting from cold but which goes away when warmed up, which has prompted me to check the fluid level; it needs topping up, but the reservoir is not empty.

I have phoned Morris's technical line, quoting the original spec of OM13, and the initial answer was that I would need to find out what OM 13 was before they could tell me their equivalent, however when I explained that was why I was phoning them, he then said I would need at least Liquimatic No 2 (ISO 15 viscosity). I mentioned the correspondence on here and that Liquimatic 1 seemed to be an equivalent, but he was adamant that No 2 was required. Their price is circa £85 plus VAT for a 25 litre drum.

I have also phoned Miller's oils who have a depot in Glasgow, telling them that I need a 10 viscosity hydraulic oil, and they recommended their Millmax 10 (£60 plus VAT for 25 litres). Although their technical help sounded less professional that Morris's, he said that ATF is considerably more viscous than 10 and that the noise I am hearing is probably caused by the oil being too thick when cold.

Millers were happy that there would be no chemical incompatibiity between their Millmax and the ATF, but Morris's wouldn't give any advice about compatibility issues without knowing for sure that the existing fluid is actually ATF. Obviously I would try to drain as much as I could of the existing fluid before refilling with new stuff, but it will be impossible to ensure absolute chemical cleanliness without major dismantling.

So the questions:

What is the correct ISO viscosity rating for OM13?

What does anyone else use for a similar application?

Can I stop worrying about incompatibilities between oils- I am thinking about seals etc?

Has anyone had any quality issues with, or have any opinions on either Millers or Morris's?

Used to have a printing business. Now retired and still restoring an ex-RNLI lifeboat.