Zero-Five-Two

This is why you take lots of photos. Then, when you get to this stage you can look back at what you started with, give yourself a pat on the back and know you have done a damn good job. BTW, is that your Fergie in the background?

Couple of points on your post Tamber. I have been told that there is little or no chance of tyre manufacturers putting the date code on both sides, as it will cost them a fair bit to do and only the UK has a requirement use it. Because we are only small beer compared the world market it is not worth the expense. As for getting advice on your rear tyres at MOT test, a friendly tester tells me they (the Testers) are data collecting. If enough testers keep advising that they cannot see the date between the twin wheels, it will get taken out of the manual and they will just need to check front tyres. Don't know how true that one is, but my man is usually good with his info. Beware Chinese manufactured tyres. Some of them have the date code in Chinese characters, which is no use to an English tester and he will tug you for it.

Only just seen this thread. These pics taken at HQ Engineer Resources Long Marston around 1987 . I believe she now lives at the RE Museum Chatham.

Might not be much, but it's all quality stuff. Good work mate

Good to see you're still on the case despite everything 2020 threw at you. Hat's off for your dogged determination to manage with what you've got

Love the AA patrol bike, it would be a right collectors piece today and worth a small fortune

Noticed the modern progress in the background.. The nice country cottages got knocked down to make.....Tescos!

Straight or not, it is a vast improvement on it's previous condition. Any way, quality work always takes a bit more time, and there is always time for another mug of tea

Agree with Radiomike7 codes are week and year, always have been. Biggest problem I've found so far is, tyres are only date coded on one side. A date code on the inner side of a tyre is hard to see and DVSA Inspectors have been instructed to fail vehicles if a date code is not easily visible. They are also giving out advisory notices for rear tyres that are over 10 years, which would suggest to me that they are already planning to expand the current rules at some point. More expense for us.

You always knew this bit would be a challenge (being polite here) But so far it looks seriously impressive. As for the heat distortion, you think the curved bits are going to be the most difficult to get the shape right, but in reality it is keeping the straight bits straight that is the real problem. As mentioned earlier top marks for the bottle and determination to tackle it, it'll look good when it's done

Corralex may be a trade name. It's just corragated plastic. We use it at work for advert boards on the sides of buses, and after that lumps of it are good for laying on when under a bus

Finally got a decent days weather to do a bit more on Tanker work. I thought I was done with the cut and weld malarky ages ago, and was well peeved when I found these holes in the pump room floor the other week. Can't pretend I didn't see it and just hope it goes away, so dust off welder and fetch the grinder again Might as well chop the whole square out, because the remaining metal is pretty thin as well. Corralex sheet stuffed underneath helps to protect the diesel tank top from sparks. Weld in new plate. It's 3mm thick so a lot more forgiving than thin body panels. Usual coat of Bonda to finish off. Unfortunately there was a little collateral damage on the out side, a few bubbles in the DBG which will need a bit of treatment, but the floor is fixed and that was plan A so not a bad effort.

Deep breath, plenty of liquid refreshment, and take it slowly, it'll come out lovely. Will be cheering you on all the way

I'm sure one will turn up at some point. Most of my searching so far has been carried out under covid conditions, so basically just on line, including a post on here. As there hasn't been any trade stands at shows or autojumbles etc to rummage through, things have been a bit restricted. I've been told quite a lot of early fifties British Army kit was fitted with these sockets because of the large numbers of American trailers that were still over here after WW2. I didn't know the Italians used them as well, and early eighties is quite recent in comparison. As for the Oz stolly getting shunted by a roadtrain, I was thinking of overloaded foreign artic with no speed limiter and the driver busy watching telly. Happens a lot down our way as they rush to and from Dover.

Bodging or improvise and overcome? There has been much discussion on this forum and other sites about extra lights on your MV for travelling to and from shows. I'm very much in favour of it, there have been far too many accidents to MV's over the years, a lot of which have been attributed to the other motorist not seeing the rear lights on the slower moving MV. Now you would like to think that a Militant would be able to with stand some clown running into the back, but if a fully loaded Stolly can get punted into the woods (see the thread about the one in Australia) a Militant could easily suffer the same fate. The Tanker isn't short of rear lights and reflectors, it has tail, outline and side markers, but more is always better I have a magnetic beacon on the other Militant and it certainly helps to light up the back of the truck both in daylight and at night Best bit is, it only takes seconds to fit or remove when you get to a show. So I need sort one out for the Tanker. Tanker has 2 trailer sockets on the back. A standard NATO 12 pin and an American Warner one. I want to leave the NATO one alone, just in case I want to plug a trailer in one day, so plugging the beacon into the warner socket would be ideal. Warner socket looks like this The four cross shaped plates inside are the terminals, so just need a plug to fit Plug looks like this Given that these were fitted to all American trailer stuff during WW2 and on into the fifties you'd think there would be a few of them still around. But can I find one? Yeah, found just one. Bloke in the states has one, but he wants £125 for it plus another £30 postage, add on whatever British Customs deem necessary to bring it into the country, and well...... Not going to do that. Sure I can make something that will "do", but how? Bit of head scratching later and an idea turned up. Heavy gauge copper wire bent up like in the photo to make the terminals, set them into a mould, then fill with fibre glass resin. Once set it would be solid enough to push in and pull out, and as it's plastic it's insulated as well. Conveniently, a standard silicone mastic tube is the perfect size to fit the socket, so an empty one was cleaned out and used as the mould. Connect the beacon cable to the copper wire terminals and seal that in as well so it all becomes one piece Comes out like this and plugs in thus Needs the sharp edges sanding off now, and a coat of paint to finish it off. Might be a bit of a Heath Robinson bodge, but the important bit is, it does work ! Job done

Thought it would make you smile

Just a light skim of filler over the welds? Getting ready for the top half of the cab 😁😁👍

Would suggest the one between Osnabruck and Bad Oeynhausen on the route 30

Just been sent these 2 pictures by a friend. Happened in Bunde in 1968, but don't know anymore Do hope there was no one sitting in the passengers seat at the time

Fine job of work you're doing there, and very interesting write up. Looking forward to the next instalment

That's a lot of progress in one day. Your thin sheet welding skills are coming on fine.

Thanks for posting that list Wally, interesting reading. Love the Tanker picture, it has that fresh out of the factory look.

Quite agree, I know from my time in the R.E. alsorts of unofficial modifications and additions were made to vehicles and plant to make things better or easier. I was certain I had read about a crowbar somewhere, but I wanted to check before commiting myself, and starting an argument. Parts list for the Tanker shows it as Crowbar Stowage Bracket. Spare part No. M209/53/L68 Makes me wonder if it was a Tanker specific item. It also has a stowage case for a machete in front of the passengers door, and a tray for the operators handbook. My other Militant hasn't got either of these, so again maybe Tanker only

I don't know to be honest, as I said earlier, found the crowbar in with a load of bits and pieces when I got the Tanker. As it fits quite nicely in that slot, I assumed it was meant to be there. Wally, do you know what it should have in it's CES?