Zero-Five-Two

Welcome aboard, best of luck with the truck hunt, let us know what you decide to get

Welcome aboard Herbert. Like Ashley I also know Osnabruck, was there 1988-91 lived out at Lotte. Very nice area

New felt dust seals arrived today. Perfect fit as well. Being new they sit a fair bit proud of the housing, so I will need to invent some kind of shoe horn/fitting device to get them over the hub. Shouldn't be too much of a problem. :idea: Quick question for the educated ones amonst us. Should the seal be impregnated with oil or grease prior to fitting, or should I fit it dry?

Hiya Mark and welcome aboard. You should have a word with Simon Daymond (send him a PM) He lives in Leeds, owns a Mili himself and knows quite a bit about the one that is for sale.

Welcome aboard, you'll find plenty of help/info on here. Photos always welcome

You don't normally use any form of sealent on a headgasket. If your manual suggests using grease, I would be inclined to use it very sparingly. Tightening the head bolts in the correct sequence, and to the correct torque is the most important thing to getting a good seal.

Sorry to bring back bad memories..:-D:-D The Army issued one red and one white PT vest, but same rule seems to have applied 'cept the white one came out pink. Same result, P1954 down at the clothing store. Although some dodgy characters would nick someone elses good one from the drying room. I believe they issue Hitec trainers nowadays instead of the awful plimsoles. Moving slightly up market

Just had another thought, Blue P.T. Shorts. A real fashion icon

Having read the some of the replies, I can only conclude that I must be some kind of masochist. I loved the Shirt KF, never had a problem with any itchyness, and after a few washes they would starch up well for summer order. Quite liked the plastic boot insoles too!! I do remember, as an apprentice at Chepstow (1976), wearing puttees, 37 pattern webbing, and combat trousers with room for two people at once. There was a "genuine" Army Surplus shop in Bristol, which did a roaring trade as each new intake of Apprentices queued up to buy '58 pattern webbing, decent bergan, boot gaiters, ammo boots for parades, para smocks, and various other items known to be better than the issued kit. Most hideous for me had to be the steel helmet, the Kevlar battle bowler was a real luxury

Welcome aboard. You're a braver man than I, mate. Poor old love has seen better days, it'll be some achievement to breath life into her again. Best of luck, and keep us supplied with photos etc about your progress

Just heard about 'enry on the telly, a british icon he will be sadly missed

'Scuse my ig-grunts. but where is Slab Common?

Unfortunately, getting it sorted is taking konger than I wanted. Wage paying work keeps getting in the way. Still, with all the advice etc from the likes of Richard and Antarmike, at least I know I stand a good chance of doing it right.

Thanks Richard. Tried that this afternoon, Ray Trigg is the dealer selling them, he does parts for alsorts of classic/vintage trucks, quite a helpful bloke. New ones maybe a shade bigger, so that could be the problem. Another thing I have checked today, the amount of oil in the hub. The handbook states 1 pint per hub, when filled to the correct level. Mine was well over full. So it may have been the leak was caused by some of the excess oil being forced out.

I agree with Bigmal, that's excellent skilled work

Well! I never intended to start an argument between you two guys ( Mike and Richard) or should I call it a constructive discussion. Either way I appreciate your imput. Felt seal keeping the dirt out rather than keeping the oil in seems obvious now you've mentioned it. To clarify some of the points mentioned, Militant gland does not have a surrounding spring, it is sprung within itself. There is a carrier that fits inside the gland to keep it central on the axle. There is a rubbing plate/distance piece fixed behind the rear bearing. I have just been out to the shed and re checked it all. The brass top of the gland (which you can see in my earlier photo) appears smooth and polished where it has been running against the distance piece. This has a wear mark in it, but looks smooth, and does not appear damaged. The bottom edge of the gland has some sort of number hand engraved into it, and the surface has a machined finish which is quite rough compared to the brass top side. This edge runs against a backing ring which is also a machined finish and again quite rough When fitted together the gland only stands about 2mm proud of the centre carrier which does not give it much to compress, and only provides a ligtht tension on the gland. I think the only sensible answer is to bite the bullet and get both new felt and gland, fit carefully and go from there. At the very worst, as Julezee points out, if a small amount of oil is lost it only runs into the web on the inside of the brake shoe and this can be cleaned out quite easily.

That's a quality hammer you've got there!! I thought I was pretty reasonable at knocking out the odd panel, but that corner looks the mutts. Nice bit of work, keep the photos coming

Thanks for the confirmation of my thinking Richard, I have found a couple of companies whose websites claim to make any size and density of felt seals to order, so they will be getting a call on tuesday morning, and I'll go from there

Can anybody out there help me with some advice about the Hub Seals on my Mk1 Militant? Having stripped out the rear brakes I have found that all 4 hubs have been leaking to a greater or lessor degree. The off side rear most one is the worst and has been pouring out, so this will be the first one for the clean up treatment. Not a major problem, I thought, there is a shop on Fleebay advertising new seals at £20 each, so £80 would cover a full set. Now I have got the muck off the hub, and can see what I am doing, I find that the items advertised are not seals as such but sprung glands with little or no oil sealing properties at all. and the ones I have got seem to be OK. The actual sealing of the hub seems to be done by the felt strip inside the surrounding alluminium casting. This felt appears to have shrunk over the years leaving a quarter inch gap which allows the oil to leak out. All I need is a new bit of felt rather than £80 worth of metal gland Can anyone confirm I am thinking along the right lines here? and the important question, where can I get a new felt seal?

Yes, I've read about your trials and tribulations at the Test Centre on previous threads. They do seem to over complicate things sometimes. Anyway, best of luck with it, and I'm sure you'll let us all know how it gets on

Welcome aboard, would love to see some of your photos on here

Repair looks seriously good, hope it works

yep, been there, done that. I usually drop my fags in as well!!

I shouldn't need an MOT as it's older than 1960, but as "they" are still umming and arring over changing the age laws, I might need one yet. I've already spoken to my local test station and, as I know them quite well through work, I can use the official rollers to help with setting up the rods properly. I think it will be worth doing, even if it means taking half the prop off to get a decent reading

I wouldn't say it was a pig, just interesting, certainly beats the day job working on Dennis Darts and clapped out Leyland Titans Ta for the PM, I've got one of those repair kit thingys with my push bike if you want to borrow it. Little white box with Dunlop on the front