landrover nick

Had an relay good weekend working on truck ,lots of jobs finished and starting to put everything back ready for the show season , the doors are finished the allied stars and Z number have been stencilled on , the cab is all back together and i have started to fit the switch board and the wireless battery's the first show this year is 1940s weekend at the Circh tramway museum at Easter i have now finished with the second hand drivers door i got from Rippo, it is a complete door ,the wood frame is intact and shows no sign of rot or wood worm ,the door skin has been removed from the wood frame to help under stand how the doors are built, shows some minor rust but would clean up and re-use the top capping is damaged but is usable as a pattern there were no lock or hinges on the door when i bought it looking for £50.00 buyer collects

Thanks Nick next one i am correct with Australian Ford 01t on this one

Hi can ask the forum members for help in identifying the type of vehicle in the two attached photos i don't think they are both the same vehicle but they are both the same manufacture ,i have looked through all my reference books and the closest i can find is an Indian built Chevrolet 1311x3 in the observers fighting vehicle directory but its not quite right the info on both photos says Egypt 1942 any ideas Nick

PART SEVENTEEN Progress with the door skins at last ,after spending two months to find out that the company with the high tech folding machine are a complete waste of time i had find another supplier to make the door skins ,having looked a little closer to home a pal of mine is restoring a diamond T and when i showed him the door skin the answer was come back in couple of weeks they will be ready . photo one is the door skins as collected and what an excellent job they have made ,it took several attempts to get the sealing lip at the front and rear of the door correct ,the lip at the front is shorter than the one at the rear but the finished door skin fits the door frames correctly . photo two shows the cut out for the door hinges photo three shows the test fitting of the drivers door photo four test fitting the passenger side photo five shows the work on the rear of the door to clear the rubber supports at the rear of the door and pins used to nail on the door skin ,the skin was also bonded to timber frame with a modern panel fixer this should stop the skin drumming on the wooden frame photo six the drivers door in red oxide primer with door handle fitted photo seven the inside of the passenger door showing the striker plate for the door lock (was there a factory fitted striker plate or did the latch just catch on the inside of the wooden frame)

Dave The military landrover registration numbers for the year 1955-56 were all BP numbers the lowest i have a photo of is 37BP45 to 99BP15 which is the highest the numbers would have started 00BP01 and run to 99BP99 but could have included vehicles other than landrovers Nicky

Hi Dave checked my files this is as close as i can get for a photo Nick

Hi I have been trying to sort out my error with the the contracts for the MWG s but i have a problem trying to work out the difference between the MWG and the MWT i have been looking through my photos and i think i have the descriptions correct photo 1 is the MWG GS truck with gun mountings (open cab and ditching boards on outside of body sides ) photo 2 and 3 MWT anti tank tractor lorry body with seats tilt and draw bar any help would be great Nick

Hi Maurice I have seen people loan documents , equipment and even vehicles to museums that's the easy part but when either you need them back or the museum closes or changes hands has a stock take they are suddenly an asset of the museum i have just had a quick look on the auction web site and there are shelf's full of manuals documents etc ,i just hope they find a good home were we can get access to them and not thrown out with the rubbish after the sale Nick

Hi Maurice The allocation of B vehicles WD numbers by Rob van Meel lists more contract numbers for MWG s contract 294/v/3964 lists 99 truck 15 cwt anti tank Z 4427893-Z4427992 294/V/3993 lists 47 truck 15cwt anti tank Z4358596-Z4358640 294/T/8102 lists 8 trucks 15 cwt anti tank portee Z4372519-Z4372527 add to this the 480 trucks on 294/t/7729 gives a total of 448 ,would it be the case if only 50 trucks were built that the numbers were issued but never used , do you still have the copy's of the Vauxhall delivery charts i would be very interested in a copy my own truck MWR 42436 was built in 1942 but the month of manufacture is very much guess work ,i got late august from the total production figure for that year divided by 52 weeks. Nick

Hi Jeremy Yes i will be at Stoneleigh i will look out for you we will probably finish up with another meeting of the MW owners club like last year see you there Nick

This any help ,later on the chassis numbers to contract numbers are all over the place but with your truck so early they should not be that far out of sink ? Rob van Meel allocation of b vehicle WD numbers gives the following info . contract number 294/t/7729 this was the second contract for MWs 1018 MWD GS trucks Z3927393-Z3928411 480 truck 15cwt A/TK Z3962912-Z3927392 a note on the ledger shows the contract started at chassis number MW 1001 RUNNING TOTAL 1498 contract number 294/t/8102 this was the third contract for MWs 5084 units mixed contract with mwd/mwc /mwt this contract has sixteen line entry's MWD 2499 units Z4115257-Z417756 starts at MW 1001 MWD 1999 units Z4118607-Z4120606 starts at MW 1001 with your chassis number being 2947 (chassis numbers start at 1001) your truck would be the 1946 made is your chassis number pre fixed MWD for a general service truck ,if so it has to fall into contract 294/t/8102 or possibly 294/t/7729 until we find some dates that the contracts were issued Nick

Hi Luke as promised photo number one shows the junction box at the drivers side radiator bracket showing the colours connected in it photo two and three show the head lamp ,which is a modern pre -focus type (sorry no idea were they came from ) and the pre- focus bulb which came with them you will find them on e-bay i would think . The brake lamp switch on my truck is the factory fitted one which screws into a tee connected into the hydraulic system going forward from the master cylinder try either Chris Morter or Norman Aish for the parts any luck with the radio earth s i asked about on your truck Nick

Hi Luke sorry i have only just caught on that you don't have a copy of the MW wiring loom you should have asked before drawing is from Bedford MW drivers hand book dated January 1945 i think this a generic MW wiring diagram as it shows the dip switch turning out one head lamp when on dip ,but most late war time photos show only one head lamp fitted a mauve and a black wire are part of the brake light circuit Nick

Hi Luke i will post you a photo of the junction box with the lid off and check up on the head lamp bulbs at the week end but looking at the drawing i sent to Auto Sparks for the loom for the front grill the following wires come out of the junction box going to the front green /red tracer = right indicator white = both front side lights green/white tracer= left indicator blue/red tracer = head lamp dip beam (wire to each lamp) blue/white tracer = head lamp main beam (wire to each lamp) Nick

Hi Luke nice to see the photos of the truck what are your plans for the truck are you going to restore it to full MWR specification i see from some of your other face book photos it still has some of the features unique to the MWR ,the extra plank holding the hood frame ,the holes in left side of the body would have been the mounting for the rear dynamo control box ,hand throttle etc . Do you know what year it was built ,have you any of the original contract plates (there would be one on top of the dash panel and one on the body near those mounting holes i mentioned above )could you help with the following when you striped the truck down did you find any big braided earth strips connecting the various body components I am currently researching the positions of the earth bonds on the MWR these were fitted to prevent radio interference the drivers hand book lists twenty three ,some are fairly obvious but most are difficult to work out any photos you took during the strip down may help though Nick

Hi Luke dip switch is located on the engine bulkhead to the right of the instrument panel it would seam that the dip switch was only factory fitted on the early trucks with the two head lamps on my truck the hole had been blanked off but when i removed all the rubbish fitted by the previous owner i found that the Lucas dip switch fitted the hole in the dash exactly with all the screw holes lining up ( i used the floor mounted dip switch for an early series two land rover )a quick look in an early MW parts book gives a Lucas part number 360007 googleing the number gives Lucas number 31284 which looks correct photo 1 shows holes covered up and wrong dip switch fitted by previous owner the two pop rivets are filling the mounting screw holes for the dip switch photo 2 shows newly fitted dash panel with dip switch to side just under the hand throttle to the right of ammeter/oil pressure gauge hope this helps is that your truck i have seen on facebook Nick

Hi Mark The MWR is run with the standard plug gaps as per the drivers manual ,mileage up to the end of last year was 3,500 miles in two years with no major problems just an addition of a lead additive /fuel preserver every third or fourth fill up and over the winter layup as the unleaded fuel goes off very quickly . regards Nick

Hi Luke Hope the following answers your question 1) head lamp cable colours dip beam = blue with red tracer main beam = blue with white tracer 2) indicator colours right indicator = green with red tracer left indicator = green with white tracer (all the above would be the standard post war colours for most vehicles .) 3) red cable on instrument panel ,the only red cable i can find goes from terminal P on the dynamo control box to terminal D+ on the ignition switch. 4) green /white wire oil thermostat (is this the pressure switch ) to the dial (is this to the oil pressure warning light ). looking at your post i think that all the cables you are having problems with relate to the head lamps and indicators. if you are using one of the original wiring diagrams , have you looked at the following , the early wiring diagrams i have found show that when the dip switch is pressed it switches off the right head lamp ,the later drawing shows only one head lamp fitted at the left side to work with a modern wiring loom fitted with indicators and dipping head lamps you need to change the front and rear round junction boxes from the original four (front ) two (rear )terminal type to the larger six terminal ones (the front one should go on the outside of the right radiator support bracket ,and the rear one is fitted to outer face of the last chassis cross-member i have also seen depending on what model/date your truck a second front junction box on the left radiator support bracket this i think was used when the dip switch turned out one head lamp on the left ?), in your wiring loom kit from Auto Sparks there should also be an additional loom which goes from the six pole junction box to the dip switch with three wires fitted in it consisting of blue , blue with white tracer and blue with red tracer this is used to switch the head lamps from dip to main beam using the dip switch. When i bought my truck it came with a new loom which the previous owner had manufactured by a company which made wiring looms for classic cars but the loom for the front grill and the dip switch loom had been made up and fitted using modern wires and looked wrong for the age of the vehicle Auto sparks were very helpful in making up the correct replacement looms with the correct colours and the Bedford woven outer cover i have found my original drawings for both of these looms which i can post on here if you need a more help . hope this answers your questions if not let me know and i can look again Nicky

Hi Luke just to say i have seen your post i will do some detective work on my truck and with the books i have and try and get you an answer to your questions Nick

part sixteen The work on the cab doors and sill panels is coming along nicely the new ash quarter panels between the cab floor ,bulkhead and wing have been made and fitted , The cab sill /door frame have been welded up and trial fitted . The door guide brackets i bought off e-bay earlier this year have been repaired i had to make new mounting plates for the door guide rubbers and weld them on to the plates as the original tapped holes were past saving . The new door frames are nearly finished ,i want to hang the new frames on the door hinges and rear door guide brackets before fitting the door skins and make sure the bottom of the drivers door clears the lid of the chore horse box Trial fitting the original correct door shows that everything is going ok Jordan the only manuals i have are the drivers hand book and workshop manuals both of these give very little information on the wireless fittings Nicky

Yes it looks as though next years events calendar is going to be lot smaller than 2015 as well as the end of the Elvington show we have also lost the Raucby war time weekend and the DLI show which were both on the same August bank holiday weekend Nick

Hi Dave feed wire is white earth wire is red with a green tracer taken from march 1945 workshop manual for an MWR which also has drawings for the OX and OY all have the same colour wires for the side lights this was probably the standard wire colour for all war time Bedfords . cannot help with wire size though i ordered my front panel wiring loom from Auto sparks if that's any help . Nick

i stand corrected

I have seen this photo several times on the internet i think the vehicle in the foreground with the spare wheel mounted on the tail board is MWR but the photo has either been reversed when printed or it is some other type of 15 cwt truck as the spare wheel is on the wrong side and the chore horse box is missing is there anything on the QL which is the wrong way round Nick

part fifteen yes it is going to fit ! after a trip into Lincolnshire today to collect my latest missing part for the truck i now have the complete switch board charging no 5 (after a two year search) it is also the correct British manufactured one as there is also a Canadian version of this panel which is mounted slightly differently as can see from the photos this panel is used to connect the charging system on the truck using the gearbox pto and under floor dynamo to the wireless battery's, the wireless battery's to the wireless set or the chore horse generating set to the wireless battery's ,there is also a connection marked internal light but this is not used on the MWR as the rear interior light over the wireless table is wired through a control switch mounted under the wireless table and fed off the vehicle battery this panel is another of this years projects this is the only photo of the panel i have, i know that it is fitted with the same rheostat switch as the ones on the truck dash board and uses the same two pin plug as the one on the cab dash (any better photos would be very welcome ) its is just visible under the table between the two seat backs . another recent find are two wooden battery box cases these sit in the angle iron frame at either side of the wireless table and are clamped in place by a top angle iron frame and two long wing bolts i need to do some modification work to the box i made last year for the ammeter for the rear charging circuit as this box is too large (any original photos of this would be welcome and also a part number for the correct ammeter ) it is stopping the charging panel from fitting into its correct mounting. hopefully i will spend tomorrow in the workshop working on the fame for the new cab doors . Nicky