landrover nick

Hi Jordan yes i saw your post regarding the chore horse box on maple leaf up i was going to replay on there but i find it easier to post photos on here . chore horse box on the Bedford mwr it replaces the complete drivers side step i have to climb on the box to get in the cab the box is mounted to the chassis brackets which would have carried the steps ,the lid for the box fits in grove formed in the bottom part of the box and hinges down until closed using an hasp and stapple to keep the lid of the box closed ,if the lid is raised through ninety degrees it can be lifted off ,looking at your photos the lid on your box looks to be different , your charging set looks different to photos i have of chore horse generators photos show the unrestored box when purchased bracket for charging board The one i have i think is correct (i am going to collect a charging panel at the weekend so will let you know if it will not fit )there seams to be two versions in the mwr one which has no weather cover or as the one i have which is fitted with the steel weather cover is the body on your truck a GS type or a gin palace stile of body Nick

Hi Andy that will be no problem but i need to get the first ones right Nick

part fourteen The work on the cab doors continues with the stripping of the two original doors and removal of door skin on the correct door ,taking the door skins off the two original doors revealed the extent of the work that was going to be needed to make them correct both door frames show signs of wet rot ,dry rot and wood worm (hopefully dead through old age )one of the frames has been totally dismantled to make a set of patterns and sent to my wood supplier to have new parts made in Ash . the photo above shows the correct timber frame on the pattern door and the steel strip at the bottom of the door used to crimp the door skin on at the bottom steel door skin as removed from pattern door this has now been sent to have an auto cad drawing made and some new door skins made Nicky

Hi this is an interesting question my own 1942 build MWR has the grill to the front of the panel, looking in the parts book the number for the grill (Bedford call it the stone guard ) stays the same throughout the MW production but several of the part numbers relating to the grill mounting all change at chassis number 21810 ,the same parts book shows windscreen wipers first fitted at chassis number 26308 so it would appear that the change happened near to the replacement of the aero screens with the fully enclosed cab the change from open to closed cab was some time in 1941 Nick

glad to see its found a good home hope you managed to recover all the rear body parts which came off when it was dragged out of the shed Nick

part thirteen Had a good day in the workshop on the cab sills /door frame photos one-three show the poorly fitting doors and the cab sill /door frame which is made up of several parts ( it should a one piece welded frame ) the pen under the door shows just how big the gap is photo four shows the correct door fitted to the truck note how the lip of the door covers the door frame i need someone to make a couple of door skins from this pattern (any recommendations please ) photo five and six show the work on the cab sills photo seven - nine show the wood corner piece which sits between the cab and the rear of the front wing i don't think that at 1" wide this piece is thick enough ,i think it should fill all the space in photo nine am i correct Nicky

The mention of the roof rack remained me to post this photo i found the roof rack is very similar to the one on the Bedford it has been very useful this year and makes a good viewing platform for air displays and arena battles etc Nick

Maurice / Guy 66 i think the dynamo will be 12 v it supply's power through a control box into the no 5 switch panel which can also be supplied by the chore horse generator which is housed in the box which replaces the drivers cab step the power is then either used to charge the battery's for the wireless set or supply the set directly i have very little information on the dynamo the Bedford parts book has a part number of 7064807 and a description of Lucas type MO14X dynamo ,the only part of the set up i have is the bracket to mount the dynamo to the chassis if the machined section to hold the body of the dynamo is a true radius the diameter for the dynamo will be 6" ,Guy is the set up on the Morris the same ? Thanks for the photos of the truck the last two show just how full the boat was on the return trip Nicky

part twelve well its been a busily year with the truck having attended over twelve events this year and covering nearly 1700 miles the longest trip would have been to Guernsey and the shortest five miles up the road to local steam rally .Touch wood there has only been the one brake down with the ignition coil packing up just as we set off on the trip to Guernsey am i glad i bought the spare for the previous years trip to Normandy . The truck is now back in its winter quarters with the new canvas safely away for the winter the rough sea crossing to Guernsey as deck freight had turned the brass gauze in some of the windows bright green . I have long list of jobs i want to try and sort this winter the main ones are 1) The cab doors are both to be remade as the sealing lip around the outside of the doors is missing . 2) The cab sills /door frame is to be remade the ones currently fitted are not in one piece or strong enough 3) Find and refit the MWR pto linkage ,prop shaft and dynamo i need to find the following parts thanks to Simon Thompson for supplying the photos would these parts have been used on any other truck MWR dynamo prop shaft MWR gear box pto and linkage more soon Nicky

one day i am going to find the training film for the Bedford MWR Nicky

Hi all With the success of this years GMVT tour to Guernsey and last years MVT tour to Normandy ,we are looking for a tour /event to attend in northern Europe in the spring or summer of 2016 ,having spoken to several people at the end of the Guernsey tour and at the recent Victory show i think there are quite a few others with similar idea ,what ideas or potential leads are there . Nicky

Back to the windscreen cover when i had the canvas work done in the spring i had Steve at Cromptons make up a windscreen cover as per the drawing earlier in this post , i had attempted to fit the cover several times with no success and had put the job on the back burner until i received the following e-mail from Simon Thomson a mine of information on all things MWR. Forgot to tell u . met an old boy who drove an MWR in ww2 . he said the the front glass canvas is rolled up as in photos , although it has the buckle and strap to roll it up there the canvas continues backwards from the strap/buckle by about two feet .this goes under the front bit by the wipers and tucks under the main canvas which holds it. However he said they never drove with it on . Just put it on when parked up and then removed. He said they were a pain and not used much . After reading the email and some lateral thinking i have now managed to fit the windscreen cover A slightly better print of the original photo which shows four straps to roll up the cover not three i originally thought The windscreen cover fitted to my truck Using some old webbing straps i have extended the straps to go around the rear cab hood stick The windscreen cover rolled up To fit correctly the straps to rear cab hood stick would need to say five foot long with a buckle at the back end i think the email also answers the question of why photos of the windscreen covers are so rare (being a pain to fit and only used when parked up).

Hi i will be there with Bedford MWR first time for me too looking forward to it , hope the weather improves , just got very wet packing up at the Rauceby war time weekend good show though . Nicky

They look very much like MW rear cab door tops just checked my truck and they are 18" high x 12.1/2" wide measured to the edge of the frame . Nicky

all loaded up and ready to go not long now Nicky

Hi most original mw body's i have seen have the trap door nicky

part eleven Last Friday was the day to go and collect the truck from cromptons in Birmingham having arrived at Steve's workshop in the center of Birmingham to find it was all hands on deck to get the cab and rear canvas finished,at one point there was seven people all doing different jobs on my rear canvas and what a splendid job they have done ,there are still one or two things to sort out the door tops and rear side screens that came with the truck when i bought it are two inches smaller than the new ones Steve had made to his original patterns so i need to find some more frames for these before we go to Guernsey on the 6th of may ,the cab and rear canvas are now correct to the factory photos with all the correct fasteners the brass gauze in the windows the speaking tubes from the rear into the cab canvas The sides of the canvas can now be rolled up correct flaps over Ariel holes in roof with gators sown in underneath with draw strings to seal around ariels when fitted speaking tubes in cab canvas have drop down flaps to close off when not in use rear view of speaking tubes it was the Yorkshire MVT first show of the year at Clifford s tower in the center of York a good time for a trial fitting of the roof rack we had a very enjoyable day its usually a good place to meet old friends you haven't seen all winter with a record turn out of 85 vehicles Nicky

Bedford MWR at York

PART TEN The truck has now gone to Cromptons in Birmingham to have the rear canvas modified and a new cab canvas and side screens made , it managed the eighty mile trip without any problems just the driver got wet with the leaky cab canvas which is now past its best ,with the truck out of the way i have been making the roof rack the last photo shows the trial layout for part of the dummy load to go in the roof rack of two gallon water cans my dad has a large collection of two gallon tins (which seam to have found a permanent home in my workshop ) most of which are petrol ones the last photo is i think a two gallon Canadian water can dated 1943 disguised as castrol fuel can Nicky

Hi Dave There is a lot more steel work holding the body together on the MW than you can see from the outside i had to build the body for my truck from scratch using photos and drawings supplied by Mike Humphreys the angle iron that runs along the inside of the body runs down both sides and around both of the wheel boxes the first seven photos show Mikes truck being stripped down during his rebuild and the last photo is the inside of my truck before i fitted the MWR interior hope these help Nicky

Thanks for the info Chris ,building the truck was hard enough but this radio stuff is a real minefield and is going to be very steep leaning curve ,wireless for the warrior talks of a post war conversion on the 19 set to remove the B set is this what has happened to the set above or is it another homemade rework Nicky

Hi i need to make a copy of carrier set no 23 (this is the carrier to mount the 19 set on) before i can fit it in the back of the Bedford are there any drawings to be found to make this to ,is this the correct mounting for the 19 set in the rear of the Bedford thanks Nicky

Hi Chris thanks for the info , i have no intention of trying to use either the power unit or the set it is just to go on the bench in the rear of my Bedford MWR , but was surprised not to find it in the copies of wireless for the warrior i had bought ,would the power unit be for a post war set .photos show the 19 set that came with it the signal corps marking made me think it was made in America thanks Nicky

Hi i need some help to identify this power unit i bought it last night with an American built no 19 mk 3 set i cannot find any reference to it in any of the wireless for the warrior books i have is it a post war power unit as the 19 set has had the b set removed which was a post war modification thanks Nicky

part nine Been working on the truck all week to get markings finished, first photo is the original photo i have been working off this is the information i have on it . Irish guards group Guards armored division Aalst Holland 18 September 1944 as the weather was good today took the truck out for test run of about forty miles with no problems and took the following photos ,still some jobs to sort but starting to look good now most of the jobs left to finish off seam to be at the back of the truck now Nicky