mat777

the stolly was definitely blown up .

I met the guy who did all the prep work ,drained all the oils etc but I think it was explosives they used.

:-(:-(:-( of all the things to destroy!

Is anyone else still watching the Grand Tour series inbetween bouts of cringing their face inside out?

This week's episode concludes with them appearing to make a "Prepper" post-apocalyptic armoured vehicle from a Stolly or possibly a Saracen. It's hard to tell due to the ridiculous "armour" the covered it in making it resemble a Judge Dredd City Cab.

Anyway, having done so, they then proceed to "test" the armour by appearing to blow it up with a naval shell fired from a nearby frigate.

I'm hoping that they didn't actually blow it up (you only get to see the explosion, no before or aftermath) - does anyone on here know any more about it? Alvises (or Alvii?) dont exactly grow on trees so I'd imagine the vehicle was known to someone?

Regards,

Matt

Well, this weekend we tried jacking and packing again, with a bigger jack this time!

It was ever so nearly successful.... after packing under both the sunk wheels with rocks topped with paving slabs and planks, we gave it a go - despite having initial traction, it just didnt quite have the grip and/or oomph to do anything other than rock backwards about 6 inches before rolling forwards again.

Unfortunately, in the attempts to budge it by shifting sharply between neutral and reverse, the rocking caused it to slide sideways off the packing and back into the soft dirt. Back to square one!

Plan B beckons - finding something very large to winch it with!

Hi Ed, many thanks indeed for your kind offer - Blackburn is not too far from me so I would love to take it up at some point (maybe in December when I've got a bit more free time from project deadlines than at the minute) :-D

That's a bummer to hear about the legalities, was this part of the consultation on forcing post 1960 special vehicles to have an MOT? I guess there's no mileage in trying to shave off the extra 10cm per side by fitting narrower tyres and losing the wheelarch eyebrows etc? I guess that means the value of the existing 4 must have skyrocketed too!

Hi all,

I've always hankered after a 6x6 truck, and subject to a lot of things falling into place next year (another workshop and some money etc) I might finally be able to scratch the itch.

As much as I've always liked the M35s, they are quite ubiquitous at shows. Meanwhile, a lot of time spent playing Spintires (a Russian off-roading computer game) has introduced me to the awesome Kraz 255. Now here's a truck thats as good looking, seemingly even more capable, roughly the same price (even if one has to travel to find one) and is something rather different from the norm in the UK.

Has anyone on here ever had experience of both? What are the main strengths and weaknesses of each? I'm guessing parts for the 255 must be harder to track down, but then again the M35s multifuel engine must make it a lot cheaper to run. What are they both like on the road in terms of size, driveability, economy(!) and top speed? I'm aware that being post 1960, the 255 would require a licence whereas an unladen M35 wouldn't.

What's the view of the HMVF collective?

Thanks,

Matt

2ftx1ft section of loft plate (workshop blueprints etched onto sheet alloy) for a Lightning F3 - drawing number confirmed by BAe heritage.

A fantastic and totally unique piece of wall art!

£150, located in Liverpool

HI all,

Many thanks for all the suggestions and sorry for the delayed reply!

Unfortunately I'm not sure the walls are anywhere near strong enough to winch from and the solid bit of the floor has concrete underneath it, so sadly the excellent ground anchor idea is out.

I will try to have another go at jacking it from underneath - I was experiencing a lot of difficulty in getting a jack in anywhere suitable to lift, and that ram jack pinged out at an angle a few times!

Ultimately though I think I am going to wind up having to go to the nearest farm (luckily there are a few within a mile or so) and beg for them to bring a telehandler along. Annoyingly, whilst we have another forklift its only half the size and wouldnt lift this one. I should have got that one stuck instead!

Unless.... anyone in the vicinty of Parbold, Lancs fancies exercising their Scammell/Foden/Diamond T etc. in exchange for a crate of beer? :-D

I made a fatal mistake yesterday of not checking how firm the floor of a barn was before driving 5 tons of forklift truck onto it. The camera side is fine, the other side however turned out to be as soft as freshly-tilled earth - and now, despite a lot of digging and various attempts, it isnt going anywhere and is now sat on the chassis at the back.

Oh, and it cant be pulled directly backwards because there's a wall just out of shot to the left.

It really needs the back lifting and slewing round, and ordinarily I'd find the nearest farmers, but at 5 tons I think it's beyond the realms of a telehandler.

Some of you lot must have had to deal with awkward recoveries in the past, what would your suggestions be?

thanks in advance,

Matt

Hi all,

I'm currently on the hunt for a Meteor starter motor. I don't know if there are different types (I gather the Cromwell had a remote mounted job?) but my ex-Cent example appears to be a direct input to the incline drive box via a 3-toothed dog.

Has anyone got a spare lying around please?

Thanks,

Matt

Hi all,

I'm after the 2 cast alloy heat exchangers that form the top part of a Rolls Meteor inlet manifold. As you can see from the pictures, mine have been butchered with an angle grinder!

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Hi all,

I have for sale a BTH CA4750 motors to suit (I'm told) various types of Rolls Royce Merlin.

The motor is in far better cosmetic condition than those that usually turn up for sale, and might possibly be either recon or new-old-stock. I personally don't know its history, it having been pulled out of a friend's workshop during a clearout.

I have tested it on a 12v car battery and it appears to work perfectly.

It is located near Tarporley, Cheshire. I'm asking £500 or best sensible offer for it, and viewing can be arranged. Postage can be arranged at another £10 via Parcelforce 48.

Hi all, A friend of mine is currently in Jaipur where he has stumbled on the remains of a Jeep.

He says: "I'm trying to figure out how much it would cost me to ship it to the UK. Any idea on how much it could be worth? Worst case to best case? If I can reasonably justify the shipping and purchase I might investigate buying it"

Now, first and foremost I can't tell from the picture if it is a Willys, or an Indian copy such as a Mahindra.

Also, I'm afraid I have no idea what a restoration case Jeep would be worth (assuming it is a Willys and thus worth saving). I guess a lot depends on the condition of the mechanicals? At least the hot, dry climate should mean the tinwork will be reasonably sound.

Below are some picture he has sent me. Can anyone help at all please? Thanks!

Hi all,

I have recently uncovered the engine number on my Rolls Meteor - R47735 stamped on the crankcase, plus what I presume is a ministry number of 24654 on the cylinder banks. Can anyone tell me please what this would pertain to in terms of approximate build date, and what it was installed in?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Very interesting pictures!

What is the truck by the way, never seen one of those before? Looks like someone plonked a high speed tractor body onto a wheeled chassis!

Thanks for the replies chaps.... didn't realise they were quite that big :wow: and in fact 200kg would tip the all-up weight over the limit for the ready-made Sankey-based rig I've bought for it!

I think I shall indeed proceed down the route of getting a dummy shaft machined with a smaller flywheel on the end of it instead.

Thanks for the advice and for preventing me making a costly mistake!

Matt

Thanks chaps. Knocking up a support bearing shouldn't be a problem in the grans scheme of things.

Caddy - although it doesnt need one, I would like to have some weight on it so that I can do more than just tickle the throttle open when running it statically - ie being able to really open it up like the Merlin guys can do due to having props on theirs.

Thanks,

Matt

Hi all,

I've just purchased a dismantled Meteor V12 engine, and am looking to rebuild it for static running. It currently doesn't have anything to engage with the crankshaft splined end but I would like to put some sort of flywheel on it. I'm aware that a Centurion clutch pack should fit right on, but would the clutch plates have enough rotating mass to make any difference, or am I best to dismantle a u/s clutch pack for its input shaft and then get something heavy fabricated onto the other end of the shaft?

I have been given the details for Bob Grundy with regards to finding a pack but I'm still not entirely sure what one looks like inside or if they even come apart, so I'm fumbling around in the dark really - any ideas or advice would be most welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Hi everyone,

I stumbled across this earlier and thought it might be of interest to you here. Apologies if its a repost, I did search but nothing came up!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294284/WWII-color-Rare-photos-1942-Flying-Fortress-bombers-heroic-crews-The-Mighty-8th-Command.html

Interesting. I knew about the aircraft, but didnt know it was faster than an a Hawker Typhoon/Tempest (what is normally touted as the fasted piston plane of WW2)

Hi Martin,

I know its been a while but I just thought you'd like to see the outcome of the costume I bought the jacket for!

Given that it was a "Tyrants and Dictators" party, can you guess who I was?

Does anyone have any more details on this?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138544/Inside-Frances-secret-World-War-I-bunker-Urban-explorers-wartime-weapons-stowed-away-underground-quarry.html

Leaving aside the usual spectacular journalistic inaccuracies from the Daily Fail, it looks quite an interesting find

A small point, but I do wonder about the originality of the girl in the Liberty Belle artwork. Is she the same original wartime girl, or was this artwork recreated for the restored Liberty Belle?

 

Difficult to be specific, but there's something about the original wartime pinups which give a distinct period feel, which I find a bit lacking in Miss Belle.

 

(It's just that I'm sure I met her in Roxy's nightclub in Leeds in 1991 :-D. )

 

Sorry, I'm not trying to be picky, artwork is very much personal taste. The main point is it's your jacket and your artwork - anyone else's view is theirs alone and irrelevant. The important thing is that you should be happy with it :-)

The pinup was indeed pinched from the preserved Belle that was so sadly recently destroyed (attached image).

Having sifted through hundreds of different pinup art pictures on google, this one was my favourite. It took me absolutely ages to find a 2d artwork instead of just a picture of the plane! I realise it doesnt look quite so authentic as some others but I like her - and she reminds me of a girl from my uni halls last year :blush:

The artwork is altered with the bomb from the nose art of "Thumper" and the squadron and group markings are from the wartime Liberty Belle that flew daylight raids from England.

Well, a massive thanks to N.O.S. and his contact Paul - I now have a fantastic genuine Cooper A2, as-issued spec.

I'm now working on sorting the artwork, and spent a couple of hours on photoshop earlier turning the rough draft into a finalised version to discuss with the artist. Having seen some of her work at Paul's I was extremely impressed and I am sure she will more than do justice to my concept

apologies if this is in the wrong forum or has already been posted, but I stumbled across this earlier and thought you may be interested

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100326/Stunning-rare-colour-images-World-War-II.html

I would be looking at £80-90 max for the jacket, and would then be prepared to brace myself and pay however much it costs for the artwork. I know this severely limits my available options with the choice of jackets, but being a student I have to look good on a budget!

thanks,

Matt