Bodger Baz

nice truck you got there,

where do you get your spares? i'm new to bedford ownership.

i dont own the vehicle, it belongs to a older fella who has owned it since the 50's, me and my dad are doing it up for him, slowly!

ok, took some more pictures today, check out the storage bins, completely original :-D and the unused bolt on wire cutter :-D :-D

hopefully the engine will be fired up in the next week or so, were going to put some hours on the engine in a test bed before installing to be safe

Baz

managed a few more bits and bobs this week, got my wheels from the farm and picked up my excellent find of three front tyres :-D.

got the wheels on the bedford so we could move it from the barn it has been in for years into the next barn so we have electrics and a concrete floor to work on, sheer luxury!!!

Removed the brush gaurd from the front and almost got the wings of but not quite.

It looks a lot smaller now its on wheels, need some rear tyres of anyone knows where i can get some 10.50x16 track grip or similar?

found a more recent picture thats a bit better, will get some more this weekend.

Baz

suprisingly the tracks are as free as a bird, we towed the bren into the barn with a forklift, then removed the tracks to get all the steering gear freed up and the checked track movement and they were fine.

it had the canadian mercury v8 in originally but we are replcing with an english 80hp v8 due to the fact its the only engine we've been able to find.

i will try and get some better pictures this weekend.

This one was bought from morgans on Hayling island in the 50's, they had dozens of them that were bought from blackbushe auctions in the late 40's early 50's for the sum of £50, still in packing cases!!! most wer cut up for the engine, box and diff, then scrapped!

heres some pictures of the one i am currently working on. sat in a field for nearly 40 years but has survived quite well, still has remains of original numbers and markings. it was removed from the packing case by the current owner and it has completed a huge 276 miles!!! :-o

the engine was cracked but a replcement english engine has been sourced and will hopefully be fitted soon (touch wood!)

its a 1944 canadian ford, mk2 i guess?

we even have several panels from other brens that the guy bought, un boxed, removed the engine and box to scrap the remainder :-o :-o :-o

cant wait to get it up and running :-D.

I believe a company called Mitas now manufacture them.

 

The tread pattern is not 100% correct for a war-time vehicle, but they don't look too out of place.

 

If you want Track Grips Wallace Wade in the states has had some made up.

I believe he is waiting for the US Department of Transport to complete their tests before he can sell them.

 

Thanks for info :-D, will look into it and see what i can find.

Baz

where can i find some info out on these over weight slugs? what they worth? anybody got one?

Baz

where can i get 2 of 10.50 x 16 tyres in off road, rough terrain pattern to go on my Bedford?

Managed to get three road tyres for the front wheels (1 spare before anyone points out the obvious!) believe they are 1950's goodyears that are brand new, just need some chunky ones for the rear end.

Baz

Very Nice :-D :-D :-D

it is either a GAZ 64 or 67 depending on year, couple of small differences in them but cant tell from that distance.

done a lot of work in the former USSR and by all accounts they were pretty crap due to being so gutless and unreliable, still want one though, just to top up collection.

heres a picture close up of a GAZ 64, biggest difference os the front suspension, quarter elleptical on the 64 semi on the 67.

the GAZ amphib jeep is very rare, and quite pricey if you can find one for sale. also piccy attached, taken 60th D-Day

Baz

Awesome :-D that has to be the best looking vehicle out there, good luck guys.

Baz

Cheers guys.

The guy i got the vehicle from found a picture today of the Bedford on the same axle stands over 25 years ago! will try to to borrow and scan to post.

The vehicle (luckily) has never been used since leaving the army, it was bought by the last owner from Blackbushe auctions, with seized engine and without wheels! and that is exctly as it has stayed, love it. he also bought a couple of spare engines (MOD refurb) that have come with the truck, sweet :-D :-D

Baz

Well work has finally started on the Bedford (at last!) planning on taking a couple of years to complete this one so will keep a log on here so i dont forget what i've already done :?

First job - remove all the brakes as we need to move the vehicle from it current location. Amazingly everything has come undone, even more amazingly the hubs were not even seized to the shoes. All the shoes are like new as are the bearings :-)even the slave cylinders were not rusted solid, pretty good for a truck that has not been touched for the best part of years.

Next the doors came off, once again all came undone thanks to a ton of grease on all the fittings, we even found the sliding window handle in the cab afetr sweeping the crud out :-D

not bad a couple of hours work and not a gas axe in sight!

found some wheels recently on another local farm :-D, just need to finalise the deal for them ready to move the truck.

Next time, on with some wheels and off with the cab hopefully

Baz

Baz wrote

 

"Travel by LD Lines to Le Havre, its half the price of brittany and P&O and only an extra hours drive."

 

Christ Baz what on earth do you drive and at what speed

 

Commander

 

Maybe i should have been more detailed, oops.

i used to use P&O portsmouth to cherbourg, but now that they dont run that service we use LD Lines to Le Havre, thats only an hour more than Cerbourg to say Bayeux.

Personally i wont use Britanny ferries as their prices are crazy! ok they come straight into caen (ish) but i like a good drive on nice roads.

Baz

we usually go in a small group of vehicles from our local area MVT branch or now a mixture of MVT and SOE folks :schocked:!

i can highly recomend a campsite near Omaha beach " camping le robinson" always a good crowd there and loads of mv's every year, a mixture of english, dutch, flemish and french in the site. Plus a good bar in the camp and just down the road :whistle:, oh and a pool :-D

Travel by LD Lines to Le Havre, its half the price of brittany and P&O and only an extra hours drive. You get a nice view of the sienne over the two huge bridges.

There are some piccies of our trip there this year here www.flickr.com/macspite

Cheers

Baz

the Awesome 841, only 1000 built, a very rare beast indeed,

Cheers

Baz

Harleys, Harleys everywhere, but where are the real bikes?

Left hand throttle rules :-D

never seem to see many on the military scene? :cry: where are all the bikes?

If the tyres has ribs inside then you should not fit tubes, as the ribs will rub through the tubes. (as i found out on my range rover!)

tyres with ribs are designed to be used without tubes and usually have "tubeless" embossed on them somewhere.

Hope it helps

Baz

 

 

:-o Ouch, so hurtful....................

Hi Baz, hope youve finally put the French markings back on that Hotchkiss...........sorry, I mean early ww2 Jeep

;-)

You wont be seeing me for a while, stuck offshore for 3 weeks now!!!!!!!!!! :cry:

Im hoping to arrive at Beltring the Sunday before (and then leaving the following Fri) if you fancy a beer or seven

:beer:

 

 

Is that the best you got? you forgot the 101st aibourne markings! :evil:

you still didn't answer the the Triumph question though? :whistle:

Wont be at beltring, bit too near delivery time for my new apprentice! :-D

Have fun off shore, hahahaha

A group of of deranged military vehicle enthuiasts will be heading the the area of Camping Le Robinson in Colleville if anybody should brave bringing and bottle cider over! :whistle:

heading over sat 2nd June and back the following weekend.

Vehicles in convoy 1/2 Tone command car,1940 Oldsmobile 6, 1942 Jeep and the good ol Indian 741b, stay well clear some old drivers in the group!!!!! :-D

Baz

Have you ridden the Triumph recently? :whistle:

Also, hate to tell you that it has rained recently in the UK, so the remains of your Landy will probably need to swept out of the garage!!! on the up side scrap value has increased.........hehehehehehe :-D

See ya soon.

despite the weather a really good turn out of vehicles, the really wide variety of vehicles from the usual number of Jeeps right through to a Sherman which was excellent to see being ragged around, nice one :-D.

Beer tent was its usual party place in the evening, if not a little damp at times that didn't seem to dampen any spirits.

Good show, well done the folks who put the hard work in to the preperation, especially the road signs, well done Bob :-D, shame about the weather :dunno:.

Looking forward to next year already

Baz