julezee001

Great job! Just what I'd like to do to mine this week before W & P, but I fear I might run out of time. I hope those at the show appreciate all your hard work, and that you can have a relaxing time there. Jules

I've booked the Militant and one of the Explorers for the IMPS run to Bethune in September, and have had no info on this at all? Although it doesn't worry me a great deal; I love the idea of camping in Dover or Calais for a few days chatting to TV crews about the short comings of the EU/British government. Another piece of quality legislation, doubtless brought in the back door under the cover of darkness! Jules

1/ They don't come under the scope of a normal M.O.T. on the grounds of being over weight i.e. over 3.5 tons. They are not subject to an LGV test mainly because they are not goods vehicles? Because of this the responsibility for it being roadworthy rests fully with the person driving it on the road. 2/ They are tax exempt on the basis of being manufactured before 1 January 1973, and hence are all Historic vehicles. Whether this would apply if used for hire on the road, I am unsure? 3/ Private ads or dealers, but get advice from people on this Forum who run them for the pros and cons, and what to look for? Jules

I have to confess that as far as I know my tank hasn't either been taken off or drained in the last few (17 ish) years, so I might have a go after the Cuckoo Fayre. Luckily travelling there with my Explorer too, so we will get there and back one way or another! Jules

My brother first replaced the original filter in the cab for the twin CAV type shortly after getting the truck on the road about 13 years ago, and then replaced the ridiculous water trap (little bigger than a thumb) about 10 years ago with another filter and water trap. I changed the bottom bowl from aluminium to glass about 3 years ago, because I thought it would show impending problems. How wrong could I be? In the T.A. I've had similar problems with Bedfords MJ/MK in the past, after a change in policy, the local servicing teams were sacked, and it became an in house responsibility for the unit. This ofter meant that vehicles that had been fully serviced every 6 months were potentially not done for up to 3 years. Twice I slowed to little more than a crawl on motorways/ autobahns because of blocked fuel filters. Luckily both times I had spares on board to fix the problem. Germany was the scariest as REME following at the rear of a convoy travelling at 12mph up the motorway inclines, with the commercial vehicles thundering up behind at 80+mph. Hazards or dart for the hard shoulder? Jules

Just found a picture I took of your new toy after I beat a path to it a few months ago! A real beauty! Jules

I think I found the problem with the fuel this afternoon. My Militant has 3 fuel filters fitted, the first a standard tractor/Landrover type with a glass sight bowl fitted, which replaces the tiny original moisture trap? The glass bowl had clean diesel and a tiny amount of sediment in the bottom. The filter was a different story. Last changed on 8/4/06. Yuk! It looks like poop, and felt like thin jelly. I suspect the truck faltered on the way to the test as it sucked a lump up the pick up pipe, and then recovered when it reached the filter housing. I think I might drain the tank and try to remove any other floaters? The other pair of the same type of filters have replaced the original single one in the n/s dash, and both of these were fine but were change anyway. Jules

It could be many things. Worn/stuck brushes in the dynamo, contamination on the brushes, a loose/broken wire, or indeed as you suggest dirty contact in the regulator. I'd probably start looking for loose/broken wires. Next with testing the dynamo on the vehicle, and go from there. Disconnect the wires from it and connect its two contacts, connect a 50v DC voltmeter between the wire and a good earth, and start the engine. The reading should rise with the revs, assuming a 12V system it should start at 8-9V at tickover, and climb to 30V ish at higher revs. No output suggests the fault is in the dynamo. With voltage regulators it is often dirty contacts, although I've had melted soldered joints, broken wires, and totally burnt out ones in the past. The above is based on the older Landrovers, but I hope would apply to any dynamo based charging system. Jules

Presumably all the shoes at the time were asbestos based, so re-profiling was probably not a great job to have done with the dust etc. I am also aware that the shoes fitted and the spares I have are also original too! So I am careful with them. As an aside has anyone else with a Mk1 Militant had a roller brake test recently either voluntary or otherwise? Jules

I'm hoping that having had a major go at the brakes this year they should be ok for the next few years. Next year I'll test the brakes first at the local transport company, before going for a proper test. The only worry is contamination of the shoes from leaking hub oil seals, although the o/s rear shoes were filthy 5 years ago, but having cleaned them thoroughly with brake cleaner, anjd replaced the bellows seals, they have been consistantly better than the clean n/s ones?? Having not been a commercial vehicle mechanic I hadn't heard of shoe profiling. As I said previously, the only shoe with a shim now is the o/s rear axle leading shoe which sits about 3mm from the drum without it? As the shoes wear, the adjustment of the rods can run out of thread. At that point there were specific shim blocks to fit and regain adjustment on the rods. At the rate the brakes wear currently I'm fairly confident that it will never be my problem, and I have a couple of new spare sets of shoes too! Jules

A friend pointed this site out to me today, which seems to have places of interest close to most people on this forum? Features Cold War bunkers, control centres etc. http://www.subbrit.org.uk/ Jules

Certainly bored of taking them on and off. The wheels,and drums are all rather heavy as you know; all have been off fairly recently, and so there isn't a real fight, but it all just takes time and effort. Fortunately I haven't had to buy any parts, but despite this it's cost almost £400 to get the truck through the test this year, with test fees, fuel, and cash for the other 2 commercial brake tests. Today I finally got an M.O.T. pass, so we will go to the shows! The test centre still made a mess of the voluntary test, coming out with a fail, having programmed the Militant as post 1968! Luckily the imbalance was gone (low enough at least) so I managed to pursuade them to re-test it straight away as a proper test, which it passed. Hoorah! I just need to make and fit a folding frame for a double matress in the box body to keep the better half on side, ready for the weekend after next, and re-stock the tea, coffee, biscuits and beer, which has all been robbed for the workshop! The most important job now is to replace all 3 fuel filters, as I ground to a halt on the way to the test almost at the top of the main hill into Hastings on the A21. S**t! Kept her going just, and she picked up and was fine after a couple of minutes which felt like ages. All together a better day, so now I can book W&P and other shows knowing I'm fully legal again for another year. Jules

As an update to my saga of brakes and LGV test: still no good on Monday for a voluntary brake test. O/s on no.3 was better than ever, and n/s had dropped 200kg from the last test after my technical measuring and shimming! Took shim out today.... Booked for another vol. test tomorrow (Wednesday), but spent a couple of hours at a local transport firm on their rolling brake tester. They were really helpful, and tested my brakes when I arrived, and then let me re-adjust them, and tested them all again for a tenner, Bargain! Adjusted n/s no.3 to a slight bind, and slackened o/s a bit, and have a service brake of 1775kg and 1934kg respectively, giving only 8% imbalance. Hopefully this will be repeatable tomorrow for the test? As an aside, a friend has just declared his Scammell Crusader M.O.T. exempt as a vehicle used to carry display items only, i.e. his T54! Taxed it etc. no problem, great. Jules

Hi Richard, I'm really glad someone has ended up with it to restore. I looked at it about 3 months ago and it was far too straight and original to break or scrap. Did you find the second engine cover in the brambles? I had a really good look, but couldn't find it! I look forward to seeing it at any show you get it to. Jules

Laughton. Anyone else going? We hope to get over on Friday evening, and stay til Sunday evening. Plenty of beers in the fridge cos it's going to be HOT! (Well mild and dry will do) Or tea, coffee and biscuit if the weather's normal. Jules

Definitely a great read, although I think it's almost 30 years since I last read them! I might dust them off tomorrow and start again! Jules

Totally agree with you, having only seen and shot the lower version. I can only think the woodwork would be needed if a great number of rounds were fired to save scorching fingers? This would have been an unlikely happening for those issued with the weapon as the idea would have been to shoot briefly, and scoot asap!! Jules

Having had some fun trying to make my Mk1 Militant brakes work evenly for an LGV test, I was wondering if anyone has had the need to shim their similar brakes to make them even? Last year the examiner couldn't work out how to test the brakes on the rollers, and so used the Tapley meter. Fine! This year a different examiner used the rollers and found imbalance on the rear axle. As explained elsewhere the rear brakes on the Militant are simple but not a great design. Obviously fine for a Tapley test but never designed for the rollers. On my Militants rear axle, I can only think that the "S" cam which operates the brakes on the o/s is set low as it has a home made shim of about 3mm to raise the leading (top shoe) to bring it into contact at the same time as the trailing shoe. I have made a similar 2mm shim for the n/s which had the trailing shoe doing nothing with the leading shoe binding the drum. In service it wouldn't have mattered as the shoes would have eventually worn even, but in my hands the shoes would take a lifetime to bed in that much! Fingers crossed for a voluntary brake test 8.40 Monday morning, then hopefully sneak straight round for a re-test! Jules

Cor!!! Thats lurvly. Great paint job on the engine. I think I'd have to lift my Eagle out too, to fix the clutch etc, as it's all a bit tight 158 UXL. PSY 974 has an extra 4 inches on the chassis, bonnet etc. to leave the clutch housing in the original position, making clutch repair easy. Mine was in good condition, and with care should last a good few years undisturbed? Jules

I heard of a Pioneer Tank Transporter recently, and was told that it had to go, and that it would otherwise be scrapped. I hate to hear of things like that, so rushed off to look at it. I made what I thought was a reasonable offer, bearing in mind the alternative was scrapping it, only to be told the following that it was worth at least 3 times what I offered. It took 20 minute to hack through the brambles to get to it, it hadn't moved for 20 years, and for 10 years prior to that, and was sitting outside. I'll try to get hold of some photos of it that a friend took at the time. I don't know if it has gone, but having put my Explorer together from a large pile of parts, I think I have a realistic idea of what a vehicle is worth, and how much it costs to put one back together, not counting time and effort. I only hope it has been saved as it was mostly there, less the trailer coupling, and could be an excellent project for someone. Jules

It looks a bit like a night flying trainer I helped collect for a local aviation society? Jules

An Eagle Diesel squeezed in there? Looks familiar! What kind of clutch is fitted? I grafted the old Meadows one onto the Eagle flywheel just to keep the clutch release simple (original). Jules

I wish my Mk1 Militant had a set up like the Martian, with one cylinder per wheel on the rear instead of one for both axles each side, it would give her better brakes, make her far easier to adjust, and get through a brake test! She probably has a better handbrake with the ratchet on type working all 4 rear brakes, similar to the Scammells. Jules

From my experience it doesn't take long for the sticky gunge to spread itself almost everywhere again, and where it doesn't cover the rust starts again, or the wood rots, etc.... Why do we do it?? Jules