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Kufra Kiwi

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  1. Just saw this great footage of the Light car patrols around Siwa in WW1. Model T Fords and RR armoured cars. https://www.facebook.com/931995000200945/videos/255969775103228/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTAyNDEwNzU0MzpWSzoxMDE1NTY1NTgwOTE1NjU2MQ/
  2. It'll have to be a video - I want hear that throaty roar!!!
  3. I have been watching this thread for a very long time and I am in total awe of your abilities! I cannot wait for the first start-up, which surely must be just around the corner?
  4. H&S insanity prohibits such sharp and unyielding objects in kids playgrounds today (in my country at least). And that provided a windfall for a friend who collects old vintage tractors. He noticed council workers digging an old 1930s Fordson tractor out of its concrete base and he offered to dispose of it for them. It had been exposed to the weather for at least 25 years and was all seized up. But today it is running again and in pride of place in his collection.
  5. Just wondering ..... are you sure the radiator overflow pipe is correctly positioned? It seems almost low enough to drain water during normal driving. I imagine that an overflow pipe would be best positioned at the highest point of the radiator tank? It certainly is in my Model A Ford.
  6. WW1 pilots occasionally refer to the windshields of their aeroplanes (Sopwith pup, camel, etc) being made of clear material like perspex. On page 69 of "Sagittarius Rising" WW1 pilot Cecil Lewis writes: " ....there was a sharp crack, and the little windscreen a foot in front of my face showed a hole with a spider's web in the glass around it. It was Triplex: no splinters but another foot behind would have put a bullet through my head" This was in 1916.
  7. I cannot find any of the threads that I started. What am I doing wrong?
  8. Can you provide another photo showing the gearbox more clearly?
  9. OK but Googling "Ford Barn" is still your best source to find out anything about Ford Model B motors, and it also has quite a bit of useful info on GAZ jeeps.
  10. If its just an ordinary Model A Ford engine (which appears to be the case) they are still two-a-penny in USA, Australia, NZ, South Africa, South America and maybe even in UK. Its probably one of the easiest vintage motors to find, and also one of the best. I don't think the Russian ones were metric. Just Google "Ford Barn" to find out more. There is no difference between the A and AA motors.
  11. In the first photo the spare tyre is diamond tread sand-pattern.
  12. I have used molasses a lot and had good results with it. I use one part of molasses to 6 parts water and leave the rusty part submerged for 2 to 3 weeks, then water-blast the gunk off and leave it to dry in the sun. I have been surprised at how well it works and in my experience it has not immediately starting rusting again either, although that might vary with the type of steel. I am on a farm so storage and disposal are not a problem. Molasses is dirt cheap (30c/kg here) non-toxic, environmentally friendly and doesn't have the disadvantages of sandblasting (cost and warping) or electrolysis (explosive H2 gas). Just don't be in a hurry :-)
  13. Some months ago I mentioned (I think it was on this thread but can't find my post) about converting tanks and bren carriers to cut boxthorn hedges in New Zealand in the 1960s. My description of watching them work when I was a boy seemed to trigger quite a response from the forum. At that time I was disappointed that I couldn't find any photos, but now I have found two quite good ones (attached). I think the tank is either a Valentine or a Stuart but someone else here will know for sure. You can imagine the impressive noise as it charged headlong into a huge boxthorn hedge! And Bren carriers were also used to sweep up the hedge-trimmings but unfortunately I cannot find a photo of a carrier. Moderator please feel free to transfer this post elsewhere if appropriate.
  14. .......Flying in a DC3 from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, floating down the Mekong in a 100 foot river boat in a five day trip from LP to Vientiane, running out of food after day three and being given sticky rice and Plalaa (!!!) by a friendly Lao, shooting the Luang rapids where the Mekong pours through a 100-yard gorge, speaking the Lao language, eating barking-deer ("egang") shot with an old musket, watching a Lao military brass band playing "The Marsellaise" more than a decade after the French had been kicked out of the country, being introduced to American civilians and wondering if that was their real name :-X watching silver Air America planes (with no markings at all) lined up at Vientiane airport, wondering why so many luxury goods were freely available when the country's only external revenue was from the sale of its colourful postage stamps, watching stubby little T28 fighter bombers take off from LP airfield and head off north-eastwards towards the Plain of Jars. Driving past the Pathet Lao "embassy" in Vientiane and trying to photograph the guard with his AK47 and Mao hat (he kept hiding behind a palm tree as we drove past) .............. Laos was (and probably still is) a magical little country full of contradictions, intrigue and surprises.
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