Duncan76

Well, the Lincoln Steam and Vintage Show this weekend was the first proper show outing for GYL 32C on its own and with the new mods - now with the re-manufactured foam fire extinguisher holders at the front. Just a tilt to go now - I need a lottery win! It behaved well, covering about 150 miles over the weekend. But, it's still running a little rich and missing a tad under load, and the air mixture screw is now all the way in on the carb. Timing perhaps?

I now have all my vehicles insured with Premium Choice and am more than happy to recommend them. All are on agreed values, they are kept in different places away from home, some have additional drivers - none of which has caused a fuss. In fact, last year I moved the Land Rover 109 ambulance to the policy from Adrian Flux as I found the premiums were more than creeping up every year and I got fed up feeling like I had to price match and hammer them down. As a guide, the green goddess (secure storage, under cover) costs me about £90 per annum fully comp. http://www.premiumchoice.co.uk/specialist-vehicle/military-vehicle/ Duncan.

Hello Howard, Thanks - yes it is indeed! I'm glad as it will make recommissioning much easier. I'm glad too as I bought it 'unseen' via eBay so until we rocked up at the owner's farm near Salisbury with the Atkinson, it was anyone's guess as to what it was like..... The last owner was a Commer nut - he lived in one, a converted horsebox - so was sad to see it go. Easy work for Atkinson - over 40 years old but still very capable of a days work! Hope you and the business are well, D

Haha - no that's enough for me.... Full stop! A bikini unit would be great but trying to find one with all the kit would be difficult or even factoring in the cost of even partially re-kitting one - the rafts, LPPs etc. Lots of cash required! The fact that they sold for less than the RLs probably explains why so many Q4s ended up as traveller homes I guess. This one escaped, hence its originality. Duncan.

OK, OK, having said that the Bedford RL petrol carrier would be the last addition, I weakened..... A search on eBay a fortnight ago turned up a remarkably unmolested AFS Commer Q4 hose layer for sale. Now, I have on RSOLES made a point of saying in the past that you don't see these very much these days and between the RSOLES collectors, I'm not aware of many if any.... So, I thought it might be worth a punt as the RSOLES AFS fleet expands.... It was - some used, non-sequential twenties changed hands and with the help of a low-loader trip down to Wiltshire, 519 ELM is now safely tucked in a barn and awaiting some TLC over the coming months..... There is a blog as is usual with me - up and running all ready: http://commerq4.blogspot.co.uk/ 519 ELM is a time warp - built in 1954, into service only in 1964, then sold off in 1989 with about 600 miles on the clock. The second owner bought it in 1994. It's complete with all the body work including centre partitions, the cab is complete with trim and headlining and it's only covered just over 1,700 miles...... Remarkably little rust considering it's been outside under a tarp for so long; as a hardened Bedford fan, the build quality seems to be impressive! :wow: If anyone out there has any hints, tips or stories / advice on restoring a Commer Q4 I'd love to hear from you as this is a new one on me, or of course, any sources of spares. The brakes are totally u/s, it does run but roughly (we can soon sort that). Cheers, Duncan.

I have break down cover / recovery up to 7.5 tonnes through my insurance policy with Premium Choice, something like £66 per vehicle for the year, which is provided by Autohome. Interesting though, when I called Autohome last year to see if I could get it cheaper by going direct to them and covering all my vehicles (goddess and the RL), they said 'no' and said that £90-odd was the normal charge and that the cheaper rate was a 'promotional rate' through the insurer. :-| Also, having been insured in the past with Flux, when I got the goddess, they were adamant that their policies only covered up to 3.5 tonnes and that they could not be able to recover a vehicle that size. Because of the service and price, all my 'classic' stuff is now with Premium Choice - the goddess, RL and Land Rover ambulance. Cheers, Duncan.

Quite a number of AFS vehicles were bought and built but not registered until needed. As a C reg, it's the same registration letter as my ex-AFS petrol carrier, but mine has the later 'chromed' front end and grille, and a slightly different engine, whereas yours is little different to the GPs which were registered in the 50s along with the main green goddess fleet. As such, they all have normal vacuum assisted hydraulic brakes, so you would find towing a living van with air brakes slightly difficult! Duncan.

Excellent - good to see another ex-AFS RL survivor! I look forward to following the restoration work, although, it looks in pretty decent condition overall! A friend and I are in the final stages of restoring an ex-AFS RL petrol carrier: http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?36901-AFS-Bedford-RL-Petrol-Carrier&highlight=petrol+carrier Interesting that even though it's a C reg, like our petrol carrier, it has the earlier front and grille suggesting that it was probably stored for quite a few years before it was registered for AFS use, although the chassis (and maybe engine) numbers will confirm that. Duncan.

Excellent - welcome! Just down the road in Oakham. The pic of your S3 reminds me of my S3 ambulance which had been sitting in a yard for a good while before I bought it - that worn, faded, patina! Must confess, I haven't yet repainted mine yet - so it's even more worn and faded and brown!! Duncan.

Haha - thanks Ted, however, with the petrol carrier and the goddess, together with the series 3 Land Rover ambulance (horribly under-used) and the lightweight (been buried in the garage for nearly 10 years), I think that's quite enough.... Duncan.

Thanks for your kind words! The front exhaust and fire wall behind the cab give's it a certain presence as does the revised early 60s Bedford grille! The front indicators mounted on the cheek panels as opposed to the wings gives it a more distinctive look, too. It drives very well on the 1200 Goodyear G388s, actually. They're a good tyre and having managed to lock up the wheels with the previous 1100 bar grips in the wet :wow:, I can testify to the much improved grip!! It cruises comfortably in the low 50s on big roads. They do just fit within the front wheel arches as you can see from the attached pic... Duncan.

Interesting - I co-own the ex-AFS Bedford RL petrol carrier (GYL 32C) which was sold to Clywd Fire Brigade in the late 80s and used by them as a foam carrier for some years. Here it is sat outside one of their stations when in service: http://www.historical-fire-engines.com/img-bedford-105.htm Here it was yesterday:

Spring time wash and brush up followed by a very enjoyable test drive: Also found out why the sidelioght circuit keeps burning the fuse out - one of the front sockets has a double pole fitting rather than all the rest which are singles! Now to find another single pole one - predictably, there were none on eBay when I looked yesterday!!

Spring time wash and brush up ready for the season! Nice to get out for a test drive, too. Now with added (magnetic) flashing amber beacon at the rear and new pump outlet washers.

I use Premium Choice - they are fine with the green goddess and RL being parked away from home securely. http://www.premiumchoice.co.uk/specialist-vehicle/military-vehicle/ Duncan

Howard - good to hear you're out of the repair bay and not 'VOR' any longer. Best wishes for a super speedy recovery! :thumbsup: Duncan.

Hi Mark, It looks amazing - I've been following the news on RSOLES over the past few weeks. You determination to see it survive is commendable!! Handy that you know the woodwork bit, but as you can see, whether body or mechanics, they are relatively simple beasts! Duncan.

Welcome! Lots of useful contacts and support on here, also try RSOLES which is a useful GG-specific forum and which might help you to locate other GG owners in your neck of the woods. I own PGW 326 and co-own an ex-AFS RL petrol carrier. I have a blog for both, the GG one might be useful as over 2 years of ownership, I have done many jobs and logged them here! http://pgw326.blogspot.co.uk/ Duncan.

Yes - very good weekend. I was there last year with the NFS-AFS gang and had a super time. Lovely to see the whole town buying into the event. Duncan.

Hi there! Looks good, always a nice feeling to see progress! Interesting that it has a spare wheel carrier as many AFS vehicles did not as the bodywork was slightly different to military RLs with wooden lockers underneath the main body. I co-own an ex-AFS RL petrol carrier which dates from the mid-60s and the spare has to live in the back as there is no space to even fit a spare wheel carrier on it! I wonder whether yours has at some stage lost the original body and had the carrier added or if a replacement AFS cab has been placed onto an ex-MOD chassis? You can see the lockers on the petrol carrier on both sides: The badge looks good - I had the one on my green goddess re-chromed (at some expense!) but it does finish the front off nicely. Interesting you're in Downholland in Lancs, too - my parents live that way and at least part of the fleet still lives up there! Cheers, Duncan.

Haha, I think I have just posted a reply to your introduction! Yes, they are both Willowbrook bodies built in Loughborough although because of the way that they were turned out as chassis by Bedford, yours despite the 'later' registration actually has an earlier chassis number by 117! I chose to keep mine in Fresco colours, as that's how I remember them, although I know that it's more usual for them to revert to the 60s AFS livery. There's a link on my other post (and in the signature below) to my blog with more pics and restorastion progress. I also co-own an ex-AFS petrol carrier which I keep up the road at the same place as the goddess. I look forward to having a chat and maybe reuniting the PGWs at some stage! Cheers, Duncan.

Hello! Welcome, too! I notice you are in Leicestershire -I'm just down the road in Rutland and own PGW 326 which was also used by the RAF in Op Fresco in 2002/3. I also co-own another ex-AFS vehicle, a Bedford RL petrol carrier, GYL 32C. After two years of work, PGW 326 is in a pretty good state and almost complete, and I do the odd show in the region over the summer period. The petrol carrier was a new acquisition this year from the Museum of RAF Fire Fighting (so a vehicle that you may well be familiar with!) which has seen a good deal of restoration progress this year. If you are interested, the blogs which cover their restoration progress etc are here: http://pgw326.blogspot.co.uk/ http://afspetrolcarrier.blogspot.co.uk/ Cheers, Duncan.

Bill, They do pop up quite frequently on eBay. Many are ex-Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) rather than ex-military as they had a much kinder life and in some cases weren't sold on into private ownership until the late 1980s.... The registration and twin amber lights over the windscreen is a dead give-away, somewtimes the body shape is a clue as well. Cheers, Duncan.

I also hope those involved are OK and recover quickly... I have to say, it has exercised me.... My Green Goddess came with hi-vis chevron markler boards on the rear from its time in service during Op Fresco (not all of them had these fitted - these had been taped on!) which were faded and so replaced. I also replaced the rear marker light bulbs with LED bulbs and new lenses to ensure maximum brightness (the front side lights were changed, too). I now tend to drive with these on even in the day. The RL petrol carrier has a large flashing yellow light mounted at 'truck driver face height' on the tailboard for good measure, always used on faster A roads and motorways.... Duncan.

Well, 326 is running well and back on the road for the summer but the recent big job was servicing the main pump at the rear of the vehicle. The pump works but it hasn't been serviced for quite some time, probably not since it was sold off in 2005. There was quite a bit of water in the primer and that took some time to drain off but both that and the main pump have had the oil replaced (special oil from Morris Lubricants) and the gland lubricator has been refilled with special waterproof grease (again courtesy of Morris). I also cleaned and lubricated the priming handle and mechanism so it works smoothly. Just in time for the summer season!