Tony B

Incommmming! 💣 Well I'm used to be in it. 😖

I just want to hear it running! 😀

If I hear Rudolph the bloody red nosed bloody Reindeer any more this week, I'll be after him with biggest bore shotgun I can find! ⚰️

Use what ever you have and quote the Military Reasons for Painting- 1 To protect the surface 2 Camouflage 3 Apperance. 😀 A long time ago at DERA Aquila , just outside Bromley there was the Defence Packaging and Transport. Outside were wooden stands with dozens of 4 inch by 4 inch metal plates coated with various paint and preservatives. The guy who ran it used to be in charge of painting the Thames bridges in London. I once asked him what he recommended for a Land Rover Chassis, the answer took about twenty minutes.

To be finicky, the vehicle is equipped as a motorhome, For that class of vehicle a licence relevant to the vehicles MAM is needed.

As far as the WC54 goes, brakes on all of the WC's can be pain. They need to be set up by the book. Not difficult but fiddly. Good news is that most Ex Norwegian ones seem to have grown Cupro Nickel pipes over the years so are in good condition. All parts are available but the cyleinders are handed.

Just shows the Hollywood life style ain't all it's cracked up to be .

Poor Dear! Looks a bit tierd, yes, but I'm sure you can freshen her up. 😁

Thank you for that.

But! Will you still be old ugly and going strong after 75 odd years? 😀 If you think any Dodge WC is ugly, there are opticians available.

The Royal Naval Firepower museum in Portsmouth have a remarakable collection of small arms that came from the fleet. Though most are in storage, viewings can be arranged.

I used to know a Saddler Called Fred Chandler. He was the person who made the harness for the RHA. He had the 'Sealed Pattern' ' of harness. Whilist we are on restoration/preservation. Recommended to me for metal, leather and wod by the Late Graham Ley. Renaissance Micro Crystalline Wax Polish. You can use ordinary uncoloured floor wax, but this stuff is it! Not cheap but very little goes a long way.

Stale Urine, producing Ammonia, was used for Vellum and white leather. Also used as a Mordicant (Trans: With Teeth) to treat cloth for dying and as a cleaning solvent. Also for us, in the production of Blakc Powder, where thers's muck , there's money! 😁 But who was the first one willing to try it all?

Sorry to disagree but Leather is not skin. Leather has an altered protein that does not putrify. Moisteriser that is used on humans isn't the best on leather. The accepted method for musuems to conserve leather used to be single dairy cream. Glcerin, used in saddle soap keeps the protins flexible and also water proofs, it is not primarly a cleaning agent. . This is used on Vegetable tanned leather, the best being Oak Bark tan. Chrome leather, intorduced in the late 1800's usins metal salts that produce a harder les flexible leather that is waterproof. This is the type you find on vehilce canvas, easily identified as if you look at the side you wil se ea Sandwich of thre layers, also has a mainly blue shade. Various hides produce leather with diffrent quality''s dependent on tanning. Pig skin has a distinct texture and is extremly hard wearing, Kangaroo hide is non slip when wet, and Buffalo hide is nearly unbreackable if kept properly dressed and flexible. Cheap nasty leather, mostly from India and Far East is tanned with what was called in England 'Pure'. you feed dogs white raw meat to get it. (I kid you not1) The other natural taning materail is Brain. And you wonder why Tanning wasn't allowed in most cities? 😣

So accept the Old Man knew exactly what he was talking about! 😀

Saddle soap is pure Glycerin. No lye. You best stuff to renovate old leather is, Neatsfoot Oil, made from boiled cow feet, apply with a brush or sponge Saddle soap is applied damp, not wet enough to sud. Not kidding but cold black tea, which contains tannin is ideal stuf to damp the saddle soap with, just rub in with sponge., or if you want something a bit more modern Nikwax waterproofing leather wax. Vegtable oil will also work. It is boot polish that contains lye, so for every layer of polish on shoes and boots add a layer of saddle soap. Hide Foods are mostly Lanolin, always use gloves with it as Lanolin can cause skin reactions. About 58 years of mesisng about with horses and saddelery. Surveyor- Leatther is still used for tack, I have one side saddle about 118 years old, still being used, so it's durable if properly looked after. There are Synthetics available, but cheap and nasty, I wouldn't trust my life to them, which you do with tack.

Don't know. I've changed my brand of tablets since then. 😀 Unfortunatley age and some health problems, the bikes now have a new owner. Still got the Dodges though!

I have a Raiders of the Lost Ark Leather Jacket! 😁 Designed and made by Peter Boteright of Wested Leather Swanley Kent. He designed the jackets for the three films, and sells reproductions. Ideal adition to your MV. Seriuosly there is half a cow skin in them. Nice and toasty to wear. https://www.wested.com/

It was the little Mercury Tractor that was used in WW2. A friend of mine has one. Delightful to drive as the acelerator is in the middle of the pedals. Caused me a few frights over the years.

If you want to take it on tour, here's a re-eanctment idea! 😁 Periscope films have all sorts odd films and clips, well worth the browse.

I know the British Royal Marine convoy consisited of Armoured Cars, London Buses and Support vehilces. All commondered the Dailmler could be one of those.

Good idea. Sounds like the engine had done it's time, though as you have shown, with the right care, skills and knowledge, nothing that can't be rebuilt. She is a lovley truck,. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment from her.

When the dynamo bearing on a friends APT collapased in Belgium one year, we stripped it down and asked where do we get a bearing? A local said the SKS main european distriution depot is about 3 km down the road. So we took bits in and said to a nice lady, have you got one of these? She contemplated the pair of grinning idiots and glanced over her shoulder at a quarter mile long warehouse full of bearings. 15 eu and ten minutes later, out we went. The original bearing was dated 1945, so we didn't bother with a warranty claim. 😀

Dodge di know how to buld an engine then. Out of intrest what was the overall state of the bits you changed?

Also some parts are available from local factors. I pay a couple of quid for oil fliters from my local , rather than £10 or £12 plus delivery from Specialists.