Richard Farrant

Last overhaul at 18 Command Workshop REME, Bovington, in 1954

Hi Tim, If Allison were reconditioning MB/GPW jeeps for a government contract, I would think it unlikely that a different gearbox would be accepted as things like this upset the spares issue. But if these rebuilds were done for general sale, then I suppose anything goes. How do we know that the gearbox change was not done later?

i have seen the odd occurence of cracks in the cover of other vehicles with fluid flywheels, usually through lack of oil and overheating of the flywheel. This is a long shot, but I wonder if this part is the same as the one fitted to a Ferret? I do not have parts lists to hand to check at present.

What part of the flywheel split in half, the internal driven member or the aluminum cover? I would be surprised if the steel flywheel split. I spent many years repairing and overhauling Fox's from the full extent of their service life.

Hi Pete, Removing the name and location of the manufacturers was done to deter attacks on their factories. A lot of vehicles did not have radiator badges, Morris Commercial stopped fitting them. I have a brass plate for a Taskers trailer and only the T for Tasker, A for Andover and L for Ltd left on it.

The owner of this AEC is a member of this forum. Rob has just restored the Militant fuel tanker.

They were contractors rebuilding certain engines and gearboxes, probably arranged through Contracts Branch. British Rail at Derby reconditioned some Land Rover engines. I believe a certain amount of work had to be put out to contract.

ABRO was a re-branding of static REME workshops, I worked in these workshops for a good many years and the last 3 or 4 were under the ABRO banner, until we were closed due to the High Speed railway going right through the site.. Our overhaul work was second to none at that time and nothing altered except to have a change of senior management from military officers. Anything after 1996 I could not vouch for though.

Hi John, I am afraid I do not have a wiring diagram for the EKA, but can offer a bit of info. I did a lot of the repair work on the Scammell EKA 66GT67, during its service with 44 Dist Wksp and recall having to renew the pump unit for bogie blocking. The new one supplied under a NSN was of a different make to the original and a few small mods were made in order to fit it. the new one was a Hesselman pump made in Sweden by Garphyttan and designed to operate a truck tail-lift. I have a small booklet that came with it on service and maintenance, but unfortunately there is no mention of the wiring connections. regards, Richard

Have seen this happen to J60 engines many times in both CVR(T) and Fox vehicles.

Very nice Atkinson there 👍

Well done Rob, look forward to seeing you and your AEC next weekend, all being well. The old girl is looking great!

Chassis and tow hook was black If the hook was red then that was a bit of b*llsh*t at the unit!

Keith, don't use copper for the fuel pipes as they absorb heat, used steel pipes and if any pipes are in the vicinity of the exhaust manifold used an insulating lagging material. Years ago I did this on my Bedford with asbestos string obtained from a hardware shop in deepest Normandy, it did the trick.

Daimler engines did not have wet liners

Neil, Try Surelock, https://www.castingrepairs.com/about-us I met this chap at Beaulieu once when I had a similar issue with a customer's engine, he explained his methods and you can see some of his work in a video on his website. You have cracks radiating from the main crack so it is worth getting the job done by a specialist. No heat involved and usually can be done in situ and without dismantling. He also said that once done he has a system of pumping a ceramic solution through the block to seal it. As it was I did not get the block done as I was able to locate a replacement. I have had minor cracks stitched on other engines by a company in your area, called Cox and Turner (near Yeovil). Another concern is if there are cracks on the inner side of the block.

It was designed to be used behind the Eager Beaver rough terrain forklift. Originally a flat bed to carry pallets, so the sides have been added in civilian ownership. Age, probably about 1970's

Hi Dai, Good to see you on here. Your reference to Faith, Hope and Charity being originally the names of Swordfish aircraft in Malta, I recall they were actually Gloster Gladiators. Look forward to seeing some of your models on here 🙂

Hi Ferg, The above phrase does not apply in your case as the replacement chassis is a 'like for like' and does not change the way the vehicle works.

Yes, needs to be at least 2 foot long and thick so you can use a 14 pound sledgehammer to tighten it.

See this link ; https://www.fany.org.uk/history

LV7/AN is a prefix for an Austin part number. Morris had a different prefix.

I do not think that the Smith Lens have anything to do with Smiths in the UK, who made speedometers and other auto parts. They were probably made by a US company, L.E. Smith who produced the first headlamp lens for the Ford Model T, here is a history of the company; https://www.carnivalglassworldwide.com/l-e-smith-story.html

I was at the auction in Australia and the lorry was a bought by a UK buyer and ultimately restored in the Norfolk area I believe.

Back in the 70's/80's I worked on Explorers when they were still in service. We had the hub tools, the spanner resembled a large tube, probably at least 5 inches in diameter and from memory a couple of foot long, one end had the hexagon ring in it to fit the nut, the other end had a very thick steel bar welded at one end to the tube, about 3 feet long. There was also a heavy length of timber, cross section similar to a railway sleeper with one end radiused concave. This was stood on end to support the bar end of the tube. One man would hold the spanner on to the nut and down on the block with the other man wielding a 14 pound sledge hammer on the end of the bar. That is how tight it had to be. Once the nut is off, the hub puller consisted of a modified axle hub cap with a large diameter screw threaded in to it, with the hexagon head same size as the hub nut. Spanner and block refitted and sledge hammer applied again to release the hub off the taper. The hubs have to be very tight as the key should not be taking the load, it is the taper fit that does that. If slack the tapers will wear and never lock together. I recall having to replace badly worn shaft and it took about 50 tons on the press to release it from the gear wheel. Hard work, but loved working on these old girls!