Richard Farrant

Looks like it has been in use, without the cab top, as grab handles have been fitted both sides of the cab entry and mirror arms fitted.

http://www.ww2museums.com/artikel/1265/Centaur-IV-Sword-Beach.htm click onto the photo of the plaque !

Number of cylinders is not relevant with flexy cable drive

Yes, it does sound a better idea, but it may only require a caliper working on an inner sprocket cum disc. A caliper on the outer sprocket could be liable to damage as it could protrude somewhat. The heavy discs brake calipers now used on HGV's would be of ample capacity, but how to operate them would be a problem. No compressed air, or vacuum pump / exhauster, might need a full time hydraulic pressure system like Saracen / Routemaster set up. Starting to get more complicated :-(

These are Centaurs, used by Royal Marines armoured support, they were used to bombard the shore from landing craft, these are bearing marks on the turret. The other Centaur is on display in the street at Hermanville.

I have been watching from the sidelines on this thread, up until now, but it is obvious that there is no real knowledge of this vehicle and similar types. Most tracked vehicles, being low geared, have reduction units outboard and braking systems are inboard of them, take CVR(T) as a common example, so it is possible to have a brake before the reduction, just needs calculating the size and effort needed. The other point is that another actual brake is not absolutely neccessary, because hundreds of thousands of road vehicles produced and in use, use the same wheel brakes for main and parking, just different methods of applying. A hydraulic set up on the existing linkages could be made relatively easily. Not a job for the Sat & Sun mechanic, it needs to be made, tested and approved before putting in production and installing. And no, I am not looking for work here, just applying long term experience on "weird and wonderful vehicles". Going back to sleep now :yawn:

A quick visit to Beltring this morning, had a chat with Sean, Lee and Robert (WOA2), and other friends. Quite a bit of activity around. Had a Spitfire flypast as well !

No mention of amber beacons used to warn of overlength or overwidth loads then? They travel more than 25mph.

Thursday, One sole Red Arrow heading towards the Channel, over South Kent, about an hour later the Red Arrows team came over on the same track. According to their website, they were displaying at an airshow in Belgium.

Bit of confusion here. The early Daimler Scout Car with 4 wheel steering did not have a second steering wheel.

Some mistakes in this list, The Daimler armoured car MkII was fitted with 10.50-20 tyres, the Humber Scout was 9.25-16 originally ( it is only in postwar years that 9.00 were used as 9.25 was obsolete). As for the Daimler Scout Car, these tyres did not have air in them, so they were same footprint all the time. In your calculations, a tyre standing on a hard surface will have a relative small point of contact, but one standing on a soft surface will spread load further as tyre settles in, imposing load on those lower parts of the tread as well.

Chris, I think you might be refering to the more modern cup plugs. The Jeep has Welch plugs, the dished type with ground edge, when hit it the centre it locks in. Litchy, Sealer needs to be something like Stag or Red Hermetite. Problem is that the seat in the block or head can become pitted and not easy to seal.

and a QL in the last photo :cry:

Hi Dan, From my memory , there was a restored Halley, which I think was once a laundry van, doing the shows in the 70/80's, think it was from Kent area and was thought to be the only survivor of that make, not sure of the year but could have been just post WW1.

You need to do some basic checks with the distributor. Make sure the advance mechanism is working correctly, could be siezed in one position, check for wear in the bushes too. Then set points correctly and set timing to the book initially.

Looks like a Leyland Retriever Coles crane behind it.

That is the way they have always been, inc RL, QL, OY .........

Richard, Reading what you have posted, it seems you are too far advanced, if you reckon it to be about 10 degs BTDC, and it would have been even more advanced if you had to remove a bump off the points. This is the point I was making in an earlier post. So, is the knock still there?

Hi Pete, Diagnosis from afar is difficult when you only have limited information. We will have to see what RCubed finds. Look forward to catching up with you and David at W&P. regards, Richard

The average of these figures is not too bad for this type of engine, but your post has made me go back and look at the figures, which I did not do before. I noticed on both attempts, that figures for No.3 and 4 are both equal, and lower than other cylinders. This could signify a blown head gasket between those cylinders.

Hi Adrian, What I should have added was, by looking at the breaks, you might have found one showing that is was not a fresh fracture, ie. not so clean. My friend is Warwick Lord, when he had the Cent, he lived up near Mudgee, now lives near Williamstown. I caught up with him at Corowa this year.

Hi Adrian, I would think there could have been a crack in the clutch casting, possibly due to overheating in the past, by looking at the face of it. The crack may have developed further, then centrifugal action and so on, it just flew apart. Not good, the damage that it has done. By the way, welcome to the forum. I have a friend up your way who used to own a Cent, I once helped him change the fan belts and spark plugs whilst staying with him. regards, Richard

No, it is always open. On the opposite side, there is facility for Left hand drive and usually a blanking plate over it.

A Saladin was refurbished as a gate guardian for Mitcham Road TA Cente, Croydon, by the REME Workshops at Ashford. This would have been about 20 years ago, one of my colleagues at the workshop did the work. It was in running order at the time. The Centre was home to C Sqn Royal Yeomanry, who over the years kept us very busy with their Saracens, Ferrets, Saladins, Foxes, CVR(T)s, and all other vehicles. I cannot remember the ARN, but wonder if this is one of the vehicles mentioned in this thread.

I am very sorry to hear the sad news about Chris. I first met him in 1983, as we were both BSA M20 owners we had a lot in common. The first D-Day show at Southsea in 1984, I rode in soaking wet, first person met was Chris, and he made me a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea, good man! He did a lot for the MVT, was well respected and will be missed. Rest in Peace, Chris