Richard Farrant

Steve, Were'nt they called Commercial Cars in the early days? It looks like that is what is on the crankcase.

Mike, It was Fieldmouse

Clive, The user handbook was issued in Jan. 1961 and listing two contracts for Cargo trucks and another for Ambulances. A note inside said that the second Cargo contract was in early stages of production as the book was being written and they could have changes in them. Also I note in the Associated Publications list, that they have included Technical Folder for these vehicles, stating "For User Trials, issued Sept. 1960". I did see an ambulance in service in very early 1960's.

Clive, Just come across the handbook for one and I see it says "Series 3". This relates to the civilian model that the cab is based on, a longer bonneted version of the Loadstar, which, was Series 2 ( as K9 ).

Its official designation was FV16013 Truck, 1 ton, Ambulance, 4x4 Austin ( Multi-Fuel), the engine was a BMC diesel, adapted to multi fuel. There were very few made and by all accounts very noisy and slow, for an ambulance. Austin and Morris were amalgamated under BMC by this time it is true, but it was badged as an Austin.

You are right, they were B Sqn, Royal Yeomanry, based at Nottingham.

John, Red Hermetite is still available, it is made by ICI Paints under their Hammerite branding. There used to be another red called Stag, which was supplied to MoD, excellent for sealing threads and core plugs. Red Hermetite is available in plastic bottles now, and much more easier to use and less waste. Hylomar Red is Hylomar's own version.

Ah yes, on having a closer look at the photo it is a job card, I can see the green printed lines on it ! A common thing to see on dismantling something. But it was not usual to see gaskets on the hubs as shown, Hylomar is available commercially now, but any of that sort of sealer is suitable. A far superior sealant which we also used, was Wellseal, another Rolls Royce concoction.

Chris, the lever is on a tapered splined shaft. You will find on these sort of vehicles that there are quite a few special tools required, no escape from that I am afraid. As for resealing the hub cap, I am not a lover of RTV, prefering the old style joint sealers, the gasket you found should not have been used, they are a face joint.

Simon, When I came over to Guernsey on the 1990 liberation tour, there was a "local" Dingo with Malayan type modified hull, so assume that was yours?

Chris, If it was the outer lever ( the visible one), that was loose, you would see evidence of the nut being slack. My bet is it is the inner one, which did suffer from this problem.

Mark, How long is it and how high? Also does it have a flat floor or any wheel arches built in? Although it is built by LMS Railway it still might be military as the railway companies built a lot of things for the war effort.

an airliner flying over South Kent today :shocked:

That sounds like the Humber Scout Car from Guernsey ( I modified the gun mount to a twin ).

I know this is off topic, but when they were in service, I had dealings with a number of Foxes with GM numbers, and even HA.

The pressed steel cover on the box has to be removed, the one with 1/4" setscrews. A special tool is required to measure the busbar heights, the best thing to do is to take a photo of the adjusters and I will tell you if there is excessive wear on the bands, that will save a bit of messing around.

Hi Oily, Well I would say that you have a flywheel leak, either seal or plugs, there is around 9 pints capacity and it was always reckoned that if you had to put in one pint or more, then it should be rectified. With a low oil level in the flywheel, the oil has to work harder and thus overheats.....this may be why drive was lost until it cooled down. I have actually come across a Saracen that ran low and the flywheel inner member expanded that much it locked into the flwheel, you could see the siezure of alloy in it. The gearbox oil is SAE 30 engine oil..........although when in service latterly, a multigrade was used, in engine and gearbox, OMD75 then OMD80. All other levels, ie transfer and bevel boxes, hubs, etc are SAE 80w/90 or 90EP. If you gearbox smells burnt, then bands could have been slipping, adjustments should be checked as the self adjusters may well be out of range if worn badly and you can pedal up until the cows come home, with out any adjustment taking place. Richard

Tim, I am intrigued as to how you know the spark is a 100 times better now? These Rolls Royce engines and many other types with screened ignition (screened against radio interference, not bullets) have been around for 70 years without to much problems........but you live and learn :coffee: regards, Richard

Can you see any movement between brake drum and backplate? I can't, from the video, but I can see movement in the steering relay. It would need someone to hold the steering wheel tight, to determine if it is the inner arm loose on the spline as I earlier mentioned.

Hi Paul, Sounds like the valve was part of the winch system then. You should find a proper pipe fitting that could be blanked off, to seal these pipes as the pipe has a flare and a bolt will not be sufficient, unless it has a taper machined on the end. There were about 30 of those RLW in that contract, they being one of the last RL contracts to the army, other ones at around the same time were Left and Right Hand Drive platform body versions, for carrying container bodies. These were produced before the MK. regards, Richard

Paul, The worrying thing is, what was the part that was missing? It might be insignificant, in being something to do with the winch ( as you mentioned it was a gun tractor), but the fact you have had to readjust the unloader seems to indicate you are compensating for its loss in some way. You need to get an expert to check this all out before driving again. A little bit of a mystery, because I have never come across a late production gun tractor version, do you have any army registration numbers and details from its data plate?

Chris, The hub problem that we had been relating about previously, can be detected by movement betwen brake drum and brake backplate, in easy terms. seems this is not your problem at this moment though. It might be useful to get someone holding the steering wheel firmly while you move the hub to detect this play. By reading the EMER and studying the diagrams, you will understand where to look for the problem. The hub cap is on short dowels and with sealant as well, they need a sharp rap with a hammer or mallet to remove.

Check out the April issue of CMV, there is an article with reference to the five prototypes, this number being the last one. They were fitted with the Rover six cylinder car engine, hence why the front sticks out more than the production 101.

Chris, From what you are saying this is movement in the steering linkage....and not a loose hub? Going by your red indications, then it could be that the inner steering arm is loose on the splines. You will have to refer to your EMER, the outer arm is splined to a shaft in the bolt on housing on outside of hull, the inner arm is on same shaft, but retained by a special ring nut. It was not unusual for these to come loose, by refering to the EMER you will see that access to the ring nut is possible from outside the vehicle, but a special tool will have to be made to tighten nut if loose. As for removing hub cap, if all the screws are out, then a big mallet behind the outer lip, don't forget to put a tray beneath because there is bound to be oil still in there.

It is working now