Richard Farrant

Tony, Those tins are same as the ones used to supply biscuits to retail shops, etc. It is only in postwar years ( Sixties on, I think) that biscuits were sold in packets, before that they were sold loose. Any broken ones were put all together and sold as. The tins were returnable from memory, and they had paper labels on them to indicate the types.

Got to ask this........did'nt she mind you getting up close for a look ? :rofl:

something like that :-D

Clive, I once had to resurrect a Sexton which had not been started for about 20 years. Opening the filler cap, the smell was awful. Anyway, I removed the giant carb, it has a 9 cyl radial engine, and it was about half an inch of what looked like tar in the bottom. It defeated all sorts of solvents, eventually I was able to soften it up with cellulose thinners, but had to leave it soaking for several days. It might be worth using Gunwash, which is a cheap cellulose thinner, leave it to soak, then you want a high pressure steam cleaner with a lance that will get right inside the tank. Normal pressure washer is no good, it is the heat that does the trick.

Clive, Is that your Shorland? All I said was the background looked familiar......did'nt say where it was though

I was thinking the photo was taken on the road to Marrakesh.......but it was closer to home then.

Lucky days by sound of it......so where in the wilderness was that?

Something about the background in that photo that is vaguely familiar :undecided:

If that is a question..........a Cap Comforter, by the looks of it. Was that in your Hippy days? :rofl:

I would say more like 50 years old

Clive, That was one of the worst examples of fantasy. I am with you on this.

After a technical problem with a link, I will try again Not neccesarily the most impressive engines, but the sound of a Detroit is when under load. Two of my favourites on Youtube, GMC Brigadiers, powered by DD...........turn the sound up :-D http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dVjXwS8HzFw http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=klRq8D97S8c&feature=related

Clive, I think that was in the Fantasy class at an MV event over the other side of the pond :shake:

Agreed on that :thumbsup:

So true, Phil. That BRM was pure music

Oxy-Acetylene for heat, WD40 and Duck oil........and lots of perspiration. The first part was to work out the dimensions of the covers before removal, as they were falling apart.

Thanks, but my bit was only a small part of the whole job, it was great to see it in full operation at the hand over. :tup::

A railway workshop was involved with the project, and it shows. The rebound springs on the side, for when the flail drum is pulled in to working position, closely resemble cylinders on a steam loco :-D

A solid block of rust, covers eaten away, chains solid and so on. Worse still on the actual vehicle, with both engines under several feet of water, which had laid in there for years. The engine driving the flail drum was a petrol injected Meteor M120, which also powered the Conqueror.

This photo shows how the end covers lift up for access to reload tubes.

The photos here, show the lane marker before the covers were fitted. There are 59 tubes on a chain, the chain is driven around by a rod that comes off the nearside track sprocket hub, the rod pushes a pawl lever on the driving sprocket of the marker. Look at the close up photo and you will see a short rod sticking out, this was where it had been cut off on removal from the tank. So, every revolution of the the track sprocket, the lane marker pawl moves. When one of the tubes is in line with the end, a hammer falls, the hammer having been riding up a ratchet ramp above the sprockets, again look at the close up. The hammer hits a firing pin in the top of the tube. Under the cap in the tube would be a blank .303" cartridge and up inside the tube, a marker post, which is telescopic and with a thin probe on the end looking like a hypodermic needle. The blank fires the post out and as it does the post extends as it is fired into the ground. This is timed to happen every 50 feet. From the controls, the marker can be selected to fire left or right. Normally two flails would work together, so the left one would mark to the left and right flail mark to the right, giving a lane through the minefield wide enough for safety. When the control is in the Off position it in turn operates a cable from the marker to the tank drive sprocket, which disengages the rod operating ratchet. All of this equipment and the rest of the vehicle was in an advance state of decay before restoration.

Bernard, As I restored that attachment, not a problem :-D. Will just find the photos of it in its naked state.

The Churchill Toad mine flail. A 1950's conversion from a gun tank. This one is now in Jacques Littlefield's collection. The flail rotor is shown in the transport position and the large box covers the elaborate flail marking system.

Mark, That picture is of one of the Australian Army versions, there have been one or two of these at rallies in recent years.

Ah yes.........good one