Richard Farrant

Abn, Did you come over from the US with a group of others? I recollect going out for a meal at an Indian resteraunt in Southsea with a few friends and a group of US enthusiasts over for the Tour........could you have been with us? And who did you travel with on the Tour? That was the year that the first week was based down south at Bagnoles le Orne, a great place, then we moved up to Bayeaux for the second week. Richard

Mark, This was the annual MVT show which was generally held around the D-day date. In 1984 it took place at Southsea Common, Portsmouth for the first time, and run by the Solent Branch of MVT, I went to every one held there up until 1996, then it went to Popham Airfield for a year, then Denmead and finally Horndean. The "split" came after the last time I went to Horndean in 2004, for the start of the Normandy tour. Richard

Abn, That brings back memories, some of those vehicles I know, and their owners. The Chevrolet C60 behind the Land Rover Shorland, belongs to a friend. My vehicle should be there somewhere. It would be good to see a few more, I might even add a few of mine from the same event. Richard

:-D :-D :-D :-D no doubt ! Actually it would not have survived moving. While I was at REME in Ashford, it was surveyed for the council, who wanted to move it. It was found that it would have broken up without having some sort of framework built and fixed inside. All due to its convertion to the sub-station. On inspecting it inside recently,there are stress cracks in the hull, brought on by rust between the plates. It is now an historic monument, hence why it has finally been given some shelter and attention. Richard

Mark, I must be showing my age then, because I would still have been at work at that time! Richard

I should add, that there is a large plaque in front of it now and it is a memorial to members of the Royal Tank Regiment.

Jack, Don't remember ever watching that...........did I miss much ? Richard

Rick, The MkIV Female is still in the same position it was parked in, in 1919. The only remaining one given to towns around the country after WW1. Reason it did not get moved or go for scrap in WW2 is that it was used to house an electric substation right up until around the Seventies. Unforunatley the floor was cut out and the rear of the hull was modified to fit access doors. It was in St. Georges Square and was an island in the road, I remember sliding off my motorcycle by it, many years ago! In 1987, a roof shelter was put up over it, to try and preserve it. A couple of years ago I was able to inspect it inside with view to being involved in some conservation work on it, chiefly to seal it and reproduce the correct appearance where the doors had been fitted at the rear. The photos show it in the 1970's in all green, then second photo is after 2RTR team came and painted it and third photo is in Dec 1987 with building work in progress prior to the shelter being erected. Present day photos are obstructed by the shelter somewhat. Ashford is rather unique in having two armoured vehicles on display, the other is a FV432 on a roundabout in the exact location of what was the main gate to the REME Command Workshop, which closed in 1996 (where I worked for many years). Richard

Rick, give me a few minutes to get my photos out.

John, Anything to do with removing the suspension coil springs by chance ? Richard

Tony, I had forgotten that one, the Army had them on a new range of Gen Sets in the late 80's. I think the engine was a Ford 6 cyl Industial unit, (2700 series ???). Pretty simple idea really.

Neil, That sounds similar to the Meadows 27.5Kva gen set. They had a belt driven compressor, that charged a tank up to about 400 psi (memory is not good, but it might be higher) and used an air starter motor, which was configured as a V4 piston unit. This used to whang them over quickly, but woe betide you if you had not got the excess fuel button in and throttle set correctly, because once the air was exhausted, it was the crank handle and on a cold day it could want some heaving over. Basically, it could be on your OT, that the air starter is used because it will spin the engine quicker than an electric starter motor, which is essential in very cold conditions.

No idea, given the size of the photos, I was going on the petrol tank, emblem and lining is typical Triumph.

MkIV............am sure I have seen a photo of one with the aerial on it.

The 3rd picture looks like Triumph's

Rick, Unless you a devious like Clive and giving your photos spoof titles, I got a clue from the title which said "sponson". That is the name of the projecting part of the hull on the side of some WW1 tanks and I know that radio was tried out in them. Richard

Rick, Believe me, we have looked at numerous options, like making a 16" wheel and using an available tyre off the shelf, but the size of the brake drum stops this. The wheel size is 18" and the tyre was a runflat. Early ones were tubed runflats, like Ferrets, etc, but later on a runflat was introduced which did not have a tube, it was a very heavy, thick walled tyre with a bead spacer which when clamped between the rim halves, clamped the tyre in position to stop it creeping. These tyres were only ever made for the Daimler Scout Car and as they were coming to the end of their service by the early 1960's there was no requirement for more tyres to be made, stocks being sufficient at the time. I have been in contact with specialist tyre makers in the UK who have their tyres made in the Far East and a rough figure is £25,000 for a mould to be made and a minimum run of 200 tyres, so figure it out, the tyres could cost over £100 each then the mould cost has to be spread over that. Makers would want paying all at once, so it is not a venture I would like to get involved with. Remoulding old casings is not practical due to the age of them. So we found a practical answer, a truck tyre of the same size although not quite the same appearance. It is made in the USA and available through a specialist tyre dealer in UK. When worn out, you can buy another without problems. The intention was to wear them out, then get an authentic remould tread put on, but at present, they show no sign of wearing. So that is the story! Richard

It could be in a WW1 tank? Richard

On reading my post again, I think that I should explain that by "sad cases", I was refering to a number of Dingos that have surfaced and have never been in preservation before. I think the reason is that they may have required a lot of work to put in to shape in the past, but with the current interest in these vehicles, they have now been taken into preservation. There is no doubt, they were an exceptional vehicle for their time and set the design for the Daimler Armoured Car, Ferret, Fox, Saracen, Saladin, Stalwart, etc., with their transmission layout. Richard

Going up the front row I can see, in order, Hillman Husky, Ford Zephyr, Morris J2 minibus, L/R 2a, Austin K9 water tank, Bedford RL recovery, etc. 2nd row, Bedford CA, L/R 2a ambulance, Bedford J types, truck and ambulances, Bedford TK, Bedford TJ, AEC Mammoth Major, Bedford SB3 coach, AEC Militant Mk1, etc. 3rd row, Cuthbertson, dumper?, MF tractor, MF loader and backacter, next unknown, Allis Chalmers 645, Marshall Gainsborough, Michigan 75............................. someone else can continue :-D

That looks like the earlier Morris 8. The census number on the door looks like M33163, if so, then it confirms it.

Actually that is a Morris 8

Not like the Ferret owner in the States who contacted me about his generator not charging. After ascertaining what model genny it was and what the story was , he said that he had topped up the generator as had been told, but it had stopped charging since then. He had only poured it in the mesh vent...all over the armature. It had to be stripped and washed out. Apparantly he did not have a manual to read up on it :rtfm:

Engine and gearbox are definitely different to the Tilly

Tony, To be fair to our country and manufacturers, the US did not start their standard designs until after the war started. Our motor manufacturers were all in competion with one another and during the 1930's would not have been happy sharing design work with each other. Hardly a comparison, I think. Our people did well and the fact that so many of these British vehicles were still in use, for several decades after 1945, speaks volumes. Richard