Richard Farrant

I have been asked to convert a GMC to 12 volts. The generator output is adequate to retain, what I need to know is, has anybody in the UK done this? Reason for specifically asking UK owners is the availabilty of the regulator used, ie a Lucas RB340 or similar, for example. If a commonly available regulator is used, it makes it easier to replace in event of problems. Thanks in anticipation. Richard

and also the centre wheels removed Richard

The MVT Kent Area is holding their annual camping weekend on the 3/4 June. a laid back get together in a nice setting. Bring along a few things to sell if you wish. Nothing is arranged, just come along and meet fellow enthusiasts for a chat, without the hastle of other things to do. Primarily for MVT Kent members but as the location between Ashford and Rye, is close to the border with East Sussex, members from there are free to come along. A small fee is asked to cover the portaloo. Saturday night there is a BBQ, members bring there own food to cook on it as we all have our individual tastes! Any member interested, please PM me and I will put you in touch with the Organiser. Richard

Tim, My Dingo is not on the road, the one I sometimes use belongs to a friend. Just renewed the insurance for my QL with them and fully comp it is £95. My guess is that you pay more because of your agreed value, which would be around twice that of my wagon I would think. Last year I did get some quotes although I have been on AC Miles and Roadsure for years. There was only about £2 difference in them all. Richard

Clive, Are you sure that was a brochure you were looking at.......and not a porn magazine?? Richard

With the going rate for recovery and the fact that this new scheme covers heavier vehicles than the normal RAC one, I am not surprised the fee has risen. Makes you wonder if Roadsure done there homework on this one. With a relatively small scheme such as this, there would not want to be a large amount of people requiring assistance before the money would run out. Is the scheme solely for the MV insurance scheme, or does it include all the other classic and vintage vehicle schemes that Roadsure do? They have not given a lot of info out on this. Richard

Not working here, http://www.gabby.com is Peter Franklin the Gabby Cabby, a New York taxi driver. He comes on BBC Radio Kent once a week. Richard

Dougy, The website is not available anymore, it was the Bournemouth Daily Echo, another news story comes up now. I would be pretty sure that the trailer is air suspended. I recall an Oshkosh losing a tank off the trailer while driving around a parade ground when they were first introduced, makes you wonder if there is a problem...or that tight turns and speed taken are an issue. Richard

From recollection, in REME Workshops we used an industrial adhesive called Dunlop Thixofix for this sort of job. Sticks like sh*t to a blanket. Try Woolies, they specialise in car trimming materials and did stock it; http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk Richard

Dougy, Just been chating to one of my friends from Dorset and he drove past the accident. The Oshkosh cab was smashed and there was another Oshkosh tractor unit there, waiting to move the trailer. The Challenger was the CRRAV version evidently. They had to wait for a 100 ton crane to come from Colchester to right the tank. I have heard several stories on the cause, one being a shackle broke, another that the trailer suspension failed. Richard

Paul, Take it from me, having work experience of all those you have listed, you will be going from the frying pan to the fire. If you are struggling to maintain the Pig, what with the logistics, cost of running, fuel, etc., then these are neither practical nor easy to work on. Stick to your Pig as Clive says, use it and look after it, then it will be fun, adding a heavier vehicle will probably give you nightmares! Richard

Matt, Your first move is to find an engine machine shop and get them to check out the engine, measure the bores to ascertain what size pistons you will need. If the three better cylinders are serviceable without boring, then it could be possible to save those pistons and re-ring them, dependant on inspection of course. That leaves the pitted bore, which could be sleeved and bored to suit other three, again if that piston had not suffered it may well be usable. They would also measure the crank for ovality and uneven wear, it not being good practice to just replace the bearings on worn journals. They would then be able to tell you what undersize bearings to order. Richard

Matt, You need to find out if pistons are available, a good engine rebuilder can often find substitutes from other engines, where they are dimensionally similar. They would light hone the three better bores to see how deep the pitting is, and may well say it needs boring. Providing the block has not been bored to its oversize limits, it may be possible to sleeve the worst cylinder and bore to suit the other three. The bearing shells may present more of a problem for an engine like the Hercules and you may need to investigate availability of parts in the US. When looking for a engine machine shop to do the work, I recommend you go to those that do vintage vehicle work. They are more dedicated to solving problems than those that do modern engines where everything is off the shelf. I recently overhauled an Austin K2 engine that had laid in a scrapyard for over 40 years and the pistons were rusted solid in the block, that is now running as good as new. Richard

Neil, I have since seen your messages on the Stalwart forum and I do believe that someone has led you to believe that there is a piece of kit that is carried on the Recovery and eliminates the need to strip the rear hub when carrying out a suspended tow. To just confirm my previous thoughts on this, I have found a copy of recovery vehicle data from the Recy Mech course. This is relating to Saracen, but there is no difference in the procedure; SUSPEND TOW Isolate the drive and transmission from the rolling wheels to prevent unnecessary damage. a. Remove centre road wheels to ensure adequate ground clearance. b. Drain oil ( and save) of the hubs of two road wheels on which vehicle is going to roll. c. Withdraw split pins and remove five hub cap securing nuts and washers. d. Untab and remove the serrated tracta shaft nut and lock washers. e. Remove the eight nuts and washers securing the hub reduction gear housing. f. With hub puller, remove hub reduction gear housing. g. Remove the distance washers between the ball bearing inner race and sun gear, and remove the sun gear. NOTE: Retain the sun gear and washers and identify them with their respective hub for future assembly. h. For towing purposes, reassemble in reverse order as detailed in paras f to b. j. Refill hubs using oil previously drained off. Top up is necessary. It would appear that the mystery item of kit on the wrecker would be the Alvis hub puller. It is not listed on the AEC kit list but if the Recovery crew supported a unit with Alvis FV600 vehicles it would no doubt have been carried. Richard

Steve, On all the restorations I do that have to have matt or semi matt finish, an undercoat of a similar shade in gloss is used. After it is hardened, it is flatted off and several coats of the matt finishing colour are applied. This seals the surface from damp getting through the paint to the metal. Any oils or sealers would produce a sheen, which purists would frown at if they wanted a matt finish. Richard

Neil, After replying last night, a thought has occured. This piece of recovery kit may have been solely to keep the suspension for centre wheels semi compressed. Reason being, when you lift the front, the centre wheels barely clear the ground because of the suspension dropping. The answer always was to remove the centre wheels if a suspended lift was neccessary. Knowing Recy Mechs, they would always find a way of making jobs easier, so no doubt someone devise a method to hold the wheels up. Richard

Neil, Someone is giving you duff misleading info here. I worked on all this sort of vehicles, in a REME wksp, from 1974 on, we also had an AEC Medium recovery. If you are going to do a suspended tow on a Stalwart, Saracen, Saladin, the front and centre wheels will be off the ground. As it is illegal for the suspended wheels to rotate, the sun wheel has to be removed from the rear hubs. There is no magic tool or adaptor for this situation, there is no other way to break the drive to the rear hubs. Recovering these vehicles by suspended is not the best way, using a recovery trailer saves all the work and time involved. To confirm this, I have just spoken to my mate who I worked with there, and as well as being a fitter, he also was on the recovery team with the AEC and he assures me that I am correct in this. Richard

Neil, I suspect the reason these WW1 tanks are not driven excepting for very special commemerations, is not so much to do with crewing, more their fragility. I recently was involved in surveying a MkIV tank for projected conservation work, it has stood in the same place since 1919, there are a number of serious cracks in the armour. After consultation with the Tank Museum, it seems that this early armour plate is now actually very fragile and suffers from crystalisation. The stresses of turning one of these tracked vehicles could produce serious structural failures, welding is most probably out of the question now, so you can see why movements of these rare vehicles is kept to the absolute minimum now. Richard

John, Glad to have been of help. Will see you at Beltring, we will be in the same place, hopefully. Richard

Lee and John, Glad to hear you have fixed the transfer box. My diagnosis was pretty good, eh? Have you had the opportunity to drive it around yet? Richard

Clive, Quite true, we should all adhere to Defence Standards Actually, I use Corrofast paint which is made for machinery, tractors, etc. and have no trouble with it on engines as that is what it is intended for. Richard

Link is not opening, try searching on Google for "Koehring Dandie" and it will come up about the forth entry down. Richard

Larry, Take a look at the advert on page 5 of this pdf ; http://www.thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fm_1917_10/fm_1917_10_36.pdf It is from a copy of an American magazine dated Oct 1917, maybe this is an earlier model than Matt is refering to? Richard

Neil, BS381c colour chart and the shade is "101 Sky Blue". Go to any firm that mixes auto paint and ask for it in synthetic, Corrofast is a good one, it is like the old coach paint. Usually about £10 a litre mixed for you. Richard

Tony, That would have been a problem then because it was at the time of the exemptions for pre-1939 trucks. Now it is pre1960, you are exempt test and HGV licence for a truck like yours and it could now be on an ordinary Historic class. That was also the time when a lot of old trucks had an RSJ stuck out the back with a chainblock on, so they could get the mobile crane / breakdown class, again not a problem now, no need to go to those lengths. Richard