Richard Farrant

Jack, Back in my apprenticeship days, a long way back , we had to do the HP test on tractor PTO shaft, using a water brake dynamometer. A lot of calculations were involved. That is PTO HP as there is the drag from the transmission to consider. BHP is taken at the flywheel of an engine, on a testbed by a dynamometer, some manufacturers do not run water pumps or dynamo / alternators or fans, in order to register max. power. When I overhauled engines in REME workshops, all diesels were put on there to bed them in prior to a BHP test. Off the top of my head I think that 1 bhp = 33,000 foot/pounds of torque, may be wrong, have not thought about this for so long Richard

Huh? I have just replied to that on MLU 2 mins. ago Richard

Tyler, I have been into WW2 British lorries for years, so hope to answer most of your Q's, assume we are talking Austin here, Buckets can be found, just look at shows such as Beltring, warning do not hang it on the back, evidently it means something, according to a thread on here! Trafficators, they were not electric, it was one only on the nearside attached to cab to rear of cab door, operated by a handle and rods above drivers door. Headlamps, you want a pair of Butler blackout lights, new ones are seen on stalls, try RR Services, they did have some. Cam net, nearest I have seen to WW2 Brit is ex-Dutch army and even that was a little dark. Tow hitch was a hook with a sprung loaded latch, handle either side, drop drawbar over it and it locks in. Standard fitting on 3 ton upward. Early ww2 lorries were often on civvy wheels and twin rears as yours, there is a K3 in Kent similar. He is running road tyres, bar tread or track grip would be hard to find in that size. Hope that is of help. Richard

Mick, The Dragon Wagon trailer loaded over the rear. On looking more closely, it would appear a short bed for a tank to be carried, it may be for engineers plant, like excavators, etc., obviously for something really heavy. Richard

Not from Diamond T era, this later. The front bogie is removeable and swan neck folds down flat to form a ramp for loading tanks, etc. Richard

410 0.410 inch bore

hi John, That is why the old petrol/paraffin tractors had drain taps on the carb, in case you had forgotten to turn the tap back to petrol before stopping. Back to the messages regarding running a petrol engine on petrol / diesel mix. When I worked in army workshops, at the time that the Land Rover 90 and 110 were introduced, there was a spate of instances where the wrong fuel was put in by units. Not good if they put petrol in the diesel, but the other way around and all it did was smoke a bit, depending on the ratio of mix. Richard

Lee, It was often seen fitted in the rear of 15 cwt trucks during WW2. I am surprised you have not seen the one mounted on a Bedford MW, a regular at Beltring. I think it originally belonged to Colin Brookes from Essex, some years back. Richard

Hi Cripp, Working on your example, the block was machined a few days after casting. Obviously with the demand for war, everything has to rushed through, but castings as a rule should have been weathered and allowed to "relax" before machining, around 6 months is best I seem to remember. When they are just cast, they are known as "green" and can distort if machined early. I have come across this some years ago when there had been problems with supply on a certain make of tractor, blocks were cast and machined straight away, bores were subsequently found to distort and had to be rebored under warranty. Just another piece of useless information :lol: Richard

Clive, I do not want to get bogged down on this subject, but it seems some of these sources are confusing and according to Malcolm Bellis's book, there were three designs for 21st Armd Bde, as follows; First style; Diablo, yellow/yellow (I assume from this, that is all it consists of, no background?) Second style; Yellow/red vertically divided sheild, central black diablo Reputed third style - Italy; Blue (or black) diablo, red devil behind diablo, all on yellow disc This subject is a minefield as during the wartime, divisions, brigades, etc. were joined up with others, moved around, etc. and signs were altered accordingly, it is knowing the period that these changes happened. Richard

Clive, Dammit, I looked it up in B.T.White's book, British Tank Markings and Names, supposed to be an authority, checked what you wrote, with Malcolm Bellis's book, British Tanks and Formations 1939-45 The sign is the second style, listed in Bellis's book as 21st Army Tank Brigade. Richard

Rob, This shield is 25th Army Tank Brigade (later 25th Armoured Engineer Brigade) Richard

Larry, Make the garage big enough for the vehicle that will replace the Dodge, ie. bigger :lol: Richard

Welcome to the forum, Sue. The little 80" is smart, what year is that one? My favourite Land Rovers are Lightweights, much like a jeep, no frills, down to basics. Richard

The DVLC only want to know where the vehicle is stored / parked, if SORN is declared, and as most of our mv's are on Historic and 12 months, there is little point in putting them on SORN. Richard

Larry, This is the 1960 Pattern green combat dress. I have a pair of Trousers, Combat here, but no NSN on them at that time. The jacket is similar style to the later DPM ones. Richard

As a hobby, I have been in it for about 28 years and can tell you it is part and parcel of it. You have to factor in "talk and tea" time when estimating your completion date.....then as it gets near to to the end you will have more T & T as your mates come to see if it is finished yet! Richard :lol:

I seem to think we weighed a turret once and it was around 1 ton with Rarden fitted. It was a common job to lift turrets out for gearbox work, etc. and one of the smaller gantry cranes used to grunt a bit. Any vehicle with a high C of G has to be handle carefully, like crossing gradients off road, cornering too fast or turning the steering too tight. Having carried out practically all the Mods. ever issued on them, I cannot remember any that were aimed at improving stability, though. Richard

Comrad, My tale was from the days when they were in service, as with you. But having to deal with inumerable catastophic engine blow ups, I would be loath to chase one hard if it belonged to me. I did have the bottom end of a conrod once, which looked as though it had been in a forge and got twisted in a knot, that was from a J60. Wish I had kept it, could have made an annual trophy for the person suffering the biggest disaster with their MV. If any of you private owners had ever seen these, you would not go over 45 mph ! Richard

Hi Comrad, It was on the P of MPH, 6 o'clock position on the speedo, which was marked up to 70. A check on the dial it is easy to see that it could be 95 thereabouts. I can tell you it was bloody fast, because I was head out of the turret. At a later date, a unit was delivering some to us for repairs and hearing them talking to each other and one was clocked at the Ton on M20, by an accompanying staff car. Kewelde

Hi Mick, Fast? When they were fairly new in service, around the mid-70's, I was in commanders position on road test after repairs and I thought she was flying, got down in the turret to see the speedo and it was 95mph !! We passed everything on the road, got to a roundabout and back up the road, meeting vehicles we had passed.....the look on their faces was a joy. I was actually involved in 3rd and 4th line repair work on them from date in to service until the time they were declared obsolete. Yes we had a few come in from accidents, most roll overs on these occured off road and more often than not, speed is a major factor. If the rear armour and silencer was removed for work, they were tested before refitting, in case of leaks or adjustments, a very small silencer was adapted to fit the pipe and the sound was something to behold, in fact even better without a silencer :lol: Set up right with power steering functioning well, ( a trouble spot with them ), they drove excellently, especially with turret removed. Richard

Neil, A bit messy more than anything, especially on the side of the road. Richard

Degsy, The shock absorbers are Andre Hartford friction dampers, they have friction discs between metal ones and can be adjused. Spares still available. Berni, The chassis is not an Airborne one, called a 10 cwt Lightweight No.1, we have a Lightweight No.2 which is similar to the Airborne but a longer body and the strengthening ribs on the outside. I have scrapped a couple of sad Airbornes for the parts many years back. No, I think this could be for the previous 10 cwt Trailer G.S., some had wooden sides and there are signs that the metal uprights, on the corners, have been cut off to chassis level, also a drop tailboard was fitted. The Lightweights did not have a drop tailboard. Richard

Hi Dougy, I was lucky, over the 22 years with them, I covered just about every type of equipment they had. From some WW2 era vehicles right through to the DROPS. Wheeled and tracked armour, heavy plant, B vehicles, also RAF crash tenders. Got some good memories and loads of experience. Yes, we always made sure of a cabby ! Richard

Neil, If you had to have a suspend tow on any of the Alvis 6 wheelers, or a Ferret come to that, it is neccesary to remove the sun gear in the wheels that will be running on the road. In other words if it is a front lift, then remove sun gears from rear wheels. This does two things, firstly it only means the hub is turning and none of the gear train and secondly, it would be considered against the law to have the raised wheels turning, presumably in case anyone got caught in them. Richard