N.O.S.

Body now off to a good home to doll up a needy Constructor chassis- yippee!

Anyone looking for a very straight steel ballast body c/w all lockers (ferns not included) for a 20T GS Constructor? Bottom edges of rear doors need an inch cutting off and strips welded on. Shame to cut it up - hurry.........

Agree with Shrapnel - stainless for welding. Eutectic do 2.5 / 3.2 rods specified for joining dissimilar steels, or 'difficult to weld' steels, I think the number is 680S. Very useful for odd jobs, not bad at joining cast iron too (cosmetic work - not if strength is not important). Also in wire form for MIG. If you have cracks just vee out with a grinder / gouger and weld up with s/s. With regard to drilling / tapping, armour plate works by 'work-hardening' - when a projectile hits the steel is initially plastic and deforms, reducing energy of the projectile, but then rapidly work hardens and resists further penetration. That's why you see range hulls looking like they were made from plasticine and hit with stones! We had (still have some) a stock of armour plate for building up excavator teeth / wear parts. In order not to get caught out when doing general fabrication the trick was to drill a hole first to check if the plate was armour. If it was armour it would drill fine to a shallow depth and then stop the bit in its tracks. I did this once with 1/2" plate and a 1/4 drill went straight through so I thought 'ok this is mild steel', then spent a couple of days profiling out some big pieces, only to find the 1/2" drill failed. If tapping you need to be very slow to minimise work hardening. I believe drill bits for armour have a very shallow cutting angle - cutting tips are almost flat. Forgot to add - grinding sparks off armour usually more an orange / red and smaller compared to yellow of mild steel - but not always that easy to distinguish, and like the drill test you can sometimes get 'caught out'!

I've been trying PULSETECH XTREME chargers (well the MOD apparently use them), thinking it might be a solution to my dilemma of a shed full of OPTIMA batteries hanging around for months before being called upon to earn their keep. I know Antar on here has had very good results with them on Hawker batteries. I also know some of my batteries are sulphated - but unless badly sulphated they should still take a reasonable charge even if they don't last as long. I've had some batteries on charge for over 3 months continuous and the red lights flickr about and indicate 'duff battery'. When tried they are dead. So it is a bit annoying to then put the same batteries onto a more modest OPTIMATE 4, only to have most of them charge up to decent cranking power. Some of them do not last as long as a tip top battery might, but quite adequate none the less. I've then put the same battery back onto the PULSETECH only to find it won't charge - straight back to the annoying row of flashing red lights. To my mind the PULSETECH would display more intelligence if it had an indicator on it which said "Well mate, your battery is f*&@%d, but I've put as much in as it will take so at least you're out of trouble, but don't blame me if it fails somewhere down the road". Just to sit there smugly flashing your tiny red LEDs saying "Look - I'm not going to charge any old sh&t batteries OK? Don't bother me until you've bought a new battery" displays a degree of arrogance and an attitude which quite frankly is not helpful in the slightest. I feel so much better having offloaded that - I think I'll cancel today's appointment with my Analyst.

The oldest vehicle (albeit not military) looks like the Scammell in the first 2 pics - and might be the rarest if it is a 6 wheeler.

And that looks like a genuine 1/2 cab (i.e. no top half) Matador near the end?

Your optimism knows no bounds, and has also become highly infectious, Mike! Unlike you, I had not appreciated the significance of the wording upon going through the statement, but reading your post above I do believe the point you raise is valid - without availability of a useable original spec engine (or something equally old and compatible) there is no alternative but to replace with a more modern power plant in order to preserve the vehicle in running condition. I assume the phrase "these specific categories" refers to the preceding definitions of substantial changes to main components.

You may wish to try 4 Counties - http://www.4counties.co.uk/# I believe their underwriters are KGM at Llyod's. You may wish to enquire about the underwriter's requirement to name any additional drivers with whichever broker you talk to. One thing I discovered a few years back: I was with a broker who used a specific (very good) underwriter, but who then started upping the premiums. When I shopped around for cover with brokers using the same underwriter I discovered I could not get a quote from any broker using that same underwriter. This resulted in a change of underwriter in order to achieve a satisfactory premium from another broker. You can then at the next renewal get a quote from other brokers who use your preferred underwriter. Nothing is simple anymore - a bit like utility suppliers!

Great images Simon. Are there any fundamental differences in techniques for underwater scanning? Other than the obvious (such as waterproofed electrics/electronics!), does laser light require relatively clear water, similar to that needed for good visibility? Tony

A significant and relevant benefit of extra horses is the improved performance which goes a long way to help with keeping up with traffic - not top speed but acceleration to help traffic flow.

De-rating a mechanical pump diesel engine is fairly straightforward (as is, I suppose, an electronic one) - but not sure about accompanying paperwork.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-41049104

There were also XLB (which is what these look like) and I recall XLAs too, but they may have been designated A when the B came out. Just be aware some earthmover tyre applications had much lower max. speed - probably from use of softer compound rubber, the speed restriction being due to limited ability to dissipate heat build-up. Best to look carefully at the sidewall writing to be sure.

http://www.ets-uk.co.uk/ (just in case).

https://sites.google.com/site/suffolkmvt/meeting-information