Simon Daymond

sounds good, might be my first outing then, just need to get a few more bits fastened on, get the lights to work etc.

can you tell us a bit more? - have you been before etc?

not having a clue about convoy flags, would someone care to explain the basics? i.e colours and which vehicles carry them? Also in a convoy does it matter which vehicles go where?

Firstly thanks for posting this list 6x6. I think, in my own mind, I might be getting nearer to answering the question, using the list and considering the opinions expressed by other members; According to the list; 100 HAA 6x4 militants built in first batch, Dec 52 - March 53, but never any subsequent ones? 6x6 not available at this time as first 6x6 vehicles built late 53 (Nov/Dec) After the first 100 HAA, on 6x4 chassis, no more were made until the HAA 6x6 versions from late 53. So is it likely then that the 6x4 were found to be lacking for HAA use, which is why no more were made for that role?

nice, you must have had the patience of a saint to split all those nuts! I'd have cut em' off (then spent ages trying, still trying in fact, to find replacements)

if the chassis number is anything to go by.. 0859 067 ? BTW, does anyone know how many mk1 militants were built?

Mike, the points you raise did occur to me, but my militant is an artillery tractor not a GS truck, and as such being 6x4 it doesn't strike me as being an ideal choice. I wondered if there had been a rethink regarding 6x4 to later 6x6, or whether the order was just placed for x amount of 6x4 and x amount of 6x6 etc. Also, although there are 6x4 militant examples around, the majority seem to be 6x6, so again I wondered if the powers at be realised that the 6x4 wasn't much cop off the road, and so didn't build that many. Again this is all assumption on my part, I don't know which is why I ask the question. The answer to it was never never meant to be.. because they did.

the reason I asked, is that having driven my 6x4 militant in the snow, on any more than a slight lock and the steering was gone, which resulted in the miltant going where it wanted. To be clearer with the original question... was the 6x4 planned originally but replaced by the 6x6? - or did they start off with both variants from the word go? (I'm sure I posted this originally in 'I may be stupid but', but perhaps I'm mistaken, or was it moved to a more appropriate section?) Either way, I'd be interested to read your views.

no holes under the bumper, good at least that's not something else missing to add to the wish/to do list!

just looking at the militant photo's again... should mine have headlight protectors (or are they steps?)

why did they make a 6x4 militant? Surely a 6x6 is better?

Hi GPS, welcome to the forum. Are you going to explain your truck's name?

it's the latter

ok, well Leeds ain't that far away if you need a brew, send me a PM if you're interested, you can come and hold something on the militant, extra hands are always useful.

As I understood it from my museum days, at the time of WW2 most body builders already had sizeable stocks of wood, as they used to leave wood to season for years before using it. With the advent of war, I should imagine that this stockpile was quickly used but not replaced sufficiently due to wartime shortages. Any new supplies could not be left to season but were used almost straight away. Any pre-war buses we used to work on had good bodies, as the wood used was well seasoned, anything wartime or immediately post war, was invariably rotten as the wood wasn't allowed sufficient time to season.

the pictures look quite early, as neither seem to have any flashing indicators? Any idea what the year might have been?

I agree with Richard, every tank we've ever cleaned out, has had an access cut into the top of each compartment, which gives enough room to clean the crud out, we use a steam cleaner. Then we have cut patches slightly bigger than the holes and weld them back on. As they are at the very top, they are unlikely to leak, downside is, that if the tank is visible, you might have to do some titivating to make the patches invisible, i.e bit of grinding filing etc. There are firms around who can coat the inside of the tank with a plastic coating, which can prolong their life and also takes care of any tanks that weep. Hope you don't blow yourself up, like someone I heard of, who was repairing a petrol tank in his garage (at home), he had the door shut, the tank although empty of petrol still filled his small garage with fumes, the central heating boiler clicked on and, well you can guess the rest. Not that it'll be much use to you as it's probaly too far away? - but there's a firm in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, called Dewsbury Radiators, 01924 453382, who specialise in cleaning and repairing fuel tanks, chap called Alan, they can also re-core all manner of radiators.

you could also try a reclaimed timber place, you might need to spend some time removing nails etc, and might need to buy larger pieces, but once cut down, you've got good wood at a fraction of the price. I know that when restoring, we want the vehicles to be 'as was', but practically will they be undertaking the same job? If not, does it need to be the same wood? We used to use Keruing for staight sections, pillars etc, but invested in Ash for any curved sections such as wheel arches, roof sticks and so on. There is another wood as good as keruing, but the name escapes me, a good wood yard can advise, even Arnold Lavers can be pretty helpful, unless you get the trainee.

If I ever get around to it, I have a CAV master switch which were fitted to PSV's, they kill both the Pos & Neg, it's just getting around to wiring it up! For now, the one Tony posted looks a good bet.

very nice, that last one on the beach was particularly good

I have sent an email to a chap selling stuff on ebay that I've used before, I'm sure he had a clayton dewandre footbrake valve. No panic yet, it isn't going anywhere for a while.

thanks for the replies; when I refer to the rear axle, I mean axle 3. As both rear axles, 2 & 3, are driven, if I only jack up one wheel it isn't possible to spin it freely, as the other 3 wheels are on the deck. To get it too spin freely, I should imagine I would have to get all the rear four wheels off the deck? This is why I get limited movement. When I jack up only one of the wheels on axle 3, when I attempt to turn the raised wheel doing so turns the prop slighty and moves the axle forward, only by 1/2 inch, rotate the wheel back and the axle comes back. (this happens when I turn either of the rear wheels on axle 3, with the other on the floor, if they are both in the air, the axle stays put) It looks like it's been like that for quite some time as all the paint where the torque bar and axle touch is rubbed away and the metal polished smooth. Richard, I hoped the same regarding the missing cap; that perhaps the cap located onto the pin, holding the whole thing in place. What I'll do to test it, is take a cap off the front torque rod which braces axle 2 to the chassis, and see whether the movement stops, and whether axle 2 starts to float around. Do I need to replace the felt, or can I just regularly grease the joint? I take your point about replacing the joint not being easy, however the book deals with the whole process in a matter of a couple of sentences! With regard to the foot brake valve, would I do any harm introducing a lubricant into the air system? I had thought of using the oil I use for my air tools, but thought I'd best wait until I consulted.

the rear axle moves forward and back when you turn one or other of the rearmost wheels with the other wheel on the floor. The front axle is solid. Here's a picture of the torque bar, sorry it's poor quality, it's from my phone and it was very dark, but if you've seen one, I'm sure it'll be good enough to jog a memory? Perhaps you can just make out the felt packing at the bottom of the circular section, it has split and come out. Here's a picture of the other end of the same torque bar with the cap in place. The cap screws on.

ok, jacked up the back wheels, all the wheels turn easily so the handbrake is off. When I turned one of the rear wheels on the back axle, because the opposite wheel was on the floor, the axle moved back and forwards, I don't think it should do that? Looks like the torque bar has a problem, it's not loose, but the felt packing has come out, what's left of it. The Torque bar end should have a screwed cap on, complete with grease nipple. On the end of the torque bar, fastened to the axle where the movement is, the cap is missing. The torque bar looks as though it's been loose a while. So several questions really; -should the back axle move back and forward ?(I'm assuming not) -does anyone know of any spares for these? -is it safe to drive? The foot brake valve was sticking, every now and again it would make a loud clicking noise when pressed, the brakes wouldn't relaese until it was pressed again. Is it u/s, or is it caused by standing and might right itself?

going into work now, and will let you know what I find. Going to have a few cups of tea and mull it over before pulling everything to pieces. Come to think of it, it won't ever roll, if I remember back to when the air was playing up, i.e. there was none, I used to move the militant around the yard relying on the handbrake, however unless you were at speed, simply depressing the clutch and the militant would come to a pretty quick stop, which makes me think that perhaps the handbrake isn't realeasing properly? I'll jack it up and see which wheels spin or not.