Simon Daymond

should have rung me Rob, I will have a look at the spare belts I have.

I think 29BS59 has16 Regt 14Bty Cole`s Kop badge on the door This Bty was reformed in 1970

http://www.newtonnewtonflags.com/regimental-flag-14-bty-coles-kop.htm

found the above on the net after pasting '14-bty-coles-kop' into Google.

I've zoomed in on the original picture I have of 29 BS 55, and that is what I can see on the door. Well spotted !

one of the militants has an elephant on the cab door, I think the other is a Sphinx. Almost all the militant pictures seem to relate to radar, I think the gun tractor is pulling a radar unit as well. Was intersting to see the AEC badges, looks quite late though, I wonder if the uniforms might date the pictures? Only the picture of the driver, had writing on the back, it gave his name, which of course I didn't write down.

With the radial/crossply tyre combination is that not an immediate 6 points if caught on the road? :police::police:

only if they are on the same axle, I think

well that's your sleeping accomodation sorted Rob, thought you might have put a window in it

After a recent visit to the library at Firepower, I got some pictures scanned. I was told I could put them on here, if I gave the appropriate credit:

They are reproduced courtesy of the Royal Artillery Historical Trust, Royal Regiment of Artillery Museum "FIREPOWER ". The Royal Arsenal Woolwich London SE18 6ST

Leyland Martian & AEC Militant 42 EL 36

42 EL 36 by busandcoachpainters, on Flickr

Hi Terry,

welcome to the forums

Cheers Rob,

doesn't the body on the 2nd Arty tractor look odd? It's much higher than mine, you can tell by the different wheelacrches.

hi simon thanks for your reply. i think this forum will be very handy for infomation on all types of vehicals including finding parts . i found my millitant 2 years ago in a scrapyard i put 2 batterys on it and it started an drove home , i sandblasted it back to bare metal and painted it in desert colours it looks well ill send you some pics when it stops raining . got a build sheet from british museum and it shows it was built in 1965 which mean it needs an mot thats a bit of a blow i cant find out how far to go with the repairs needed so ill just do it as we would with a 65 car and see what they say when i present it i drove one of these in the army youve realy got to pick your route, bloody numb steering. my veh has never been registered before . have you any info on that subject . it would not have been any problem if it had been pre 60 what years yours? do you know anyone with a reo wrecker i need info on winch and crane controls thanks again regards bill

Hi Bill,

if you have a build sheet which shows the chassis number, and the engine number etc, this was what I used as proof to register the militant. It was however, back in 1994, and I can't really remember what I did, but I think I rang the DVLA and they sent someone out who inspected my build sheet, looked at the chassis number on the militant and was satisfied. I don't know if I had to wait for them to issue a logbook and registration number before I could tax it though. I'd strongly advise against getting a Q plate, it might seem easier, but in the longer term I think it looks crap. An MOT is a bit of a bind, just ask Jules, another member on here with a militant that needs testing. However we have a responsibility to keep the vehicles roadworthy, which I'm begining to think might be easier if you have an annnual test to attend, that is if you get testers that know what they are looking at! My militant is 1953, and appears in the thread Mk1 militants. We are going to York with the 5.5 gun this Sunday, God willing, so if you see us please come and say hello.

This will keep you busy for a while

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?7394-A-E-C-Militant-MK-1-Gallery

Looks like the line up from any MVT show, and they all carried Eisenhower.

very, very funny

Hi Bill,

welcome to the forums.

I have a Militant, how's yours coming along?

Simon

In answer to the questions, I am waiting for some other pictures to come from my Father in Law, and I will get better info about his regiment at the time, and about the white mirror. As for the bumper corners etc on the RE one, I dont remember any particular regulations about it, but it was always done, any extremity/sticky out bit was painted white

Hi Rob,

any more pictures?

I'm trying to amass gun tractor pictures showing the rear canvas, I'm in the process of having one made and all info would be very useful, so if anyone else has any lurkiing..?

I'm not sure if mine has a later modification, but it has a good metal shield around the connectors behind the seat, making it hard enough to deliberately unplug them, let alone "accidentally" knock one out!!

 

Jules

Mine used to have a strip of wood, which the connectors plugged into either side, it looked a mess, and the wiring was vulnerable, and as he was doing it, I wasn't inclined to complain, given that at the time nothing worked because the previous owner had acquired the militant for spares and had unplugged everything that he thought his kids might break playing in it. Several years later, I come along and every wire is yellow, and most of the tags have worn off!

No problem at all with this, seems a very sensible thing to do

when my militant electrics were sorted out, by an Ex Reme guy, he insisted that he modified the connection block on the cab seat, and put all the wires into a rubber junction box. He told me that when in the army, he was always being called to militants where some 'clumsy fff'ing squaddie' had knocked all the wires out by standing on them etc.

David is....Tank Man

That's something to go on a T shirt.

no progress but I'm told I've not been forgotten. I do have a plan B though, unless anyone else has one tucked away in a shed?

Hi Paul,

welcome to the forums

thanks Kevin

I wonder if the militant on ebay sold? Anyone know who ended up with it?

I saw the other 'barn find' advertised elsewhere on the web for £8500.

This one's back on fleebay again. Got quite a few bids on it as well

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AEC-MILITANT-CLASSIC-RECOVERY-VEHICLE-HUGE-BUTTON-RECENT-TYRES-DRIVE-AWAY-/300675757128?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item4601abf448

Wish this would sell, I'm tired of seeing it everywhere!

Joris,

I wish you all the very best at this sad time. Cancer is a terrible thing, at least your Dad's at peace now.

at least he isn't talking about scrap value etc. Did he say he had another, as I think in one of the pictures there is another one lurking against the back wall.

Dacrylate, yes I used that on the 5.5, have you tried 'hot spraying" it?

We use this if the paint doesn't have a lot of body, but is too thick to spray. We use an old tea urn. We half fill the urn, put it on to boil, when it's boiled we turn it off then immerse the open tin of paint and stir it until it becomes thin, trick is not to have to much water in the urn otherwise it gets in the tin!

We then spray using a tiny amount of thinner in each mix, which seems to stop the paint drying on the tip. You could use a bucket filled by a couple of kettles, you will see that the paint really does go thin, almost like water, and because it is warm, it goes off quicker when you paint it.