ferret1958uk

If the air is moist and it hits something cold you will have condensation. You need to find a way of stopping the damp getting in to start with. If it is already in then you need to dry things out. For my own workshop I made good the concrete floor and covered it in floor paint. Took some time to dry but it did help to seal the floor - good for dust control alone. What I was not expecting was that it seemed to make the place warmer. I use a space heater in there with the doors open so I don't die from carbon monoxide and it really dried everything out. Condensation does eventually build back up, but it takes around a week of no heat to get bad.

Just an observation - Both Shorlands have dents on the front faces of the bumper just inside of where the front dumbirons are. It looks asthough something has rested against the bumpers leaving little round dents. As the dents are rounded, on the bottom half of the bumber and identical on both vehicles could it be that the 'knobbly bits' were part of a clamping point for something mounted onto the front of the vehicles?

I can only guess. It looks like they are both C section with the open side facing forward. If this was as a hook then it would need to be for something in the radiator, so I doubt it is that that. The shape reminds me of the rope slides that you see occasionally see on the canals. They resemble bollards in many ways, but are designed to allow a tow rope from the horse to the boat to run against it rather than the brickwork of a bridge. In this case they are too far back to be of service to the lifting rings (Where fitted). Last guess would be that they were for attaching a cover to the front grill similar to a radiator muff. Unfortunately there is not a view of the top of the slam panel, which would suggest there was nothing to note there (certainly to Clives keen eye).

3rd Infantry Division disbanded at the end of Aug. 1945. This badge appears to have applied at around the same layer of paint as the RA tac sign on the other front wing and the tailgate. The 3rd Inf Div had the following RA units: 7th Field Regiment 03.09.1939 - 31.08.1945 23rd Field Regiment 03.09.1939 - 05.03.1940 33rd Field Regiment 03.09.1939 - 31.08.1945 76th Field Regiment 05.03.1940 - 17.08.1945 6th Field Regiment 17.08.1945 - 31.08.1945 20th Anti-Tank Regiment 03.09.1939 - 31.08.1945 92nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 24.03.1942 - 10.06.1945 112th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 10.06.1945 - 31.08.1945 The RA rac sign clearly shows 34. This was not possible according to the regulations posted on this Forum by Clive Elliot. 34 Always appears as Corp Fld Park Sqn with a blue background. Given the vehicles history in the film industry and other civilian life I think that this was painted up in wartime colours for some obscure reason. I did not see it in Ice Cold in Alex though...

Army User Handbook for the Land Rover 80". It is WO Code No 17856/3; Aip Publication 4337D (U.H.) Admiralty MTP. 4303/2 and covers Rover Mk1, Mk2, Mk3, Mk4 & Mk5 and dated 1957. It appears Kaci has one as I cut and pasted this info from the WW2 manuals thread. (Page 4), but he does not add if it was available. Having found the number from that thread I did a web search and found one brand new for £18 from lrseries.com. Call me tight if you wish, but I would prefer to pay less than that if possible.

He has further photos of it in the album pages (the link I posted above). It has a mainland UK registration number at the back though!

What does the label say?

I would like to use the original, but it is missing two corners where the screw holes are so close to the edge. I will see how secure it is when fitted. I also have somewhere to look for the holes now

Oddly enough I was just talking about him last night to my lodger. Very sad news to hear of his passing. Rest in Peace.

They intrigued me when they were there. All of the kit was very new looking, and a friend of mine I just spoke to seemed to think that the 'drops' parts were made specially for that person, and not of a military origin. That was just his personal opinion though, and not founded on anything else. So no, no idea who they were, or why they were. Wasn't you was it?

00DM23 and 24DM80. Stumbled across these on photobucket. Do they belong to anyone on here? Looks like a tidy set of FFR and GS, with the FFR in the stripdown stages of a restoration. I would love to know more. The owner has posted some nice images of some of the fittings. I have never seen those lifting rings before. The full album is here. http://s950.photobucket.com/home/00DM23

Restoration of the 1952 S1 'Rover Mk2' is within weeks of completion. The chassis plate has been fitted to the bulkhead immediately to the right of the dash panel, but I cannot remember where the military contract plate went? I am sure that it fits on the bulkhead, and suspect it was fitted infont of the drivers right knee, but having replaced the metal there I do not have the holes to guide me. I have searched lots of photos of series 1's and the later vehicles with the same style dash as the series 2's have the plate on the left side in the glove box. Also, does anyone have a copy of the military User Handbook for the Mk2? For those that do not know, the Mk2 is the 80' series 1 fitted with the 2 litre engine.

Yes. 01CA03 - UN Ferret and now owned by Mr Colin Sellers who you also know I gather?

I should add they were in the same spot for a few years running.

I remember that crowd fairly well. They were located in the America's field roughly in the area recently occupied by part of the EMLRA. It was rumoured in my own camp that one person owned it, and I seem to recall he was worth (not the kit) around 20 million. At the time I had the Ferret, and it won the Track Link award for runner up Best British Armour so 18th -22nd July 2001. The next year was the Ferrets at 50 event so I would not have noticed them in 2002.

I can confirm the replies above are all good. When I last had core plugs out of an engine recently it was on a Austin Cambridge. Use the opportunity to flush the water jacket right out, preferably reversing the water flow as much as possible to remove the crap that can build up inside the water jacket. It can be scary when you see how much comes out, and the water used may run orange for over ½ hour! Good news is that the plugs are easy to refit, and they tend to seal perfectly well without sealant.

Sometimes it is possible to get confused though. I have never served in the mob, but have done some small time as a civilian working for both the RAF and FAA. Closest I got to a uniform was as an Air Cadet where I got to the rank of F/Sgt and for this I have been collared by the Royal British Legion as the local branch Standard Bearer. It is a huge honour to carry the standard, and I often see veterans of all ages getting tearfull when they see the standard. People will often clap, cheer and say 'Well done' as I march past, and I feel like a fraud most of the time as I know I have not earnt it: It is what the standard represents that has more than earnt it. As for the wearing of uniforms while displaying vehicles I am all for it. Badges of rank I am cautious of, unless you have a genuine right to wear them. Medals are a definate no, not just because it is considered wrong by the majority, or illegal in many cases, but because most forces personal when wearing medals would never be anywhere near a military vehicle. MV's are notoriously dirty, and medals = no1 dress. The two do not mix. Most of my vehicles served when Battle Dress was still the norm, particulary in rear line services where my vehicles tended to be, so if I wanted to show uniform and badges of rank etc I would be forced to dress up a manequin (I am 6ft and 15 ½ stone). Badges of rank would probably be the lowest possible as that would probably make for the most genuine representation. I would also like to add that The Royal British Legion do thier best to help the forces community, and this involves investigating and prosecuting people that wear medals they are not entitiled to.

Many years ago XWD at Pulborough threw almost all of thier unitary radio kits in the skip. They were often damaged, incomplete and filled the skip up quite fast. I asked if I could create some space in thier skip and they agreed, so I rescued 4 of them, made one complete one for myself, and gave 2 away to friends. The 4th just vanished into the other three. XWD is now run by DropZone at teh same site. They did not have any of the kits left in stock, but those elusive battery trays (and prob inserts) do still exist on the parts shelves as they are handy for storage bins. I know that there is at least one amphenol lead there as well, and possible other parts buried. Parts of the fixing kit may also be found there (That is the J bolts with 4 winged nut and the over-centre clamps.) if I have not already bought it for securing my water carrier pack to my sankey!

My father is nearing the end of a full restoration on a 1952 80 inch. I have interferred with it during the whole rebuild. The bolts used are BSF so be ready for that! Parts are available, but you mostly there if the one you buy is complete. Watch for the brake master cylinder (3 bolt mounting) and the fluid reservoir which looks like the S2 one, but is not split internally. Being military and ex-MoD the plate will probably read **BH** for army and **AA** for airforce. I have several images of vehicles from 1952. The chassis is easy to repair if you can weld, but the rear crossmember is nice and curvy so watch out there. Rear springs are the narrow type and can be costly to replace. Bushes are cheap. Bulkhead will be your main headache as replacing the footwells is almost impossible as the steering column bolts to a plate welded to the footwell. If you take on the project then I can show photos of the work done on dads one. Full chassis rebuild, bulkhead rebuild, gearbox rebuild, replacement engine rebuild (original engine missing). Also look out for starter motor troubles. You should have the starter with the short nose on it. Later starters will not fit due to the bellhousing.

No, it can't be overweight. I only have 8 ton in it!

That's the suspension lowered, just a few acetalene lamps to go underneath, a larger trumpet on the gramaphone, and we're ready to cruise!

I want one! Only with twin tanks, single wiper motor, short bumperettes and my registration number...

Having studied the paint layers on my Rover 8 very closely I can add that the original colour was black, along with the front and back axles and propshafts. Probably within the first year the Land Rover was resprayed with an almost identical shade of deep bronze green. It appears that this was sprayed all over the vehicle where it could be accessed without taking it apart as it is found on the bottom of the engine and flywheel housing, but not on the top, meaning the transmission tunnel was not removed. The only markings confirmed on the original paint layer were a blue square on the door (One of ours for exercise purposes I believe) and upon respray the mirrored RA crest was placed on the door and the RA TAC sign with 13 on it was put on the front o/side wing and on the o/side rear crossmember next to the tow hitch. The next respray after this was applied over everything, and because it is found behind the fuel tank I have removed as well as on top of the chassis rails under the rear tub, the vehicle was clearly taken apart. It would seem this practice was repeated at several stages in the vehicles life. As part of the full rebuild I was going to paint the chassis and running gear chassis black. To be entirely accurate for the restoration I should technically strip all the vehicles bumps, bruises, character and history out at the same time. However if I leave the character and history in place (in-service repairs) then the underside should be DBG as well. My helpful nephew said I should restore it to look as new and show it for a year. Then respray it and show it again for another year, etc! How to confuse future archaeologists!

I wonder who owns 94KE17? It was sold at Withams in June 2008. I do not have the lot number, but 94KE32 was sold at the time time as lot 9. Your battery box came from a Land Rover 110 FFR RHD hardtop.

What is interesting to add is that the DVLA class the body work and chassis as one. This can throw up all sorts of grey areas where Land Rovers are concerned. What is instead of chabging the chassis, I were to transplant a 90 body on? I was not brave enough, or stupid enough to ask for fear of what can of worms I may open. I had a look at the replacement Britpart rear crossmember today. It is a whole 1" shorter than the original, so that the bumperette holes ore too close to the middle to allow the lifting rings to position correctly. I had a chat with my dad about it and I joked that it would be easier to make a new one than to bodge the Britpart one. He walked off quietly and returned less than a minute later with a channel of steel the exact legnth and depth needed. What have I let myself in for?