ferret1958uk

Many years ago my dad broke down in his 1931 Austin 7 on the railway bridge heading south into Rustington, West Sussex. After he had sorted the problem he walked past the near side to put tools into the passenger footwell and just happened to notice a car in the hedgerow of a garden at the foot of the bridge. He thought it looked 1930's, but as he was running late he headed off. Several months later he was travelling the route again and he stopped to see if he could see what the car was. It was an SS100 tourer. He spoke to the owner and she offered it to him for free provided he cleaned up the hedgerow afterwards. Unfortunately he had nowhere to store the car so he gave it to his cousin. After 20 years in storage the car was revisited and some research done. It was the third prototype SS car making it the oldest known SS car (Alan Clarke MP at the time owned the first production SS 100). For those that do not know, the SS car company later changed its name to Jaguar. That is my families dream find, just a shame I missed out on the benefits of it!

An excellent replica that looks worryingly better than the original! Almost be a shame to drill holes in for the bolts and screws.

Very nice. Always had a soft spot for 1930's cars as they have the nicest curves. The curves from 1940 onwards and those before 1930 seem more angular. I want that car!

Thank you for the offer of the front wing. I was hoping to keep the original wing as i quite like the repair that was done to it in service. I think it adds character to the vehicle that may otherwise be lost in a restoration. It is likely to be the only thing on the vehicle left that is not put back to how it was when the vehicle was first built.

I spoke to the DVLA at Brighton about the chassis. As the chassis I am using will be heavily modified to form an exact replica of the original, using original parts where possible and new manufactured parts where needed then they can class it as a newly manufactured replacement part. They would then stamp the chassis with the original chassis number. The original chassis would have to be destroyed for this. The other option in a worst case scenario is that they class the chassis swap as using a newer chassis, which apparently costs 5 points on thier point system. Provided I use original axles (2 points), engine (1 point), steering (2 points) and gearbox (2 points) then the vehicle will remain tax-exempt as the rebuild scores more than 8 points.

Getting them all in is not too hard. The chassis are all lined up against one wall and the body tubs stack at the back. Axles, engines, gearboxes, wings and everything else just fit in where they can. The big problem is getting just one out again. It may be easy to make a whole one again, but finding the original axles, engine and gearbox and also the correct bulkhead in there can be a sod. Technically my post should have said 'I have had 5 series 1's in a standard size lockup' as one of them has come out to be rebuilt. It is 1952 and we chose to rebuild this one first as the chassis and bulkhead were the easiest to get at. Unfortunately the rest of it was not! When I return to the lockup I will get a photo.

Not impressed to be honest. I have FIVE series 1 Land Rovers in one lock up garage, and yes, it is a standard size one.

I looked at the option of a galvanised chassis as Richards Chassis claim they can do the correct one for this vehicle. If I went down that route then I would have to become a true anorak and really annoy the design team by ensuring they got everything correct. This chassis has no hole in the rear cross member (They need to do a special run to omit it according to Rover88FFR) and so I am concerned they may miss peculiarities such as the mounts on the front n/side leg for the Generator Panel and other fiddly bits. Modifying a galvanised chassis would not be my idea of fun. Luckily I was offered a early series 3 chassis which was solid for just £50. I am slowly and carefully making my way through the chassis to make it an exacting replica of the original. I have some photos of the progress and will post them later, but the main differences noted so far just at the rear are: Series 3 has exhaust hanger brackets for left and right hand drive - Original was right only. Series 3 has an extra exhaust hanger bracket just infront of the crossmember under the front of the rear body. Series 3 has 'W' shaped brackets welded to chassis for axle straps and bump stops - Original has tabs for bump stops and plates with threaded holes for the axle straps. Series 3 has the front tub mounts spaced at 56½ inches apart - original has them at 59½ inches. Series 3 added two front tub mounts to the centre crossmember. Series 3 uses plastic clips for the brake pipes, original uses metal p clips. As it is a civilian chassis I doubt I need to mention the rear crossmember, but I did note the Series 3's all have rounded tops to the tailgate hinge brackets where the meet the chassis and the S1's and early 2's do not!

As I took my camera to the workshop today I figured I would post some fresh pics. As you can see the chassis is almost completely gone. Even the bottoms of the crossmembers have rotted out. A few photos of the remains. This is one of the signs found painted onto the rear crossmember. I thought it may have been Red over blue with a white 13 on as this is on the front wing, however there is red paint behind the angle iron and no sign of blue so this appears to have been a red square with probably 13 written on it. The sign is to the right of the tow attachment holes. The other sign on the rear crossmember. This one is situated to the left of the tow attachment holes. This is the number 35888 stamped into the n/side front of rear spring hanger. I have no idea what this number is. It is not the chassis number or sequence number, so could it be a production line number like some series 1's have? The number is usually hidden by the fuel tank. I am so very glad I am not trying to save this chassis! Photos of the work on the new chassis will follow later.

The capacitor is integral to the control box. Any 1960's 2uF capacitor will do I suppose as they all seem to be green?

A good start for a mock up of these would be P A Blanchard. He has the 'later' left hand one as NOS for £6.88 ex VAT. He does not list the one for the right hand side, but it looks the same, just without the resistor. The parts cat lists 4 Junction Boxes. The r/h one is 519669 (early version for contracts KL/H/01291, WV33 and WV340) and 547309 for the later 40amp contracts. The l/h one is 530027 (early version) and 547308 (late version with 2uF capacitor.)

Most people would not touch a project like this with someone elses. When I saw it I looked at it closely and found that the chassis has almost completely rotted away at the front (to the front crossmember) and completely at the back where the parts that are visible are held in place by the rear tub alone! All bar one of the road springs have collapsed up into the chassis which is why the vehicle leans so heavily to one side. Plus sides to the project are: It runs and drives. All of the original electrics are in place except for the screened ignition system. It sits on its original split rim wheels, and they appear to be OK (Have around 10-15 spare ones if not from other projects!) Bulkhead is solid, but needs two footwells replacing. Doors and body are not too bad except for the front wing which is badly bent, but can be straightened. Most of the fittings for the radios are still there in the back. Even the leads for the radio batteries to connect to the vehicle were still there along with the dummy terminal block (Removed by the time these images were taken) and the biggest bonus - most of the missing parts I already have in my collection of spare parts

As far as I can tell, this vehicle was sold into civilian hands in 1975 and the farmer that bought it registered it for the road, but never used it on the public highway. Instead it was used as the farm hack around the farm buildings and fields right up until when i bought it in July 2007. These few pictures show the Land Rover 'as bought', and hopefully show how original the vehicle actually is. Provided the images load correctly the last one show the last part of the ERM in yellow chalk on the Land Rovers 2nd coat of Bronze Green paint. The number was also written in chalk on the dashboard where the military contract plate sits. Having been rescued from the farm I stored it under cover until just a few weeks ago. Its time has now arrived for restoration, and oddly enough it is now stored in the open while work starts!

Not sure we are going to be able to pack up all our new troubles in that little kit bag.

Thank you for the replies. I browsed through the documents that Clive has posted and the one from 1962 states that 13 would be CS Regt RA whilst 14 and 15 are Alternative RA (to be sub-alloted by theatres and commands to individual units to avoid confusion between adjacent units). Silly question perhaps, but can it be confirmed that CS is Close Support? The document posted for 1975 does not have attachment 'A' attached so I can't see if the numbering altered at all. I need to track down the windscreen articles and take a look at them. At least I know they exist!

Nicely done. There was a drawing for a seperate frame to remove the gearbox. Nigel Wolek had one made up when he owned the Ferret I used to have. With this in mind should the engine lifting frame be used with the gearbox attached? I suspect the engine would sit level if the gearbox were to be removed?

Does anyone know where I can find information on the Arm of Service markings and the numbers that sometimes got put on them? For instance my own Land Rover has an arm of service marking for the Royal Artillery. During its life it has had the number 13 and the number 15 on this marking. These numbers were allocated in blocks and I gather represent the type of Regiment within the RA (ie. Heavy, or AA etc). I want to know what 13 and 15 may have represented between 1964 and 1975?

Loving these links. Perhaps the Ferrets are in such a bad way because they are mislabelled on the sign as Feared Armoured Cars? Keep them coming please.

Many people are scared of 101's because they look so big. They are actually very easy to work on and access to the engine and gearbox is easy if the load bed is kept clear. If the chassis and other bits look good then it should be ok. You ran the engine so splits in manifolds etc have probably been ruled out. I just pray it has brakes for you.

Can anyone shed some light on an FSO I uncovered on the passenger door of my 1964 Land Rover? It has roughly stencilled in orange paint: S/67 FSO 48607 4-S ANTWERP. I know that the first line should be (According to the 1969 Aide memoire for RCT I found online) a theatre of operation prefix followed by the consignment code. According to the 1969 document the theatre of operation prefix should be two letters, not 1? The second line is the FSO number given to the shipment followed by (I think) the item number for the FSO as there were at least 4 items in the shipment. I know that the third line shows the Port of Discharge. I want to know if this is correct, and if so which theatre is represented by S? If not then what does the S, or S's, stand for? Where are records for the FSO's kept and are they likely to ever be recorded in places such as the B vehicle records (Perhaps as a reciept number). There are a few differences to what is stated in the Aide Memoire as well. Apparently the whole lot should be bounded by a rectangular cage and stencilled in red. This FSO is stencilled to the passenger door, but the memoire states it must be visible from the front of the vehicle, and I doubt it was shipped with the doors open! I guess it was placed on the door because it was right next to the vehicle weights board (black chalkboard thing on rear wing). Any help appreciated.

That in itself is almost impossible! ERM's are usually only readable from the front and rear of the vehicle, and then it is written somewhere (I gather) that someone, or something must ALWAYS be in the way of the ERM. I have hundreds of photos of vehicles, usually with one person posing with it and always stood across the ERM. Thank you for the parts cat snippet. It means they were at least demandable!

One detail I am not sure of is when did the split rims get phased out? Neither of my Rover 11's have them. The image as discussed earlier does show them, but that is clearly (to me) an image taken of the early 40amp Rover 8 with the title changed. My neice has a Rover 8 LHD FFR from 1965 and it does not have split rims fitted at the moment, but having been in civi street for many decades that is not suprising. Does anyone know the cut off date, if there was one? While touching on the issue of the Rover 8's does anyone have in service photos of them? I have a few, but not many. I am after 1964 and 1965 specifically (EL and EN series ERM's). The photos I have are mostly from Aden in 1964 and Hong Kong (with MOBAT attached )

I was re-visiting this thread and have a few comments. The image that Clive posted of the Rover 10 is very likely inaccurate. The handbooks are fairly notorious for errors that are not always updated (Series 3 FFR with the battery lead connected to give 12 volts springs to mind). As pointed out early in the thread the Rover 10 is shown with the 'toast rack' grill. This was fitted to Rovers with the 40 amp charging system which I gather was last fitted to a Land Rover in 1964. (Contract WV2985 Rover 8 have 4 batches with the 1st being RHD 24v 40 amp and the 4th being RHD 24v 90amp). I own one of the vehicles from the 1st batch which has the 'toast rack' grill. I also have the Parts Peculiar list for the 90 amp batch (Army Code 20523 Parts Peculiar Only for Truck F.F.R. ¼ Ton, 4x4, Rover 8 with 90 amp. Generator 1) which does not list the 'toast rack' grill. Other points of concern are that the illustration Clive posted shows the individual wipers fitted to the windscreen as fitted to the Rover 8. The Rover 10 should (I think) have the single wiper motor fitted to the bulkhead. There may have been a small crossover period for parts, but I am sure the Rover 10 and 11 always had the single wiper motor. I am uncertain whether the front bumperettes were made shorter at the start of the Rover 10 and 11, but the two 1968 Rover 11's I have both have the short version.

I should add that other sources would be the articles in the EMLRA magazines done by Clive Elliot (Painting regulations in an 8 part series), John Mastrangelo (Post-war vehicle markings) and Colin Voss (stencils commonly found on Land Rovers). Unfortunately none of these works show the early unit signs which are what I feel need to be recorded. Does anyone know of any sources for this info?

I have scoured the ends of the internet, and as much inbetween, to find reference works on Post-war military markings. I think that those of us with the little knowledge we have are probably as close as it gets to being world experts which is alarming. As such I feel it would be an idea to try to bring together what we do know to try and make a reference work. My own Land Rovers have numerous markings that vary immensely through the various layers of paint. Some markings are superb works of art, and they should be logged before they get forgotten in time. Clives corner links to some official publications regarding markings. They may be vague, but a good start.