Stormin

Managed to find a spell in between the rain the other week to get a top coat on the rear chassis and axles.

Thanks for asking John. Still making steady progress in between the weather. Got the rest of the rear part of the chassis blasted and primed. There were a few sections were blasting didn't do the trick and I had to resort to swinging the hammer to remove trapped rust. The rear cross member was one. The rust had got in and distorted the crossmember so it was above the level of the main rails. A few hours work with the hammer sorted this out. Interestingly using the hammer on the main longitudinal rails and it bounced off. Would appear the main rails are spring steel similar to modern trucks. The inserts and crossmembers are ordinary steel and have suffered more from corrosion.

Are you sure it's a viscous coupling? These limit the speed difference between front to rear props so no need to mechanicaly lock up. I feel fairly sure it's just an open diff with a mechanical locking device. If it was a viscous centre coupling then it would make sense for the diff lock to act on the rear axle only. If there's no viscous coupling then a diff lock would be more effective on the centre diff than across an axle. Reason being, it's more likely two wheels on an axle are in the same situation traction wise, and the other axle is more likely to get grip.

He told me it was good for over 50mph on a run when I enquired about the vehicle. Certainly think It'll outrun my WWII diesel engined one. The original petrol was only good for 45mph, so anything remotely modern is bound to be an improvement performance wise.

Not that many about in this country that I'm aware of, certainly very few come up for sale. Army Cars Holland have a few lined up as spares vehicles I believe. I also know of another one that's possibly a spares repairs vehicle. Are you looking for a complete driving vehicle or a project? There's a couple advertised on Milweb also in Holland and also restoration projects. Holland seems to be the place to go to find one. I believe Mark Heliops also sourced his over there and shipped it back.

Thank goodness some loader drivers are more determined than others. Would've been a pity for it to sit there deteriorating further. Sounds like you've succumbed to temptation and been doing some work on it already, despite it being last in the queue?

I'm really surprised so much is remaining. Clearly visible on Google earth as well. It's a great wonder such large pieces of engineering managed to be constructed without enemy knowledge. All credit to the French for not removing these very important historical constructions even though they are not particularly aesthetically pleasing on an otherwise lovely beach.

That engine covering is translucent enough for us to get an idea of the colour. You're going to have to strip of that shrink wrap and reveal it sooner of later. You wouldn't want it sweating and going rusty under the cover. Fancy finishing off a Ward La France once you've done with the Pioneer? :whistle:

432's registered before the regs changed to 2.55m max are O.K. I think the only chance with the Kraz is to get it registered as Agricultural or Plant equipment but that comes with a lot of restrictions on use. If the back body was removable and the hiab left on it may pass as a crane and be exempt from width limit to an extent.

Makes a wonderful story! I did here whispers at weekend that the Lanc was grounded abroad, hence the reason it didn't make the flypast at Wheels and Wings. Hopefully it'll be back up and running soon and I'll see it at other events later in the year. Anyone know if it's one of the Merlins that failed or one of the copies?

And the CVRT is fit to use inside the LEZ? Pity it's not a 432 your running on a good oily mix to really make a mockery of the LEZ rules Hope those mechanical engineers calcs are correct for the ramps.

Looking good. I take it you'll be testing those ramps in private before risking a public humiliation if they're not quite upto the job. If you decide to change those lashing rings, see here http://albert-jagger.co.uk/Portals/0/006_a2_lashingring.pdf quite cheap too. Is that the elusive Too Tall Mike doing a bit of welding there?

I was thinking of paying a visit one day, don't know which yet. It'll be my first visit and I was hoping for a few more military vehicles than a "few post war", but don't mind seeing a few steamers and tractors either. Looking to fit in a day visit to East Lancs Railways 40's weekend as well and maybe a day on my truck if I've got time and permission from the missus.

Didn't appreciate the size of that winch bracket in the previous clean up photo's. Having now seen it resting on the forks I realise it's huge. I think you'll find the paint reaction on the engine block is ingrained oil. No matter how much you try and clean old castings there'll always be some oil in pores below the surface. A few coats of primer should effectively seal it and stop it showing through the top coat. The rate your going with this project you'll be looking for something else to do over next Christmas. P.S. Please leave some vehicles for the rest of us to restore.

That's in spite of fitting wider axles off a coiler as well eh! Should've had more fuel in that off side tank. :whistle:

very good find. Glad to see they keep turning up, and keep being saved. Keep us updated with progress on this and any other projects.

Looks like the vehicle has been posed there for a photo shoot. Much like outside modern Land Rover dealerships, only it's been there a lot longer. Plenty of rear suspension travel there!

Simon, I learnt from trying to film many aircraft last year that sometimes, it's best to forget it and just enjoy the show. Trying to follow a small object in the sky moving very fast and maintain focus is way too hard. Very nice militant by the way. Glad the heavy rain shower on Saturday didn't affect the road run.

Not confident of the rain resisting abilities of his tents ehh? Obviously built for use down South and not up to Northern weather conditions.

Nice truck. Not that many in civilian hands over here, most are still in service. a lot more modern than the earlier Bedfords. What they share with Bedfords is that they were a lot more common in civilan 2 wheel drive format, so lots of spares such as cab parts and service items should be easily obtainable. Gearbox and axles will also be a bought in items (not sure what) so not specific to Leyland Daf. In short don't go to main dealers for parts to be shipped over. I believe the Cummins engine is the same as used in the Dodge Ram diesel, so service parts shouldn't be too hard to come by although most Rams are probably petrol over there.

Fantastic piece of work. They've even put it back to delivery mileage for you, :-) Dare we ask how much? May need some Ward LaFrance instruments refurbed in the near future.

Not sure of the owner, but it was a very nice example. Even had the very straight engine side covers stored toward the rear. Engine looked to be an original Gardner 6Lw.

No sign of Jack and his tents either!

Some more photo's. The one disappointment was only one Merlin engine overhead and not the promised six, but still sounded great.

A few more.