Stormin

My first thought would be a dodgy earth lead. First flick of the switch causes no action from starter due to high resistance. Second flick overcomes resistance due to heat build up at point of highest resistance improving the connection. I would take all leads off, not just check they are tight, clean up the contact areas, smear with copper grease or vaseline and re-connect. You know the vehicle will ultimately let you down at the most inopportune moment. On my Ward La France the earth lead runs directly from the battery to one of the starter mounting bolts. Non of this earthing through the chassis or body first then a separate lead to somewhere on the engine. In my opinion the less convoluted the path and least connections for the electrons to get round the better. Don't overlook the possibility that the leads themselves may have broken down internally due to age and corrosion. Test the resistance from one end to the other with a multimeter.

No you didn't. Most people who had "old bangers" to scrap didn't have several grand lying around to splash on a new car so most of it's finance. That's the other way car dealers like to make money by commission on finance deals. A lot of the deals on new cars will also be the ones that tie you into to selling it back to the dealer in x years time as trade against yet another new car, so they're trying to keep you coming back to spend more in a short time.

There's a bank holiday not far away I believe. Hope your not requiring good weather though!

But it's not really is it? If you underneath it's actually a Ford Mondeo! If you buy a diesel one you can look forward to replacing expensive injectors at regular intervals.

When I read those words "Trial Run" I thought you meant you had the engine started. Am I the only one waiting in great anticipation for this major event. The event will have to be captured on film of course. Wouldn't one or two "dinks" inevitably be aquired during service or routine maintenance from the odd errant spanner?

They're a big lump to store for a few useful parts. Not sure many people will be doing it. The danger is that a lot go to scrap and spares become more scarce.

I'll remember to ask for a ride next year! Unless by some miracle I have one of my vehicles there.

Sorry I didn't get anymore footage.

I assume you mean the MOD being short of funds rather than Whitham's in financial difficulties?

Looks like it was originally based on a Stage one V8 given the front grill and the gear shift. Notice there's air assistance on the rear leaf springs. Was this a test bed before they fitted air to the Range Rover. :rotfl:

Thanks Chris. Seem like a good buy at that, just wish I had a bit more room. I see there are plenty (8) available in the upcoming tender, so no shortage of supply to drive up prices yet.

I'm surprised if they're getting much more than £2200 for them scrap unless the armour plate is regarded as special i.e. not iron. (I know they're not Aluminium this time I've checked). If not why aren't the reserves set lower? Sure there would be more buyers for them at £2500 or don't they want to upset the current owners too much. Did you eventually scrap you CET or did it sell?

Absolutley! They are doing it on purpose. The pressure to produce cars at low cost due to competition means there's little money to be made on selling them. The real money comes from servicing and parts cost.

A short video of part of the Convoy as it made it's way through Uppermill. Something went wrong...

Nearly got run over with one reversing off a drive the other day. I was walking along the pavement and hadn't heard it as no engine running, and the old duffer driving hadn't seen me.

The trouble with the car type 4x4's and softroaders is the tyres are really only road type tread so a bit of snow will easily defeat them. No substitue for proper four wheel drive with chunky tyres in the snow, especially seeing as chains are illegal in this country. The other solution is to have two sets of tyres for your car but it's still easy to get caught out and it's a hassle changing them on a cold dark winters evening. If I was you I'd continue phoning in and avoid all risk from other numpties on the road.

The Citroen truck was in absolutely mint condition. Probably looks better than when it came out of the show room. Sounded nice and quiet when it drove away too. Someones done a fantastic job on it. There were a couple of nice Citroen Traction Avant cars next to it as well, not sure if they were same owner. Didn't get any photo's myself unfortunately had my hands full with my two children.

Thanks Supertrack. Looks like I've a few less holes in my floor. Presumably down to it being GMC again. The most worrying one now is that I don't have the large hole were I've now discovered a battery tray drops in to set the battery below floor level. I'm now part way through making new seat box/risers and not entirely sure they're tall enough to clear my battery if it sits on a flat floor.

It was a great event, enhanced today by unusual Oldham weather. Sun being out meant it wasn't too muddy on the fields either. A few more traders stalls than last year too. There looked to be more vehicles in the convoy through Uppermill than there were on display on the Churchill playing fields. Best of all it was free to enter as a spectator. Hope it's on again next year when I've half a chance of getting a vehicle along as it's the nearest event to me all year.

You should be able to get an MJ with crane for a good bit less than £5.5K from tender sales at Witham's just make sure you go and view first.

Thanks Mark! That more or less confirms my assumptions. One lever pivoted under floor and one above. Do the brackets then sit directly above each other, sandwiching the floor plate. Don't suppose you have a picture showing the slots in the floor from above. My floor panel only has one large slot but I suspect it is a GMC CCKW floor panel meant for a single winch lever. My seat riser also has no slot in it.

Have you considered modernising the braking system on the WOT to full air or air over hydraulic from another truck, to make it more usable. Another later model Ford may be favourite for a donor as it'll likely have similar axles. Not sure you'd get the weight capacity you need out of the WOT or towing a trailer (which could then be air braked) but it would at least be better for general usage.

If only they were all that easy to restore. :rotfl:

Did you try laying a piece of sheet steel between the former and the bar, bending it round along with the bar? The cold sheet metal should have protected the wooden former, if the bending operation was done quickly enough that it didn't heat up itself. It will use a few pieces of sheet if you can't re-use them on subsequent bends but probably cheaper in steel than making a former specifically for those few radius bends.

Thanks Mark. I thought just mounting them to the floor would be too weak and some sort of bracket or stiffener must be involved.