croc

Last time I checked both beams are turning on the bushes, the bushes being stuck on the axle. I would go along with waiting till they have got more movement before trying to remove the beams.

One of the beams on mine was a right bugger to get moving, in the end I set up an oil feed to the beam. I can't remember if I put the details in my blog or the fixes thread.

Welcome to the forum. I don't have a problem with it, and, as it is not one of the "Measham" batch it looks remarkably good. Well done for keeping it going. Are you coming to the Gipsy Club rally near Halifax next weekend? Remember, Jeeps and Landrovers are common as muck, a Gipsy is something special.

Once the RL was home first job was to get it moving under its' own power. A couple of bits, the coil and an elbow on the exhaust manifold, were missing. I have all the lights and chrome trim safe in a box and managed to find the elbow, although it is damaged, but no coil. Adam came round and donated a spare pig coil then cleaned up the ignition system and with the exhaust bolted together we gave it a go. The fuel pump wasn't drawing so I set up an electric one to get petrol into the carb. It fired up quite easily and once running the mechanical pump started working. With the engine running and warmed up the next problem was a stuck clutch, this was dealt with a couple of days later with a bit of gentle off-roading and some deliberate "kangarooing" in low box. None of that was very photogenic so I took the RL for a drive earlier this evening to get some pics.

Could this number I found, under several layers of paint on my Explorer, be a census code then?

Hi Colin, good to see that you have made it here.

watching the chaos of people trying to leave GDSF if one of the highlights of the show. last year loads of people made the effort to leave on the Saturday morning, before it stopped raining, just to provide this display.....

At the Measham "Gipsy Sale" in 1997 there was also a Bedford RL, a friend of mine, Dick, decided not to buy a Gipsy as the prices were over inflated by a number of dealers (who ultimately got their fingers burnt). As Dick was already running RLs as part of his business he bought this one, intending to add it to his fleet. Work had started on getting it ready for a respray when he was taken ill and he was no longer able to make use of his toys. Some time ago he asked me to help find a good home for his Austin Gipsy, which went to Adam Elsdon. He subsequently asked if I would like this lorry. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will get a chance to go and visit him, with both the Gipsy and RL back on the road. First picture for the blog is the RL at the Measham sale in '97, as far as I know this was the last RL (other than Green Goddesses) to be released from the Home Office. It is pictured in "The Green Machine" book p.xlviii. As it was in Dicks' yard in Dundee a few months ago. Almost home behind the Scammell.

The last thing I did with the Scammell was shunt some stuff about as part of a deal that got my new toy home. CVRTs are a right bugger to move without their tracks. The new Bedford came the last few miles hanging on the Scammell. I suppose a Bedford Blog is now in order, that will give me two threads that I don't update as often as I should...:coffee:

I keep getting asked when do I expect to finish my Explorer, I usually laugh and tell them something that size is never "finished"

I had assumed that you were doing it in a post-war scheme for a reason, it will make it stand out from all the WW2 stuff. I am looking forward to seeing the finished article, keep up the good work :thumbsup:

The quiksteel stuff will set underwater. I have used it to repair holes in fuel tanks that are dripping by using a small blob to plug the hole then clean/degrease and make a bigger patch over the top. I recomended it to Adam a couple of weeks ago for fixing a leaking diff on his Pig, worked no bother.

This stuff is pretty good Clive. http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?secpath=01.06.&pgid=6

We should make more of the 200th annivesary of kicking that little toad Napoleon from Portugal to Waterloo. That could keep us going over the next few years.

Next time we go camping the oven and microwave can get thrown in:-D

Last weekend was the show at BA Stores, it peed down all day on Saturday but the sun came out and we had a much better day on Sunday. I did manage to get the Explorer stuck in the off road area as it was still pretty soft from all the rain, with Peter Thompsons' Martian as an anchor I winched myself out no bother. (I didn't get any pictures but I noticed a few people taking them, hopefully someone will post some) Doug Matheson had been persuaded to take a Ferret for the weekend but it developed a running fault on the way and kept cutting out, so it ended up hanging on the hook to get there and back. convoy home. Scammell and Ferret, Adams' Pig and trailer, Stuart Lees' Dodge and trailer. Ferret on the hook.

The week before the wedding the front head gasket let go, I managed to limp it down to the church and back but it was in need of changing. It was an absolute b*s*a*d to get off, I think it had been blowing internaly for a while, as one of the studs was carboned up. The guy I bought it from told me not to overfill the water as it would blow out when it got hot, I never had much of a problem with water loss but I suspect this was related. I got it back together in time for the kids "ride-on" day at the start of May and it is behaving much better with the head done. In the process of doing the head and the inevitable climbing on and of the wing some writing started to reveal itself, with a bit of extra cleaning up we found this... scammel 10 ton tractor is clear enough but what is the rest?

I bought a needle scaler and made a start on the chassis... and fitted the panels...

back to more important stuff, as my brother was up for the week he kindly painted up some panels for the Scammell.

We got some nice presents...

Time for an update... Hi Ian, I don't think I will get the Scammell down to Dorset, it's a bl**dy long way and there is the Milly to drive down there already. First up some more pictures from the wedding. honest, it was a wedding not a rally... we did get some with us in.... Best man (Adam Elsdon) carves the boar Bride and Groom cut the cake... who says you can't have boilersuits at a wedding:-D

Yes they are, ERL is still looking good 10 years since Mike restored it. 244DYE is still in working order but is due for some tlc.

I am more interested in seeing things used, who can say what is "correct" for any vehicle. Ultimately it is up to the owner to paint it how they like, even if it is a "D-Day Hotchkiss". Is it correct to depict a Pioneer as a WW2 wrecker if it spent the vast majority of its working life as a civvy wrecker? As for Army Gipsys, there were 15 short and 5 long wheelbase. I know of one of each complete and one swb chassis with a normal body. LWB SWB standard body on army chassis

Yes it is an AFS reg. The Army ones are much rarer beast and have quite a few differences. I had assumed that it was one of the 1997 Measham sale batch but this is not the case. The chassis no. should be 16228 according to "The Green Machine" this was sold to a 'P Warner' prior to 1995 and the Gipsy Register chassis list has it owned by 'A Leyland'. It looks very tidy though. This years Gipsy Owners Club rally is in Halifax at the end of June. If anyone is interested give me a shout for details.

Hi Duncan, good to see you back. I met one of your uni mates at the weekend, he said you had something new and large in the pipeline, but I will keep it to myself so the others can play guessing games...