doug fleet

that looks very nice

that looks very good condition for the amount of time its sat for . keep the photos coming as we all wont to know how you get on with it . its a great find well done.

this is coming along well looks rearly good

I got all the drivers side cleaned up and primed this weekend . sorted some steel out for the bits that need replaceing so things are moveing along well.

the last time I went past there place there was another matador there. which I am led to beleave is for the cab and other bits . I don't think they will scrap it as his granddad travelled with it on the fair .

while i was cleaning the inside of the n/s chassie rail at the front i found the number 16416. the first 1 might be a Y. i will paint it back on .. any idear what it stands for .

thank you

the first job of the day was to get the back of the cab primed . that done moved onto scrapping the years of mud and dried grease on the drivers side chassie rail up to the back of the cab. the dirt was almost 1/4 inch thick . now we have the army reg number is there anywhere I can go and find out where it served ??.

a bit more progress this week . had to take the back of the cab out as it bolts in to get to the back of the engine and the channel section that holds the body up.started to clean up the frame . found some badly rusted parts that need cutting out and renewing .

that all sounds and looks good .

this looks good . I will be following this blog. good luck. just one thing after 38 years we got my matador running and it wouldn't tick over, left for 6 years and it wont slow down , just wants to race so make sure you can stop it . good luck keep the photos comming

Wally we havent ruled out one day putting back as an acv in many years to come . when i brought it i was told if i didnt want it , it was going for scrap.i have done alot of work getting one of there old scammells back on the road a few years ago and the rest of the family would be very happy to see it back on the road as there late dad ran it .when it was converted they painted the inside of the cab and the out side . but the underneath was left in olive drab. so iam going to put it back like that complete with all the white patches on the diffs and all the numbers painted back in the same size and place.i will keep updating this blog if everone wants me too. doug

hi all the plot thickens on its army history. i know the showman i got it from siad his dad was the one who cut the back off . they got it and another one from a sale (he didnt know where he wasnt born). they sold one on almost straight away and cut this one down. it was converted in 1957_ 58 and used to pull there gallopers to fairs around the country.it was layed up about 1971 or 72 .and sat in there yard for about 38 years . it was offerd to me as spares for my matador timber tractor .i have owned it for about 6 years . thanks for all the imformation and help sorting its army history out.what ever it turns out to be it still wont be sold to anyone . i did find 1942 stamped on the front of the front near side spring today.there is a number writen on the inside of the near side chassie rail which i have taken down and left at the yard . kind regards doug.

wally you are the one who said the chassie number is in the batch of numbers that were deacons . . I don't know if dorchesters and deacons were made side by side . I no its a Dorchester.

some one put on here that the chassie number is in the same batch as the deacon ones and mine might be a deacon. so I said maybe it was made as a Dorchester rather than a deacon. all the armour plate is still down the sides and across the back . the frame over the back of the cab is the same shap as a Dorchester body and the imfo comfirms this . it was cut down by the showman who cut the back off to fit a 6lw gardener and gen set in it . the front of the cab was cut about as the windows were to small to see out of when driving it around the rides..

the first few photos shows the condition of whats left of the wireing.the top of the n/s wing has rusted badly and will have to be replaced so the cab frame will have to come off of the n/s so it can be replaced and riverted back in. some of the wood in the cab frame needs repaceing this side but most of it is good. drained all the oil out of the governor today and hardly any came out of the level plug . poked a screw driver in the adjusting hole and it all seems free so iam thinking theres nowhere near enough oil in it.here is the what we know about its history. the chassis was part of contract m11373 dated 31/1/42 it was built as part of contract T12700 for 210 armoured command vehicle bodies by the birtley co ltd. originally allocated the war department number F89127 this changed post war to the ministry of supply number 98 ZR 11. this vehicle was an ACV 4X4 LP. ,LP refers to the radio type fitted. it was transferred from 5A/C to 51A vehicle depot 28/7/49. it was struck off/sold to harford engineering co ltd, Norwich on 24/1/68. so I hope that is some help.

hiya Ian boss is going to sort that out and I will put it on here

everning also nick . so its a cold start thing the pull leaver is still on it aswell but not connected to anything . wonder if the engine has been changed at sometime ?. the engine colour is black in places but I cant tell if its gloss or matt. do you have any thoughts on that. all these odd bits that have been taken off will be going back on . thanks for taking the time with the imfo Doug .

everning wally. you seen to be full of imfomation . thanks very much for shareing it . I was wondering weather the chassie was made for a deacon and ended up with a Dorchester body instead for what ever reason . after xmass I will get in touch with the tank museum and see what comes up.do you know weather there are any deacons left anywhere ??. goes with out saying if I find anything out I will let you know. thanks very much Doug. sorry cant spell very well.

hiya glad to hear there is another matador be restored . you need to do a blog and we need photos of how its coming on . iam doing a 1943 one .have a look at the blog. good luck .