doug fleet

had a go.od weekend on the matador .got all the front off as some of the cab wood needs replaceing we also got the floor out so we can get to the chassie . theres some kind of a pump thing on the side of the drivers seat. does anyone know what it is for as its not connected to anything.

this was todays work. i supose the regulater thing is because it was a radio wagon

well we got it running again after a 6 year lay up. got the windscreens out and the roof off as we need to replace the timber across ethe front at the top. when it was running it started to speed up so turned the 24 volt fuel pump off and folded the pipe over and it stopped. after found the hand throttle was pulled on a bit so hopping it was that.on the wooden roof under the steel sheet was paper dated feb 1958 .photos to follow in a bit

preslands old matador is unrestored but still about . Timsteam man has got it .. its on the restoration blogs .

just a quick update on things. sorted out a temporary fuel supply as the fuel tank has 3 holes in it . checked and topped up the injector pump and governor with oil . also found a good starter motor as it was missing .just got to temporary wire that in and we should be able to run it and drive it out the shed to start on the dirty jobs. . the primer and olive drab paint have turned up for all the underside and the last innertube has arrived so we can get the last wheel finished . the engine was painted black so i take it that would be matt black and not gloss. .

the best person to ask about mj and for all the spare parts your ever going to need is dave crouch of crouch recovery in letterworth. he deals in these lorrys and is very helpfull. he helped me no end with stuff when i had my mk

hiya i see you have a brass aec badge on you rad.thats only the second one i have seen as my timber tractor has one .do you know weather the painted ones are brass underneath??

thank you black it is then . i suppose it would be matt black aswell

thank you very much for the imfomation. i would love to know where it served and for who how would i find stuff like that out .have you got any idear why the engine would be black and not the mint green ?

Ian l it could be the same company . thats all i know about my green one . the guys grandson got in touch on the matador gallery but only chatted on here . its about page 81 i think.his name was duncun some thing. the green one was dark blue and had a differnt back end .

right then i had to cut a body stay in half to get to the chassie number , which is the same as the one on the engine cover . 0583 4385 . there is no brass workshop plate fitted ( or we havent found it yet). the engine number is A 173SD190. on the engine sump is WO 35/ 37. on the front axle there is a white patch painted on the front of it . i cant make out what the numbers were. on the back axle but the front of it is punched pat 117777 , then underneath is 1918 F2N then underneath is F10150 , 101 then in a triangle is 19. on the back of the back axle is 7.9 punched in to it at the top . could this be the axle ratio ??? there is a white patch painted on it aswell but cant quiet see what the letters are .we got a tempary fuel supple igged up so i can drive it out when iam down there on me own .at the moment i tow it out with the landrover while my 15 year old son steers it .the wife will put some photos on in a bit. sorry cant spell very well.

everning fellors. what colour is the engine suposed to be . we have sorted the olive drab paint out for the underneath but i dont know what colour the engine is suposed to be. i thought it was a mint green but the engine looks grey . thanks for the help.

hiya matman thanks for the photos . with the help of you guys i feel like we will find out some of its history and what the numbers are or were. there is olive drab paint in places under neath so iam going to put all the numbers and olive drab back on it . i will keep the photos comming as we get on .

i will be back over there this weekend and will write down some numbers and where they are to see if they match any other matadors

i am led to beleave its 1943 . i will get the body stay cut off that goes over the chassie number and get a photo and stick it on here and someone might be able to give me a yes or no as to its year

hiya all the brakes are full air . the cab as far as i know looks original ,just has the armour cut off. the windscreens are caravan windows as the armour ones are far to small to see through when driving and towing 2 trailers.they were never fitted with a winch either . it does run and drive and the brakes start to work but the drain plug in the air bottle is missing . . hopping to get back on it next weekend as work got in the way last weekend. when i had a quick look the other night the steam cleaning has uncoverd some numbers writen on the chassie rail and engine sump. thanks for all the kind coments as i thought i would get dragged around a field for putting it on here.

the green one is 1944 . converted to timber tractor and worked for station road saw mills in oxford.i have owned it for 14 years .the showmans one is 1943 armour plated ( as most of you know). theres an angle brace that goes right across the chassie number ,so iam going to cut it out take the number and weld it back in. the intresting thing is the fuel tank, air bottleare on the opposite sides to a standerd matador. why i dont know. i read that about 475 were made and we can acount for about 10 in the world that we know about. but there must be more around .it was purchased by the downs family in the 1950s and converted to pull there gallopers around which they still travel .it sat in there yard for about 38 years and was offerd to me or it was going for scrap they said. i have had it about 5 years now . it runs and drives . on the engine there is a patch on no 5 cylinder where i think a big end let go. we are restoring it back as it was on the fair because it has spent most of its life like that .we steam cleaned it last week end ready to make a start . we have already changed the tyres . all the underneath is painted in olive drab which iam going to put back on it ..

the wife is going to sort the photos out in a minute. rob i had a good look at your millitant at long melford rally this year .

iam very pleased and suprised by both comments . so will sort 2 or 3 photos as a before and keep you all updated.

How does everyone feel about a restoration blog of a matador thats being restored as it was on the fair ground . would it ok on here or is it a no no. thanks Doug

Hi i dont know the owner very well , but i would be very suprised if they scraped it . next time i see him i will ask him if any thing is happening on it .

hi nick please do a restoration blog on the matador , would be good to see how your getting on. they are a great lorry and we have a lot of fun out of our timber tractor.

hi i have a armed matador . i think just under 500 were made and have only seen 3 that still look as they should. mine was converted to showmans , so had a lot of the armer cut off but its been saved . its unrestored but runs and drives.