Lauren Child

Is there any power to anything? I'd start tracing the cabling back and find out where it's disconnected.

Welcome aboard Bambi

Thanks for posting this and the other (fire) one Paul. It's useful to have a heads up on what to do, although we do have the luxury of more time. I'd imagine for most of us the best bet would be to leave people in place unless they absolutely need to be moved.

What? I'd have thought you could easily park a Gaz 69 on the back of that truck. Wasted space.....

LOL - that rocks absolutely (and that's not just the suspension )

Heya Paul, I missed your intro post the first time around - sorry! It's a Jagdpanther - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdpanther

Shall we make Chocolate Hob-nobs compulsory instead?

They look like a good bunch http://www.cottonbalers.com/photo_albums/ww2/ww2_001.asp

Nice one - 12V makes it easier

I think the circle just makes it more visible for aircraft that are further away. EDIT: Sorry I completely mis-read the post there - as Hanno has said down below, not much difference between them The dashes are just where the stencil was held.

The invasion star that is visible from the air has a ring around it (bonnet or roof). All other stars should be normal, though if it's a Canadian vehicle it gets put on skewed with single point to the side instead of upwards. There are exceptions of course There are quite a of 101st Airborne marked vehicles out there with the success of the television programmes. If you want to stand out from the crowd you might want to look at some of the other units.

Found Intoxicated, Apprehending Threads ?

Glad to hear you say that - safety first at all times as these can be dangerous machines to work on (especially when you go up to the big stuff). If you are concerned about fire then I'm guessing there are fuel issues. Remember that petrol (gasoline) vapour sinks downwards as it's heavier than air. In an amphibious vehicle or tank hull it can fill up - make sure you have plenty of ventillation and the right sort of fire extinguisher on hand just in case (water and petrol is a bad mix in a fire, so get one that works on burning fuel). Fuel vapour can also be very poisonous if you breath it in climbing down into a sealed hull. If it's electrical issues that are of concern for fire, then keep in mind that if you are on old style 6 volt electrics you need the cable to be about twice as thick as the normal ones used on 12 volt cars to do the same thing (and that's before you take into account that it's a bigger and beefier beastie than your everyday car). Welder cable works well for the battery/starter connections, but look at the amp ratings and ask for help if you're not sure. If you are looking at learning mechanics then it can be worth picking up wartime books on it. They were written for people who'd never had experience of anything mechanical and had been drafted, and some of the terminology can be different for the military. I picked up a modern book when I was learning, but it had a lot to do with modern cars that just didn't really apply. I picked up the "Manual of Driving and Maintenance for Mechanical Vehicles (Wheeled) 1937" and the "Manual of Driving and Maintenance for Mechanical Vehicles (Tracked) 1939". They're both British ones. Some of the terms will be different again :banghead: and they're a bit of a dry read :noyay: , but they do cover a lot. The Tracked one assumes you've read the Wheeled one already.... I've not come across many mechanical books that cover the tracked vehicles. There's a later version as well but I can't remember what it was called (remember a lot changed during the war so these are a bit of a snapshot, but it's a good start)

Rubber tracks would probably make for a better ride on-road, and less likely to tear up the grass lawn if that's where you're driving around. I read somewhere about the friction from the rubber tracks impacting on the speed though, so it may be worth doing some research. I'd have a natter with some other Weasel owners before spending the pennies either way.

Nice one - we need more tank girls - maybe we should start that pink corner after all I've had a soft spot for the weasel - it looks great fun. Much better than a boat!

I was just thinking how far the heath and safety stuff has got involved these days. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but remembering having a go on those you can see the pylon in the background that we did a circuit around before heading back, and the wooden crate under the barrell of the Abbott which your team mates sat on while you bumped and bounded around the field. Not sure you'd get away with that these days, but it made for some interesting times.

Ah OK - I've not seen that before - thanks for the heads up! I'll look for that in the future That makes sense with the NBC stuff. Is the glacis hole thing a good way of differentiating T54 from T55? I'm wondering if I was seeing things on the video (possibly a bit of muck) or if it's a misunderstanding and it's present on some versions of both. Looking at the shadow I thought was a hole with fresh eyes it could be a bit of muck and it's a bit far up.

Very cool - what license do you need to drive these? Is it an H for skid steering or can you drive on a car license as there are no tracks to be steered by? Looks like an ideal vehicle for popping to Tesco's

I think I can just make out a hole under the bullet shield on the glacis plate, which would make it a T54?

I suspect I'll be at the Peterborough one with Dolly (the F22), but at the moment *every* time I plan on an event something happens... :banghead: Sheringham's not that far away though - I'm sure I'll get over that way at some stage. I may have to get a pair of those dungarees now

Wow - that looks like the place where I got my first taste of military vehicles! They did corporate driving days. I've no idea where it was as we were all bussed there from Ipswich. I absolutely fell for the Abbott gun carrier - vivid memories of hurtling off at some rate of knots while the chap yelled "yeeeehah this girl can drive a tank" having been very (and vocally) frustrated about a bunch of my colleagues going too slowly and then having trouble steering with not enough power applied. It was the first vehicle I'd ever really driven, and was way before I got car driving lessons. Start as you mean to go on, I've always said

ah yes - that'll be it. I've come across my fair share of batty reasoning, but in this case it might be for a few reasons. It's a hell of a lump to move in and out and you run the risk of damaging things when you do so (after several years spent on the vehicle, that's a bit of a worry). Similarly, especially when there are 5 or 6 restorations going on at once with 20-30 part time volunteers at any one time, things can easily get mixed up and misplaced. The kit is generally safer when it stays in/on the vehicle. It takes a *lot* of sorting out if somebody picks something up and mistakes what vehicle it was from. There's also a common sense element of don't play with something bleedin heavy unless you absolutely have to. Most of us spend a lot of time working on vehicles with tight access, and while it's not ideal it is often the best way of doing it safely for both the individual and the piece of kit. If you'd absolutely had to take it out again, I'm sure they'd have let you.

Wow, Helicopters and steam! Now I'm jealous I have to admit it was probably my brother's love of steam trains that got me interested in engineering - while he was running around the trains themselves I headed back into the sheds to see how they worked and got put together. My babies are a Ford FGT F22 ( http://www.geocities.ws/cmpvehicles/f22.html ) which is from the same family as your pink and green favourite there, and a Fordson WOT2H ( ), but I also volunteer in the MV wing at Duxford playing on the big stuff when I get the chance.

Ello Stranger.... Nice to see another of the gang on here! It looks so clean and roomy in there with just the engine! Compare and contrast with this old photo of the rear end of the other Cent in an almost complete state. It's so crammed in you have to lay across the top to access all of the hoses and connections.

Wow it looks like you had a great day there! So can we tempt any of you to start getting into vehicles? Once you pick up that spanner or climb on something big and tracked it becomes addictive! Just look at Tank Girl -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Girl_(film) We definitely need more girls into the hobby.