Starfire

After reading the instructions, I am still no clearer on the process, nor what it is supposed to achieve.

If you do find them, give me a yell.

Very cool. I now want a vehicle mounted detector and a set of the infra red binoculars for the Saracen!

I've seen little to no in service pics with anything other than wheel nuts painted red and after going through Clive's excellent documentation on post war British paint regulations for vehicles, the only things that were really authorized were duck egg blue engines, silver engine bay and interior and green/camo exterior. Painting bits red seems to be more of a private owner thing, looking to make the vehicles more visually appealing, with things like tie down points, handles, hatch edges, etc. painted red, or another bright colour. I can't, however, offer much advice about a Canadian vehicle. Cheers, Terry

I'd say it's much more likely to have been taken by a collector.

This could be a fun topic

Is it a prototype for this?

Interesting. 17 digit VINs didn't come out until the 90s. I don't know about the UK, but in Australia, you can apply to allocate your own VIN to a vehicle, if one is not present, but in anything built before 1991? You don't need it. The new VIN must meet some formatting and uniqueness requirements and must be stamped into the vehicle. Cheers, Terry

I don't know about the Brit ones, but the Australian 25 pounders have very different rims. ~ The hub and rim in your original photo both appear to have markings on them which should help in identification. We moved an old Fordson 6x6 at the museum today, and it had similar wheels. Cheers, Terry

The down side of a sealant on a cork gasket is that you will absolutely tear it up when removing it again, which will require that the surfaces are cleaned and a new gasket installed next time. Some advocate coating only one side for this reason and some advocate no sealant. As designed, a cork gasket should seal with no assistance, as long as both surfaces are flat and clean and the bolts are appropriately torqued. At the end of the day, it's your call. Personally, I silicone the crap out of them Cheers, Terry

They look like they might be from a CMP to me, although I'm probably wrong

It never hurts to add a sealant, but I'd use a modern high-temp silicone gasket goo over the whole sealing face.

If you're going to make new lines, always replace hard lines with other hard lines. If you don't have the tools and experience to work with Bundy tubing and flare it out, a local mechanic should be able to copy your old lines surprisingly quickly and cheaply. Of course, check with the usual suppliers to see if you can get NOS first, and add in a universal plastic fuel filter or two. When adding an electric pump, make sure that it's self-priming, low pressure and can run on 24v. Cheers, Terry

None of the issues you've mentioned should prevent you from being able to register it now.

You can get a mild acid solution for cleaning out tanks and it works reasonably well, but you also really need an in-line fuel filter that you can clean or replace regularly, especially if the system was full of fuel that bad. We've had a hell of a time getting our Dingo to be somewhat reliable after cleaning it up. The strainer in the fuel pump and the flood bowl keep filling up with gunk, even after the system was cleaned and flushed. Cheers, Terry

Time to start work on the Mk 2...

According to Wikipedia, the M1008 uses a standard GM TH 400 transmission, so it should be relatively simple to diagnose and fairly cheap to repair. A sudden loss of fluid usually indicates a torn seal (has the vehicle been sitting for a fair while), a blown cooler line, or a cracked housing (he wasn't doing burnouts during the test drive, was he?) Can you top up the box and see where it's leaking from? Maybe take a photo or two and post them here. Cheers, Terry

Often, my response to problems with my Saracen is to want to set it on fire. Walking away for a bit usually lets that feeling pass As for your specific problems, I would suggest that you join a local military vehicle group, they're usually full of great people, who are happy to help, unless you want them to work on a Saracen. Cheers, Terry

LOL, but we were talking about Rolls Royce B series

The bolt just holds the jaw in place. All of the torque is applied to the two shoulders on the wrench at each side of the jaw. It does appear to use a vernier adjustment. Cheers, Terry

The pulled engines would rarely be duds, as stated, they could be, and were, removed for very minor issues that would normally be rectified in place on other vehicles, such as fuel pump, thermostat, carburetor or ignition issues. Hell, even to fix an oil leak. hat would then be sorted at a workshop and the engine would be sent out, in due time, to go into another vehicle...

Mine is 82 BA 88. I've not been able to determine the hull number and both escape hatches have different numbers on them. I still need to get the history cards for it. Cheers, Terry

I'd love to have the service history card for my Saracen.

I don't know of anyone that has a Mk 3 or 6 Saracen that has had the cooling system modified and doesn't have problems with it. In stick form, they all work great. My Mk 5 settles at about 170f and stays there all day. Cheers, Terry

How did you get on with this engine? Our museum may be getting its hands on a 4JU soon, which may need some attention.