Starfire

It looks like quite a nice truck. As has been stated before, being your truck, what you do with it is up to you, but I think it would be a shame to heavily modify it and if it were mine, I would simply restore it to its original glory. Cheers, Terry

Hi, I now own one of the Hong Kong Saracens, located in Adelaide, South Australia. You don't happen to have any photos from back then do you? Cheers, Terry

I have no idea what it is. It looked too long to me too. That projectile was bloody heavy. Cheers, Terry

It's safe enough to do that way, but they aren't too hard to swap over. According to the manual, you should be checking/topping them up monthly, so I assume you have the equipment already (I must admit that I don't yet, but its on my list of things to do in the near future). Don't forget, the Saracen brakes do not have a positive failure mode like an air brake - if your engine stops or the belt to the pump lets go and you do not have functioning accumulators, you will have massively heavy steering and no brakes. It warrants to maintain them thoroughly. Cheers, Terry

I'm still waiting on a list of measurements that you want. Today I went to the museum to help in filming an interview for the nightly news, and while we were waiting for the reporter, I went into one of the storerooms I've never been in before and found this: It too is awaiting wheels and other fittings. Cheers, Terry

They're fine, as long as you take some care and drop the pressure off before removing them; with the engine off, work the steering and brakes until nothing is coming out of the return pipe into the tank and then bleed off the air from the Schrader valves on the pistons and unbolt them. If you need to replace any of the lines, ensure that you get proper hydraulic pipes made up that are rated to at least 1500 PSI. Cheers, Terry

Most Saracens run piston type accumulators, and after 60 odd years, they probably need some new seals. Mine hold gas, but not too well... Some of the really early ones (first hundred or so) had bag type accumulators, but they worked out that they were crap and got rid of them pretty quickly. Cheers, Terry

The Saracen accumulators only operate at up to 90 bar or so, but you still need to be very careful as that is certainly a dangerous amount of pressure. If it is leaking only when the engine is running, it is likely that your accumulators are also shagged and not holding any pressure; with the engine off, do you have power assist on the steering and brakes? Cheers, Terry

They look really good in the Berlin Brigade urban camo scheme. Hell, I'm tempted to paint my Saracen in it, even though they missed out by a couple of years... Cheers, Terry

Wow, that was quick! Looking good so far. Cheers, Terry

I duunno, it looks to me like they are staring at Godzilla in the distance... Cheers, Terry

Sweaty balls is a very common problem in any form of vehicle, here in Australia, on a hot day. For that reason, leather seats aren't very popular here and getting burned by hot leather and/or a red hot seatbelt clip is something every Australian is familiar with. Hot steering wheels and gear shifters are another problem entirely and it is not unheard of to remove your socks and place them over your hands, as field expedient gloves, when the temperature is right up there. On the up side, armoured vehicles don't tend to have direct sunlight on the seats and therefore are a little more humane in some ways than their civilian counterparts. I think the British solution to the Abbot problem was to pack them back onto their transport ships and take them back to England, where they never encountered sunlight or a hot day ever again As an aside, the Saracen was out of service in Australia by the late 60s, having been replaced with the M113 after a fairly short service life (my Saracen, on the other hand, was in service with the British Army from 1953 to 1993, giving it a 40 year service life). Cheers, Terry

Thanks Clive, I assume that the attachment indicates that I should be getting power from the Battens Terminal marked with an "X", in which case, that's exactly where I got it. Cheers, Terry

I've managed to find some documentation on Clansman cable assemblies, which showed that I had been supplied the incorrect Accessory Sets for the harness cables. The vendor, PTS Norfolk (http://www.ptsnorfolk.co.uk/), was great and sent me the correct ones. The cable I have is Cable, Electrical, Sub-Miniature 7-2-12c (6145-99-110-8634). Connector, pattern 104, double density, 12-contacts, angled [TABLE=class: grid, width: 700] [TR] [TD]Description [/TD] [TD]QTY [/TD] [TD]VRN [/TD] [TD]NATO STOCK NUMBER [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]SHELL, MALE, FREE, SIZE 2, ORIENTATION 3 [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-940-8825 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]ACCESSORY SET [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-014-9237 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] COMPRISING [/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] BUSHING RUBBER [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-647-3001 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] SHEILD, ELECTRICAL [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-014-2973 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] SLEEVE, IDENTIFICATION [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-097-0114 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] RING, ELECTRICAL BONDING [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-014-2939 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] BUSHING, RUBBER [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z1 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-097-0108 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] PACKING PIECE [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Z32 [/TD] [TD]5935-99-014-9229 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] NUT, BUSHING RETAINER [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]RAF 10AC [/TD] [TD]5935-99-014-2968 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]RETAINER, ELECTRICAL SHIELD [/TD] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]RAF 10AS [/TD] [TD]5935-99-013-9163 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Connector, pattern 104, double density, 12-contacts, angled, rear view [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500] [TR] [TD]Pin [/TD] [TD]Wire Colour [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]A [/TD] [TD]BROWN [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]B [/TD] [TD]VIOLET [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]C [/TD] [TD]GREY [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]D [/TD] [TD]YELLOW [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]E [/TD] [TD]WHITE [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]H [/TD] [TD]ORANGE [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]K [/TD] [TD]TURQUOISE [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]L [/TD] [TD]PINK [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]M [/TD] [TD]BLUE [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]O [/TD] [TD]BLACK [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]P [/TD] [TD]GREEN [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]S [/TD] [TD]RED [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I managed to jack a 24V power supply from the back of the black distribution panel and run that to the 3-way Clansman power distribution box. Now I just have to find someone to do the soldering for me, as it turns out that I'm not as good at soldering dense connectors as I thought I was Getting closer. Cheers, Terry

Much Google searching leads me to believe that it's a SIBMAS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIBMAS Cheers, Terry

What kind of vehicle is that? It's very unusual and Looong. Cheers, Terry

I'm a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Society of South Australia, the club that runs the museum, and I also manage their website. Lately it seems that I'm always there, but it varies depending on my work schedule. Cheers, Terry

I read my last post again, and it sounds a bit aggressive. Apologies if you take it that way - it's not intended. I'm happy to take as many measurements as you need but I really don't know what would be of benefit to you, other than basic dimensions. If it'll really help, I can get a new battery for my digital calliper and measure things like rivet diameter and height and metal thickness as well. Happy to take detail photos of anything that you need also. Cheers, Terry

I've never made a replica anything, so I don't know what dimensions are critical to you. List out what you want and I'll get those and only those (it can be 2 measurements or 200, but if you don't tell me what you want, I won't get it). Cheers, Terry

Sure I can. I'll be going back to the museum on Sunday (I took my Saracen up there for a recent open day and have to do some work on it before I can collect it again) and can take a notepad and tape measure with me. Please post up what dimensions you would like and I'll note them down. Cheers, Terry

I really like it, keep up the good work! Cheers, Terry

Actually, reading through the thread again, the 4 rows, double doors and (missing) wooden draw bar make it an ammunition limber, which (had I read it more carefully) is what is stated on the sign taped to the lower door Cheers, Terry

There is an 18 pounder limber at the National Military Vehicle Museum in Adelaide, South Australia. I'm not sure which variant it is, but it appears to be in very good condition. It currently doesn't have any wheels, but they have just received a grant in order to have some manufactured by a wheel wright. Cheers, Terry

Richard is right, skimming the head would be easier, or you could build up the combustion chambers with welding, if you have an iron head (alloy can be done too, but is harder). I still want to turbo or supercharge one Cheers, Terry

Compression ratio is defined more by the shape of the combustion chamber and the piston's profile/pin height than its diameter and ring fitment. The main reason that the B series has such a low compression ratio is to allow for the use of very poor quality fuel before pinging was an issue. If you stick to modern fuels, you could up the ratio a bit without any problems, the easiest way of doing this would be to shave the block a little, or use a thinner head gasket. Because of the side exhaust valves, you won't be able to take it too far though. Of course, if you're not too interested in authenticity, the B80 is a big, strong, slow revving engine with a low compression ratio - which makes it perfect for forced induction. A medium sized turbo (in the GT-30 to GT-35 range), running around 10 PSI of boost would be awesome on one. Fuel injection would make it really come alive. Cheers, Terry