Starfire

They run a B81 don't they? My B80 was behaving badly at idle and only running with the choke on or revs above 800 or so; turned out that a barb had broken off of the vacuum tank and there was a significant leak as a result. A bolt in the end of the hose and a hose clamp later, it's running like a new one They can also be pretty sensitive to fouled plugs and, if you haven't already, invest in a Jolley Engineering electronic breaker set. Cheers, Terry

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. From what I understand, the fact that mine has an electronic breaker fitted should reduce the noise considerably; for the initial intercom installation a bit of noise won't be too much of a problem anyway and I guess we'll see how it goes when and if I fit some radios. From what I can see with the harness connectors, I have been supplied the wrong type of fitment ends and it should have come with hollow rubber bungs and not the ones provided. I'll hassle the vendor to see if he can provide the correct items, or modify the rubbers myself to suit. Does anyone have some Larkspur fitment EMERs available for the Saracen so that I can have a look at where they fitted the various boxes? I guess that's not too critical though, as the Larkspur setup was much more radio centric, while Clansman seems to move a lot of functionality out to the harness. In my design, I had planned for the IB2 to be largely set and forget, but according to the brief manual I read last night, it appears that an operator needs to have a headset plugged into it when it is being used for rebroadcast? Maybe I read it wrong... Cheers, Terry

The value of the vehicle is directly related to its condition, but if it was in excellent shape you could probably expect $20-30,000; maybe more if the right buyer came along. For something needing a lot of work or a full restoration you could probably half that. Cheers, Terry

I always give them a good clean and then load them up with a modern lithium based grease. Seems to work a treat. Cheers, Terry

I must admit that I'm still flying blind somewhat but figure that the worst that can happen is a major electrical fire It ended up being easier to get the ANR equipment, most of which had been checked and repackaged in 1999. What I need to do now is start mounting all of the boxes (thankfully, they seem to use a common mounting spacing with the Larkspur gear, so it shouldn't require much more than purchasing some studs, nuts and bolts of the appropriate sizes and bolting them in). The tricky part is going to be that I was supplied with a spool of cable and some ends to manufacture up the harness and power cables but was not provided with any pin-out diagrams or instructions. The harness connectors have all been supplied with right angled connectors, which can be mounted at 8 different angles relative to the plug and appear to be pre-tinned solder plugs. The rubber bungs are a bit strange though, as the smaller one is blanked for two holes, but only one is open while the longer one has two blind holes. Am I supposed to slit or cut them open or have I been given the wrong parts? I think that the parts should be installed as laid out in the picture, but I'm not sure. Some documentation would be a real help. The power cable appears to be much the same, but I was provided with a length of 3 core cable and the connector only appears to have two solder lands. Again I have encountered blind holes in the rubber bung. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Terry

Very nice. Is the crane operational? Does it need any major work? I've always been a fan of engineering vehicles, they're the unsung heroes of the battlefield. Cheers, Terry

Thanks Andy, That's a very tidy looking Abbot that you have there Cheers, Terry

I have the hose too, just not in the photos. Cheers, Terry

I picked up this rather cool folding funnel. It is quite large and heavy and is capable of holding two inverted fuel cans while open. Unlike most British equipment, most parts do not seem to have any markings on them and the only one that I can find is FV831194. The guy that I bought it from thinks that it may have been part of the Centurion CES, but isn't sure. Is anyone able to confirm this? It's a little too wide to work well with my Saracen, but it's in good condition and I quite like it for the novelty value. Cheers, Terry

It is indeed very unfortunate, but at least there wasn't a boiler explosion, no-one was hurt and it can be repaired. Cheers, Terry

I've never seen a reference to any post Mk 6. I'm keen to see what you manage to turn up. Cheers, Terry

I'd suggest two options: If you've got your heart set on a GPW, just buy one. Getting what you really want can be very cathartic and you can either learn the mechanical side of things (stuff like an old Jeep can be a bit finicky, but they are mechanically very simple and are relatively easy to work on); or you can pay someone else to maintain it. Get something like a Land Rover. They're cheap, plentiful, relatively easy to work on and they're a very good car. Cheers, Terry

They look magnificent. Nicely done. Cheers, Terry

Good luck mate, either way, it should be a grand adventure If they're really miffed, you could suggest taking one of their military vehicles... Cheers, Terry

They come up on eBay from time to time. I need one for my Saracen, but aren't in any great hurry. As they were issued pretty much unchanged from at least WWII to the 80s, they're pretty common. Cheers, Terry

Yep, I linked to the wrong image; you must have been the only one to see it before I edited the post Cheers, Terry

Hi Nick, Didn't say that it wasn't what you needed, just that it's not an inspection lamp http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=51648&d=1317286798 That's the inspection lamp, on the bottom right. Cheers, Terry

Tell them sooner rather than later, it's always best to get it over with. As for your wife having difficulty getting in and out of the back, many of the people in our club carry small step ladders in their vehicles for the ANZAC day parades to help the old soldiers in and out. Seems to work quite well. Cheers, Terry

I bought my Saracen over the internet without having seen it (aside from a few short video clips, some pics and a chat with the owner), before having it out on the back of a truck for a 1200km (750 mile) cross country trip. Aside from him describing the tyres as "excellent" and me describing them as "average", I've been pretty lucky and very happy with it, with a few small problems and nothing major. I'd love to be going to Normandy though, it sounds like you guys will be having a blast. arcort1715; Take the wife and the Jeep and put out a call on the forum to see if anyone has the room to take in any of your friends. You'll have a good time and when you get back, you can look into the truck's problems - at least you know it has issues now, rather than finding that out in another country. Cheers, Terry

That lamp is a spot light and not an inspection light. Cheers, Terry

Tell them to get stuffed It's a beautiful car and being road registered on private property, I believe that there is nothing that they can do about it. While half a world away, I don't believe that any of my neighbours have complained about the Saracen in my driveway, but even if they did, there is nothing that can be done about it (my council does have a bylaw limiting the number of vehicles on a property, but it's something like 15...) I'm not sure what you can do about an intercom; if it had a 24v power supply I'd suggest Clansman. Maybe get some wireless motorcycle ones? Cheers, Terry

If the original paint was IRR NATO Green, it would have faded considerably, even in the spots that were covered up over the years. As a "High Tech" paint in 1980, it was very unstable and had a very short service life. Old vehicles with IRR paint jobs are quite obvious as they get a distinctly blotchy appearance and can sort of look green, brown or pinkish under certain light. As far as I know, the date when they were painted was stenciled on the vehicle somewhere and they had to be repainted ever year or two. I believe that different batches of the paint also varied in colour somewhat; Clive can probably provide more information. Unless you're a real rivet counter, for NI use at around 1979/80 you could pick either OD or NATO IRR Green - either would be pretty correct as it would depend on what contract the vehicle was originally painted under, as well as the individual unit's painting schedule. Cheers, Terry

I'd love to own one, but wheeled armour is much more user friendly and things from WWII attract quite a premium. For the cost of a good carrier, you could buy a Ferret and a Saracen and have plenty left over... Cheers, Terry

Do you have photos and details of the glass rebuilds? I need to do mine but don't know where to start. Cheers, Terry

I'm going to have to make the effort to go to Corowa next year, although I doubt that I'll take the Saracen. I hear it's a good show. Cheers, Terry