Starfire

That's quite possible; quite a few British Ferrets have been imported into Australia. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Tim's should be a Mk 2 and that the superstructure has been swapped out with a Mk 1/2. Cheers, Terry

How was your butt? I find the seat in mine to be pretty damned uncomfortable after 20-30km or so. The most I've ever done in mine was just shy of 500km in 2 days (Adelaide to Pinnaroo and back again) and it was murder

Or part of some sort of high voltage ignition system for a piston engine: A magneto has one spark generating system and a spark distributor which directs the spark to the appropriate cylinder. This spark distribution system relies on the air in the distributor as an insulator against ground and other plug lead terminals. At altitude the insulation value of air is reduced proportional to the reduction in density (first order). The electrons at the rotor evaluate their environment for the path of least resistance. The plug terminal adjacent to the rotor tip has a higher resistance than other terminals in the distributor because the sparkplug it is connected to is at the end of the compression cycle. From this it is clear that the altitude at which a distributor misfires is lowered if the cylinder pressures are increased, i.e., by higher compression ratios, increased ram pressure, extensive porting and turbo charging. Larger gaps at the plugs and worn electrodes also contribute. On the other end, the tendency to misfire in the distributor is increased if moisture is present, the insulation value of the air is reduced by heat, altitude or ionization (a result of arcing), or the available voltage potential from the spark generating system, be it a magneto or electronic source, is increased.

Is it an igniter for use in the case of a flame-out at altitude?

Don't give up, mate, but you might need to adjust your expectations and timelines. If you want a good one at a cheap price, you'll need to sit back and wait for the right one to come up; that's what I did with my Ferret, but it did take almost 10 years... A similar thing happened with the Saracen, looking for about 4 years and then the right one came along at a very good price. If you want a cheap one, you'll need to settle for something that needs work and, to be honest, will cost you more in the long run. Your best bet would be to keep saving and then buy the best that you can find, if transport is an issue, you'll need to save for that too. Owning armour is fantastic though. It's like being a kid on Christmas day, only all the time Cheers, Terry

This forum has never needed a like button more!

The Bovington Tank Museum should be able to provide you with the vehicle's history cards. Send an email to ArchiveManager@tankmuseum.org and if they have them, they'll charge £25 for the service; paypal is fine. Cheers, Terry

It's a British vehicle. British vehicles leak oil. Just top it up. Cheers, Terry

When I fill my hubs/bevel boxes, I use a small hand pump with a nozzle as well, and I also go around and around the vehicle, so I start with FR then RR, then RL then FL and then back to FR and so on to check them again. It takes a while, but is the cheapest insurance you can get.

I don't get it? A straight 90W GL4 gear oil is an EP90, which is equivalent to an OEP220 and is perfect for your requirement (OEP literally standing for Oil, Extreme Pressure). EP doesn't indicate multi-grade, it indicates that it has additives to deal with extreme pressures (shearing) inside a gear housing. OEP220 can be substituted with an 80w90, as long as it's suitable for use with white and yellow metals and the manufacturer can confirm that. Cheers, Terry

Depending on price, the manager of the radio display at our museum would like a couple of new ones. Cheers, Terry

I just used a tube of windscreen sealant...

Mine was retired from British service, in Hong Kong, in about '92. There is no evidence of it ever being fitted with Clansman. I've never had a vapour lock either, even in 40+ degree Australian heat, but I do have an auxiliary electric fuel pump fitted, which I only run to prime the fuel line before starting (all it really does is reduce the amount of cranking needed to get fuel up). The rest of the time, the mechanical pump is fine. Cheers, Terry.

If it's not too bad, you can remove the drain bungs from the bottom of the tank through the access holes on the bottom of the hull and flush it through that way. You'll also probably want to remove and clean out the banjo fittings, fuel lines, tap and filter - that's all I've done with mine and it seems ok, although one of the lines was almost completely blocked and took about an hour of probing with some MIG wire and tapping on a hard surface to get all of the silt out of it. If you do a half-arsed clean out, make sure that you clean out your filter fairly regularly afterwards and be aware that the banjo bolts might block up again (it was a pretty common problem on the Ferret). Cheers, Terry.

Yep, I'm pretty sure that it's for aligning the upper suspension pins on a Saracen. They are held in position by a tapered bolt and have an oil channel running through them. I used a pair of screwdrivers when I did mine and it worked ok, but I'd be interested in getting the proper tool. PM me to organise a sale. Cheers, Terry

If the current one works, there isn't much point in overhauling it. A much more likely cause of a fuel related breakdown is a blockage in either of the fuel lines coming from the bottom of the tank to the fuel tap, or a failure of the tap gasket itself. Both of these can be reasonably easily accessed by removing the battery boxes and the radio platform. If you can't get a bit of MIG wire through the lines, they are blocked. Mine were full of a fine, muddy silt. Cheers, Terry

I need a couple of picks and shovels too (complete, not just handles), so I'd be keen to hear about that. Cheers, Terry

We have one at the museum. It's a great little car. I'll check out your videos. Cheers, Terry

Get yourself a Jolley Engineering electronic conversion and ditch the points. You won't regret it. Cheers, Terry

How about you let us know what you're chasing? Cheers, Terry

Where abouts are you located, Noel?

Awesome thread and good to see the vehicle resurrected. Cheers, Terry

Yeah, the Australian's didn't issue them either.

I'd be interested if they'd replicated the reinforcement pressings on them. They look kind of wrong without them. Cheers, Terry

We have a complete, NOS front panel for a Cab 13 Ford at the museum. If you're interested, I can enquire about it for you. Cheers, Terry