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madrat

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Posts posted by madrat

    Leyland Martian - Return of the MadRat

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    I was impressed with the Martians fuel economy though ! Approximately 3 gallons of petrol to run at idle for 3 minutes and then run back and forth about 200 yds in total !:wow:

     

    I make that about 26 gallons to the mile :clap:worth every penny in my opinion!

     

    Simon, I was checking out your blog last night, impressive stuff mate!! I think I'll need to pick your brains at some point..

    Leyland Martian - Return of the MadRat

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted · Edited by madrat

    Well folks its been a year or so since I sold on the Pioneer, Stolly and Tatra projects, I found myself with a limited budget and a yearning for something big and Scammell shaped! Realising that my budget wouldn't stretch to anything other than a basket-case Scammell (Been there - done that!) I had a little look about for something else.... it was at this point that a rather lovely Leyland Martian Artillery Tractor came up on Milweb. :nut:

     

    The owner wanted to tow it to the scrap yard to cash in on its bulk but a friend of his had put it on Milweb hoping it could be saved, fearing the worst we put together a crack team (Possibly on crack) to drive from far flung corners of the UK to save the old girl. A price was negotiated and agreed on the basis that she would run. A wide selection of imperial hammers, petrol, cable and batteries were assembled and the 400 mile drive begun at 3am one Sunday morning. Team backfire convened at an amazing storage yard deep in the Berkshire countryside, Andy's fantasy barn has already been completed and the Leyland was in very good company with a number of Scammells plus various other interesting friends! :cool2:

     

    Tea was served :coffee: and then we set to work, first job was some temp wiring to the electric fuel pump, a fresh 20L can of Scotlands finest 95 octane was hooked up and the carb was feb. Spinning her over for the first time we got nothing, checked the king-lead and no spark. Another temp wire was run to the coil, this time a spark of sorts was observed! Tried to fire her up but we were only getting a spark once every second Tuesday. Luckily in the truck was a Shiny new Dizzy so we decided to change the top half on the basis that the dizzy cap looked almost as old as Gritineye ;)

     

    That didn't make much difference so we decided to change out the dizzy base as well as it had new points and condenser, that didn't make much difference either. At this point we brought out the multimeter and observed the need for sandpaper and an application of Gritineye, he was so excited by his input that he decided to leave out the rotor arm! With the rotor arm back in we got her coughing and spluttering into life, the oil and air pressures came up and a wad of cash and a handshake was exchanged :-D

     

    Andy had taken up residence in the cab and was getting quote aroused by the exhaust note, whilst giving her some beans the old girl decided to perform what can old be described and an EPIC BACKFIRE! Such was the power of this explosion a man chopping wood nearly lost his hand, and some of the audience who had gathered had to go away and change their underwear :blush: this backfire completely destroyed an undersized exhaust box which had been fitted, she sounded much nice afterwards :cool2:

     

    We tried in vain to unstick her clutch using one of two Scammell Constructor's that happened to be lying around, but there just wasn't enough room to free her off. That can wait until she is back up the road. So there ended a long and exciting day, Mr Constructor helped her back into the bar to await collection.

     

    The drive home was uneventful until the last 5 miles when we hit a deer in the car :shocked: then got into a small police "chase" getting pulled over on our own driveway by bored cops wanting to know what we were doing at 3am, then the next day an unconnected speeding fine! Yikes! Massive thanks to Andy and Gritineye for coming along to make sure I didn't back out!! Thanks Lads!!

     

    A few images on the truck in past and present condition:

     

    She was so hungry she tried to eat Andy before we could get her a drink of petrol :-D IMG_6854.jpg Mrs Madrat and MiniMadrat! posing for a picture IMG_6852.jpg Taken in 1996 I believe, she is still in very nice condition! SFF2143.jpg And at the end of a long day she goes back inside to rest up! Something went wrong...

    Scammell Pioneer Rolling Rebuild

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    Hi Folks, Sensible-Rat here! The Scammell and the Stolly have now gone to new homes. The Scammell hasn't gone that far and the new owner is already a member on here so you should see its continued progress.

     

    As a result I've now a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I'm looking to buy something before mrs madrat spends it. Anyone know of an Explorer or Militant mk3 for sale? Nothing too rough this time :D

    Scammell Pioneer Rolling Rebuild

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    Hi Guys!!

    Just thought I'd drop a wee note in to say hello and keep you all updated. Not had much time for anything this year as we are in the midst of building a house so no time for trucks I'm afraid :cry: We've also had a small (8lb) addition to the family, both mini-madrat and mrs-madrat are doing well. Hope everyone is well, I'll be back before you know it!!

     

    All the best,

    Duncan

     

     

     

    IMG_0512.jpg

    IMG_0458.jpg

    Scammell Pioneer Rolling Rebuild

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    Merry Christmas Guys!! I hope you are all well and getting more time on your toys than I've had for mine! :cry:

     

    Things are well here and the house build is well underway, and we've started work on the shed which will be a permanent home to our collection of rust and dust.

     

    I'm looking forward to getting back into things once we stopped the madrush to build the house.

     

    Hope to see you all soon,

    Dunc

     

    Shed.jpg

    youngguns explorer blog

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    wel i aim to be madrat i have booked the time off work and floyds entery forme is away in the post so its lookin like i am goin to be there :-D

    i hope i can make camp with some freidly people i know as me and floyd will be couming down on our own

     

    Fantastic, we shall look forward to seeing you there and perhaps you might have a spare seat for the off road course?! :cool2:

    Another Pioneer

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Scammell Pioneer Rolling Rebuild

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    Mods please note Madrat's got a proper dedicated restoration viewing area in his barn, I understand seating will be provided as well.

     

    We had to burn most of the seats to get the tatra in, there are a few priority seats for the older members wishing to view the restorations. After a recent 'incident' the dancing girls have been withdrawn until further notice.... :noyay:

    Scammell Pioneer Rolling Rebuild

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    You'll be able to compete against yourself with the Scammell in off road truck trials.

     

    I've wanted a Tatra for 15 years after seeing them in the europa truck trials, they are incredibly capable vehicles.

     

    Did you use the Pioneer to drag it into the barn? Have you got the missing bits of engine?

     

    the pioneer is up on blocks just now getting painted so we had to resort to modern technology (Telehandler) to get her in.

     

    I've got all the engine bits although it sat with water in the bores and 8 of the cylinder liners are knackered. The cool thing is that its all modular and you can buy a liner, piston and all gaskets for £100 :shocked: bits are so cheap for it! Its a very cool engine, 17 litre V12 air cooled multifiel beast!

    Another Pioneer

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    As far as I am aware they were sky blue from the start.
    Unless reconditioned my engine is sky blue under the green. Although interestingly the bracket for the larger compressor is red primer under the green!

     

    I like the look of this gardner:

     

    polished-engine.jpg

     

    mmmmmmmmm

    Another Pioneer

    in Blogs of MV restorations

    Posted

    As far as I am aware they were sky blue from the start.

     

    Unless reconditioned my engine is sky blue under the green. Although interestingly the bracket for the larger compressor is red primer under the green!

     

    I like the look of this gardner:

     

    polished-engine.jpg

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