radiomike7

No, despite living just 2 miles away!! Mike

Bernard the 220 is not a 14 litre but just over 12, I am not even sure if the two are from the same engine family. There is a nice red Explorer with an AEC 760 for sale in an auction very soon.....

Only some contracts, mine had a civilian type instrument panel.

The 6LW as fitted to the Pioneer is not the best engine for an Explorer - 8.4 litres, 100bhp, 1750rpm max compared with 10.3 litres, 180bhp and 2400rpm for the original petrol. The later 6LX 150bhp and 6LXB 180bhp are too long, while the easiest and neatest conversion must be a Leyland 680 or 680 Power Plus.

617 were formed on march 24th 1943 as a precision bombing unit under the command of Guy Gibson who led the dams raid from which the famous 617 motto "apres moi le deluge" was derived. Mike

Younggun you have my utmost respect for doing what must be a very difficult job, trying to think one step ahead of the load and annoying motorists who cannot be bothered to work out why you have blocked a lane to prevent them from overtaking. Fog lights with no fog? My pet hate and I have never understood why so many truck drivers do it. My eyes are 10 feet off the ground yet I still get dazzled by some front fogs, particularly if the road is wet. What do they keep in reserve for when it is foggy, or do they then go in to stealth mode and drive on sidelights only? On the 40/50 debate, it must be remembered that speed limits are not just in place to prevent crashes, but to mitigate the consequences. For instance a vehicle travelling at 50 has the kinetic energy to cause 1.56 x the damage than it would at 40, or to put it more simply, if it hits a wall at 40 and knocks 1600 bricks out, the number at 50 would be 2500. Energy is proportional to the square of the velocity.

Is that an early one with a late front crossmember or a late one with early air cleaners?

While we're on about speed limits does anyone know what the speed limit is for a transit sized van on a main single carriageway road? It might surprise some people. 50 for a Transit/Sprinter >2tons, 60 for Escort/Astra etc. Now where are those pics of Mally? One of my favourite MVs.

I remember this one - he was trying to sell it on ebay for £10k about a year ago.

Oilfield Super with offset cab?

And from the petition creator: "The current law states that all HGV's must travel at 10mph below the spead limit of cars on main roads" On planet Zog perhaps, in the UK the speed limit for cars on a single carriageway is 60 unless a lower limit applies. On dual carriageways the figures are 70 for cars and 50 for trucks.

Couldn't have put it better myself 6 x 6. Trucks are for delivering goods not for tearing round the countryside and terrorising old ladies.

The questions are; How common is this sticky beam problem? >Quite common, I have seen a few. If the bushes move out of place and the gearcase moves relative to the bush how much damage can it cause? >From memory, the beam is located on the axle by collars either side of the inner pivot, so the bush should not move far axially. However as you said above, if the bush rotates within the beam it will obtruct the flow of lubricant. I would not suggest using heat on the beam as all that will do is release the grip on the bush. How many people have actually taken out the grease nipples to see what is going on behind them? >Mine would not accept any grease or oil even at crazy pressures. I removed the nipples and found a mass of dried up lithium type grease which I eventually managed to shift using Rocol penetrating oil. I used an MS type grease and never had any more problems. This is what they should look like: http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p43438066.html

See http://www.thehangar.co.uk/fuel/fuel.shtml for current prices. I too thought that Avgas was cheap, but obviously not. I assume there must be some high rate of duty in line with road fuel which does not apply to jet fuel. Does Avgas still use lead to achieve the high octane, or am I living in the past? :??? Mike

Now you mention it, Mike Smith bought Geoff's old 20t Constructor (the one with the Explorer crane) and not long after the 'box sounded ike a blacksmiths shop on piecework. I supplied him with the last unused recon we had in stock. In a recent post you said: God knows how many Constructor gearboxes have been destroyed owners ignoring the warning drips of oil that indicate the seal between the boxes needs replacing and oil is now migrating into one box leaving the other box bone dry. I mean, Scammells can't talk, oil leaking from the gearbox is it's way of telling you it's not very well. Worn out seal on gearbox connecting shaft, poor design or just wear and tear ? Now when (if) the oil migrates between the gearbox/transfer box it does exactly that and there are no visible external leaks, or are you suggesting that owners have missed the sound of internal dripping oil? As with Land Rovers, the only way to check is by observing both oil levels.

Brilliant pics, is it your vehicle?

>Unfortunately, yes (dons tin hat to deflect the missiles which are about to be thrown in my direction) Mike

I think you will find it was Stan Wass and his colleague collecting their brand new MOS Constructors which were to be used for transporting tanks on the 50 ton drawbar trailers. Mike

Mike I will respond to your post when I get back tonight as some of your comments are totally correct.

Nellie the Militant stowed her crane and said goodbye to the circus off she drove with a bumpety bump bump bump bump Nellie the militant packed her gear and trundled off to Duxford off she drove with a bumpety bump bump bump bump Sorry, couldn't resist :-D

Hi Mark Thanks for your reply but in case you didn't know, Group Captain (Willie) Tait passed away last September aged 90. I can do no better than refer you to the Telegraph obituary which describes the life of a very special person. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1561988/Gp-Capt-Willie-%27Tirpitz%27-Tait.html Mike

Spot on Bernard and you are living proof that it can be done. There were some minor mods over the years with additional oil drillings that have to be lined up and remember that the casings are machined as a pair and must always stay together. Mike

Correct, the only way to control the drum speed is with the throttle, although the rope speed can be slowed down by using one or more snatch blocks. A slight drawback with Explorer is that if you are winching a heavy casualty up a long steep slope and decide that it is all going wrong, the only way to slowly release is by slipping the winch handbrake. With Constructor, it would be possible to lower the casualty under full control by using reverse gear, although great care must be taken not to allow loose coils on the winch drum. Mike

Has anyone visited the above, and is it worth going to? My father in law was CO of 617 squadron at the time, led all 3 raids and was credited with having scored the first Tallboy hit. Mike

The Explorer doesn't seem to have the same bad name and yet I would have thought an Explorer gearbox driving it's winch while recovering a heavy, bogged down payload is under similar stress as a Constructor gearbox would be while towing a heavy trailer through it's transfer box. Actually no as an Explorer winch drive is taken from the gearbox first motion shaft via the reverse idler with the 'box in neutral. Constructor winch is driven by a duplex chain from a pto on the transfer 'box (which must be in neutral) and via the main gearbox giving a choice of winching speeds. Back in 1985, my Explorer had only recorded 6000 miles, but the gearbox needed a total re-build due to the common problem of the case hardening breaking up on one set of needle rollers. The resulting (case hardened) swarf had scored several journals and destroyed the output shaft, while one of the gears had so much play that it had begun machining the outer casing. Have a look at Bernard's thread http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?t=7123 of his gearbox stripdown with some excellent pictures to get an idea of how the 6 speed 'box works - it really is quite clever with 4 pairs of gears dog clutched together in various ways to give 6 ratios. Replacement parts supplied by yours truly.:-D Mike