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Dear All, Thanks to sterling support of Toby S-B the REME Museum's Conqueror ARV is at the Dorset Steam fair. We brought it there with the Scammell Contractor and Crane Fruehauf trailer. I will be down there from this afternoon onwards. We will almost certainly be unloading it and giving the Conq a run around. Certainly not to-day and probably not on Fri either. Most likely on Sat. It will be in the play-pen so not easy to get at. Any forum members etc can give me a ring on my mobile which is 07528 263926 if you want to have a closer look or get involved. John

Dear All, Re -reading my post: When I said that there was "no rust on the panels" I meant that there was "no rust left on the panels" ! John

Dear All, Minor works include repairing the bonnets including the piano hinges. I drove the pins out with an air hammer and some very long drifts. Main effort at present is the cab. It was stripped down to a bare frame and then blasted as required. There is no rust on the panels and I have replaced a few or let in some new material. I am on the roof now which is fitted but I am filling in 60 years of dents. I started with a box of 500 CSK pop rivets which seem to have nearly all gone! I hope to paint it at the end of next week after doing Dorset. I had a snag with the winch. The parts list suggested that the large bracket castings that support the lay on gear and drum shaft bearings were identical. They were not! In particular, only one was drilled for the winch clutch mechanism. I suspect that they are also differently machined. This caused quite a few problems with the winch not assembling properly and me not understanding why. Temporary availability of a lift for the drum prompted me to get on with swopping brackets around. In fact I managed to do it without lifting the drum off at all. It will now be plain sailing putting the rest of the winch back together. This is an important development because the need to do more work on the winch prevented me from replacing other things such as the flooring, tool boxes and fuel tank side covers. I have attached some pics. John

Dear All, Thanks for the prod! I will report back at the end of the week with pics. John

It might be a "Metalastic" bush. Also it could be standard Rubery Owen running gear. Talk to someone like David Fenland Trailers in Market Deeping. Google "Fenland Trailers" If the worst came to worst you could have a bush made from pattern. John

Rick, I love a Roller! I would put money on it being anything but the actual pump itself especially if you had just been using the vehicle effectively. Even more money on air getting in somewhere. I would change / service all the filters. If you have taken the fuel tank level down low you might have sucked in muck. With this engine I would expect a primary filter / water separator on the chassis and a big filter on the engine. Make sure that air is not getting sucked in at the primary filter. The pump is pressure lubricated from the engine so there is no possibility of governors having run dry etc. Also ensure that the fuel stack pipe in the tank is not holed or damaged. The SEME précis for the Perkins 800 LM has the following quotes: "The filter is not fitted with an air venting plug as venting is automatically achieved by an integral stand pipe." "A fuel pressure relief valve is fitted in the low pressure system for the purpose of stabilising the fuel pressure in the FIP pump galleries, the nominal pressure being 19 to 26 PSI. The relief valve is fitted to the body of the FIP at a point diagonally opposite the fuel inlet connection." "The filter header bracket is also equipped with a tapping to enable the fitting of a pressure gauge if required." Having done the filter change and other obvious checks I would check fuel pressure on filter bracket. If that is not up at around 20 PSI that might be the cause. I would not send the pump away if you have not got pressure there and are also confident that there is solid fuel in the pump. The précis give full instructions as to how to remove, refit and time the pump and I can send it to you if nec. I hope this is helpful. John

Dear All, I am pleased to say that the REME Museum will be displaying the running Conqueror ARV at the Welland Steam Rally on the weekend of 29, 30 & 31 July. We will transport it using the Crane Fruehauf girder trailer towed by the Scammell Contractor. John

I think I have a few spare, how many do you need? John

Dear All, Thanks to all TSB's help Antar is now at Horndean only 2Km from home. Have just fitted the fuel tanks and front mudguards. Pics below! John

Dear All, One of the most powerful arguments in favour of not interfering with the current arrangements that we have in the UK is that our insurance costs are so low. It is important to remember that a significant proportion of our already low premiums goes towards the overheads of the insurance company and not just our claims. So if you write to your MP or MEP always point out that your insurance cost for your XYZ vehicle is £XX. This will come as a surprise and is proof that our vehicles are not a problem. We do live in a democracy and it is very important that you write to your MP (even he or she is not to your political choice). If your letter is half reasonable, your MP will forward it onto the Minister in the Department for Transport. A steady flow of well thought out and reasonable letters will have an effect. Why are we experiencing these unwelcome developments? The problem is that in far flung parts of the EU they do use very old and unsafe vehicles for commercial purposes. Often they are badly modified by fitting a later engine. In the case of taxis, their local authorities are just unable to regulate them as well as can be done in the UK. My local authority insists that taxi are relatively new and they can make it happen. On the issue of modifications, I agree with all that has been said. It is now 24 years since I fitted a Rolls Royce diesel to that Antar. It still looks and behaves like an Antar. Without this modification it would probably been scrapped years ago. There are probably about two or three petrol Antars left in the world. There is absolutely nothing wrong with modifying a classic vehicle. Of course, there is an important place for a completely original example of a vehicle. John

Robin, In the UK a vehicle operating exclusively under a Special Types Order is exempt MOT. We have a general order known as STGO for ordinary heavy haulage. The difficulty with using this exemption is that you cannot do anything which is not an abnormal load. (Hence the advice about the FV432) Also, our DVSA (a vehicle inspectorate) would not like it. Some vehicles can ONLY operate under special types as they are over width and therefore would automatically fail their MOT test. Exemption from the MOT test does not mean exemption from the required standard of road worthiness! John

Dear All, Has anyone got PLI for their private (ie non-business) MV workshop? If so, how much is it and who is a broker? John

I stand corrected! John

Dear All, I doubt that a flamethrower is a firearm but I think that it would be a good idea to have some vital component missing or completely and obviously inoperative. A motor is clearly a firearm although easy to deactivate (and make a brand new one which I could do this afternoon in my workshop). John

Dear All, This weekend Toby and I got the Rolls Royce Eagle diesel running. She has a great engine which starts if you put batteries near it! Pick are of the radiators fitted. John

Dear All, I have a stillage full of fine copper slag abrasive. It is the correct stuff for shot blasting (not ordinary sand that is illegal. It has been used once but it is still very effective. It is available free for any member of the Forum to collect. It is lying in the REME museum at Bordon but we are moving and I cannot take it with me. You will have to be quick! John

Dear All, The worm wheels for the Kirkstall axle and the Darlington winch are very different. Interestingly a lot of the engineering standards are different as well. eg BSW not BSF fasteners. Shakeproof star washers rather than single coil lock washers. 5/16 BSF grease nipples not 1/8 gas. In principle, everything at the REME at Bordon is being moved to Lyneham. I think I have secured a site to locate my workshop container very near home in Horndean, Hants. I am working very hard to get Antar back together although I will have to finish it at my new location. John

Dear All, apologies for not updating after gentle prompt. We are obviously managing move out of Bordon and I am time constrained but good progress is being made and I have fewer and fewer components left to fit. Toby S-B is being very helpful and is much appreciated. The 'big' trailer is very nearly operational and we were only just unable to take it to Dorset. Unfortunately there were too many loose ends and so it was not safe to take on the road. Because of time constraints we are not able to take Conqueror to Brooklands which is a bit of a shame. The steering gear is fitted apart from making dust gaiters / boots for the steering rams. The front axle is fitted but I do need to replace king pin thrust washer bearings as there is a wear point in the straight ahead position. It makes it very tiring to make slight adjustments on motorway. Easy to do however. Fitting the cab floor and making a new bracket to accommodate the new engine mountings turned out to be easier than I thought. Nice change! The winch is reassembled and is now mounted on the chassis but not knotted down. The pics show the condition of the worm wheel and I was surprised how good it was. The next big job is the radiators. No drama but they want cleaning up & painting on the outside to be consistent with the rest of the vehicle. I will use a combination of angle grinder wire brush and local grit blast. I have never heard of an Antar overheat. Unfortunately in the summer I was unable to shot blast the road wheels but they will have to be done. The cab which is actually only the windscreen mounting, roof and back (the dash is already on the chassis) has been left as a separate but easy job to do after we leave Bordon. John

Dear All, Does anyone know where to get the wire armoured hose as fitted to the Antar, AEC militant and other vehicles of that era? I am at that stage with the Antar! John

It is just an old fashioned dip switch with changeover contacts inside! In the not too distant future we will be able to make these up with 3D printing. John

Dear All, I think that it is main engine generator for a 4B. John

Antony, PM me your address and I will post it to you. John

Dear Antony, I do have one but as D says the polarisation of your socket is unusual. I do have a socket with normal polarisation but I am not sure if you want to mess around with your LRU. John

Antony, I might have one. I will look later. Are you sure that it is a suitable place to draw from? It could be protected by a relatively weak fuse. I would normally expect to see a two or three pin socket for this purpose. John

Dear All, I would love to know how many Conqueror tanks are actually running in the UK or even the world. By running I mean that they have run in the last 12 months or everyone is confident that the tank could be made to run with a couple of day's servicing. There is the REME museum's Conqueror ARV that is "on the button". IWM Duxford has an ARV but I don't know when it last ran. I do not know of any other ARV's that are remotely serviceable. What about the gun tanks? Any info would be much appreciated John