restoration Civilian Mk1 Militant

[Zero-Five-Two]

We win some an' we lose some, it would appear. But that's why we do it. Not surprised we missed each other at Newark, I spoke with shed loads of people there, but still only saw half the motors properly. Have to have another go next year!!

[Zero-Five-Two]

Just been sent this picture of us in the wet at the Sellinge show last week. It's a better picture than I got with my broken camera.

 

 

 

Flag up for jubilee weekend

Edited August 9, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[Richard Farrant]

Just been sent this picture of us in the wet at the Sellinge show last week. It's a better picture than I got with my broken camera.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]62923[/ATTACH]

 

Flag up for jubilee weekend

 

Rob, did you know that the dustcart parked next to you is also ex-military? RAF to be precise, I know the owner.

[Zero-Five-Two]

Thanks for that Richard, I had no idea. It is quite tidy, as well. You don't often see a restored dustcart. I did speak to its driver briefly, but only to say Hi.

[Zero-Five-Two]

:cry:Sorry for being AWOL since June, but I have been doing my bit for Queen and country with the Olympics. Mending buses on behalf of the Plod in London at all hours of the night. Took up a lot of my time, but it was well worth the effort, especially as they were paying silly money for doing it.

 

Poor old Millicent has been well and truly neglected. Didn’t even visit the old girl for over two months. Poor old love is covered in cobwebs and looking very dull and unloved. Anyway, normality has now returned, (whatever normality is) and with luck I will get a go tomorrow, if the weather is decent and we’ll go for a run out somewhere.

 

As you may have read in my only recent post, I have finally acquired a spare wheel carrier for her. It came, by chance, from a Militant that was being scrapped in the north of Scotland. I have been trying to locate one since I started this lark 6 years ago. So big grins all round finally got the last “big” bit for the old girl. :D

 

 

As a side issue, the good news is, following various conversations on this forum, and a few phone calls, the scrap Militant in question is to be saved, albeit without a spare wheel carrier, and it will soon be moving south to a new home. More will appear on the forum in due course. In the meantime, its new owner would like to know if anyone out there knows the location of a spare wheel carrier for a Militant?

 

Militant without spare wheel at a secret location, but now safe from the scrapman

 

Anyhow, back to the carrier, which is now in my shed enjoying a good clean up. It only cost me £70 to get it down to Kent from the North of Scotland, a real bargain, I thought. Palletways did the honours, a real good service

 

It came with plenty of surplus rust and moss, so I thought I would have a go at the electrolysis thing for cleaning it up. Having read a lot about it on here and various other sites, it sounded like a reasonable idea, and I fancied having a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. (Whoever “they” are, but they seem to know a lot)

I’ve got an old battery charger that I don’t mind sacrificing if it all goes wrong, so down to Sainsbury’s for a bag of washing soda, and a dustbin to put it all in, big bit of steel off the scrap pile for an anode, total outlay about £2.50.

 

First experiments didn’t go too well. Started with the leaf spring. Good connection with crocodile clips, most of it under the soda mix, sit back and await result.

No chance, battery charger tripped out after about 10 seconds, too much current going through. Back to internet, read up some more. Read hon one site that the use of a small light bulb in the circuit stops this. So try again, inserted a spare dashboard lamp into the setup and all seemed fine, 1 amp charge going through, battery charger happy now, all ok.

 

24 hours later, I checked it out expecting a result, but all I got was a dustbin of water and lump of wet rusty leaf spring!! Nothing had happened.:cry:

 

O K, plan B. Ditch light bulb, start again. Smaller anode this time, nice clean piece of shiny girder. 3.5 amps charge, no tripping out of charger, within seconds soda water starts fizzing and bubbling and swirling about, something’s happening! Left it for a couple of hours and a good orange scum has formed on top. Looking good.

24 hours later success. Cracked it. :yay::yay::yay:

 

Leaf spring has changed completely. It is now covered in a black sooty residue instead of rust. The bright orange cornflakes that once covered it have softened and fell off. Even the old green paint has lifted. Once dried off, the soot brushes off with a light wire brush leaving perfectly cleaned steel. Ready for primer

Astounding result!! Couldn’t believe the difference

 

Next up try some of the angle iron brackets, gave the soda water a good stir to clear the scum, dump the brackets in, leave it 24 hours to work, more scum, anode looking bright orange, but irons now rust free with just the soot to clean off. Excellent.

 

Since then, anything that fits into the dustbin has been given the treatment. I can’t believe the results I am achieving. It is the perfect system. Rust removal with no effort. It carries on doing it while I’m doing other things, like working, or sleeping. Neighbour friendly as well, no noisy grinders required.

 

So, the definitive solution. Not that I am suggesting this is the only way, but a few tips that made it work for me.

 

The sacrificial anode appears to be the key. Its size must be relative to the piece to be cleaned. Too big will trip out your charger, too small and nothing will happen. It also needs to be clean! As the process works rust builds up in an even layer over it, and eventually it seems to block the current flow. A quick polish up with the grinder restores current flow and you are back in business.

 

The soda water seems to last forever, but it does get a bit mankey after a few turns. A good stir up seems to clear this and you can go again. Otherwise that’s about it, dump the piece to be cleaned in, just make sure you get a good connection with your battery charger, leave it 24 hours or so, fish it out, dry it off, brush off the soot and that’s it ready to paint. Job done!

 

Went down to Somerset, last weekend. Met the legendary Les Tite at his farm. Can’t believe the bloke is well over eighty years old and still up and about everyday just getting on and doing things as he always has done.

As well as selling me a load of lifting and winching gear, snatch blocks, shackles etc. I also got a wide mouth pulley for the top of my timber crane. So that is next in line on the rebuild, but not before I’ve fitted the bed boards which I am expecting to be delivered next week. The Olympics were good to me; I’ve now got some spare dosh to spend on the truck.

 

Watch this space

Edited August 9, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[N.O.S.]

Sounds like you've cracked the de-rusting! Is there a safe and environmentally acceptable way of disposing of the bin full of washing soda once it needs .....'binning' ? :cool2:

[ferrettkitt]

Sounds like you've cracked the de-rusting! Is there a safe and environmentally acceptable way of disposing of the bin full of washing soda once it needs .....'binning' ? :cool2:

 

Down the drain it will help to clean them

[N.O.S.]

I like the set-up, but as I don't have the luxury (or cost) of mains drainage, I'm just wondering what it might do to my septic tank all in one go :undecided:

[Degsy]

I like the set-up, but as I don't have the luxury (or cost) of mains drainage, I'm just wondering what it might do to my septic tank all in one go :undecided:

 

How can I put this without getting banned..........six letters, begins with f, ends with d.:angel:

[daverwheeler]

I have been using electrolysis for a while now, it is amazing!

[Zero-Five-Two]

Couple more pics' and bits done. Changed all the coolant hoses for shiney new ones, after the breakdown earlier in the year. Not a job for the faint hearted, there isn't a great deal of room down the front of a Militant engine. Somehow I managed the whole job without causing any bloodshed, which was a bit of a first, I usually manage to poke a hole in myself somewhere along the way!

 

Started putting the proper boards in last weekend for the side walkways. I had bunged some cheap chipboards on at the begining of the season, just to keep the road debris from flicking up everywhere, but after a few weeks in the rain they very soon looked very nasty.

 

Still they did the job, at the time. Nice bit of african teak going on now, which will look much better, and you can walk on it as well.

 

 

 

 

Didn't get it all finished, though, kept having to stop for rain, hopefully with a bit of decent weather this weekend I will get them finished.

 

Had a run out on sunday, the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society "Sprat and Winkle" road run, Sevenoaks to Hastings. Quite a good day 160 odd miles round trip, no problem for the old girl. Met loads of interesting people, posed for many photos, like you do.

 

Good collection of 40 or so trucks and vans turned out. Not a Military vehicle in sight, but that was to be expected, it's not really a military event. Couple of pics' worth showing

 

Polished and shining

 

 

Short Wheel Base Land Rover

 

 

Early fifties 5 ton 'C' type Bedford. Shares a lot of componants with the RL

Edited August 14, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[Zero-Five-Two]

It has taken a bit of time, working around the bad weather, but the spare wheel carrier is finally in place and functioning well. Pictures tell the story

 

 

Frame work on first, just about fits between cab and tool bin

 

 

Crane arm was a bit heavy to lift in, but managed it without getting a hernia

 

 

 

Having got the wheel on I was surprised how easy it was to "roll" the thing up, bit hard to get started but once off the ground no problem

 

 

Slots in nicely

 

 

Looks perfect. well pleased. Had to borrow a couple of wheel nuts from the off side rear wheels for now to hold the spare on, pending acquiring some more, but it will do for now.

 

There will be a U tube video happening soon of the whole operation, Once it's on I will post a link.

Hopefully this link will take you straight to it

 

 

Next job, get the crane jib on. But might have to do the christmas thing first though!!:beer:

Edited August 17, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[Zero-Five-Two]

Well, the last comment on the last post said “Do the Christmas Thing” hard to believe that was 6 months ago, but life has been somewhat crowded since then, Fitting in truck work has been difficult, especially in the scabby winter weather earlier in the year. But, somehow, with everything else, we managed a fair bit. Finishing off the timber crane, and getting ready for the show season.

 

As usual the camera was on hand to record the happy events, and I've finally got five minutes peace to post some of it so you all can catch up.

Teak boards were finished off first with non-slip walk treads over the joints, and several gallon of decking oil to protect them a bit, and keep the finish looking good.

 

Next up the crane jib.

 

 

If you look at this "as delivered" picture you can see the stunted end of the jib, with the top end and pulley cut off years ago, presumably by a previous owner. I managed to acquire a replacement pulley last year from the legendary Les Tite. It was one he’d had made a while back especially for fitting to a Militant timber crane, but it was never used.

Went to visit a local crane equipment company, and spoke with one of their design engineers. Between us we worked out the best length, angle of dangle etc and came up with a plan to rebuild the thing.

 

So back to the farm and set to with the angle grinder and the trusty welder. Several hours/days graft later and the finished article is ready to fit.

 

Pulley frame ready to fit

 

Jib Extension going on

 

Painted up and ready to fit

 

Had to wait a bit for the telehandler to become available for lifting it on, so cracked on with the side panels.

 

 

 

I’ve been told since they are called “Raves” apparently. Didn’t know that! Anyhow they stop things falling off the side of the bed when you are driving along. Basically 50mm box section with some 2mm sheet filling the gaps.

 

 

 

 

Usual finish, loads of zinc primer then red and black over the top. Due to the inclement weather at the time, spraying the paint was out of the question, so all brush finished for now. It looks terrible close up, brush marks and dead flies etc, so it will need to get rubbed down and redone later in the year. (2014, editing post to replace photos, and still not got round to rubbing down and refinishing them)

 

Got JCB so on with jib fitting

 

Lifting the jib on still wasn’t that easy even with the JCB. Bit difficult to get lined up at first.

 

Finally the loud shout of "Pin in" took me back to the days of bridging accross the veser (ahh the memories)

 

As usual no points for the planning, :embarrassed::blush:!! The jib rest point set too high leaving it with an overall height similar to that of the average double decker bus. But we are used to this sort of thing now and the 9” grinder and welder were on standby for a few adjustments.

 

Son Stuart sorting out Fathers cock up!

However, gets worse!! Two steps forward and one back as they say, or was it one forward and two back, feels like it sometimes.

 

 

Jib now looks good but cannot get the tool bin open now! Oh B*ll**ks!! Nevermind we’ll sort that later.

 

Next mission, test the crane. Park on firm level ground, check for overhead cables and make sure there is plenty of room in case it all goes wrong. Engage winch drive and go for it.

 

 

All looks good jib goes over nicely,,,,,,,, and crunches into the lifting frame before the steel support wires take the strain. Mental note get new tape measure. Out comes the grinder AGAIN!!

 

 

Bit better this time, at least one cable has the weight, the other one is fitted with a longer shackle. Need a matching pair.

More to follow, need refreshment :coffee:

Edited August 14, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[gritineye]

Nice work and great write up..:thumbsup:

 

from a fellow sufferer of 'tape measure fatigue syndrome'

[Zero-Five-Two]

Mint tea and biscuits in hand, so on with round 2.

 

OK, jib goes over and looks mighty impressive. Top pulley is over twenty foot high, and about ten foot out from the rear of the truck. Shall have to find something heavy for a test lift at some point. But the more pressing issue is how do you get the thing back over.

Tried several daft ideas and finished up with this nasty little caravan winch stuck on the side.

 

 

It's not strong enough on it's own, had to use a small block to give a 2 to 1 pull. That manages to bring the thing back over centre. Gravity does the rest.

 

 

Need to come up with a better way, something more in keeping with the character of the vehicle. I am open to suggestions.

 

Despite all the set backs and other delays, in the construction it all seems to have gone OK in the end. Looks pretty good

 

The target date I had set myself was for the AEC show at Newark, bank holiday weekend at the end of May. Great plans had been made for meeting friends and the in laws and showing off the Militant, much bragging had gone on before, and there was a lot to live up to. The last few days weren’t a panic, but a lot was done,

 

 

 

Full service and grease up as part of a workshop demonstration during open day at Bus Doctor premises in Sevenoaks.

 

Stuart had his first solo day out, taking her for a voluntary VOSA test for lights, brakes, emissions etc. All passed but a bit of a brake imbalance to sort out.

 

Got it on the weigh bridge as well, and was quite surprised at the result. Only 10.5 Tonne. I had expected at least 12. This was fully kitted up for a show as well, with tools, tents, deck chairs, bar-b-que, beers and more beers. So all those wide boys you see trying to sell a stripped down Militant on fleebay claiming it is at least 10 ton of clean scrap weight are talking out of the wrong end.

 

Come the big day we (son Stuart and self) were up before the sparrows and rolled out at 0300hrs, keen, grinning and ready for the 6 hour run to Newark. We wanted to get there for about 0900hrs, and stop for a decent breakfast on the way.

 

Last year I drove all the way and although I love driving the old beast, after 6 hours in the hot seat the novelty had well and truly worn off, to say the least, so it was good to split the steering wheel attendance this year. Truck just trundled along without any fuss, like it does.

 

Other son Phil had a later start and followed up in his Volkswagon Bora (it goes a bit faster than the Militant). He passed us at Peterborough, and went off to collect last minute bar-b-que supplies before meeting us at the showground.

 

 

Main aim of the day was to meet with the Father in Law, Eric, so that he and Stuart could go on the Bomber County Road Run. Eric drove a Militant during his National Service and has followed the restoration with interest. I think he had the biggest grin at the end of the day. Better still, he turned up with even more beer. :beer::beer:

 

Stuart and a man with a very big grin in the passengers seat going out on the road run

 

 

This was the first time I had heard my own truck going past. It sounds even better from the outside

 

 

As usual an excellent show, bit disappointed at the lack of Matadors, but there was a couple of other Militants

 

 

 

This old lady still earns a living every day alongside modern wreckers

 

 

 

You have to be impressed with the Mk3 Milli' his cranes bigger than mine

 

 

We do look good though, you could see the flag from most points in the show ground

 

 

Camp Militant didn't look bad on Saturday evening, beer and bar-b-que all round.

 

Sunday morning was a bit different, slow start and lots of coffee. Youngest son, Phil seems to have inherited his Fathers inability to measure things and had ended up with a tent that was too short for his 6 foot 4 frame, didn't sleep too well and so was up first. Which was fine by me, we just voted him in charge of breakfast

 

 

 

Not sure here if he is trying to stare the bar-b-que into life, or if he is having to stand back because he put too much lighting fuel on it. eventually he got the bacon sarnies going, couple of left over burgers and loads of coffee.

 

All in all an excellent show, well worth the journey

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2014 by Zero-Five-Two
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[Smithy]

Excellent couple of posts, have really enjoyed that update.

 

Scott

[Zero-Five-Two]

Journey home is alway an anti-climax after a good weekend. We weren't the only ones going down the A1/M11, seemed like all the boys had out with their toys at shows. Custom Bikes, American cars, a whole convoy of VW Campers. Lots of hooting and waving on the way past. Good fun.

 

Sharing the driving is the only way to go, and in the Militant it works into 2 hour slots with breaks at Peterborough and Stansted. Best bit was Stuart did 2 slots, I just did the one in the middle and put my feet up for the rest of the way. I felt I should let him, after all he is a lot younger etc. Got home just after 11pm, quick kebab and a beer then sleep like a dead person til late on Monday morning. Don't you just love Bank Holidays.

 

Took the good wife out to lunch on Monday as payback for being allowed weekend out in truck. Helps to keep the peace for next time.

 

Militant seems to have developed a problem building up its air pressure. So last weekend involved a strip down of the system. I remembered a thread by Simon Daymond some years ago about problems with his Militant air pressure and a dodgy unloader valve. Mine seemed to be the same, compressor is pumping well but no pressure gets to the air tanks.

Stripped out the Unloader to find it full of gunge

 

 

This lump of brown sticky mess used to be a fibre filter.

 

Rest of the valve seemed to clean up OK, but the fibre filter will never be the same again. Trawled the net trying to find a replacement. Spoke to several companies that specialise in the older Clayton systems, they all knew what I needed but no one had one.

 

In the end I improvised a temporary filter with some dense foam and the metal insert from the old filter. Refitted the thing on yesterday, but it isn't much better. Truck will build air eventually, but only if you rev the whatsits out of the motor. The moment you take your foot off the gas, pressure drops straight away.

 

I think the valve block is just worn out. There is nothing to see inside that is damaged, the little bellows are still intact and not cracked as they do sometimes. Problem seems to be in the actual unloader bit. There are no seals inside, just fine tolerance metal to metal fit. Seems like the air is just leaking past.

 

Need a new one if anyone has one, I've posted a proper wanted thread as well, and I live in hope. It only took 5 years to find a spare wheel carrier so you never know.

 

In between times I shall be fitting a modern Air Dryer/unloader. Wont look right, but it will work and it gets the truck back on the road for the next show. More pictures next week

[Zero-Five-Two]

Well, the good news is after spending a good few hours trying to source a new unloader, trawled the 'net, phoned the world, placed a wanted ad on the forum here, and failed to find a new one, I've managed to fix the original. :yay:

 

The bad news is, if it wasn't for my own bad workmanship it would have been fixed a lot earlier :embarrassed:

 

Here's how it went. Stripped it out the first time, cleaned all the gunge out, made a new filter, put it back on and it still leaked. Stripped it out a second and third time, in case I'd missed something but couldn't see anything wrong.

 

 

Spent a good while in absolute frustration. :banghead: Thinking I should be able to sort it, it's what I do for a living, bus brakes are a constant source of entertainment.

 

Had it apart yet again, checked the metal to metal sealing faces of the unloader valve itself, ran some penetrating fluid into it to test the seal. The fluid drained straight out! Cracked it I thought, obviously not sealing properly. Out with the grinding paste and lapped the seat in just like you would do with a cylinder head valve.

 

Recheck with the penetrating fluid, perfect, not even a damp patch. Cleaned it all up and reassembled the thing again. Big grin 'cos I sussed it. Refitted to the Militant, start the engine, air builds nicely up to 60psi and wont go any more.

Check unloader, still leaking. End of big grin, lots of short words, much rage!!:argh::argh::argh:

 

Valve off "again" and back to the shed for yet another go.

 

I was laid in bed on Saturday morning debating whether to get up or not bother when the eureka moment occured.:idea:

It's not the valve that is leaking, air must be getting past one of the gaskets. When I took the thing apart the first time, 3 weeks ago now, the original gaskets fell apart. So I quickly chopped out some new ones. Not very good ones I now have to admit.

 

Armed with this knowledge I rushed out to the shed and stripped it down once more, takes about 3 minutes now, I've had lots of practice, lately. Made 3 new gaslets, taking a bit more care this time. Spot the difference in this picture

 

The one in the bottom right corner is the key. Air passes through the small hole but cannot be allowed to leak out round it.

Last check of all the parts, clean faces etc and put it back together. Down to the farm and fit it back on the Militant. Fingers crossed, start engine. Air starts building straight away even on tickover. Right up to 120psi, took about 30 seconds, and you can actually hear the faint hiss as it unloads like it should.

 

Stop engine, and wait, air pressure stays doesn't drop at all. Drained the air tanks to nothing and tried again. Air straight up. Rechecked it several times to make sure, each time perfect

 

So we are back on the road, and better than it ever was

[AndyFowler]

Glad I'm not the only one who lays awake at night thinking about vehicle problems ! Great to hear she's sorted ! Think a picture has just been posted on CCMV photo site of her in a previous guise at a show ! Are you a member ?

[Zero-Five-Two]

Thanks for that Andy, last photo I saw of mine was taken at the AEC show at Newark in May. There are a couple of other Militant pictures on there but they are not mine

[Zero-Five-Two]

The August bank holiday seems like a long time ago, now, but it was a very traumatic time for some of us and we've only just got over it. There has been much beer therapy since, it has helped, but these things take time to get over.

 

The original intention was to attend the Egham Royal Show in Surrey with son Stuart, on the saturday and Sunday. Every thing started ok We travelled on the old A25, planning keep off the M25 for most of the journey from Sittingbourne and just running on the last couple of junctions round to Egham on the motorway.

 

It started raining, around 10 ish, just a bit of drizzle at first, but it soon got the hang of it and came down much heavier. Traffic on the M25 wasn't going any faster than we were in the Militant, but we pressed on to the showground arriving an hour later than scheduled.

 

The joining instructions had said late arrivals would be frowned upon so we weren't expecting much of a welcome. On the contrary they were glad to see us and escorted us round to the commercial vehicle display area.

 

 

It was a bit tight getting parked with all the other entrants! :-D

 

Still we had a look round, found a burger stand for lunch, checked out the pig farming display and the arts and craft tent and that was about it. no one else had turned up. The organisers were understandably disappointed.

 

By late afternoon it is still chucking it down and everything is soaked and cold, so come 5 o'clock, we joined everyone else and set off for home.

 

The M25 was living up to it's other title of giant car park! Things were that slow it wasn't often the Militant got into top gear. Just what was needed after a bad afternoon. what should have been a 2 hour run actually took nearly four, but more importantly the usual 10 miles per gallon wasn't being achieved! It was more like 5 or 6.

 

By 9 o'clock we were about half a mile away from home, pitch dark and still raining, when the ever reliable roar from under the engine cover, became a stuttering cough as the last drips of diesel left the tank, and the motor died quietly.

 

Being former boy scouts we are prepared for this sort of thing. Back in 2008 Stuart bought some original jerry cans from the War and Peace show. Some of these we have used regularly, but one was filled and stored as a reserve on the truck. it has been there for some 5 years, waiting for it's heroic chance to save the day.

 

And it did, 20 litres straight into the tank, crank the engine a few turns and she fired up. Now soaked to the skin again, we jump in and head for the farm. We only just made it!! with the engine down to 2 maybe 3 cylinders we spluttered our way into the farm yard and parked, well more like abandoned where it stopped. Bad end to a bad day

 

Left the thing for the rest of the bank holiday in disgust. Last weekend investigated the problem. Fuel system contaminated with dirt and paint flakes from the inside of the jerry can. Only solution is to strip out the whole system from tank to injection pump and flush out with clean diesel.

 

 

And this is the sort of stuff that came out. This weekend it all went back together with new filter and some nice clean diesel, and I'm pleased to say she is back to her normal self thankfully. Good work by the fuel filter protecting the injection pump and the injectors, I had visions of frightening bills for pump overhaul etc.

 

Moral of the story is clean your jerrycans out every now and again.

[N.O.S.]

Another jerry can problem is that of using the WATER variety for diesel as they are enamelled on the inside.

 

We used some for refuelling tractors in the field. After they had been knocked about a bit (thrown on top of tipper loads and then tipped out in the field for the tractor driver to dig out of the heap) we found that small flakes of enamel would break off and float around in the tractor diesel tanks - and regularly get sucked onto the outlet pipe and the tractor would stop through fuel starvation.

 

On strip down the filter was found to be clean, the tank appeared to be clean (when drained the flakes would settle quite unseen on the bottom), and when the tractor was started it ran just fine. So the fitter would disappear and a little while later an enamel flake would block the suction pipe again and he would have to return.

 

This went on for days until a tank was finally removed and a hole cut to inspect - at which point the pesky little enamel flakes revealed themselves. :banghead:

[Grasshopper]

I witnessed a similar issue to that with a Gardner engined double deck bus- it was fitted with various new lift pumps, fuel lines, injectors, fuel tanks, and would still suffer fuel starvation to the point that the vehicle could only be trusted on a short local run. As a last resort one of the fitters cut a hole in the fuel tank only to find bits of newspaper in there which would on occasion block the fuel pipe. It transpired (with the help of garage forecourt CCTV) that the driver who took it on local runs used to dip the fuel tank with a rolled up newspaper.

[Zero-Five-Two]

You know how it goes, one of the kids says "Can I borrow the motor Dad" Then, the next thing you get is; Sorry it had a little bump!!

 

So I was minding my own a couple of weeks back when the phone rings. Son Stuart, We've got a cherry picker bogged in at work, says he, can I use the Militant to pull it out?

 

 

No problem for the truck, just hook up and pull. Loads of brownie points from his boss, max street cred in front of his mates.

 

Unfortunately a fence post got involved on the way out.

 

 

Not major damage, small dent and paint ripped. Worse thing is we are out at a show next weekend, and it wont look good. As it goes I was looking for something to test the new spray gun on.

 

1. Clean old paint and beat out the dent

 

2. Smear of filler

 

3. Invent a paint shop

 

4. Primer

 

5. Fresh top coat. I would say you can't see the join but the new paint is very bright at the moment. Still it is better than the dent.

 

We are now discussing how many beers he owes me :

[AndyFowler]

I would say the new spray gun works fine mate , lovely job !