fuel tank rollover valve? Ferret

[01ec28]

Hello again. I've wondered about this part which seems to be a modification at one time? Anyone know if the part pictured is a fuel rollover valve. Breathing through and tipping it seems to confirm this, or does it serve another roll. What I am considering is removing the part, saving the bracket, and fitting a silica desiccant breather in its place to keep moisture out of the tank. It is on a ferret mk2/3.

Cheers, Drew

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Drew,

 

That was indeed a mod, I fitted quite few when they were in service. It involved drilling two mounting holes between the two rear hatches, using a monster air drill with morse taper armour drill bits ............ a long time ago now. And yes it was to stop petrol escaping in a rollover.

 

regards Richard

[01ec28]

Thank you Richard. As it's correct I'll leave it in place and place desciccant between it and the outside vent.

Thanks, Drew

[fv1609]

Drew did it have a NI history?

 

There was an EMER issued for fitting these to Pigs in Feb 1976. It was a blue paper EMER so was for immediate implementation.

[01ec28]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is an NI history Clive? If related to the service record, I've only recently sent my request to bovington museum and should recieve the records shortly.

Cheers, Drew

[fv1609]

Sorry NI = Northern Ireland

[Rover8FFR]

Clive I assume FV1609 has one then or did you remove for originality????

[fv1609]

Wayne yes although one was fitted by the Army, I removed it to put it into it,s 1960s MoHA role.

[Rover8FFR]

I thought that may have been the case.....Were they only fitted to PIGs in NI then????? I have seen pictures of PIGs on their sides beside the roads when based in Germany etc so wonder if the dictate was applied outside NI

[fv1609]

Pigs in BAOR predate the 1976 EMER.

[AlienFTM]

I thought that may have been the case.....Were they only fitted to PIGs in NI then????? I have seen pictures of PIGs on their sides beside the roads when based in Germany etc so wonder if the dictate was applied outside NI

 

The story I heard from our squadron artificer (REME) in 1977 was that the Pigs had been sold off as obsolete to Portugal when it all kicked kicked off in NI. they found that Saracen was simply too big for day to day in Belfast (though we retained them in the NI Armoured Car / Armoured Recce Regt in Omagh until and beyond 1976 when I was there) so MOD went to Portugal and bought the Pigs back.

 

A lot of mods went onto these Pigs and the weight crept up and crept up.

 

According to Tiffy, in NI at every Monday morning O Group (Orders Group - Meeting) the question was asked, how much oil in the Pigs this week? Too much and the seals blew; too little and things siezed.

 

I am sure our resident Pig experts can add / illuminate / whatever.

[fv1609]

At one stage there were 298 Saracens & yes unwieldy things but the large numbers were deployed as a stop-gap whilst the Pigs were being up-armoured.

 

The additional Pigs came from as near as Belfast, to as far away as Libya. Op Marble was to determine the time taken to bring them into service. The actual time needed to make a Pig serviceable was double what had been estimated. Although there were 10 already there since 1958 (for I have one of these) which had been run on a regular basis & automotively up together.

 

The original problem with seals to the Tracta joint housing was that they could blow when injecting the oil in. An instruction was issued to reposition the lubricator further from the seal & blank over the original hole. Unfortunately large numbers of Pigs were found to have never been modified in this manner & this then had to be carried out.

 

The story of the joints themselves is covered in:

 

http://www.hmvf.co.uk/pdf/PIGINAPOKE.pdf

[01ec28]

The service record definitely shows NI service clive. The valve is mounted by welded studs on the hull however. Either way mod is completed.

Cheers, Drew

[fv1609]

Drew I wouldn't have thought the small amount of desiccant you could get in there would do much good for very long. That volume would be alright inside some sealed electronic equipment. But with a flow of air through it I would have thought it would become saturated pretty quickly.

 

The thing to watch with these valves is to clean them out from time to time, they can get clogged up by nesting spiders. I have seen one Ferret run for a while then conk out because the valve was strangled by spider debris.

[01ec28]

I'll see how it lasts. The cylinder I made holds 1/4cup of desciccant. It will also serve to filter any bugs as you mention. I'll keep an eye on it. Right now it's a black cylinder but soon to be clear so i can monitor the condition of the desciccant.

Cheers, Drew

[AlienFTM]

I have just noticed 01EC28.

 

Unless I am very much mistaken this was my Mark 2 in UNFICYP from September until about the end of 1976 when it was taken for a base overhaul and I was issued a new one straight out of same. It's been through a couple of minefields and appeared briefly in a film about 1980. The film started with a bunch of people being ushered into a nuclear bunker having been selected to run a post-apocalyptic world which is about to happen any day now (in the film). There is a scene of rioting and a UN Ferret comes into focus, this one.

 

I have never been able to remember the name of the film, but I watched it at Barker Bks Paderborn.

 

Having received the mother of all bollickings from my brother for not writing frequently enough to my mother during our recent NI tour, she got three blueys a week from Cyprus describing the saga or our (mine and the Ferret's) adventures. I had to number the blueys so that she read them in turn. Sadly not kept.

[01ec28]

Alien FTM, just read your reply, I guess you can disregard the anecdote request then! Thanks for posting a reply. Do you know if 01ec28 ever had her boxes knocked off?

Cheers, Drew

[AlienFTM]

Not during my brief acquaintance, no.

[robin craig]

If by "boxes knocked off" you mean the centre side bin then I have some insight.

 

This has been kicked around before quite a bit. The opinion I have gathered is that for the BRITFORLEB which was British Forces in Lebannon mission here is certainly photographic eveidence of them being removed across the fleet that was in service there. Some claim the spare tyre was also removed.

 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205190342

 

That is all that I can say with any kind of proof to back up what I am saying

 

R

Edited March 2, 2012 by robin craig
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