restoration Leyland Martian - Return of the MadRat

[Niels v]

:rotfl:

[gritineye]

Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? Is she there yet ? :-D:-D:-D:-D:-D

 

For goodness sake! Hayley, please give him some Calpol......and tuck him in..

[AndyFowler]

QUOTE=gritineye;305179]For goodness sake! Hayley, please give him some Calpol......and tuck him in..

 

Thats a father talking from experience mate ! :D:D

[Degsy]

He's far too far gone for Calpol:nut:

[Chrisg]

He's far too far gone for Calpol:nut:

 

:rotfl::rotfl::laugh:

[daz76]

For goodness sake! Hayley, please give him some Calpol......and tuck him in..

 

Somehow I don't think calpol is anywhere near strong enough in this case Bernard! Looks like you had fun with the martian though. Looking forward to following progress with it's recommissioning. :drive:

[madrat]

For goodness sake! Hayley, please give him some Calpol......and tuck him in..

 

Poor Andy, I think he was more anxious than I was! Well somehow whilst driving down south I must have driven straight past this going the other way....

 

I have however found myself in Chester for three nights lighting up some 1000 year old church ruins so I'm going to have to be patient! And maybe sneak out to Anchor supplies or Withams during the day today :cool2:

 

Can't wait to have a play with her on Sunday, and get the new canvas tarps onto her... :angel:

 

 

 

[marvinthemartian]

Morning Duncan, just scanned in this bit from drivers handbook, showing what all the tits and cocks do. Hope you find it useful.

[madrat]

Morning Duncan, just scanned in this bit from drivers handbook, showing what all the tits and cocks do. Hope you find it useful.

 

 

Cheers mate!! I'll be needing that at the weekend, let's hope all my knobs are working... :cool2:

[AndyFowler]

Poor Andy, I think he was more anxious than I was! Well somehow whilst driving down south I must have driven straight past this going the other way....

 

I have however found myself in Chester for three nights lighting up some 1000 year old church ruins so I'm going to have to be patient! And maybe sneak out to Anchor supplies or Withams during the day today :cool2:

 

Can't wait to have a play with her on Sunday, and get the new canvas tarps onto her... :angel:

 

 

 

 

Ah , what a relief ! I can sleep now ! :-D

[madrat]

Ah , what a relief ! I can sleep now ! :-D

 

Sweat dreams Andy, just don't think too much about the fuel consumption!

[43BM13]

I used to drive one of these back in the 70s! For a 21 year old, a wonderful thing to be in charge of!

 

You asked about the spare wheel arrangements. From memory, there were two spaces for a spare wheel, one on each side. Anti Aircraft (Bofors) tractors had a mod on the right hand side for the gun second barrel (when firing you had to change barrels on a regular basis to avoid overheating and therefore prematures) which comprised a roller arrangement across the top of the wheel bin.

 

The angled jib fitted into two square brackets on the rear and middle canopy hoops. When not in use, it was simply shoved in alongside the spare wheel. There was a chain hoist ('Hoist Triple Gear' - why?) which hooked into the end of the jib. The drill to unload a wheel went something like this:

 

To unload in an open space (ie not your vehicle lines), if you were the driver, drop the rear wheel compartment door, give the wheel a good shove and watch everyone else run. If you weren't the driver, run. Otherwise, fit the jib as follows:

 

Withdraw jib from spare wheel compartment. You require something to stand on to get it into the brackets. As it is a) angled, and b) long, you will never get the balance right, so it will either hit you on the head or in the groin, or both. As you manoeuvre it in, it will (by way of variety) hit you in the groin or on the head, or both. At about this point your attention will be drawn away from the thing you are standing on so you will step off it into mid air when the jib takes an opportunity to hit you on the head (again) and / or your toe. It is not intended to be a tight fit but this will be achieved by your finger getting stuck anyway. Fit the chain hoist, take the strain, roll the wheel out, and lower. As the wheel is so heavy, you need to keep it upright, however, it is still attached to the chain hoist. With one hand, pull on the chain to release the strain, while the other hand and the rest of you is holding the wheel up and trying not to be squashed flat, while you suddenly discover that you are on a previously undetected gradient and the wheel is rolling away with you under it.

 

Loading the wheel is the reverse of the above, with the additional thrill that the jib holds the wheel clear of the body. You therefore have to somehow slightly lower the wheel while at the same time persuading the thing to go forward against gravity into the wheel bay. I was fortunate in that I had an old and somewhat broken chain hoist with two hooks. Easy! One for the wheel, and the other hooked into one of the eyes on the wheel bay door once you had the wheel at floor height. As you lowered on the wheel hook you pulled up on the door hook so the wheel simply rolled in, under control!

 

Removal of the jib was the reverse of the above, with the variation that it would choose to avoid the groin area, but go for the teeth instead, and / or the top of the head.

 

And relax.

 

Happy days!

[43BM13]

Finally the ISP diagram.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]58080[/ATTACH]

As for manuals, the only ones that seem to come upon ebay are for the recovery truck, I have managed to get two from there, only because there were a few things that were common to the whole series, or 1103 related amongst them. Vintage mv manuals do list a number of martian manuals, I have emailed them to enquire as to pricing for copies.

I aquired most of my manuals from a chap called John Firth, who used to live near Norwich, now lives up in Caithness. He had a good collection of vehicles including an early martian complete with 5.5" howitzer. He sold this and others before he moved. Another couple came from Chris Evans books,bought back in 1990 something when at the Duxford MV show, god knows if he is still around now. I suppose it's just a case of keep ones eyes open, you never know what comes up. There are still a couple that I am looking for to complete the set.

 

Further to my last post, just spotted an error in the diagram. The jib is shown inserted upside down. As shown, there would not be enough clearance under the end of the jib to get the wheek in and out of the bay, and the eye for the chain hoist won't work if pointing skywards!

[Gordon_M]

Cor, you didn't half go a long way to pick her up though.

 

Last Martian I saw in Scotland I'm sure was at Sandy Hunters, at Gordon, in the Borders. Wonder if Ross of Girvan would have any bits left?

 

Makes my 6 cylinder Dodges up here in central region seem quite sensible. :cheesy:

[gritineye]

 

 

Free at last! Free at last!

[David I]

I remembr Sandy Hunters's Martian. i once walked 4 miles in the snow to watch it recover Sandy's other recovery vehicle at that time, a Mack NO, after it had got stuck in snow at Redpath.

 

At that time it looked as if it was straight out of service, in a bronze green finish.

 

Later, in the mid Eighties the NO was replaced by a second Martian, and both were painted red with light bars fitted etc.

 

Hunters used to be an amazing place to look around for a kid who loved military vehicles. A few bits survived until fairly recently, but now its all gone. I've just looked on Google Earth and the sites totally clear. Wonder where all his vehicles went?

 

That said, a few years back there were lots of ex military vehicles in the Borders. Now, I cant think of any sitting around.

 

Dave.

[marvinthemartian]

Duncan, when ever you get time to get under the truck, check the transmission brake. Usual problem is seized pins on the shoes resulting in uneven wear on the friction surface. Also the small springs that are supposed to link both side shoes, and hold them parallel are missing or broken. Wear on the threaded part of the pull rod is something else I found on mine. Also the handbrake disc itself, probably rusty as hell. What I did with mine was have it sand blasted and galvanised. Looks much better.

Well to be quite honest there are loads of things that need looking at underneath....Many years ago after a few beers on a warm day I fell asleep while stripping paint from the front axle, laid down in the sun ah well:beer:

Simon

[madrat]

Hi guys, thanks very much for the comments.

 

Hugh, fascinating to get an insight into how these trucks operated in service, keep the knowledge coming! Do you have any pictures of your old truck? If you are ever up in Central Scotland get in touch for a look/drive! Would be lovely to gather some others for my "In service" gallery, if you haven't already seen the pictures have a look here:

 

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?29704-Gallery-Leyland-Martian-Artillery-Tractor-%28FV1103%29-in-service-with-42nd-Regiment-RA&highlight=leyland+martian

 

Cor, you didn't half go a long way to pick her up though.

 

Gordon; Sure did, it was a bit of an adventure though! I wonder how many are left up here? They do seem rather unloved compared t other gun tractors and I guess most have made it to the melting pot in the sky :cry: What dodges do you have? Looking forward to getting out on the road in due course, are there many good shows up here?

 

I remembr Sandy Hunters's Martian. i once walked 4 miles in the snow to watch it recover Sandy's other recovery vehicle at that time, a Mack NO, after it had got stuck in snow at Redpath.

 

Hi Dave, was that an artillery tractor you remember? I do wonder how many are tucked away in sheds... And a 4 mile walk in the snow shows great dedication!

 

Well to be quite honest there are loads of things that need looking at underneath....Many years ago after a few beers on a warm day I fell asleep while stripping paint from the front axle, laid down in the sun ah well:beer:

 

Cheers for the brake advice, having made the mistake of taking my Scammell to bits I'm not going to do the same to the Leyland. That said I want to make sure she's 100% mechanically before hitting the road, brakes will be high on the agenda!

[madrat]

Oh, and we took a drive yesterday in-between night-shifts to Anchor supplies! It wasn't as good as I remember from 15 years ago but still managed to pick up two massive (30x12ft?) unused canvas's for £30! I think they are tent sides but are really heavy and will do a nice job of keeping her dry!

[Gordon_M]

Oh, where's Anchor supplies then? I need some big canvas to make a cover for the back of one of my trucks.

 

My current vehicle list is here;

 

http://www.gwim2.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gordons_vehicle_home.htm

 

I seem to have specialised in vehicles that do more than one thing - originally amphibians but now a combination of snow vehicle stuff and rail stuff. Although I live in Falkirk I'm in Aberdeen virtually all week and just get to play with the toys at the weekend.

 

Last time I was at Sandy Hunters I remember the NO Mack which was a converted Prime Mover, but the Martian I'm sure was the pukka wrecker version. There's still one NO at Chisholms at Ballachulish which was mint when he got it till he took off the back body, stuck on a hard cab, and left it outside for twenty years. Ross of Girvan had another mint NO at that time - long since sold on.

 

I've no idea where his stuff went, but sure it wasn't wasted.

[madrat]

Oh, where's Anchor supplies then? I need some big canvas to make a cover for the back of one of my trucks.

 

The branches are Ripley and Nottingham. A few good bits and pieces but a lot of overpriced stuff too! The canvas was probably the only thing worth buying, if I'd known I'd have picked you up some!

 

That's a really cool & interesting collection of vehicles you have there, do you find much time to work on them? I'm trying not to buy any more projects, just not got the time I used to!

 

I'm off for a play with the Leyland now, I've not seen it yet and itching like a kid at xmas!!

[AndyFowler]

The branches are Ripley and Nottingham. A few good bits and pieces but a lot of overpriced stuff too! The canvas was probably the only thing worth buying, if I'd known I'd have picked you up some!

 

That's a really cool & interesting collection of vehicles you have there, do you find much time to work on them? I'm trying not to buy any more projects, just not got the time I used to!

 

I'm off for a play with the Leyland now, I've not seen it yet and itching like a kid at xmas!!

 

Have fun mate ! Don't forget your cameras ! :D

[Gordon_M]

 

That's a really cool & interesting collection of vehicles you have there, do you find much time to work on them?

 

 

 

Almost none, unfortunately. I'm either working and too busy, or not working and too poor. Postman and neighbours are always getting mysterious e-bay purchases from all over the place with some gauge for the Iron Fireman or tool for the K-38 trailer, but that's about it.

 

Definitely not buying any more till I get some of the existing stuff finished and sold, but the upside is my petrol budget is about £10 per year just to keep them turned over.

 

I could even stick a Martian in my garage - after I took out about four Dodges ....

[madrat]

Well I had a mixed first day with the Martian today, the first few hours spent with her at the workshop didn't go that well.

 

I couldn't get her started so I decided to set the timing properly, that went fine and it wasn't that far out anyway but she still wouldn't fire up (Just the odd cough and splutter), noticing petrol dripping from an exhaust joint I was suspicious that the float mechanism might be stuck so I pulled off the carb for a look, I cleaned out some crap but it seemed to be working as it should, it'll need new gaskets but the diaphragms looked to be ok so I put it back on the truck for now.

 

With the rain coming sideways I took apart the dizzy and cleaned and gapped the points properly but that didn't help either! I reckon maybe the plugs are now fouled, the HT leads don't look that clever either. I think I'll have another few hours on her tomorrow!

 

On the plus side I did find some paperwork, it was owned in 2001 by a Raymond Dunkley from Croydon, I also found a B-Vehicle record card which makes interesting reading. I was quite chuffed with that :-D

 

[Peter4456]

Some Martian info which may or may not be of interest!