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why are Humbers poorly supported.


Rover8FFR

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I have noticed that the Humber 1 ton 4x4 family are so badly supported out there. There is so much more to the Humbers than the iconic PIG.

 

Such a specific vehicle. Full of high tec should be less sparse.

 

Why are they regarded so?

 

Rant over.

Edited by Rover8FFR
typo
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I think the biggest problem was the tin worm when it got into the double skin of the cab. Still a lovely truck

 

A beautiful truck..... Even the Pig.

So advanced yet unique by default.

 

They must be saved and preserved.

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I have always loved the look of them and would like one, but the body rot puts me off, unlike most British military vehicles it has a lot of double skinned compound curves, always a pain to repair.

 

One visits shows locally and I find the cab a bit claustrophobic, and the view from the driver's seat is not too good after a Scammell..

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Yes body rot can be a challenge for Humbers these days. But even 30 years ago there were very few Humbers on the show circuit.

 

The Humber below suffered badly from this but with skill, perseverance and above a love of the FV1600 series. Large sections of the body were remade. This is not a filler & gloss effort, proper engineering far beyond my skills. It quite rightly won a first prize at W&P last year. If I had my way I would have given it best in show, because I watched this vehicle for 25 years. At one stage it had a FV1604 body modified to fit on & it had been going down hill rapidly.

 

DSCF1936Medium.jpg

 

Not just a bodywork rebuild but look at this exhaust Y-piece made by hand.

 

DSC02112Medium.jpg

 

If you really love them its amazing what can be done.:D

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As you can tell by my ‘handle’, I am a great lover of the Humber, having had the wireless version in the far-off distant past and had the pleasure of owning a Pig and a few FV1600 cargos. I loved the sound of the Rolls B60, the enormous pulling power and the incredible, off-road suspension, however, the maintenance was a bit of a nightmare; I lost count of the number of grease nipples it had!

 

However, although it is said at the beginning of this thread, that the Humber enthusiast isn’t well supported, well, HMVF is the best forum to be on, as we have our own real expert in Clive aka FV1609, whose past articles in Windscreen magazine and his continuing help with anything Humber has to be applauded and appreciated.

 

Thanks, Clive.

 

Bw,

Mike.

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I lost count of the number of grease nipples it had!

 

Mike depending on the levels of conversion I think I once counted over 90 lubrication points! You were switched into Humbers before I really got going & you made quite a few contributions to Max Richard's 'Humber Directory' Newsletter. A couple of years ago Max passed all his original records to me for safe keeping. There are some nice glossies of yours, particularly of a 'naked' Humber. Was that a driver training thing or some other reason?

 

The current Pig (FV1609) I have had for about 10 years & still restoring it. The current work is removing all the rubber paint from the torsion bars & rubbing them down to eliminate rust & the risk of snapping.

 

The especially vulnerable point is where one bar passes close to a channel that houses one of 3 bolts supporting the torque reaction bracket for the T/F box. Not a good design feature, but of course it wasn't designed like that, it was a mod. The bracket was originally welded to the chassis.

 

Dsc04843a_zpsb040e495.jpg

 

Yes it can snap because my decomposing FV1601 (which proves the rot problem!) now is missing that bar, which was used for a Pig that snapped this bar!

 

Mike whilst I have got you have you seen a tap on tyre pumps before?

 

Dsc04808a_zpse4ff67e4.jpg

 

I have never seen this pumps before. Normally it is blanked over. On Similar pumps for other vehicles I have seen a gauze here. But I assume for wading a gauze is not a good idea. Having destroyed 3 such pumps because of irregular use & poor lubrication I just wondered whether it was to introduce oil for the otherwise sticking piston? I know there is a tiny groove in the shaft into the crank case but this is only going to allow a very small amount of oil in & only when it has really got going.

 

When I first serviced the pump a lot of oil came out through the tap & in fact the filter was completely soaked in oil. I don't know whether this was an official mod as all EMER mods prior to WV N257 No.37 were cancelled. Any ideas?

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Mike whilst I have got you have you seen a tap on tyre pumps before?

 

Dsc04808a_zpse4ff67e4.jpg

 

I have never seen this pumps before. Normally it is blanked over. On Similar pumps for other vehicles I have seen a gauze here. But I assume for wading a gauze is not a good idea. Having destroyed 3 such pumps because of irregular use & poor lubrication I just wondered whether it was to introduce oil for the otherwise sticking piston? I know there is a tiny groove in the shaft into the crank case but this is only going to allow a very small amount of oil in & only when it has really got going.

 

When I first serviced the pump a lot of oil came out through the tap & in fact the filter was completely soaked in oil. I don't know whether this was an official mod as all EMER mods prior to WV N257 No.37 were cancelled. Any ideas?

 

My neighbour Rampant Rivet has a new toy. A bedford MWD and his service schedule mentions that periodic lubrication of the tyre pump is required. Perhaps the required drops of oil at the required intervals or after use prevented heat seizure and gave the necessary lubrication. I've asked him to dig it out as I cannot find similar guidance in my FV1611a documentations.

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Wayne I've got a Bedford handbook it just says "It is automatically lubricated from the gearbox". As regards the Humber the AMTS questionnaire just says the only servicing required is to ensure all connections are tight. The UHB just says "it is lubricated by oil in the gearbox & requires no routine servicing". This is repeated in the Technical Description.

 

The query was whether this was an in-service mod & whether it was to drain off any excess oil or to introduce it?

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