paul connor Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) I have been restoring my Snatch for around 7 months now, and it is coming on fast now, at last! The chassis has been stripped and painted/rust-proofed. All bushes and suspension parts have been replaced. The interior has been fully stripped and painted, and refitted with all the hard to find bits & bobs. With still lots to do yet, but it's coming together. When I bought the vehicle I was not overly worried about the engine as I did buy it very cheap. The first time it was started it had a 'rattle/tap' noise, which I assumed was the tappets as it seemed very much on the top nearside of the engine, It would seem I was wrong. A friend and I removed the carbs to inspect the tappets. All seemed very clean and filled us with fear that the issue wasn't the lifters or indeed the cam. As the engine was to be removed to enable other works it was time to inspect the lump further. When the sump was removed it at first all looked pretty good, then we noticed swarf and part of a piston base was destoryed. Upon further inspection the big-end shells were all very worn and had in some cases created long pieces of twisted metal. The end-float was also hugely excessive. An over-view was it's F****d! I luckily have a recon engine, so it's not a huge disaster, but just goes to show that what first appeared to be something small turned out to be the end of the lump. I could rebuild but it would cost too much, so now it's spares. I do wonder how it happened and it what order things failed due to heat and lack of lubrication. I shall check the oil pump when I get the chance, as that may be faulty. Here are a few pictures of the work so far. I'm having difficulty trying to get the pictures in order in the upload, but hopefully progress is obvious! Paul Edited December 28, 2013 by paul connor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Nice work Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Having used these in Iraq I can tell you they got a lot of abuse! The 2 Snatch in my team had dislodged rear springs, snapped cable cutter, broken A/C, the carbs would stick, fuel leaked, tyres shreded but it was a bloody good vehicle for the punishment it received. When the Chubb, Baltimore and other ECM was installed there wasn't a standard set up (There maybe should have been), we told the guys where we wanted it and they chucked it in exactly where we said. We also had to stick day glow stickers across the top of the windscreen and later we had to stick a laminated Union Flag in the Window to highlight to the American troops that we were Brits, even then, we had to approach the rear of a US convoy slowly to within visual range and then wait for a signal from the rear guard to pass. If you didn't wait, they would have no issue with putting the 50 cal through the engine (So we were told). We also didn't have the box in the back for the top cover guys as this used up valuable space. Instead we had boxes of bottled water for the small lad to stand on and out tall lad stood directly on to the bed. We had the PMR in the front but had the clansman (Then Bowman) in the rear and only fitted the aerial when we needed it. When we did need it ready but not in immediate use, we tied the front down so we didn't break it. We also had red phos grenades positioned next to the ECM in case our vehicles were imobalised and we needed to destroy the vehicle. I'm glad there are plenty coming on to the market as they'll always bring back memories (Good and bad) of Iraq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul connor Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Cheers Tyler, I shall get some more picture up soon. Chris, do you have any pictures of them in service from your time in the big sandpit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Looking good, spent some time in those in Basra.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul connor Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 Do you happen to have any in service pictures you would like to share? Always looking for registration numbers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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