restoration matador restoration.

[doug fleet]

How does everyone feel about a restoration blog of a matador thats being restored as it was on the fair ground . would it ok on here or is it a no no. thanks Doug

[Edd]

The more the merrier. Always interesting to see any vehicle being restored. It probably spent more of it's life on the fairground than it did in the army.

 

Regards

Ed

[CMP-Phil]

Hi

 

Agree more restoration threads the better. Given that this post military service use is often responsible for the vehicle survival makes its restoration as a "fair ground" vehicle sounds good. When it is done and you are proudly showing, make up a vehicle display showing it's history from military to vehicle thru civil life.

 

Good luck on your restoration and keep us posted.

 

Cheers Phil

[doug fleet]

iam very pleased and suprised by both comments . so will sort 2 or 3 photos as a before and keep you all updated.

[Russ1988]

Can you not post a couple of pictures now so we can see the truck as it is??

[Zero-Five-Two]

Bring it on mate. It is always good to see another rare wagon that is in a safe pair of hands.

 

If you are still worried about the reception you may get from some forum members, have a look at my Civilian Militant blog!! Couldn't get less Military if it tried.

 

 

You may get one or two comments about it not being green but it will just be good natured mickey taking. My biggest critic on here is now a good friend

[Niels v]

Yes we can mostly thank civilian service for saving many of our early vehicles.

I have been thinking about restoring one of my gun tractors as the recovery truck it was for 40 years.

But mostly civilian service look is very easy to convert back to military, mostly a matter of paint.

[doug fleet]

the wife is going to sort the photos out in a minute. rob i had a good look at your millitant at long melford rally this year .

Edited November 5, 2015 by doug fleet

[rog8811]

The afterlife of these trucks is just as important as their original purpose. I first fell in love with Matadors and Scammell pioneers from watching the local showmen nosing trailers in and out of the winter quarters with them.

Keep the pictures coming!

[Russ1988]

Nice truck. Do you know any of the history of it? Apart from it being a fairground truck - who was it? What year is it etc? Nice to see another in the background too!

[doug fleet]

the green one is 1944 . converted to timber tractor and worked for station road saw mills in oxford.i have owned it for 14 years .the showmans one is 1943 armour plated ( as most of you know). theres an angle brace that goes right across the chassie number ,so iam going to cut it out take the number and weld it back in. the intresting thing is the fuel tank, air bottleare on the opposite sides to a standerd matador. why i dont know. i read that about 475 were made and we can acount for about 10 in the world that we know about. but there must be more around .it was purchased by the downs family in the 1950s and converted to pull there gallopers around which they still travel .it sat in there yard for about 38 years and was offerd to me or it was going for scrap they said. i have had it about 5 years now . it runs and drives . on the engine there is a patch on no 5 cylinder where i think a big end let go. we are restoring it back as it was on the fair because it has spent most of its life like that .we steam cleaned it last week end ready to make a start . we have already changed the tyres . all the underneath is painted in olive drab which iam going to put back on it ..

[philb]

Excellent! keep the reports coming, there will be plenty of interest here.

[mammoth]

Armour plated? Do you have any pictures of what they looked like in service. Presumably it now has a totally different cab. Re the air cylinders being on drivers side are the brakes full air or the early version of air over hydraulic.

[simon king]

Nice truck. Do you know any of the history of it? Apart from it being a fairground truck - who was it? What year is it etc? Nice to see another in the background too!

 

Judging from the shape of the framework behind the cab, this was once a Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle rather than a Matador - is that correct?

 

Edit - I've just seen your post on the AEC Armoured Cars thread - so it is a Dorchester - a rare beastie indeed.

Edited November 9, 2015 by simon king

[doug fleet]

hiya all the brakes are full air . the cab as far as i know looks original ,just has the armour cut off. the windscreens are caravan windows as the armour ones are far to small to see through when driving and towing 2 trailers.they were never fitted with a winch either . it does run and drive and the brakes start to work but the drain plug in the air bottle is missing . . hopping to get back on it next weekend as work got in the way last weekend. when i had a quick look the other night the steam cleaning has uncoverd some numbers writen on the chassie rail and engine sump. thanks for all the kind coments as i thought i would get dragged around a field for putting it on here.

[doug fleet]

i am led to beleave its 1943 . i will get the body stay cut off that goes over the chassie number and get a photo and stick it on here and someone might be able to give me a yes or no as to its year

[NickAbbott]

Hi Doug, what numbers did you find on the sump - I found some numbers painted on the sump of mine when I cleaned all the grime and muck off it. I can't find anything they correlate to though. I'll try and find a picture.

 

Nick

[mammoth]

AEC often stenciled their part No on many of the components, so a look at the parts book will reveal if there is a correlation.

[doug fleet]

i will be back over there this weekend and will write down some numbers and where they are to see if they match any other matadors

[matman41]

Hi Doug, great to see your Matadors and looking forward to watching the progress.

With regards to the numbers painted on the sump I would think that they will be the grade/type of oil that was used in that particular component, also you will probably find them on the g/box, diffs etc. The ones on the chassis could well be the markings to show the location of the drain cocks on the engine block or the oil for a component near the chassis i.e. the air compressor. But without seeing photos it's hard to say for sure.

Regards, Mel

[doug fleet]

hiya matman thanks for the photos . with the help of you guys i feel like we will find out some of its history and what the numbers are or were. there is olive drab paint in places under neath so iam going to put all the numbers and olive drab back on it . i will keep the photos comming as we get on .

[doug fleet]

everning fellors. what colour is the engine suposed to be . we have sorted the olive drab paint out for the underneath but i dont know what colour the engine is suposed to be. i thought it was a mint green but the engine looks grey . thanks for the help.

[Ian L]

the green one is 1944 . converted to timber tractor and worked for station road saw mills in oxford

 

Could that be Station road, Wheatley ? as I remember an old saw mill there many years ago, rather than Oxford ?

[NickAbbott]

This is the number painted on the sump of my Matador (it's the only number I've found painted on the engine), I don't know if it refers to the part number of the sump, as someone else suggested, as mine is fitted with an A193 petrol engine, and I don't have a parts manual that covers the engine, and the diesel engine sump is not the same. The engine colour is also light grey, as can be seen in the picture.

 

Nick

[doug fleet]

right then i had to cut a body stay in half to get to the chassie number , which is the same as the one on the engine cover . 0583 4385 . there is no brass workshop plate fitted ( or we havent found it yet). the engine number is A 173SD190. on the engine sump is WO 35/ 37. on the front axle there is a white patch painted on the front of it . i cant make out what the numbers were. on the back axle but the front of it is punched pat 117777 , then underneath is 1918 F2N then underneath is F10150 , 101 then in a triangle is 19. on the back of the back axle is 7.9 punched in to it at the top . could this be the axle ratio ??? there is a white patch painted on it aswell but cant quiet see what the letters are .we got a tempary fuel supple igged up so i can drive it out when iam down there on me own .at the moment i tow it out with the landrover while my 15 year old son steers it .the wife will put some photos on in a bit. sorry cant spell very well.