Zero-Five-Two Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Halfway through doing that with my tanker. I will be the first keeper of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Now gently vibrating with excitement. :cheesy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Yeah, it'd actually surprise me a great deal if it was the original engine. The truck doesn't actually have a logbook, nor show any signs of having plates on it; apparently it was pretty commonplace just to drive them around on trade plates up until the mid 80s or so, so it may never have actually been registered. I'm hoping to gather a decent amount of evidence for when the truck was first introduced into service, and suchforth, so that I can -- when I have it running -- send off the relevant forms to the DVLA and get its first registration. (Which would mean I'd be the first registered owner; trippy. ) Waiting to see whether the RLC Archive can find an ERM for it; if so, then I can hunt down a copy of the B vehicle card, for the date into service. A word to the wise I suggest that you enlist the help of a club to get the first registration sorted The DVLA can be a funny animal to deal with and the paperwork you provide them with may not be the paperwork they want. This will only lead to frustration and delays Part of the V55/5 scheme (get one on order from the DVLA asap, it cant be downloaded) requires a dating letter from a club that is authorised and recognised by the DVLA. I don't think (although I will be proved wrong) the RLC museum is listed Plenty of info on the DVLA website (look for V55/5 scheme) Please feel free to pm me to discuss (I was MVT verification officer for three years) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero-Five-Two Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I've been fortunate with my AEC tanker, the British Commercial Museum in Leyland, Lancashire holds all the build information I need and they are recognised by the DVLA. For your RL, The Bedford Owners and Enthusiasts Club is most likely your best bet. Try this lady, she is the club secretary: Christine Thomas 07745 873491 detroitlady123@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero-Five-Two Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 [quote Now gently vibrating with excitement. :cheesy: Is that the truck or yourself, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 I think I'm a way off dealing with the DVLA yet, but I'm definitely open to as much advice about dealing with them as possible; I've seen a lot of stories of things not working out as expected... they can be quite difficult to deal with at times. (I should note, I'm also getting advice elsewhere too, from someone who's also had a lot of dealings with the DVLA. Kapri on Rods n Sods, in case you know him.) The RLC isn't on the V765 list, and neither is the Bedford Owners and Enthusiasts Club, as far as I can tell. But I'll get a V55/5 ordered anyway; that way, it might be here by the time I get it done enough to start figuring out the paperwork nightmare. Is that the truck or yourself, then? Yes! :laugh: (As for further updates on what's been done on the truck: half of an oil change. It was black as the night, stinks of petrol, but at least was still liquid and there was plenty of it. Half-filled a 25-litre plastic hydraulic-oil drum that was laid on its side as a drain tray. Then managed to drop the filter when I finally got the housing to break free of its crust... Sploosh. Black up to my wrists... Waiting on a new oil filter to turn up at the parts place. I'll be getting that at 0930 Friday.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I think I'm a way off dealing with the DVLA yet, but I'm definitely open to as much advice about dealing with them as possible; I've seen a lot of stories of things not working out as expected... they can be quite difficult to deal with at times. (I should note, I'm also getting advice elsewhere too, from someone who's also had a lot of dealings with the DVLA. Kapri on Rods n Sods, in case you know him.) The RLC isn't on the V765 list, and neither is the Bedford Owners and Enthusiasts Club, as far as I can tell. But I'll get a V55/5 ordered anyway; that way, it might be here by the time I get it done enough to start figuring out the paperwork nightmare. Yes! :laugh: (As for further updates on what's been done on the truck: half of an oil change. It was black as the night, stinks of petrol, but at least was still liquid and there was plenty of it. Half-filled a 25-litre plastic hydraulic-oil drum that was laid on its side as a drain tray. Then managed to drop the filter when I finally got the housing to break free of its crust... Sploosh. Black up to my wrists... Waiting on a new oil filter to turn up at the parts place. I'll be getting that at 0930 Friday.) It doesn't have to be a nightmare The Military Vehicle Trust or the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club should be able to help Please just don't try for registration without getting some advice from a subject matter expert. Otherwise it will end in tears and all we will see is posts about how poor the DVLA are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 My memory of RLs is smashing your elbow on the back of the cab when changing from 1st to 2nd..... And of reversing hard against the handbrake while shoving of the transfer box lever to get it out of low. Our TAVR ones were always winding up whereas the ones at work (seismic exploration), which spent a lot of time in low box, never gave a problem. Gordon Be fair to the old buses - you only needed 1st gear if the back was carrying a full of or 3 or 4 tons. Empty we used to pull away in second so the elbow was only vulnerable going 3 to 4. And if you adopted the RL shift with your hand in front of the knob pushing back into 4th rather than pulling like in a Landie you were usually OK :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Please just don't try for registration without getting some advice from a subject matter expert. Otherwise it will end in tears and all we will see is posts about how poor the DVLA are Don't worry, I've seen how bad it can end up. I'm not just blindly stumbling ahead on that. (The concern is appreciated, however.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Don't worry, I've seen how bad it can end up. I'm not just blindly stumbling ahead on that. (The concern is appreciated, however.) Feel free to pm me if you want some help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth ware Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Oddly I am in the process of putting the same Harvey frost crane on a Bedford RL. I do not have a handle for the winch - any chance you could send me a photo of the winch handle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Don't worry, I've seen how bad it can end up. I'm not just blindly stumbling ahead on that. (The concern is appreciated, however.) As most know - I am not a great fan of the DoT agencies - particularly what used to be VOSA! However - credit where it is due. I had mega problems registering my UAZ 469. It was already registered here in the UK but the previous owner had lost the V5. And the chassis plate. I had photos of the vehicle wearing its original registration but as DVLA pointed out - a grenn UAZ is a green UAZ - it could have been any vehicle. The first people I dealt with I have to admit did live up to the DVLA's reputation for lack of helpfulness - but I think that was because they had no idea what they were dealing with. Once the matter got passed to their division that deals with classic registrations the situation improved vastly. The lady I started dealing with understood the problems I had and "talked" me through what had to be done paperwork wise. It took me getting on for 8 months in total due to time lags between answering e-mails (their end) and the time it took paperwork to be sent via snail mail and returned. I had the small problem of no chassis number - the firm UAZ painted the number onto the chassis, they did not stamp it - and I cleaned the chassis rail back to bare metal looking for a stamped number - oops!! So I had time delays in explaining this (actually the hardest part of the process), getting a new unique chassis number issued, stamped onto the chassis and then certified by an approved location (MoT Test Centre) As Brooky says - get a letter from a club stating they have inspected the vehicle and it is what you say it is (hint - don't mention a % of parts age wise - I sent in a letter saying it was at least 60% tax exempt era parts - and they wrote back saying if they proceeded with that I'd have to pay tax, get a letter without the parts mentioned!) and it does have the chassis number as on the vehicle. As regards the club being on the approval list - ask about the two you mention. For my UAZ there was nothing dealing with Soviet vehicles on the list - MVT and IMPS passed due to lack of knowledge. However there was a club dedicated to Soviet era vehicles, the USSR - Unloved Soviet Socialist Register. I asked if they would accept a letter from them even though not in the list they had sent me and DVLA said yes. As long as it was on headed club paper. It might pay you to contact them via e-mail first explaining your situation. If you are lucky the query will get passed direct to the team that deals with this and all will go well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 (edited) Oddly I am in the process of putting the same Harvey frost crane on a Bedford RL. I do not have a handle for the winch - any chance you could send me a photo of the winch handle? I'll get a few photographs (and measurements, if I can) of the winch handle(s) I've got, when I'm next in the yard; but it's a pretty simple thing, from memory... the most complex part is the dog on the end of it that connects up to the winch. It might pay you to contact them via e-mail first explaining your situation. If you are lucky the query will get passed direct to the team that deals with this and all will go well. That's a good thought; I'm sure it couldn't hurt to see what they say. As for an update: Not much, at the moment. Buckled prop-shaft is out... At some point, when I'm closer to having it drivable, I'll drop it off somewhere to see what they say about making it more... er... prop-shaft shaped. I got the ancient and crusty radiator hose chiselled off, and the metal pipe bits cleaned up -- painted, too, in the case of the steel one -- with some new bits of radiator hose applied where appropriate. Not entirely all back together yet, though... I don't want to put the radiator back in until I've got an alternator fitted, simply because I have plenty of access and light without the radiator in the way; and I'm expecting some fiddling about making/tweaking brackets and such-forth to line up the pulley. Plus, this should prevent me causing damage to the radiator while trying to make everything fit. Not yet decided what alternator I'm going to use, but it'll probably be whatever's cheapest that I can get to fit. I can't foresee huge electrical demands, so something in the region of 55A will probably do just fine. I'm also still making up my new electrical 'schematic', which I'll share when it's complete if there's any interest; but it's probably a little over-engineered for most, I'd suspect. (Vehicle electrics is something I do a lot of and quite enjoy, for the most part) After I get the alternator and electric fuel pump put in, radiator reinserted and plumbed, and enough of the rewiring done to get the important bits working; I'll see if I can get the engine to run on liquid fuel through the carb, and if successful, I will probably make a very slow and careful lap of the industrial estate. Then I'll probably attack it with the power washer, and remove a lot of the built up gunge around everything; makes it a lot easier to see where the grease-nipples are, for one... EDIT: Ooh! And if it moves under its own power, I can run it over the weigh-bridge and actually get a weight ticket for it. Further edit: I did manage to finish the oil-change, btw. An equivalent filter element is readily available, via the usual parts stores; I took the old one in -- stamped AC 72 in the top -- and they got a Sogefi FA3448; but there are apparently quite a few different equivalents Edited March 10, 2016 by Tamber I keep forgetting everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Hi. Good to see another RL saved! I have only just seen this thread so a bit late but in your first post you said you had 900 tyres on the truck but 1100 on the spares? If so, the 1100s will not be much use as they have a different number of stud holes to the 900s. Having 900s (particularly if you have twins on the back) shows it was a wrecker originally, strange that it lost its original crane?? I have a propshaft you can have, needs new bearings but at least it is straight! PM me if you are interested. I am in West Midlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Interesting; I'd not counted the number of bolt-holes on the spares, I'll have to do that while I'm grabbing a winch handle to take pictures of. Memory says they're all 10-bolt, though; but it's been wrong before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Interesting; I'd not counted the number of bolt-holes on the spares, I'll have to do that while I'm grabbing a winch handle to take pictures of. Memory says they're all 10-bolt, though; but it's been wrong before. Original recoveries with 9.00x20s were 8 stud but yours are clearly 10. The twins were fitted to give a greater load rating than a single 11.00x20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Yeah, checked this morning, and the wheels currently on the truck are ten-lug; as are the spares in the bed with the 11.00x20s on. Well, one of the spares looks like it's got a dual lug pattern drilled in it; looks like Swiss-cheese, actually. :undecided: Anyway! As for the winch handle... Hope that clears things up a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth ware Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks for taking the photos of the handle - much appreciated! Hope all goes well with your restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Update of the week! ...ish. Fuel pump arrived, and is bodge-wired in. (It's all bodge-wires, but at least fused, until I get the Grand Rewiring done.) Alternator turned up yesterday afternoon; so that's mostly fit. Not quite the right pulley for the belt, but it'll do. The local parts place had a new belt in stock! Slightly too short, with the alternator; which seems to be slightly chunkier -- but shorter -- than the dynamo. It'll do. So, of course, I had to have a little play... [video=youtube;SJ_Uh-LrEag] Today's plan is: Make up a little bracket to support the rear of the alternator; I'll probably use most of the old one I took off that supported the dynamo. Re-fit the radiator, and put the coolant back in. Go for a tentative trundle around the industrial estate, maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Bracket for back of alternator made. Lopped the ear off the existing bracket for the dynamo, extended the bracket 30mm and stuck the ear back on 10mm taller than it was. Radiator re-fitted, re-installed, and re-filled. And that's as far as I got, because everything I put back in the radiator poured out of the bottom. :undecided: I've taken it to Phoenix radiators in Chorley; preliminary assessment is that it's just the bottom tank has split, but I'll find out more tomorrow. Did seize on the chance to make more noise, though; and drive about a little bit more. At just a trundle, the steering is ...a bit heavy. Once the radiator's in, I'll get a chance to see what it's like when I'm moving a bit faster. Hoping that the radiator is just a simple repair job, so I can have it back tomorrow and have the truck moving about; because I am incredibly eager to see what I get when I roll over the weighbridge with it. (Which shall take some finesse, considering the braking ability, or lack thereof...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 Well, the radiator shop just called me back; the bad news is worse than expected. It's not leaking from the end-tank. :undecided: It's leaking from the core, running down the side of the radiator -- under the steel strap that mounts it to the truck -- then pouring out at the bottom. :cry: Going to have the radiator re-cored with a modern core; so it should be good for at least another 30 years, hopefully. I suppose I could've gone on a hunt for a similarly sized (, etc.) modern radiator that I could maybe make fit; but at least this way is less hassle, even if it does mean I'm going to be doing a good bit of overtime in the next few weeks. Nobody said it was going to be easy, or cheap. :red: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I ran down to the industrial estate where it's sat, today, and wriggled my way in to try get at the MoS plate on the chassis. After failing to get a rubbing, but being very sure I could almost read what was stamped into it; I incredibly carefully started wire-brushing... checking, after a bit, that it wasn't destroying the plate at the same time. And I've cleared it up enough to read at least two bits of information, and partial bits of some more. The bits I can read are: The chassis number, and what appears to be a registration number. As far as I can decipher it, it's 11 CE 32. But the RLC archive says it can't find it. Damn. Felt like I was getting so close. (I also tried a few other permutations, just in case. No luck there, either.) Looks like I'll be spending some more quality time under the truck with a wire brush, delicately cleaning all the paint off that plate until I can read the whole thing. I hadn't even noticed the other info that the picture picks up... I think I might have to take the storage bin out of the way first, and make my life a little easier. But I know how that goes... I'll spend all day trying to take the storage bin off, because it'll be easier than spending all day trying to ...yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 You are in the right ball park, 11CE31 was an RL box truck and 11CE65 was an RL fire tender, CE being 1957/58. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamber Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) radiomike7 said: You are in the right ball park, 11CE31 was an RL box truck and 11CE65 was an RL fire tender, CE being 1957/58. Well, that's very encouraging to know! Feels like I'm getting closer and closer to my goal; even though I still have a long way to go yet. In other -- and slightly older -- news, I tentatively drove it 'round to the other end of work last week to run it over the weighbridge, just as a matter of curiosity. ---------------------- 13:13:25 25 Mar 16 Vehicle: 5970kg Number of axles: 2 Axle 1: 2480kg Axle 2: 3490kg Speed: 0.8km/h ---------------------- I know it'll weigh a bit more, when the radiator and all the coolant is back in (I had to bodge a temporary cooling system while it's all out. The temperature gauge and thermostat seem to work marvellously, though!), and all the rust is removed to be replaced by solid metal... but that doesn't seem a bad weight! Also, she's a loud beastie (I couldn't hear the engine over the carb's whistling. That's probably less obnoxious when there's an actual intake system and air-filter, I imagine.), but not too bad to steer when moving, even with the soft tyres. An utter pig when nearly at a stand-still, though; to absolutely nobody's surprise. Edit: Finally found out what that completely painted-over plate on the side of the body says! "Body, 3 ton, GS, Cargo with winch, FV13105, Cont No. 6/Veh/26156/CB 27A", which would make it (originally) a drop-side body, I think. No remnants of a serial number, though. I should note, I don't believe the deep-scratches are from me trying to clean it up. I used a finer wire wheel than that; and from varying directions. And cleaned off most of the paint covering the MoS plate; resorting to thumb-nail scraping to avoid doing damage to the plate when most of the big flakes of paint were off . Had to stitch together two pictures to cover it all; but no biggie. Edited August 15, 2018 by Tamber Pictures of plates. (Re-hosting images from imgur) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug fleet Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 hiya good to see you are making progress, am I right in saying the engine was ok in the end and didn't have a dropped valve as I was told. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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