Thread: The Ultimate FC

Ron, if you want a Saracen, there are quite a few floating around in South Africa. They were used as Cash In Transit vehicles for a while until the ANC passed some laws restricting all ownership of military and ex-military vehicles by private individuals.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Just try to get some JATO rockets through Customs!

Diana

I was thinking of the Acme brand rockets occasionally used by the Coyote in the old Road Runner cartoon series
wagoo.

Originally Posted by jakeslouw

Ron, if you want a Saracen, there are quite a few floating around in South Africa. They were used as Cash In Transit vehicles for a while until the ANC passed some laws restricting all ownership of military and ex-military vehicles by private individuals.

There's a restored one in Unique Cars magazine for $24,000

One pommie maintaince nightmare is enough....why would I want another one.
I am not into amoured vehicles.
What I do need to find is a dead rusty saracen just for spare tracta joints and hubs.
saracens also have a higher ratio transfercase...ie more speed.
Dont need the JATOs, I just gear up the water jets a bit so they can push a volume of air instead of water, add a sparkplug and some petrol and the stolly would most likely get a better fuel burn and more speed

The latest information I have is a MK1 stolly will be at Corowa to go for a swim.
It will travel more than 250 miles under its own power to get there.
It is a thing like if it makes it as it is under going alot of repair work and has not been driven any miles in the last few years.
I now plan to get to corowa just to see it as it has a few modications of interest to me.
To do this sort of trip in a Stolly takes much prep (something which the army could do) but is alot harder forty years down the track in civie hands.


I have been trying to repair the hatches and hatch locks on my stolly and it is interesting to see the construction.
Everything is hand made.
Even the simple locks which are hand oxy welded and fabricated from simple castings and folded steel.( not purchased out side Alvis)
This means parts do not directly interchange from one lock to another without hand fitting.
What all this means is every little detail takes alot longer.
Fitting another hatch from another Stolly means a bit of old fashion bending on hinges and things.
They are a hand made vehicle from the ground up.
The worst thing is no effort was made to prevent rust and water corrosion and so alot of work if swum in salt water.

Found these on You tube.
The first is a good general layout of the vehicle.(same model as mine)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R2cNAfslpw&feature=related]YouTube - Stalwart_secret_agent_man.wmv[/ame]
This one shows the Atlas crane
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNpxXjzovwU&feature=related]YouTube - Stalwart_crane_video.MP4[/ame]
This shows a Stolly stuck and using the winch
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amSlBzKBBho&feature=related]YouTube - Slab common Stalwart[/ame]
Progress on my Stolly has been slow due to time and money restraints.
The hatches are painted, rust free and refitted.
Front seats are out of it currently........the original wooden backings are rotten, so new ones need to be made.
I pulled up some of the front alloy floor plates and found more corrosion work and painting to be done.
The only good news is a important seal on the winch for water/swimming is in place and appears to be in good condition.
The windscreen glass needs to be removed and corrosion treated.....this is a big job.
Much work in front of me just doing simple things in the front of the vehicle.
The saving grace is the mechanical side of things is very good.

This thread is now going to be my restoration thread.
My progress will be slow due to the complex nature of the machine and my current lack of time and money.
As per last post I have been playing with the seats.
This required some new seat backs which are curved ply wood.
I have rigged up a old army cooker to boil a large alloy tub of water which boils and steams the wood.
First I tried just leaving the ply wood in a press to try and get the shape and soon realised that to form ply wood to a shaped you really need a mould.
being in the forklift game I soon discovered a forklift rear tyre dropped on to the ply wood between two pieces of metal pipe will give the shape.


The forklift wheel trick with a forklifts great weight has worked.
The main cargo area main engine acess hatch is currently being remade in gal, and alloy by a local marine firm.
more to come .

These seats I am working on are the passenger seats either side of thr driver in the cabin.
The folding hinges have been matched up with some local hardware items which were cut down to suit and welded on as the old items were U/S.
The rear removeable mud guards had cancer in them and were needle gunned and then new metal mig welded in where required.
The cargo area divider boards, one to separate the radiator blast from the cargo area and another for the gunners on their folding seats and roof in the rear behind the cabin have been attacked with paint stripper and then sand blasted with a chinese machine I have purchased .
They are of alloy construction.