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The first 286 miles judging by the little wear in the vehicle to be correct ,took over 30 years shared between the British army and previous owners.
The British army knows how to get value back on their purchases....?????
If you've ever seen the British Army vehicle storage yards you'd realise it is all in readiness for the next war.
After all the British Army in the Rhine was only expected to delay an invading Eastern Block army for a few days to a couple of weeks while the military on England mobilised using the War Reserve. I guess they didn't want to have another experience like 1939-40.
Lots of vehicles only ever drive from the vehicle park to servicing and return. A bit like pool vehicles in the Oz Army, but you would be aware of that.
You won't find me on: faceplant; Scipe; Infragam; LumpedIn; ShapCnat or Twitting. I'm just not that interesting.
Just a quick up date.
The Stalwart is now back out side where I can work on it.
Middle LHS wheel removed with brakes, shockers, etc so I can remove the 10 layers of old paint and treat surface rust.
During this process I notice the rubber boots over the tracta joint bells are cracked.......ie not dirt, mud and water tight.
They need to be replaced.
The main oil seals do not appear to be leaking.
If this vehicle was not going to swim or be used off road I could leave all well alone, but it is not the case.
I need to pull another wheel station off.......GGRRRR !
Just a few pics,
Wheel station wishbones needle gunned of old paint now mostly done.
Stripped and painted another wheel , brake caliper ect, just more of the same sort of stuff as before.
I will not bore you blokes with more of the same sort of pics.
The weather is now good for working on this thing and I am trying to make the most of it, just work is now busy and giving me little time......everything seems to work against me on this vehicle.
Damn, that must be a big truck - the Stolly is a big enough beast on its own! All you need after that is a Landie to stick in the back of the Stolly so you can go and get milk and bread while you're out.
I looked into it.
The Leyland/Foden/Daf MMLC is 3 metres wide and and cruises at 60 kph ( not much faster than the stalwart) and therefore not ideal for Australian distances.
Only a hand full of DROPS slipped though the system( In the UK) and got rego, they are too wide.
The MMLC DROPS has issues with height when loaded with a crane version of the stalwart.
The rack would have to be slightly strengthen and widen to best carry a Stalwart correctly.( note in the pic the flex in the rack and the tyres of the stalwart over hanging the rack......the stalwart is already slightly over width)
A Australian civie prime mover and low loader on historic plates appears to be the best way to go as being easier to live with maintaince wise and will have better fuel burn ,able to do highway speeds for Aussie distances, easier to load than any thing military.
A ex Aust army wreaker and lift tow will not work well on the stalwart, due to the drive system.
Another option is to make the stalwart go faster gearing wise.( and have one less vehicle to maintain)
I am trying to find out if Saracen transfercase gears will fit the stalwart.
Even though the transfercases are different , the gears of the Saracen should fit the stalwart.
If that is the case the stalwart would be able to top out speed wise at near 80 kph with a slight trade off in low gear off road gearing.
Still haven done much to the Stalwart lately.....the weather gods have been good, but I just cannot seem to get into the swing of things on the stalwart.
Ron.
Not only are they overwidth (maximum 2.7m for floats and some tilt trays or 2.5m for everything else) which can't be registered in NSW so have to drive on a permit each movement, they are all Left Hand Drive and built after 1989 so you can only import them if you're a RAWS authorised workshop (where it would have to be converted to RHD and meet current ADR) or you are living in Europe for at least a year and bring it in as a personal import.
All too difficult.
If you've ever seen the Alvis (6 wheeled) FV on a 2.5m wide tray or trailer the edge of the tyres are right on the edge and if you have to drive them on/off its a hair raising experience because they crab when steering. Worse if there is a sideways slope where you load.
(I chickened out the first time I guided one onto a Mack Fleetliner/20 Ton plant trailer combination.)
The DROPS platform however isn't overwidth (9.11m (length) x 3.18m (height) x 2.5m (width)) and could be used with a conventional hook loader truck. It makes loading easier because you drive the vehicle onto the platform sitting on the ground and then hook it onto the truck.
The platforms were made by Reynolds Boughton (amongst others), same as the RB44 and my Defender 6x6 conversion.
You won't find me on: faceplant; Scipe; Infragam; LumpedIn; ShapCnat or Twitting. I'm just not that interesting.
They are all Left Hand Drive and built after 1989 so you can only import them if you're a RAWS authorised workshop (where it would have to be converted to RHD and meet current ADR) or you are living in Europe for at least a year and bring it in as a personal import.
All too difficult.
Hmmm funny you should mention that... So's this! Manufactured after 1989 and LHD.. It'll be converted to RHD in the UK, but as of yet I'm unable to find a functioning RAWS workshop in Adelaide that deals with trucks! The fella at customs looked thru the books and couldn't find anything relating to the 'restrictions after 89' that everyone talks about!! They make it hard for no reason!!! (Sorry for the thread hijack Ron!!)
I read somewhere in the last two days that heavy vehicles over 12 tonnes imported today potentially have to meet current ADR not those in place at the time of manufacture. The same applied to buses.
Irrespective of all that when I was investigating Scammel/Leyland/DAF I came to the conclusion that it was much easier to import an earlier truck.
You won't find me on: faceplant; Scipe; Infragam; LumpedIn; ShapCnat or Twitting. I'm just not that interesting.
Originally Posted by 101 Ron
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