1954 Daimler Ferret armoured car

1954 Daimler Ferret armoured car

Author
Discussion

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Tuesday 16th August 2016
quotequote all
Brilliant! Good to see so many of them together and in good hands.
I've been going here, there and everywhere in ours with no trouble at all. Tonight my mate gets in it to move it and several minutes go by with no movement. I went to have a look what the crack was, as I'd been to Old Warden show on Sunday and it was fine. We seemed to have a gear selection issue, the gear change pedal felt tight but stayed down at the floor regardless of what gear was selected on the gate.


Thought I'd check the basics first so I removed the prop cover to check the actuator rod wasn't snagged or something, all fine. Removed the seat, radio tray and gearbox panels only to find a much worse problem than anticipated.


That don't look right!
Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures but this really was down in the depths, as you can see the pivot rod which changes the direction of movement to the gear change arm on the box should be held at both ends in this holder, somehow it's worked out and upon mate pressing the pedal the mechanical advantage has yanked it forwards, bending the other bracket and potentially the rod too.


Realistically there's no room to fix it down there so unfortunately I think the gearbox is going to have to come out. At least it'll give me a chance to clean it all, it's bloody filthy!






Edited by LewG on Tuesday 16th August 23:41


Edited by LewG on Wednesday 23 August 22:22

Ayahuasca

27,427 posts

278 months

Wednesday 17th August 2016
quotequote all
LewG said:
Empty condom wrapper, used condom, ear plugs and a plaster.

Someone had a good time in the Ferret!

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Wednesday 17th August 2016
quotequote all
Not sure how the zip tie fits into that equation biggrin

Gretchen

18,998 posts

215 months

Wednesday 17th August 2016
quotequote all
Wondered where I'd left them!

spudgun GB

461 posts

167 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Bugger, Lew, Bugger.

I'm trying to understand where that broken yoke/shaft is located. Up under the gearbox but which side?

Is it a biggish job to remove the gearbox?

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
It certainly is! If you were sitting facing forward from the commander's seat it's directly underneath the gearbox and to the left hand side, you can see it from straight above but there's no chance of getting any tools in there!
To be honest taking the box out doesn't look all that difficult, the only thing I'm not sure on is getting to all of the bell housing bolts, as it's not like you can go underneath to do the bottom ones! At the end of the day at least it gives me a chance to clean and paint the floor. Another job I'll be doing is changing the fluid flywheel oil as that's never been done in 14 years of ownership. Guilty biggrin

spudgun GB

461 posts

167 months

Tuesday 13th September 2016
quotequote all
This Sunday was ferret Sunday!

We started off here for the monthly breakfast club, I think the destination is quite clear in the photo.
Mr's spudgun's cti also in shot.



After that we went of to a 4x4 pay and play day not to far from home.

All was going well, ....







then we got stuck.





That cost a few quid at our local pressure washer to get the worst of that off.

I was quite impressed with it, off road wise, considering its weight. We were a bit optimistic trying to get through that bog, but the tractor pulled us out like we were nothing. That was impressive in its own right.

I'm not sure Simon would do it again, but he can tick that off his ferret bucket list now.



EarlOfHazard

3,601 posts

157 months

Tuesday 13th September 2016
quotequote all
Awesome!! Are the tyre sizes unique - or could you put some on with a better tread pattern?

spudgun GB

461 posts

167 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
I don't think there that unusual. 9.00 x 16, I think. Saying that even cheap agricultural tyres are £140 a corner, so its a big investment for a "flash in the pan" afternoon out.

Oi_Oi_Savaloy

2,313 posts

259 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
quotequote all
I went to a little car show in Narberth, Pembrokeshire on Saturday and came across this.......





I didn't get a chance to speak to the owners - they were politely answering loads of other people's questions!


spudgun GB

461 posts

167 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
quotequote all
Nice! Looks very straight. I personal prefer them looking a bit dog-eared and rough around the edges.

5ohmustang

2,755 posts

114 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
Have you seen the toyo tires ferret?
http://youtu.be/gX8AaQcuCJY

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Friday 23rd December 2016
quotequote all
Something of an update on the Ferret.
After a few months of laying dormant I fired it up and let it run for a good hour or so on the hand throttle to get it nice and hot and give the batteries a charge.
It was always the plan to remove the gearbox to sort the linkage problem out to one side, potentially fitting a recon gearbox I have on a pallet at the same time. At this point in time I've got a few other big car projects on and ideally I could do without another, so I decided to see if for now I can just repair the problem in situ.
I removed the left hand battery and battery box which gave lots more room, and had a go at removing the clevis pins to get some of the linkage out this evening.


If you look on the RH side of this photo you can see a small hole in the bracket. The pivot shaft itself has a hole too and is held solid on this with a roll pin. It's where this roll pin has fallen out that has allowed the shaft to work its way free.

With great difficulty I managed to remove the clevis pin split pins and knock them out.





Unfortunately the pivot shaft is slightly bent, as is the bracket so that too will need to be removed from the hull. I'm not sure on how to go about this as the handbrake cable and a brake pipe runs through it in closed holes. Not really prepared to remove them at either end as that's a huge faff. Maybe the grinder will help biggrin

It's probably quite hard to visualize where this is happening, it is in the LH rear of the fighting compartment. This photo shows it a bit better, looking towards the rear with gearbox and fuel tank visible



Edited by LewG on Friday 23 December 00:58

spudgun GB

461 posts

167 months

Friday 23rd December 2016
quotequote all
right, now I know where you are with the last picture. That picture makes it look quite roomy there but I know it isn't.

Do you reckon its doable in situ like that?

On a side note, the Bren gun bracket we stripped and drew up up has now turned into metal and Simon has gone out and bought a Bren to fit in it. I think he said it was mk3? it has a shorter barrel than a normal one. So next season it will have the Browning 30 cal on the front and the Bren on the back.

One thing you mentioned is that you haven't started it for a bit. One thing we have been told is that it needs to run every couple of weeks or so, or oil in the alternator/dynamo drains back and has to be manually primed again before starting. Have you every heard of that?


Edited by spudgun GB on Friday 23 December 23:54


Edited by spudgun GB on Friday 23 December 23:57

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Saturday 24th December 2016
quotequote all
That's brilliant! It'll look armed to the teeth biggrin can't have been cheap though.

I hope it's doable but we shall see, as I say in a way it'd be nice to put the other box in so I'll have a think about it.

I have heard that, though from what I remember, don't quote me on this, there's two kinds of generator and it's the earlier sort you have to do that with. Can't say I've ever bothered

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Saturday 24th December 2016
quotequote all
One thing I do find is after a long layup it takes ages to draw fuel back up to the carb, I leave the little belly plate off underneath and just give the fuel pump lever a good few presses with a jack handle. Works a treat

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Friday 30th December 2016
quotequote all
Good news, got the bracket removed today. Separated the handbrake cable at the adjuster and pulled that back through, then the pipe grommet holder was thankfully just on a separate bracket sharing the same mounting studs. It's properly bent!
When I go back to work I'll get it heated up and tweak it back as best I can, the pivot shaft itself is bent but it's only a half inch bar with a hole drilled in the end, nothing difficult to make.

Edited by LewG on Friday 30th December 01:33

Shadow R1

3,798 posts

175 months

Friday 30th December 2016
quotequote all
Great stuff, the advantages of 50's construction. smile

Keep us posted, how you get on fixing it.

LewG

Original Poster:

1,357 posts

145 months

Thursday 5th January 2017
quotequote all
Cheers Shadow, absolutely! I spent my time productively at work today and got the bracket heated up and tweaked back, then straightened the pin with a vice and some tube. It's about perfect on a straight edge so a job well done. Unfortunately the casting had a tiny crack from being bent in the first place so having heated and bent back I ground it out and carefully put a few spots of weld in there. It took a couple of goes but it's sorted.

I was going to pop it all back together but instead I started to strip a few more hull fittings out this evening as I've decided to paint it silver in there as it should be instead of the green. It deserves a real good clean up as well so I'll scrape the crap out of the floor and gunk the gearbox etc down to clean it properly. All good and well getting the pressure washer on it but at this time of year nothing seems to dry out! The plan is shut all the hatches bar one and pop the canvas on then put one of those electric heaters inside, should work!
No photos of work so far as my phone died this evening, will try and get a bit more done tomorrow

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Thursday 5th January 2017
quotequote all
Be warned! That silver/aluminium paint can be a right bugger. Especially if you're going to use the MOD spec stuff. It NEVER seems to dry properly, and rubs off easily onto clothing and anything at all that comes into contact with it. Even when our wagons were fresh from a 'Base Overhaul' and painted properly, in a paint shop, we had issues with it.

Great to hear that you're getting the jobs done at this time of year. I vividly remember how damned unpleasant it is to work inside a cold metal hull in low temperatures. And you're doing it for the love rather than the money! Keep the updates coming!

thumbup