1954 Daimler Ferret armoured car
Discussion
hidetheelephants said:
Perhaps for situational awareness/reverse parking some kind of cheapnese camera system could be fitted? With magnetic bases it could be easily fitted and removed afterward. Must be a bugger to drive solo, although less of a nightmare than a CVR-T.
To be fair to Lew I take the blame for the parking. He asked if it was straight and I just said yes. It wasn't. I'm utterly ashamed. My view for most of Sunday
Lew is a fantastic driver. I just need to practise my co-piloting. The Ferret is awesome. Quite quick and holds the road well, and I actually think far more comfortable than it looks.
WreckedGecko said:
yellowjack said:
Now I wasn't with them, but 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment weren't referred to as "The Antiques Roadshow" for nothing during the '91 Gulf War! Even then, I don't recall many 'fit' Ferrets, and there are none in any of the photos I have that survive from the time so I assume they were pretty much phased out by then.
My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this s
t, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast?
You still had SLRs in '91?My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this s
t, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast? I thought SA80's came in around '85. I hadn't heard of any units still using SLRs is the first gulf.
ETA: Some RA units still had SLR in the Gulf too. I know because I was at the port in Emden when the RMP chopped the padlock off the door of a '432 belonging to some gunner unit, and there was a big pile of rifles stacked on the floor. To say they went a bit mental was an understatement, and the worst bit was they first presumed that it was one of our vehicles, unloading their 'mental' on a bunch of us lowly drivers milling about waiting on collecting a batch of our Land Rovers...
Edited by yellowjack on Friday 22 April 21:35
Opel-GT said:
"Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4?"
Looks like a proper Bren to me. The end of the barrel is flared and does not have the flash eliminator found on the LMG.
Looks like a proper Bren to me. The end of the barrel is flared and does not have the flash eliminator found on the LMG.
It looks like a 'proper' Bren to me too, but I had to ask, because it's missing the big 'sight wheel' that I seem to recall in images I've seen of a 'proper' Bren. Although that may be due to it being a later Mark with an improved/simplified sight system?
I recall seeing several crated 'complete to CES' (deactivated) Brens for sale in the antique dealers within Portsmouth Dockyard a couple of years ago (when I had money to buy one). Predictably my wife dissuaded me from purchasing such a "pointless trinket". I no longer have spare funds for such purchases and wish I'd bought one when I had the chance...
Blimey, what's the odds of that! finding a ferret thread this week of all weeks. Looks really good and those pictures in the first post may come in helpful.
My mate has just completed on buying his on Wednesday night and we drove down to pick it up.
Here's the old girl.
My roll this season is commander and I'm just off out the door in a minute for our first run out. We have to fit the gun this morning and this one comes with a browning .303 which I understand is a bit different for a ferret.
I would like to pick your brains at some point OP as to how to get the wheel station off, as I'm going to be involved with some of the mechanical duties. For another time though
My mate has just completed on buying his on Wednesday night and we drove down to pick it up.
Here's the old girl.
My roll this season is commander and I'm just off out the door in a minute for our first run out. We have to fit the gun this morning and this one comes with a browning .303 which I understand is a bit different for a ferret.
I would like to pick your brains at some point OP as to how to get the wheel station off, as I'm going to be involved with some of the mechanical duties. For another time though
Enjoy spudgun and congratulations to your mate on his new purchase, looks great! They can be a bit of a pain to work on in places but fundamentally it's all doable stuff, just get building your muscles as nothing is light on them 
I might pop out later too if the weather holds, chilly though!
I might pop out later too if the weather holds, chilly though!
yellowjack said:
WreckedGecko said:
yellowjack said:
Now I wasn't with them, but 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment weren't referred to as "The Antiques Roadshow" for nothing during the '91 Gulf War! Even then, I don't recall many 'fit' Ferrets, and there are none in any of the photos I have that survive from the time so I assume they were pretty much phased out by then.
My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this st, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast?
You still had SLRs in '91?My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this s
t, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast? I thought SA80's came in around '85. I hadn't heard of any units still using SLRs is the first gulf.
ETA: Some RA units still had SLR in the Gulf too. I know because I was at the port in Emden when the RMP chopped the padlock off the door of a '432 belonging to some gunner unit, and there was a big pile of rifles stacked on the floor. To say they went a bit mental was an understatement, and the worst bit was they first presumed that it was one of our vehicles, unloading their 'mental' on a bunch of us lowly drivers milling about waiting on collecting a batch of our Land Rovers...
Edited by yellowjack on Friday 22 April 21:35
I remember with sadness giving up my SLR for a Tommy 7 Ray gun SA80. As was said to me may years before "just remember shooting people with it is just one of the things you can do with it"
When the SA 80 was first introduced it would just about shoot let alone anything else. SLR sadly missed.
When the SA 80 was first introduced it would just about shoot let alone anything else. SLR sadly missed.
Just got back from the Cottenham road run today, a round trip of about 60 miles plus the road run itself. Great fun, and thankfully we avoided any rain
Basically it does a circuit of 5 villages or so, we stop off on the green for a break and a chat to everyone, then move on. The amount of people who came out to see everyone drive past was quite something, and the Ferret got loads of waves.
I've got a couple of days off this week so now there's some miles under her belt I'm going to change the gearbox and final drive oils and have a good check over everything particularly on the new hub to make sure everything is still tight. It did throw a bit of coolant out of the overflow pipe today after sitting on the A14 for a few junctions at close to top speed so there's that to have a look at too, although I suspect that'll just be finding its own level.
Basically it does a circuit of 5 villages or so, we stop off on the green for a break and a chat to everyone, then move on. The amount of people who came out to see everyone drive past was quite something, and the Ferret got loads of waves.
I've got a couple of days off this week so now there's some miles under her belt I'm going to change the gearbox and final drive oils and have a good check over everything particularly on the new hub to make sure everything is still tight. It did throw a bit of coolant out of the overflow pipe today after sitting on the A14 for a few junctions at close to top speed so there's that to have a look at too, although I suspect that'll just be finding its own level.
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:14
Well things haven't turned out quite as planned with the Ferret due to getting a nasty flu virus over the last few days, of all times to get that I just had to be on holiday! This morning I'd about exhausted my DVD collection and was getting thoroughly bored of not leaving the house so I popped up the shed for a check over the Ferret. Shortly afterwards thought I'd pop out in my Land Rover to get a few bits from Halfords, maybe not!
Feeling a bit dazed I thought 'oh I'll just take a few bits off to make the job easier...' and ended up like this
Maybe Ferret will get some attention tomorrow instead.
Feeling a bit dazed I thought 'oh I'll just take a few bits off to make the job easier...' and ended up like this
Maybe Ferret will get some attention tomorrow instead.
Bit of an update on things, the Ferret has developed a fairly frustrating ignition problem in that sometimes the ignition will turn on, other times not at all, sometimes turn the engine over, sometimes not at all. I got the Land Rover running again this morning so with a big 4x4 wooden post tied to the front bumper I pushed the Ferret out into the sunlight for a look. I had several of the connectors apart and cleaned them as they looked a bit on the crusty side after 62 years.
The 1954 version of a multi plug for the dash:
I then took the actual switch box apart and cleaned the contacts up inside. This was a horrible task and not one I want to repeat in a hurry!
Unfortunately this made absolutely no difference so I turned to the Historic Military Vehicle Forum for help as there's a post war British guru on there who is a fountain of knowledge, particularly electrical. He told me exactly where to check and what the readings should be with the meter, and most importantly what the fault would likely be. At this point it's getting dark and it looked likely it was a grotty circuit breaker inside the electrical distribution box. I gave it a tap and hey presto she burst into life
The 1954 version of a multi plug for the dash:
I then took the actual switch box apart and cleaned the contacts up inside. This was a horrible task and not one I want to repeat in a hurry!
Unfortunately this made absolutely no difference so I turned to the Historic Military Vehicle Forum for help as there's a post war British guru on there who is a fountain of knowledge, particularly electrical. He told me exactly where to check and what the readings should be with the meter, and most importantly what the fault would likely be. At this point it's getting dark and it looked likely it was a grotty circuit breaker inside the electrical distribution box. I gave it a tap and hey presto she burst into life
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:17
Cheers Lance, too right there isn't. I took it to the local PH meet on Sunday morning which resulted in a bit of last minute electrical bodging. Two of the wires annoyingly broke off of the headlight switch so I attempted a quick repair with some vintage solder we had laying around, unfortunately that turned to a strange dust and didn't work at all so I thought bugger it, it's a beautiful sunny day who needs headlights? I'll get round to it properly when I'm better prepared.
For no apparent reason I then lost the 24v supply to my indicators and brake lights, by a stroke of luck there was an auxiliary 24v wire that led to a blanked off plug right next to it, so I plugged that in and they came back. The investigation continues..
We made it to the meet with Pvt. Gretchen as commander, and a fantastic morning in good company it was too.
I'll get round to it properly when I'm better prepared. For no apparent reason I then lost the 24v supply to my indicators and brake lights, by a stroke of luck there was an auxiliary 24v wire that led to a blanked off plug right next to it, so I plugged that in and they came back. The investigation continues..
We made it to the meet with Pvt. Gretchen as commander, and a fantastic morning in good company it was too.
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:21
We had to do a bit of work on my mate's ferret on Saturday.
The banjo fitting on the side of the fuel filter was leaking and leaked pretty bad whilst running. Losing more fuel is the last thing you want.
Also the thread on the near side rear inner tractor joint oil filler had been stripped out so we had to helicoil that. We didn't strip down but put plenty of grease on the drill and tap to catch the swarf. stting myself a bit as I was doing the sharp end of business but it all went well in the end.
Next trip out is on behalf of the Royal navy for forces family day next Tuesday. Fingers crossed we haven't buggered anything up.
The banjo fitting on the side of the fuel filter was leaking and leaked pretty bad whilst running. Losing more fuel is the last thing you want.
Also the thread on the near side rear inner tractor joint oil filler had been stripped out so we had to helicoil that. We didn't strip down but put plenty of grease on the drill and tap to catch the swarf. s
tting myself a bit as I was doing the sharp end of business but it all went well in the end. Next trip out is on behalf of the Royal navy for forces family day next Tuesday. Fingers crossed we haven't buggered anything up.
Nice one spudgun! Not the best place for a fuel filter is it? Right next to lots of 1950s electrics, and better still after the tap. In the early days of ownership we had ours come to a grinding halt at the side of the road a couple of times due to grass and all sorts clogging the tap up.
You did well to helicoil those threads! I suppose flushing it through from the filler with some old oil or something a few times might not go amiss just to make sure you caught all the swarf. Don't worry about them all leaking a bit if they do, every Ferret you see seems to leave four little oil spots on the floor wherever they're parked.
Haven't done too much with ours to be honest, the electrical issues annoyingly continue, you think you've sorted it out and all works fine, try it the next day and it's playing up again.
Right next to lots of 1950s electrics, and better still after the tap. In the early days of ownership we had ours come to a grinding halt at the side of the road a couple of times due to grass and all sorts clogging the tap up. You did well to helicoil those threads! I suppose flushing it through from the filler with some old oil or something a few times might not go amiss just to make sure you caught all the swarf. Don't worry about them all leaking a bit if they do, every Ferret you see seems to leave four little oil spots on the floor wherever they're parked.
Haven't done too much with ours to be honest, the electrical issues annoyingly continue, you think you've sorted it out and all works fine, try it the next day and it's playing up again.
Took it to work last week which always attracts a bit of attention.
Had a look inside some of the electrical boxes looking for corrosion and could find no problems. I did find however that when wires were moved in this little electrical connector block as shown below that affects ignition. Must have a broken wire somewhere.
Had a look inside some of the electrical boxes looking for corrosion and could find no problems. I did find however that when wires were moved in this little electrical connector block as shown below that affects ignition. Must have a broken wire somewhere.
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:26
Cheers Lew. Electrics are a pain in the arse no matter what, but on 50 year old electrics is something else. My mate's has a fair engine oil leak as well that we need to get on top of but first it needs a bit of a clean up to find out where its coming from. We will get there though.
Having had a look at your pictures in your last post, I have only just noticed yours is a proper mk1. What age is it? They have thinner section plate on the hull don't they? I was told you can tell a mk1 by the side hatches. They are square and dont run parallel to the leading edge of the hull like all the later ones do. Is that right?
Having had a look at your pictures in your last post, I have only just noticed yours is a proper mk1. What age is it? They have thinner section plate on the hull don't they? I was told you can tell a mk1 by the side hatches. They are square and dont run parallel to the leading edge of the hull like all the later ones do. Is that right?
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