1954 Daimler Ferret armoured car
Discussion
Hello all.
Where to start? Something a bit different for PH. I know there are a handful of Ferret owners floating around on Pistonheads so this may all sound familiar to you guys.
My Dad has always been into strange and quirky machines of all shapes and sizes. This was our first step into the military vehicle hobby and one we shall keep forever, having owned her so far for just over 13 years it's become something of an heirloom. Back in December 2002 as a 9 year old with an unhealthy addiction for tank and aeroplane books we purchased this fantastic little machine, up til then the day it arrived on the lorry was probably the most exciting day of my life!
Basically the Ferret was conceived in the late 1940s as a more modern replacement for the WW2 Daimler Dingo scout car, it uses almost exactly the same layout as the Dingo in that it is rear engined, with permanent four wheel drive, five gears forward and reverse, meaning you can get out of trouble just as quickly as you got into it!
They've been used all over the world by just about every army imaginable, and have been fitted with turrets, anti tank missiles, flotation devices, dropped out the back of planes on parachutes, you name it. This one was in service from 1954 until 1996 so had a long service life, serving nearly 20 years on patrol in Hong Kong until 1972. We are unsure on this as the section is missing from its army history but believe it went to the first Gulf War in 1991 as a batch of approx 20 Ferrets, due to it being fitted with the later 'night sight' front hatch. These were massively expensive and wouldn't have been fitted without good reason, so there's a good possibility of it being one of the batch.
When we bought it in 2002 it'd been laid up for a few years following its cosmetic restoration, so naturally a few teething troubles were to be found. Coming down the steep ramps off the lorry a brake pipe burst, sending nearly 4 tonnes of armour shooting forward toward the lorry driver standing at the bottom. Thankfully Dad was quick on the handbrake and all was saved, apart from the paint bubbling up on the floor due to exposure to the fluid, a small price to pay!
With that replaced we had a few strange electrical issues such as lights staying on, odd tyre wear (found to be a tyre valve completely missing) but it seemed using it more and more it only got better. We visited many shows and events and regularly popped out of a Saturday morning for some milk and a paper in it.
After several years of use and abuse it was decided to give her some TLC as the radiator was leaking, exhaust blowing, fan bearings noisy and suspension pins particularly on the front nearside weren't taking any grease and creaking quite badly. As an over confident young and stupid tinkerer I took it to pieces a bit ham fistedly, the hub is supposed to come off as one large unit to be worked on. Unfortunately I couldn't get its mounting bolts out due to them being rusted solid, so had to strip the whole lot down.
It's all rather complicated with a lot planetary gears, lots of tiny needle roller bearings, tab washers, strange bolts, etc.
I admit at this point I somewhat lost interest in her but cracked on in dribs and drabs, doing other bits where possible. The exhaust comes from the manifold on loose fitting tubes to allow for movement, they expand and seal properly when hot, where it then joins a 90 degree bend meeting at a flange where it passes out the armour into the silencer. Exhaust gases had been blowing from here for some time so it had actually eroded the armour away quite badly. In places I welded it and ground flat again, then had some special copper gaskets made to allow for a bit more flex, and bolted it all back together.
Having stripped the fan down the bearings were found to be okay, so I just repacked them with grease and tightened them up.
Through our contacts in the hobby a brand new 60 year old radiator was sourced and fitted, requiring a bit of fiddling and swearing to get to fit properly!
This may sound like it all took a matter of days, in fact at this point we were already around 3 years post stripdown! Life, work, and various other rebuilds/projects took over. I always find with projects like this it's getting over the initial 'now where did I put that?' fear and getting on with it. A mate of ours who we used to attend the shows with gave me a kick up the arse last weekend to do something with it, at which point I couldn't help but think he was absolutely right. I had an ace up my sleeve in that years ago Dad acquired a 'new' in the crate NSF hub assembly. With some help from a mate and a sack barrow with flat tyres we had it over next to the Ferret ready for the resurrection to begin!
Where to start? Something a bit different for PH. I know there are a handful of Ferret owners floating around on Pistonheads so this may all sound familiar to you guys.
My Dad has always been into strange and quirky machines of all shapes and sizes. This was our first step into the military vehicle hobby and one we shall keep forever, having owned her so far for just over 13 years it's become something of an heirloom. Back in December 2002 as a 9 year old with an unhealthy addiction for tank and aeroplane books we purchased this fantastic little machine, up til then the day it arrived on the lorry was probably the most exciting day of my life!
Basically the Ferret was conceived in the late 1940s as a more modern replacement for the WW2 Daimler Dingo scout car, it uses almost exactly the same layout as the Dingo in that it is rear engined, with permanent four wheel drive, five gears forward and reverse, meaning you can get out of trouble just as quickly as you got into it!
They've been used all over the world by just about every army imaginable, and have been fitted with turrets, anti tank missiles, flotation devices, dropped out the back of planes on parachutes, you name it. This one was in service from 1954 until 1996 so had a long service life, serving nearly 20 years on patrol in Hong Kong until 1972. We are unsure on this as the section is missing from its army history but believe it went to the first Gulf War in 1991 as a batch of approx 20 Ferrets, due to it being fitted with the later 'night sight' front hatch. These were massively expensive and wouldn't have been fitted without good reason, so there's a good possibility of it being one of the batch.
When we bought it in 2002 it'd been laid up for a few years following its cosmetic restoration, so naturally a few teething troubles were to be found. Coming down the steep ramps off the lorry a brake pipe burst, sending nearly 4 tonnes of armour shooting forward toward the lorry driver standing at the bottom. Thankfully Dad was quick on the handbrake and all was saved, apart from the paint bubbling up on the floor due to exposure to the fluid, a small price to pay!
With that replaced we had a few strange electrical issues such as lights staying on, odd tyre wear (found to be a tyre valve completely missing) but it seemed using it more and more it only got better. We visited many shows and events and regularly popped out of a Saturday morning for some milk and a paper in it.
After several years of use and abuse it was decided to give her some TLC as the radiator was leaking, exhaust blowing, fan bearings noisy and suspension pins particularly on the front nearside weren't taking any grease and creaking quite badly. As an over confident young and stupid tinkerer I took it to pieces a bit ham fistedly, the hub is supposed to come off as one large unit to be worked on. Unfortunately I couldn't get its mounting bolts out due to them being rusted solid, so had to strip the whole lot down.
It's all rather complicated with a lot planetary gears, lots of tiny needle roller bearings, tab washers, strange bolts, etc.
I admit at this point I somewhat lost interest in her but cracked on in dribs and drabs, doing other bits where possible. The exhaust comes from the manifold on loose fitting tubes to allow for movement, they expand and seal properly when hot, where it then joins a 90 degree bend meeting at a flange where it passes out the armour into the silencer. Exhaust gases had been blowing from here for some time so it had actually eroded the armour away quite badly. In places I welded it and ground flat again, then had some special copper gaskets made to allow for a bit more flex, and bolted it all back together.
Having stripped the fan down the bearings were found to be okay, so I just repacked them with grease and tightened them up.
Through our contacts in the hobby a brand new 60 year old radiator was sourced and fitted, requiring a bit of fiddling and swearing to get to fit properly!
This may sound like it all took a matter of days, in fact at this point we were already around 3 years post stripdown! Life, work, and various other rebuilds/projects took over. I always find with projects like this it's getting over the initial 'now where did I put that?' fear and getting on with it. A mate of ours who we used to attend the shows with gave me a kick up the arse last weekend to do something with it, at which point I couldn't help but think he was absolutely right. I had an ace up my sleeve in that years ago Dad acquired a 'new' in the crate NSF hub assembly. With some help from a mate and a sack barrow with flat tyres we had it over next to the Ferret ready for the resurrection to begin!
So onto the next step in bringing the beast back to life.
Following a lot of cleaning and greasing I decided rather than rebuild our old tired hub I would take the easy option and bolt the new one on. It is a hell of a lump and it felt as if my back was going to explode lifting it onto the wooden block ready for fitting.
All clamped in place... close now!
Everything was tightened up and filled with plenty of gear oil, brakes connected and the 12 stone wheel mounted back into place.
Back on all four wheels again, driving and stopping fantastically. Not bad considering a lay up of nearly 5 years! The intention is to give it a few test runs, make sure nothing is leaking, get some insurance and bolt the engine hatches back on, then we might be hitting tarmac again. Back when I was 9 I thought I'd never see the day when I could drive it on the road, but at last that day is finally here!
Following a lot of cleaning and greasing I decided rather than rebuild our old tired hub I would take the easy option and bolt the new one on. It is a hell of a lump and it felt as if my back was going to explode lifting it onto the wooden block ready for fitting.
All clamped in place... close now!
Everything was tightened up and filled with plenty of gear oil, brakes connected and the 12 stone wheel mounted back into place.
Back on all four wheels again, driving and stopping fantastically. Not bad considering a lay up of nearly 5 years! The intention is to give it a few test runs, make sure nothing is leaking, get some insurance and bolt the engine hatches back on, then we might be hitting tarmac again. Back when I was 9 I thought I'd never see the day when I could drive it on the road, but at last that day is finally here!
Thanks for the replies guys, it's classed as a historic vehicle. Tax and MOT exempt, so that allows a few pennies to cater for the fuel bill.
Parts supply tends to be pretty good, there's many specialists around the country particularly in post war British kit that do spares. The only things that are getting difficult to find are the wings, side storage bins and exhaust components. People have had these parts remanufactured and can be easily repaired if needs be. The bloke we bought it from is through and through a Ferret man, he was in the REME for many years on all sorts of British kit and now runs a spares business devoted to solely Ferret parts. He has the most immaculate 'out the factory' early Mk1 example in bronze green paint, so tidy he uses a towel to protect the paint when climbing in it! The Ferret hatches have a nasty tendency to snap shut if they're stepped on or pushed. I will never forget the safety lesson he taught to me and my little brother before we bought it, telling us about how careful we must be not to get 'Ferret finger', at which point he showed us his hand with fingers of varying lengths
Inkyfingers what a shame you had to sell, they're worth a fortune now though! Have you got any photos from your time with it?
As for it being noisy and slow, yeah I've no doubt but I'm fairly used to that having owned a classic Landy for 10 years, there's something weirdly enjoyable about driving something so different to a normal car.
Parts supply tends to be pretty good, there's many specialists around the country particularly in post war British kit that do spares. The only things that are getting difficult to find are the wings, side storage bins and exhaust components. People have had these parts remanufactured and can be easily repaired if needs be. The bloke we bought it from is through and through a Ferret man, he was in the REME for many years on all sorts of British kit and now runs a spares business devoted to solely Ferret parts. He has the most immaculate 'out the factory' early Mk1 example in bronze green paint, so tidy he uses a towel to protect the paint when climbing in it! The Ferret hatches have a nasty tendency to snap shut if they're stepped on or pushed. I will never forget the safety lesson he taught to me and my little brother before we bought it, telling us about how careful we must be not to get 'Ferret finger', at which point he showed us his hand with fingers of varying lengths
Inkyfingers what a shame you had to sell, they're worth a fortune now though! Have you got any photos from your time with it?
As for it being noisy and slow, yeah I've no doubt but I'm fairly used to that having owned a classic Landy for 10 years, there's something weirdly enjoyable about driving something so different to a normal car.
Edited by LewG on Wednesday 14th April 21:43
Thought I'd post a few pictures of the fairly uncompromising interior as it does tend to be a talking point
It's looking fairly empty at the moment as I've got the air filter box out to charge the batteries.
The angled steering wheel, not as difficult as it looks!
20160404_214545_zpsch6rhjcc by Lew Garner
The safety conscious commander's seat.
20160404_214403_zpsmge2kiuq by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/152875853@N07/]Lew Garner[/url
At least they tried to cover the front prop shafts!
20160404_214701_zpsdtre8kh1 by Lew Garner, on Flickr
I drained the RH front hub this evening of its gear oil, it came out black and smelling pretty nasty! Tried ringing a few insurance companies too, most of them either didn't know what it is or couldn't insure me til I'm 25. I will persevere with it though, I've yet to ring Adrian Flux as they have insured me on my Landy before. We shall see.
It's looking fairly empty at the moment as I've got the air filter box out to charge the batteries.
The angled steering wheel, not as difficult as it looks!
20160404_214545_zpsch6rhjcc by Lew GarnerThe safety conscious commander's seat.
20160404_214403_zpsmge2kiuq by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/152875853@N07/]Lew Garner[/urlAt least they tried to cover the front prop shafts!
20160404_214701_zpsdtre8kh1 by Lew Garner, on FlickrI drained the RH front hub this evening of its gear oil, it came out black and smelling pretty nasty! Tried ringing a few insurance companies too, most of them either didn't know what it is or couldn't insure me til I'm 25. I will persevere with it though, I've yet to ring Adrian Flux as they have insured me on my Landy before. We shall see.
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 18:59
Great news. I'm insured 
Changed the engine oil this evening, the final level has to be checked with the engine idling as it's a dry sump engine.
Still can't go out in it yet though, I'm registering it to me and still have a few minor repairs to get through. Firstly the rest of the hub oils need changing, there's a rear number plate light to get working, and it needs a new battery as one has died due to its layup.
I've got 6 exhaust manifold gaskets on order as the distributor sits right above and the heat shield mounting bolts have snapped off. There's a lot of cables etc. in the way so at this point with the top armour removed it's probably easier to remove the manifolds and drill the broken bolts out on the bench. Bring on the next Sunday Service
Changed the engine oil this evening, the final level has to be checked with the engine idling as it's a dry sump engine.
Still can't go out in it yet though, I'm registering it to me and still have a few minor repairs to get through. Firstly the rest of the hub oils need changing, there's a rear number plate light to get working, and it needs a new battery as one has died due to its layup.
I've got 6 exhaust manifold gaskets on order as the distributor sits right above and the heat shield mounting bolts have snapped off. There's a lot of cables etc. in the way so at this point with the top armour removed it's probably easier to remove the manifolds and drill the broken bolts out on the bench. Bring on the next Sunday Service
Cheers chap! It does look familiar I must say..
Tonight I removed the manifolds from the engine and drilled out the broken heat shield bolts, tapped out the holes to an M8 size then put it all back together with fresh gaskets and lots of copper grease on everything! Unfortunately most of the studs were in rather poor condition and I suspect this won't be the last time I have to have the exhaust system apart.
20160407_204615_zpsilhfypkh by Lew Garner
20160407_204630_zpswmibvzib by Lew Garner
It all looked really manky on strip down due to the various oil weeps and dirt everywhere, I've brake cleanered it all down to get rid of the worst and will give it a good steam clean before refitting the top covers.
That's all the photos I got for this evening as my battery ran out on my phone. Talking of batteries I also got the replacement fitted so no more jump starting required, hooray! Hopefully will have it out and going at the weekend
Tonight I removed the manifolds from the engine and drilled out the broken heat shield bolts, tapped out the holes to an M8 size then put it all back together with fresh gaskets and lots of copper grease on everything! Unfortunately most of the studs were in rather poor condition and I suspect this won't be the last time I have to have the exhaust system apart.
20160407_204615_zpsilhfypkh by Lew Garner20160407_204630_zpswmibvzib by Lew GarnerIt all looked really manky on strip down due to the various oil weeps and dirt everywhere, I've brake cleanered it all down to get rid of the worst and will give it a good steam clean before refitting the top covers.
That's all the photos I got for this evening as my battery ran out on my phone. Talking of batteries I also got the replacement fitted so no more jump starting required, hooray! Hopefully will have it out and going at the weekend
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:01
yellowjack said:
Eeeeeh, that takes me back!
The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
Brilliant The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
almost amazed it still had a Browning that late! I've got the Bren gun ready to go back on top of ours. Did you see many of them in action or were they all but gone by then? Thanks! I managed to get all the hub oils changed tonight and taxed it online. A good pressure wash tomorrow and I'll take it for a few gentle test runs up some local country lanes to make sure all is well.
They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
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?
Hello chap, great to read. I can well imagine! They are relatively ancient in comparison, I've driven several 432s and although great fun there's no comparison to the modern stuff. A Cent or a Chieftain would be the ultimate toy for me, but in a battle situation I think I'd prefer the shiny new stuff 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? Superb we do have a Spartan too funnily enough, I can't quite recall its service history I'll have to dig out the file.
It is a proper Bren I'm afraid, realistically it should be the L4 but they command a healthy premium over a standard one. From what I remember there was a company that made a specialist GPMG turret for 432. I can't remember the name for the life of me though.
Was that the Sterling SMG? We have one for the little gun hooks in the back of the Ferret. I've been told the stories! If what you're aiming at is any more than 30 feet away, don't bother
e600 said:
As an ex REME type I can recall many happy afternoons stripping and reassembling ferret and stalwart reduction hubs, the planet gears have a small etched mark against one tooth and these gears need to be timed, otherwise the hub locks up after a couple of revolutions.
I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
Hello e600, absolutely right as you say. I have a few EMERS with different bits and pieces in and had been warned by John the Ferret guru that there's a few tricks to getting it back together. What a pain! Thankfully I had several small plastic bags in the workshop so every planet gear and its rollers went in a separate bag. I'll get round to doing something with it one day. I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
Edited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:40
EFAEdited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:43
Oh yes the left leg workout in each gear! I understand it's a big job replacing the brake bands?
Absolutely that, I would've thought going from a Mk1 to a Mk2 would require some reeducation in driving technique! It's surprising how much you can throw the Mk1 round corners on the road, we have had it really cooking in the past!
Not sure I'd fancy going from that to a Fox CVRW. Apparently although absolutely rapid they'd tip over at the prospect of a corner
Got her washed down today, the rear armour plates and air filter fitted. Took her for a couple of runs up the farm track, come to a stop and could smell acrid smoke so I hopped out quick and threw the engine hatches open. Thankfully just a stray zip tie on the exhaust!
Myself and dad took her a few hundred metres up the road to the garage for some fresh petrol, it's quite evident that there isn't a lot of stopping power in reserve so a bit of brake adjustment definitely needed!
Engine is looking far better for a pressure washing.
20160409_130717_zps2qpgjdxp
Little PH event in the next town tomorrow morning so it looks like I'll be taking the TVR, a shame as I really wanted to take this but it's ill advised with not a huge amount of brakes
Myself and dad took her a few hundred metres up the road to the garage for some fresh petrol, it's quite evident that there isn't a lot of stopping power in reserve so a bit of brake adjustment definitely needed!
Engine is looking far better for a pressure washing.
20160409_130717_zps2qpgjdxpLittle PH event in the next town tomorrow morning so it looks like I'll be taking the TVR, a shame as I really wanted to take this but it's ill advised with not a huge amount of brakes
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:03
Cheers Dave. Took her out for a good run this afternoon and what an experience. It's fantastically slow for a couple of miles whilst all the many, many gallons of oil warm up and everything begins to agree with each other. After that I merrily ticked along around the local countryside at 45mph ish as a cruise. I've only ever driven it around the farm, never out on the road so it was completely new to me. It's surprisingly accurate to drive on the road and the steering has considerably less vagueness than my old Landy for example (not a high benchmark for steering excellence I know but nevertheless!). It's quite frustrating pulling out of junctions because obviously you need a fair bit of room due to being relatively slow, but then the car passing slows down to a crawl to have a look/take photos on their phones
Really looking forward to getting it absolutely perfect for this coming show season, a company called Jolley Engineering do a great electronic ignition kit for these so I'll be fitting that to replace the two sets of points, as it doesn't idle particularly well which can make setting off from busy junctions difficult with no clutch. Really pleased with it so far though, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for hours afterwards!
Really looking forward to getting it absolutely perfect for this coming show season, a company called Jolley Engineering do a great electronic ignition kit for these so I'll be fitting that to replace the two sets of points, as it doesn't idle particularly well which can make setting off from busy junctions difficult with no clutch. Really pleased with it so far though, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for hours afterwards!
minivanman said:
Yes, they're fantastically over complicated - its amazing any survived the squaddies, let alone 50 years of civilian abuse! Theoretically top speed is the same in reverse, although apparently they're extremely twitchy 
He talks of selling it every so often but we've done so much to it over the years it'd be a shame to let it go. Its pretty much spot on mechanically for the first time in 30 years! We had a ride in a stolly at the evesham show a few years ago - what a machine. When I win the lottery....
Too right! That is a bit of a shame, do you not reckon you could take it on? Aren't they fantastic! There was a Mk1 Stolly rotting on a farm on my way to school years ago, used to pass it every day on the bus and I used to find that old thing absolutely amazing. I persuaded Dad to try and contact the owner so we knocked on the door of the farmhouse next door, it turned out it belonged to some strange recluse who lived down the river in a tiny cottage, and had used it to sail back to his house on occasion! He hadn't moved it in approximately 15 years and it hadn't run for 5. We approached him about buying it but he wouldn't sell up unfortunately. Eventually it just disappeared, so we spoke to the farmer again to see what had happened. He'd spoke to the owner and asked him to move it, received no reply and so got one of those tank driving companies to come and fetch it, they gave him £400 for it! Apparently with some new batteries and fresh fuel it started and 'run like a sewing machine'. I was absolutely gutted. He talks of selling it every so often but we've done so much to it over the years it'd be a shame to let it go. Its pretty much spot on mechanically for the first time in 30 years! We had a ride in a stolly at the evesham show a few years ago - what a machine. When I win the lottery....Put her up on axle stands again yesterday to have a look at the brakes as they are pretty poor! All the wheels and drums came off no trouble, and apart from being just generally dirty there was absolutely nothing wrong with them.
Obviously at the time the Ferret was built most drum brakes would've been a single leading shoe setup, however due to the Ferret being able to drive as fast in reverse as it can forwards, it has to be twin leading. It has two toothed adjuster wheels, one within the other, and looking at the backplate it looks as if two nuts have been wound together on a stud. You hold one nut stationary and turn the other clockwise until the drum binds, then turn it back a notch. And then repeat but the other way round, otherwise you'll only adjust one shoe.
Cleaned all the drums up with some emery paper and roughed the shoe faces. Don't breathe it in! Then checked all were actually expanding out. One on the front RHS seemed to be sticky so we soaked it in penetrating oil for the night and adjusted the rest up.
[/url]
Will have another bash at it today.
Obviously at the time the Ferret was built most drum brakes would've been a single leading shoe setup, however due to the Ferret being able to drive as fast in reverse as it can forwards, it has to be twin leading. It has two toothed adjuster wheels, one within the other, and looking at the backplate it looks as if two nuts have been wound together on a stud. You hold one nut stationary and turn the other clockwise until the drum binds, then turn it back a notch. And then repeat but the other way round, otherwise you'll only adjust one shoe.
Cleaned all the drums up with some emery paper and roughed the shoe faces. Don't breathe it in! Then checked all were actually expanding out. One on the front RHS seemed to be sticky so we soaked it in penetrating oil for the night and adjusted the rest up.
[/url]Will have another bash at it today.
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:09
Well so far not a bad week with the Ferret bar one small issue. Went to the Clophill supercar meet now on the Bedford bypass instead last weekend with Gretchen. It was good fun but sadly due to an accident the bypass was closed and by the time we arrived most were leaving!
Took it into work on Wednesday, bloody freezing on the way there! It was so satisfying driving into a very German company in it, the looks were priceless I did sort of underestimate the amount of fuel she'd actually use though and ended up borrowing a gallon off my grandad so I could get back to a garage!
The only issue I do have is that the ignition switch seems to have a poor contact inside, once running it's fine but when trying to start sometimes it needs a bit of a wiggle. Having a look as we speak.
Took it into work on Wednesday, bloody freezing on the way there! It was so satisfying driving into a very German company in it, the looks were priceless
I did sort of underestimate the amount of fuel she'd actually use though and ended up borrowing a gallon off my grandad so I could get back to a garage! The only issue I do have is that the ignition switch seems to have a poor contact inside, once running it's fine but when trying to start sometimes it needs a bit of a wiggle. Having a look as we speak.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff