What make and model is this land rover trailer on Canada Street?

[railroadbill]

 

JB models 101 so far.  The parts fit together very well. Perhaps not quite Tamya but not bad. The front panel and the doors are clear plastic that need the windows masking.

[MJI]

I like the FC Land Rovers

[railroadbill]

Is it this one?

http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/lwb-land-rover-and-trailer-hard-top-1-76.html

I was in the local Hobby Craft store today and they had the Airfix 109 Land Rover (hard top version,  ex JB models) with the Sankey trailer,  in stock, their price £8 (so 99p cheaper than Airfix web site!) 

 

Ironically, the Airfix Land Rover kit is made in India for a British company, while current Land Rovers are........     

 

:-)

[Arthur]

Bit of major thread drift here but some photos as promised. I'll split them over two posts. It's partway through some work, the exterior was painted last year, the tilt is currently off which helped with the photography, and the passenger seat is out as the seats are being replaced.

 

 

Three of the front showing the pioneer tools as fitted, not that I normally carry them. Small spade, pick axe head and handle. There should be webbing straps holding them down which are due for replacement. I don't have the starting handle as moulded on the kit, starting a V8 with one doesn't really appeal...All were fitted with the standard military fire extinguisher carried at the lower mid point of the windscreen, it's in primer here, it should be a dark green. The framework carrier above the number plate is not universal. It's for a 2.5 kg fire extinguisher fitted to mine, I believe, because it had a role as an ammunition carrier.

 

 

 

 

 

Shots looking in both cab doors. The cab is very cramped. It's not easy to get in or out, step ring on the wheel which you cannot see on exit, and you have to weave your left knee/leg around the steering column. The drivers seat squab can be moved forward but nobody would, it's a tight fit even pushed right back. The driving position is very upright and even those of average height will feel that their knees are high up against the steering wheel. The latter is small and power steering is not fitted, low speed maneuvering is a real workout.

 

 

 

From the tailgate. The raised hump at the front of the floor covers the rear of the engine and the gearbox. It, and a panel of flooring, are released with half turn screws. The upright bracket behind the drivers seat is the mounting for the spare wheel, currently in the garage. The tilt has a flap, as does the bodywork, which can be opened and the spare wheel slid out sideways. Those eyeball vents admit warm air to the rear, providing comfort for rear passengers.........maniacal laughter

 

 

[Arthur]

Part 2

 

Cab left. The battery sits in the box to the left, windscreen washer bottle in the footwell where there would also be another small fire extinguisher. Hand grab in front of the seat and the two pairs of holes are where the rifle clips were mounted. They just get in the way and it's rare to need a 7.62mm SLR hereabouts. To the right is the lift off engine cover, the gear lever protrudes through a somewhat tatty leather gaiter. There is a long linkage to the gearbox, it's a bit like stirring a bar in a bucket of scrap. The trunking on the top feeds warm air to the rear and there should be a flexible hose linking it's front to the hole in the heater. Sod that, I want all the heat in the cab. Another large fire extinguisher bracket sits on top, again non standard. The brake and clutch fluid containers are seen just below the windscreen, easy to access but they suffer from uv light degradation.

 

 

Lever Rack. The red lever is the high low gear change. The rack can have three levers, angled out to the left, a green one to operate the Nokken mechanical winch which some are fitted with, not mine. To the right there is space for a third lever which would have operated a PTO mechanism driving a powered trailer. There were problems with this on early trials and the idea was abandoned. The little switch on the side of the bracket operates the heater fan, the small handbrake lever is to the right and visible are the choke and diff lock switch, you pull it up.

 

(See bottom of post, photo is misplaced)

 

 

Drivers side. Pretty straightforward. I've recently had the steering column and box out for refurbishing and need to replace the nut cover. Indicator stalk, horn etc to the right below the wheel. On the dash; wiper washer control, ignition key, the light grey switch is a brake test indicator, dials with diff lock indicator between their bottom halves. Only the lights are unusual. Unseen behind the steering wheel is the infra red light switch. It looks 'exciting' because it has a flip up guard preventing accidental operation. All it does is to extinguish every light bar the headlights which can be fitted with infra red filters. The hole to the right is where the standard 6 way military light switch should fit. It allows all sorts of combinations of lights, all, rear only, front only and convoy light. They are unreliable, cost about £60:00 and I've been through three. I'll replace one as a dummy but lights are now operated by a standard Series Land Rover light switch.

 

 

Finally a rear three quarter view. Obviously the hood/tilt sticks are largely off, the roll cage can be seen behind the cab. The petrol filler is visible, it would be red originally, and above it the little flap which gives access to the spare wheel. The upper and lower sides can be removed in seconds. Despite the mud on them the bar grip tyres are new (in the sense of unused). They are very difficult to obtain. Finally, the raised bumperettes at the rear are at the same level as the front bumper on the front of military Bedford 4x4's enabling one to push the other should the need arise.

 

 

Hope that's of some help and interest.

[MJI]

If I had one it would soon get some modifications, starting with power steering!

 

And would also have to be LPG or get one with no engine and drop a Diesel in, I reckon LRs most interesting Diesel would fit and it is of similar power to the V8.

[PhilJ W]

If I had one it would soon get some modifications, starting with power steering!

 

And would also have to be LPG or get one with no engine and drop a Diesel in, I reckon LRs most interesting Diesel would fit and it is of similar power to the V8.

Being over 6 feet tall I would also replace the drivers seat with something more comfortable and giving more space and move the spare tyre.

[Arthur]

If memory serves me correctly and what i've read accurate the 101 couldn't be sold commercially due to cab space legislation.

First time I saw one it was climbing a welsh stream.

Interesting, I've never heard that before, that it was due to specific legislation but it could be correct. It is certainly very cramped, virtually devoid of any insulation and even by the standards of the 70's the cab is very crude. All that is between you and the outside are plain Birmabright panels. The engine cover and engine side panels have some insulation on them but the cover itself is a...er...'comfortable' fit on its mountings.

 

 

It doesn't do enough mileage for me to bother with either an LPG or diesel conversion though both are common. Leyland and Perkins are the most common diesel swops, the GMC V8 diesel always appealed but it puts a lot of strain on the transmission. Which diesel are you thinking about MJI? I did fit electronic ignition and an uprated coil which has made a big difference to starting and running. It also used to burn the points out every few hundred miles.

 

Over six foot Phil?, you'd find it very uncomfortable and your eyeline would be near level with the windscreen top. Seats are a problem. I'm fitting Exmoor Trim hi back seats, they just use the existing mountings but give a more shaped support. You cannot lower the seats, merely make them thinner, and right behind is a structural bulkhead on which the roll cage is mounted. The spare wheel carrier doesn't interfere with standard seats but it does with the hi backs, it pushes the tops forward an inch or two. I'm going to cut the top of it off at bulkhead height and weld it back on an inch or two further back.

[railroadbill]

Terrific pictures, Arthur!  Thanks for posting them, imho it's a really fascinating vehicle.  (Pics also useful for weathering models, I think.   I hadn't considered that the ribs in the back floor would of course be polished by anything loaded in there. ).

 

See what you mean about the small cab space, don't think they were designed taking the comfort of squaddies into account.

I once went on a long journey in a friend's ex army lightweight along with some other 4x4s, across Spain and Morocco. The seats in lightweights were just  thin squabs on top of the petrol tank. And afterwards I thought I'd gone deaf.  But on poor tracks and off road, unbeatable.  Comfortable, not.

 

Re power steering, I believe that when that began to be fitted to civilian land rovers (90/110s presumably?) the army (and also police) specified no power steering. More to  go wrong, and your average squaddie should be fit enough not to need it!  But I suspect that will have changed with newer vehicles now that power steering is a norm on vehicles generally. 

[Arthur]

 

You're welcome RRBill, glad that they are of some use.

 

I used to have a lightweight, the seats are exactly the same, you can swop them, as is the general environment i.e. minimal insulation and sound deadening but the 101 is noisier because you sit over the engine.

 

Yes, you're right about the reason for the lack of power steering, it's a common upgrade in civilian ownership using LDV parts.

 

These days power steering is standard, it's expected and one other reason, I believe, is the increased number of female drivers in the military. Changing wheels can be an issue too. Those on the 101 are pretty weighty.

 

I'll post one other photo later today.

[MJI]

I was thinking about an engine found in Discovery 2s and last decent engined Defenders

 

Defender ECU with Discovery engine and box. plenty getting scrapped now due to chassis rust.

 

Plenty of torque.

 

Much nicer lump than the Puma. Much more grunt than TDI300.

 

May be a bit long though.

 

TDI300 and 200 are very good engines but no V8 alternative, the TD5 can replace a V8 power wise. I have driven or ridden in V8, 300 and TD5 Discos

[Arthur]

 

 

That final photo; a control not visible in the other cab shots;

 

 

Why design a swish new operating mechanism when you can buy it from the plumbing section of Travis Perkins, that red handled valve is just that. An original fitment, it controls water flow into the heater matrix. Cheap and effective if a little basic.

[Black Sheep]

I was thinking about an engine found in Discovery 2s and last decent engined Defenders

 

Defender ECU with Discovery engine and box. plenty getting scrapped now due to chassis rust.

 

Plenty of torque.

 

Much nicer lump than the Puma. Much more grunt than TDI300.

 

May be a bit long though.

 

TDI300 and 200 are very good engines but no V8 alternative, the TD5 can replace a V8 power wise. I have driven or ridden in V8, 300 and TD5 Discos

 

I'm certain an Iveco conversion has been done which was described as "having a torque curve flatter than Sailsbury plain" which I presumed to be a good thing...

[PhilJ W]

I'm certain an Iveco conversion has been done which was described as "having a torque curve flatter than Sailsbury plain" which I presumed to be a good thing...

Land Rover Defenders were made under licence by IVECO until recently using their own engines.

[railroadbill]

Going on from Arthur's post #20 about FC land rovers, I came across a copy of "British Land Rovers in the Gulf" by Bob Morrison in the bookcase. Think it came as a freebie with some other books.  He writes/wrote for a Land Rover magazine. He got permission to photograph Army Land Rovers (with a few RAF and Marines vehicles)  either waiting to be shipped out or in eastern Saudi Aradia in the build up between the Iraq invasion of Kuwait and the start of the first Gulf war.  25 years ago now.

 

The book stresses that none of the pics reveal any military information like actual unit strengths or indeed what the vehicles are carrying! Most of these are support vehicles (such as helicopter maintenance) or general purpose off road capable light trucks. 

It does provide a snapshot of Land Rover types used by British military forces in the early 90s so for that military train of that era....

 

1. Sankey Trailers.  Loads of them, being towed by most types,  109s, 110s, lightweights. One trailer has 4 Rapier missile rounds stacked on it (in oblong cases) pulled by a 110. 

 

2. Land Rover types shown are:

 

Lightweights (still being used, all soft tops),

109s soft top,hard top and window hard top.

Just one 109 Carawagon used by a senior commander.

90s soft top and hard top plus a station wagon.

110s  soft tops and hard tops. Some used by COs of various units. One (complete with Sankey trailer)  coveys a mobile cinema!

130 ambulances. 

 

There are also a couple of stripped down armed 109 airfield defence vehicles,  and earlier pics of stripped down 110 SAS desert patrol vehicles when in the UK.

 

Which leaves:

 

3.   FC 101s.   There are 3 types here. 

 

Soft top gun tractors, used to pull Rapier missile launchers.  This was the one with 4 missiles, 2 each side of a pepper pot shaped launcher.  (There's one preserved at Duxford).  There appears to be a light machine gun mount set up over the cab, and lots of equipment tarpaulined up in the back.

 

The rare hard top. Caption says they were used as REME electrical repair workshops or for signals duties (presumably as a radio vehicle).

 

Field ambulances.   A large number were sent to the Gulf but fortunately not needed to the extent expected.

 

 

Nearly all the Land Rovers had been painted desert sand, a few have a thin mauve/pink or thicker  olive green striping as well. 

 

There were also some leased Discoveries and Range Rovers.

 

No doubt some of this era of vehicle has been preserved in private ownership.

 

Hope this is of some interest.