Brit MK 2/3 Ferret Swords + Ploughshares Museum

[Robin Craig]

Mike,

I have started you a new thread as the forum is getting messy and this tidies it up.

In response answer to your questions posted here http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=14724 I reply as follows:-

-carb kits are available in the UK from the usual suspects

-That vehicle needs a very careful going over as it has languished for a long time without proper maintenance.

-Frankly I don't trust the previous maintenance that was done, I honestly believe from when I went to look at it not long before you bought it that the fluid flywheel, gearbox and transfer case fluids are suspect as to what was used. The previous owner, and the one before that, whom I have also met were barking up a very strange route when it came to putting "oils" into it to make it run

- It likely has a leak in one of those spaces as it did not have proper drive function in any gear. I suspect the fluid flywheel is leaking and that constant adding of fluid is not the way to go as far as a fix. It needs to be pulled and sorted.

- Is it under cover of a building now or is it sat in the "tall grass storage"?

R

[Gunner]

Hi Robin:

There was no room in the barn as we had filled it up as part of the annual winterisation the week before I bought the Ferret, so she is sitting on the hardstand with a tarp over her for the interim.

I have some work ahead of me to check everything over and try to locate the leak in the fluid coupling. I've been reading through several fora absorbing what I can about the Ferrets and I have noted that there was a lot of print about the correct fluids and their various applications. The concensus seems to have settled on the 0M13 replacement being ISO10 or ISO15.

Gary was kind enough to supply a 20l pail of the ISO15 for the coupling and it has been topped up recently. Nonetheless the leak has to be tracked down which means, ultimately, pulling the powerpack to see whats what. I'll likely find some interesting artefacts under the engine!

Reading the Ferret manual, I get the impression that the fluid coupling leaks are frequently the gaskets on the filler plugs. I hope this is the case as they are a lot easier to replace than splitting the coupling to put a new seal in it. In the interim I've ordered the fancy filler plug tool as I don't want to lose a plug into the flywheel.

I was at a military museum in Largo, Fla yesterday and they have a Ferret as well. I had forgotten my camera so I'll go back and take some shots for the Registry chap, Matt and I'll share them on this forum as well. http://www.armedforcesmuseum.com/

Ubique! Mike

[Gunner]

We MLUers frequently comment on the charity and helpfulness of our fellow MLUers. I suspect that the ROT (rusty old truck) and the creeping olive drab disease must affect us all in a similar way. I have met some very friendly and helpful folks on all sorts of military vehicle fora as I have tried to track down the ARN for my Ferret over the past month and a half.

For those not familiar with it, the ARN is the British equivalent of the CAR/CFR number used in Canada. Unlike our seven digit code (year year-type type sequential number sequential number sequential number ie 54-77321) system, the ARN is a digit digit letter letter digit digit system ie 01AA23. Up until the eighties it had some coding assigned to combinations as they were assigned in blocks to purchasing contracts and certain letter codes were reserved for specific things such as "RN" was Royal Navy. After some point in the eighties it became purely sequential as vehicles were accepted into service so you could have a firetruck have an ARN one digit different from say a new tank. Thankfully my Ferret predates the new system.

The British Army did not record hull numbers in cross reference to ARNs so if your data plate is missing, as is mine, all you have is a hull number and, depending on when it was built, a rough date of manufacture (early Ferrets had no date on the hull number plate which is permanently welded to the hull). Adding to the confusion is that the ARNs were only painted on and not stamped anywhere permanently so if there is no ARN under the layers of paint... yer screwed!

All this to say that on several sites on the 'interweb' I was able to track down the block of ARNs assigned to Ferrets produced in 1963 (mine is 8/63). Some chatting with the chap who runs the Ferret Registry, Matt Taylor, revealed that there were a few with hull numbers close to mine which might give a hint as to the ARN. I met another great guy on HMVF who has a hull number close to mine. What I have so far is:

Hull 3323 ARN 18EA36 is a gent named Paul on the HMVF (griff66);
Hull 3327 ARN 18EA40 is our friend Jeff here in Ottawa. His and Paul's hull number and ARN are four apart;
Hull 3343 ARN 18EA56? is me and 20 more than Paul and 16 more than Jeff making me sure I'm 18EA56! Now the kicker...
Hull 3651 ARN 18EA64 is Matt so there must have been a break between mine and his somewhere to account for the big change in hull numbers vs ARNs. Matt is hoping to puzzle this out as the registry gains more details. There is also the chance that Matt's hull number is actually 3351 which fits the sequence exactly.

Paul tells me mine is likely one of 67 Mk 1/2s built to contract 6/FV/2146 in 1963. I expect the modification to Mk2/3 came later in the 60's or 70's.

Interesting that Jeff's and mine are 16 apart and both ended up far from home but both in Ottawa.

There is a chap in the USA who is planning to run off a batch of repop data plates so I hope to confirm 18EA56 and the contract number soon so I can stamp all my info onto the repop.

In the interim, mine will be 18EA56 until I learn differently and I'd like to give many thumbs up to the dedicated guys who run the various registries around the world. Without their databases anyone missing bits of important info for titling and registration would be lost. I encourage us all to register any old beasties we have on the appropriate registry... it pays off!

Tub thumping done... sherlock holmesing continues!

Cheers! Mike

[Robin Craig]

Mike,

the MLU audience is small on Ferrets.

Can I suggest you re post you last on HMVF where there are more Ferret owners who might benefit.

Also, FYI Brian Asbury asked me to copy for you a manual I have from him.

R

[Gunner]

Robin:

I'm looking forward to getting a copy... no rush though as I won't be pulling power packs until the temperature rise considerably!

Mike

[Dana Nield]

Mike,

I'd tell Beth that you bought a Ferret, but she'd go out and buy you pet supplies.

Cheers!

Dana

[garmack]

One of the only regrets I have is selling the ferret I always wanted 1 and had to for reasons sell it. Mike is a perfect person to let it go to and have never heard back that he had any regrets. I sold it once to AL and as per Robins advice he backed out ( glad he did! ) then Mike showed up cash in hand and off it went! best part is we are now neighbors so I can see it anytime and would buy it back in a heartbeat!!

[Robin Craig]

Maybe this is an opportunity for fractional ownership of a Ferret?

Then it would get used regularly and the costs of maintenance shared?

R