Well it's still raining, wet n miserable here in Cessnock tonight, my wife is away up in Rockhampton visiting the one of our kids etc., I know if she were here she would be
on to me about sitting around doing F/all, LOL, she is not a hard task master, but she knows me well, I don't like wasting time, but as it's raining n cold, I'm in the house
minding the 'Poodle Patrol.
In the last segment about 112-587, you will remember that a S2A 109 Bloodbox arrived on the scene when I was restoring 112-587, well now it is it's turn, here is an image
after I tracked it down in Thalabar road New Lambton NSW, I found it but not the owner, he worked as a pastrycook bloody hell was he hard to catch, believe this or not,
I had the 109 on a tilt tray ready to leave for Cessnock when he answered the door, he was shocked +++ to say the least, anyway some images
and on the truck ready to go
there was also a Wksp trailer there as well, we towed that to the Judges place @ Morpeth, that's where it stayed until I was ready for it (read 2 years LOL)
The vehicle took the place of my 110 in the garage, as an initial check before purchase and after showed it had significant rust issues with the bulkhead
and other places, it also ahd a dead rear end (blown diff), so the hunt was on for some replacements, all while I was still working on 112-587 (Wee-Wullie)
When the time came to start work on the vehicle it was the rear end where I started, jacked it up placed body/axle stands under the chassis, remove wheels
brake assemblies, diff/center/axle casing/springs, the diff/center had smashed into many pieces, I had read somewhere that Salisbury diff's were retro-fitted
so that's what I did, but not yet.
I bought a new angle grinder a cheap Bosch to be sacrificed on the alter of restoration, it was fitted with many a wire brush, which I used to clean the dirt off
the chassis, and a needle scale gun when I couldn't get into the corners etc.,, it took some time to accomplish this, many face masks and wire cup brush strikes
later, it looked like this
I suppose I should tell you that the previous owner was a M/cycle enthusiast and if you use your imagination you will be able to work out the wording above the
back doors, being a single man and all that LOL, anyway back to the task at hand, I started it up drove it out of the shed turned it around on the street and
reversed it back into the shed, stripping it back to behind the doors, that took about 2 days, always remember "I'm a 1 man band here" and if I don't do it no-one
will
now while all this was underway, REMLR was still in it's infancy, very little information on the net, Stephen Stansfield had restored 'Norma Jean' but that was it
Warwick Lord had one but didn't restore it, so there was F/all info out there, especially with wiring diagram etc., the big hurdle I was facing at the time was finding
a bulkhead, my good mate (spray painter) had a shooting property up near Merriwa NSW, he said the property owner had numerous wrecked L/R's on the property
so me n the Judge headed off, I took enough gear to do the job (including Oxy/acety) and supplies to stay O/night, but that wasn't needed as most of it unbolted
without any fuss, so here is an image of said donor, I has already lifted off guards x 2 and Rad/sup panel in 1 effort (still bolted together)
the donor B/head needed some minor repairs, with that done it was time for a trial fit, & unfit, fit & unfit LOL
I had rebuilt the G/box at this stage with new bearings, first gear appeared to be OK, but as I found out much later, the vehicle must have done some work in 1st gear
as it is a little bit noisy, but I can & will live with that.
With the B/head repaired n fitted, it was time to start a complete strip down of the body panels to remove all the graffiti, and boy was it everywhere, even on the turret
some images, you would not believe how many hours this took, I thought (being a smart little d**K cover a huge area, wrong, bad idea++ 300mm square @ a time is the go)
it was everywhere even on the turret, the man was crazy about 'Mick Doohan'
It took some weeks to strip it back and pressure wash it off every day, at one stage the fumes got me when I was on the turret, I almost fell off, that would have been the end of me
as it's 8' to the ground, the fall wont hurt it's the sudden stop @ the bottom that does the damage.
The next step was to etch prime the exterior of the vehicle and paint it in Olive Drab, this was done a side at a time, it was a task n a half for an amateur spray painter, I had a small
compressor but I had a professional spray gun,(Iwata 77) and I was able to access information from my spray painter mate (Craig Phillips he owned his own business) but I painted the vehicle
when it was completely covered in O/drab, it was time to mark out for the Geneva Crosses, this is where Warwick Lord came in handy as he had an unmolested bloodbox, rough
dimensions were taken (and I still have them in a flip top note book along with a heap of notes from Bandiana re LRPV) these measurements were transferred to the body and away I went
here are some images
and the finished product
and the turret
The engine has it's rear main bearing oil seal replaced along with a few other things and was refitted, here it is with the head off having the valve stem oil seals done
whilst all the work was happening through the day, some late nights were spent sufing looking for military medical field gear, to say I have sufficient is an over statement
and from another angle
Somewhere after the vehicle was registered on club plates, Mike Cecil saw an image of it with the ARN I had made for it, he emailed me and said he thought he had all the ARN's
of all the S2/2A Bloodboxes, I wrote back n told him that I made it up, he asked for the chassis number and within 10 minutes I knew the real ARN 114-194, and that's how
REMLR came to know about the Big Blue Book, I passed this info onto Ross C who was a travelling rep for 'Walk on Wheels' he made himself known and the rest is history as the
saying goes.
Now the vehicle wasn't complete without mannequins, so I managed to get 3, one is the Reg/nse here is an image of here known as the other woman in my life LOL
she has her own kit bag, it did have one of these in it but sadly it's gone west??
and she trained @ Dubbo Base hospital NSW, as I have the Reg/nse badge and NSW Rego board badge as well, she has the rank of Capt.
here is an interior shot, it has not been touched other than a polish up, it has a few stains that I can't remove so I left them there
I have enough kit to set up a small forward field hospital, I was always on the lookout for a 11 x 11 tent, missed out on one REMLR Qld got it from BLknight, I wasn't quick
enough, I have a Vauxhall sterilizer which works a treat as well as Oxy_viva (ex army from Tooles disp)
so when n if the vehicle comes up for sale, it has a heap of med/surgical gear to go with it, including NOS stretchers and litter stands/ portable giving stands fitted to the stretchers
the vehicle does attract quite a bit of attention whenever it is on display, but you have watch for the five finger discount people, as they will steal anything that's not secure
I know from experience, the inside is equipped with a variety of storage spots, it is a well thought out situation, here are some images
4 fans to add to patient comfort, the vehicle also has a deceased person in a US issue body bag and the correct ID tags
I almost forgot to mention, under the bonnet it had these painted markings, we (I) have not been able to find anything out about them
maybe now with a wider info base some-one might know, anyway to finish off here are 2 shots showing B4 n after
that took almost 18 months of full on slog, I did consider making a gantry to lift off the rear body, but @ over $1,000.00 for steel to construct
I dropped the idea like a hot rock, the rotating light n continental horns as they should
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGv02Txf0Wcjust a short clip as they are loud, anyway I wish I could restore a vehicle as quickly as putting the yarn together on the net, albeit a very short version of it
cheers Dennis
ps I'm sure I have forgotten some aspects of this job with the fog of time LOL,,. & only 5 more vehicles and 2 trailers to go sigh,.. and whilst restoring this along came a workshop Land Rover with a S2A 88"GS that had to go with it
then a few months later a Series 2 Comm/Recon car, geezus I was staring down at least the next 4 years of not leaving the yard, it was a big ask/task I can assure you,..
