another West Australian ACCO 6x6 F1 GS

[johnp]

Hi guys,havnet been on here in a while,and def not with an inter.
 I purchased a Humber fv1601 last year along with a 73  Acco 6x6 but am only just getting around to getting it mobile enough to shift around a bit easier in preparation to actually getting it home from the wheatbelt area to  my home near Toodyay.
Chassis no is 3837 and is an F1,ARN should have been 25-209,any markings for TAC plates,unit nos,in service theater etc would be good if anyone can help.
Have just removed both carbies ,clutch m/cyl and slave cyl plus both brake master cyls for clean and re-kit.
Does anyone know of parts supplier Like Covs, Repco or similar just for the banjo type needle and seat for carbs as used on these vehicles,i cant say ive seen them on anything else.
Cheers    John

[Mick_Marsh]

Nice Inter.

What's the trailer in the background of photo 2?

(Yes. I know I have a trailer fettish.)

[johnp]

Mick,guy i bought truck from has a few Austin Champs and trailers, one pommy one and one aussie one,he is not selling these tho he wants to keep them,i dont know all that much about them except they have the humber style rim.
John

[STDDIVER]

Hi John  - you have one very nice inter there,  congratulations as it looks complete.  I am doing a similar job with mine. Great to  catch up with Mick the other day too.
Good luck with the project


STDDIVER

Ps  I might hve some carbie bits too - see what I can find

[johnp]

Stddiver,thanks,i have been searching high and low for needle and seats for these twin carbies and have found a reference to a kit SB569 that did these but now long obsolete,i have just for now anyway bought 2 new holden ones and will just use the needle as being rubber tipped i might be able to get away with it for now,does anyone know why they
 went down that mounted side by side route instead of inline like Holden setup etc?
Classic carbys in QLD knows of them but is unable to find any,so unless i can find some NOS kits i think i will have to modify/make something  when it gets home.
Will check out your posts ,are there pics of yours?
John

[Acco6x6]

     G,day John.   I have in the past week been trying to get the proper kits but no luck.  Was speaking to a chap in Melbourne who used to recondition them for the army.  Could not remember the banjo fitting as it was too long ago but thought the Holden xu-1 pipe may adapt to the new needle and seat kits.  My kits are from fuel miser via Repco
      Cheers
          Stewart

[johnp]

Gday Stewart,the classic carby guy,Gavin,has some N&S with a tail for hose to go on and u may be able to just put enough of a bend on it to clear,so will look at this option as well their about 20 dollars each,he did try various bends and unions etc but they all stuck out way too far,with the truck still 200 odd ks away i cant get an exact distance from 1 carb to the next till i go back up and try to refit everything,i will check out the xu-1 angle as well, thanks.
I have cleaned and sorted all hyd bits and pieces some new cyls for clutch and new cups and seals for brake m/cyls so should have that sorted when we go back up and get it running.one m/cyl has been stainless resleeved before and the other had what looked like a brass sleeve,both good enough for re-use.
We didnt get it to run for long enuff before so we may still have other probs such as water pump,leakey radiator ,hoses etc to contend with yet,may mean another trip back home before we attempt any distance drives,at worst we will load on our ex army Ford Cargo to get it home.
John

[johnp]

Does anyone know for sure about the colours and wording on the post 1972 ARN plates,i think they are green numbers  and thin green surround on white background with army something something on the bottom(poss "army the way up"?} ,i am just going to make some quick ones up(vinyl lettering on reflective background) on ali plate until one day when i can afford to get someone to possibly do "proper ones" .
The Humber i have will also cop a set ,i am pretty sure they are just white numbering on a gloss black background with AMF at top 105-691,with a thin white surround,i am unsure of number sizes (small and Large) so will just base it loosely around the car size stuff.
My son is a signwriter but not actually doing his trade at the moment so i have yet to con him in to helping ,but hopefully they should look good enough from 10 feet away.
The Humber is all but finished panel and paint wise so wanted them 1st but may as well do inter ones at same time.
John

[Diana Alan]

When the plates changed from black/white to white/green, the colour closely matched the camouflage green and the word ARMY was above the serials.  I believe the background was a non-reflective solid colour.

[johnp]

Diana,thanks for that, does it make a photo i have of a late f1 wrong then?(its in a WA museum) and is 94-2078 with army----- --?( camera flash obscures the last bit ) at the bottom,or did some get an even later ARN at some stage?

[Mick]

JP,

I reckon a F1 would have the back and white AMF plate.

There was a green / white .

ARMY
Serving the nation

Plate around at some point ?

I think it was after the plate Diana mentioned.

Cheers ,

Mick

[Diana Alan]

Diana,thanks for that, does it make a photo i have of a late f1 wrong then?(its in a WA museum) and is 94-2078 with army----- --?( camera flash obscures the last bit ) at the bottom,or did some get an even later ARN at some stage?

Hi John

Lots of vehicles that stayed in service through the 1980s and into the 1990s were re-issued plates in the green/white configuration but kept their original ARN.  We had a F5 wrecker at the Engineers Museum (ex-RAEME Training Centre) that had its ARN in the green/white and there are images of Numpty's gun buggy 112-372 with green white plates.

However, you also must remember that most of the AHU museums have a box full of old plates (we did at least) that could be stuck onto vehicles when they had lost their original plates, so you need to be a little careful accepting the number on a museum vehicle.

[johnp]

Hi Mick,i think Diana has got it right being a 73 build inter it would be equivalent to
 roughly around the same era the series 111s, 1972 and on, copped the 32-009 plate with just army at top,and not with the AMF bit any more, AGAS 5 2015 pic of 25-187 has army and looks to be green on white.
Seeing as they changed in 72 i would say that is correct,however they must have changed again sometime later with the    army - -  -   at the bottom
cheers   John

[johnp]

Hi Diana,i see another inter truck photo in the same museum has 179-124 but in the green with army at top,it is a workshop vehicle i think from memory,so may well be one of those re-issued plates vehicle you talk about,
never ceases to amaze me that when you think have just got a handle on something the Australian military processes from the past prove otherwise.
While on that subject is there anyone out there that can throw any light on a couple of trucks my son has,1. being a 1942 Diamond T 980 tank transporter and 2. Diamond Reo built m35(actually LWB m36) with no data plates left on it(obviously souvenired ) but we do have chassis no but as yet unknown year , as having possibly been EX Aust army vehicles,no history known on either except that" Drilling Specialties " an  aussie mob  had m35  for a while and we presume the T would have stayed on after WW11 prob with our Guys using it up until the 70s? maybe.
John

[Mike C]

John,

I had some correspondence with someone a few years ? ago about an M35/M36, and did some digging then, (and let the chap know the result). I could find no evidence to suggest Australian army use, but I'm willing to let the experts on here weigh in and prove me wrong.

What is the chassis number of the D-T 980? Or you could trawl through the ARN books (AWM126) on line at the AWM website and find it.

94-2078 is not a plate for an F1 truck. The '94' ie year plates were for the Commercial or 'white' fleet vehicles that were commercial trucks, cars, utes etc purchased in each year, (hence the plate was issued to the 2,078th vehicle purchased in 1994, whatever that was) and could then be sold off as they wore out/reached a target mileage. It took the pressure off using expensive tactical trucks like LRs, Mogs and Macks for everyday, on road use.

Mike