Fenham Barracks Newcastle had a large fleet of these in 82 ( 50+ ) when I was posted there as Permanent Staff REME to help the TA during their changeover to CVRT, they were perfect for nipping out to collect the lunch as we had no cookhouse,. Make sure you check for planet carrier wear as that is what can cause the whole wheel to come off something which killed an officer in Germany we had to check every ferret and strip any suspected ones down and we did find a couple of elongated holes in the planet carriers and they were sent to workshops in Catterick for replacement a long trip in a Leyland with trailer and plenty of ESSO vouchers at the time everyone had a full set of all the ESSO glasses, as Esso had the contract for fuel with the TA. those were the days.
I'm in my 60's now. I learned how to drive in the Ferret back in the day. I loved being in the MT shed working on it. It was wonderful hearing this one coming back to life! Great fun to drive, both on and off road. Blimey, the tales! Anyhoo, enjoy the ride, lose the bloody cannon thing and replace with a Browning .303. Last, but not least, keep the engine bay clear of oil and petrol spillage due to its tendency towards spontaneous combustion 😂😂😂. Enjoy!
Thanks for the tips. We are undecided about the canon. We know it shouldn't be there, but as we don't have a gun, it's going to stay for the time being.
Lol I loved the old ferret but it certainly wasn't comfortable to live out of for any period of time. They should lose that scaffolding pipe, I agree with you.
@@crap_car it looks completely wrong with that scaffolding pipe. Plenty of dummy 30 cal barrels around for not much money. Good job getting the old beast going. My company car for quite a few years lol.
I remember as a child the council buses had pre-select boxes which I thought was pretty cool even then. The old gear like his goes forever, can you imagine all the systems like gearbox, engine, brakes, water pump and any of the myriad of things that make a vehicle go, not to mention seals on the main crank and other seals, work on a modern vehicle after sitting idle for 10 years ?. I think not.
I served my time on The Spanners and a mate of mine worked for our council Bus company, they had those Pre select gearboxes in them. He told me that the lads who worked in the Transmission shop were always mad busy. The method of operation was to move the gear lever from one gear, into neutral and wait for a Red light next to the gear lever to change ( can't remember which way it went ) and then move it into the next gear, of course most of the Drivers never bothered with this, they just went straight from one gear to the next. The result was, the next brake band was tightening up before the previous one had let go. They were going through brake bands like lightening. He said we used to have reconditioned gearboxes on hand and it would be a straight swap and then recon the knackered one.
Good to see the old girl living again :) In theory you can prime the fuel pump from inside the fighting / crew compartment. You need a long screwdriver and a skinny agile 19 year old. Some people mod the fuel pump by connecting a long bar so it can be primed from the engine compartment. Another mod that is to connect longer pipes to the rear axle boxes so you can fill them without having to remove the back armour. There are manuals online and a pretty active community on various forums including FB.
B Series Rolls desighned Military engine run for ever. I had the four cylinder version in my Champ. I think the Saladin and the Saracin had the eight. Not sure. Seen a Humber Radio Truck with a B60 though. Beast !
When it comes to further work on the ferret I have original, reusable felt oil filter elements, the correct CES recovery wire with shackles and both chain ends and sand track used on some Ferrests pictured in British Army use in North Africa in the 1950s-60s. If you are interested.
GSP. Gear Select Pedal. I was in charge of 2 Paras Ferret section in Berlin when the wall was still up in1976. All of ours could easily do 60mph and did so when recce`ing our side of the weall keeping an eye on the E Germans. We had lots of fun with these armed with 30 cal Brownings. Yanks loved them, "hey man, youve got a mini tank......."
Great Scout Car, drove one in the TA when I was 19. Bloke hit me on a roundabout with an Avenger. His Avenger Exploded in a mass of cheap metal. Fire Brigade got him out the remains unhurt. 'I did not see you' he said. NCO on the scene said to the cops and an officer who turned up'The Army will have to get bigger vehicles'the civvies can't see the ones we got.' The Ferret had scratched paintwork and a bent mudguard. I had a sore head having smacked my nut when he rammed me. 70 now,crikey that was a long time ago.
@@crap_car everyone used to stand on the side box lids to get in the vehicle, they were quite robust, but were usually caved in a bit, we used to hang our webbing on the pick axe and shovel on the front, although you had room to wear it in the ferret you couldn’t get in and out of it, and as you can see the fuel tank is in a great place for a bit of pre-ignition combustion heating! While they were quite stable without the turret they were not great with one, we never practiced taking the side bins off for escaping as it was hard work getting them back on again, the wheel or contents of the side bin used to be too heavy to get the side off anyway if I remember rightly?
@@crap_car Just check the hubs, jack each corner up and try to move the wheel from top to bottom, if they move they will need work or they may fall off on a corner! (You really don't want that to happen).
Loads of fun - shame you didn't get the 'cold start' lever working first rather than pumping the pedal, but well done for getting it running. Now you need a Jolley Engineering electronic ignition kit in it!
I find your lack of Borders Biscuits disturb ... oh wait they made it in the last 20 seconds. Great video Gents, fascinating piece of machinery, I love the unnecessarily awkward driving style including the inverted steering wheel (which is just bizarre) and the complex gearing. Great work on getting it to run. Any plans for it?
@@crap_car My Champ was not very economical fifty years ago,and we were getting two and a half gallons to the pound then. Gawd knows, what it cost's nowadays to fill that thing up. Champ took twenty gallons,hate to think what a Ferret needs,fifty gallons ?
@@philiprufus4427 Only 21 gallons, and it needs E5 petrol or the rubbers bits rot. 9MPG on the road, 4 off-road. A full tank gives you 190 mile range on the road.
Well done! But I cannot believe that when trying to re-start a vehicle that hadn't run for 10 years, and had fuel problems, that you didn't bother to clean the carb. except as a last resort.
The easiest way to remove the batteries was to tie a rope to the battery have one guy lift up from the turret and a 2nd guy drag it through the side hatch
You know mates, I have a bloody model in 1 / 72 scale of this Military Ferret … lol Way To Go On Bringing Her Back To Life ! Keep those videos coming… You got a yank watching from Texas, United States 🇺🇸 ! Later, G-MAN Peace ✌️!
@@joncawte6150 - Many Thanks.. I really like military vehicles models and been collecting them for a few years now. I will definitely pick up one of those AirFix 1/35 models of the British Ferret Scout vehicle.
Did you give the motor a spin while you were mucking about in the yard with it ,The guy feeding Brake cleaner knows Not easy way to hydro-lock the engine and you don't want to do that
We WD40d it, 4years ago😂 I drove one of these in the 80s I would so like to renovate one, it was like driving a video game because of the angle of the steering wheel. It was horrendous in the cold, but still great fun, if you went through rough ground too quick the mud came in the front- ‘window’ is a bit grand, the mud came in the front hole you looked through to drive/point, that bit wasn’t like a video game!
@@mawilliams777 We went to visit a local owner and he took us for a spin in his. It was winter. And yes, the wind rushing through the open front hatches almost gave me frost bite.
@@crap_car some units got plastic and fibre glass windows made for them that fitted with the hatches open! Some even made hot air ducts from the rear of the engine made to blast warm air in to the front, never a great idea in my experience. On the range roads in Germany you had to share the the ‘bumps and dips’ made by the tracked armour because you weren’t allowed on the tarmac as the ferret was too heavy but they used to be deeper than the the ferret, which was fine until the dips filled up with water from the rain! If You could get a good rhythm going it wasn’t a problem, if you didn’t you were up to the waist in water!
I had one for many years and restored it over 2 years. Superb vehicles. Wish I had kept it now.
Fenham Barracks Newcastle had a large fleet of these in 82 ( 50+ ) when I was posted there as Permanent Staff REME to help the TA during their changeover to CVRT, they were perfect for nipping out to collect the lunch as we had no cookhouse,. Make sure you check for planet carrier wear as that is what can cause the whole wheel to come off something which killed an officer in Germany we had to check every ferret and strip any suspected ones down and we did find a couple of elongated holes in the planet carriers and they were sent to workshops in Catterick for replacement a long trip in a Leyland with trailer and plenty of ESSO vouchers at the time everyone had a full set of all the ESSO glasses, as Esso had the contract for fuel with the TA. those were the days.
I drove a Ferret in the Royal Engineers as a radio op/signals instructor, brilliant machine, 80mph on the Autobahn, wonderful RR engine.
I'm in my 60's now. I learned how to drive in the Ferret back in the day. I loved being in the MT shed working on it. It was wonderful hearing this one coming back to life! Great fun to drive, both on and off road. Blimey, the tales! Anyhoo, enjoy the ride, lose the bloody cannon thing and replace with a Browning .303. Last, but not least, keep the engine bay clear of oil and petrol spillage due to its tendency towards spontaneous combustion 😂😂😂. Enjoy!
Thanks for the tips. We are undecided about the canon. We know it shouldn't be there, but as we don't have a gun, it's going to stay for the time being.
Lol I loved the old ferret but it certainly wasn't comfortable to live out of for any period of time. They should lose that scaffolding pipe, I agree with you.
@@crap_car it looks completely wrong with that scaffolding pipe. Plenty of dummy 30 cal barrels around for not much money. Good job getting the old beast going. My company car for quite a few years lol.
I remember as a child the council buses had pre-select boxes which I thought was pretty cool even then. The old gear like his goes forever, can you imagine all the systems like gearbox, engine, brakes, water pump and any of the myriad of things that make a vehicle go, not to mention seals on the main crank and other seals, work on a modern vehicle after sitting idle for 10 years ?. I think not.
I served my time on The Spanners and a mate of mine worked for our council Bus company, they had those Pre select gearboxes in them. He told me that the lads who worked in the Transmission shop were always mad busy. The method of operation was to move the gear lever from one gear, into neutral and wait for a Red light next to the gear lever to change ( can't remember which way it went ) and then move it into the next gear, of course most of the Drivers never bothered with this, they just went straight from one gear to the next. The result was, the next brake band was tightening up before the previous one had let go. They were going through brake bands like lightening. He said we used to have reconditioned gearboxes on hand and it would be a straight swap and then recon the knackered one.
Always wondered if any of those remained. The quietest engine I ever never heard. Last British built armoured sports car I drove.
Good to see the old girl living again :) In theory you can prime the fuel pump from inside the fighting / crew compartment. You need a long screwdriver and a skinny agile 19 year old. Some people mod the fuel pump by connecting a long bar so it can be primed from the engine compartment.
Another mod that is to connect longer pipes to the rear axle boxes so you can fill them without having to remove the back armour.
There are manuals online and a pretty active community on various forums including FB.
B Series Rolls desighned Military engine run for ever. I had the four cylinder version in my Champ.
I think the Saladin and the Saracin had the eight. Not sure.
Seen a Humber Radio Truck with a B60 though. Beast !
When it comes to further work on the ferret I have original, reusable felt oil filter elements, the correct CES recovery wire with shackles and both chain ends and sand track used on some Ferrests pictured in British Army use in North Africa in the 1950s-60s. If you are interested.
Those sand tracks were like gold dust, if you mean the PSP plate ones, not bad in the mud either
Thanks guys, great fun to experience this with you, cheers.Border biscuits are brilliant.
GSP. Gear Select Pedal. I was in charge of 2 Paras Ferret section in Berlin when the wall was still up in1976. All of ours could easily do 60mph and did so when recce`ing our side of the weall keeping an eye on the E Germans. We had lots of fun with these armed with 30 cal Brownings. Yanks loved them, "hey man, youve got a mini tank......."
Great vid ! I’m a Ferret restorer here in Australia and thoroughly enjoyed watching 👍
Thank you! We aren't going to do a full resto of the Ferret, but we are going to do some bodywork repairs in the next video.
Great Scout Car, drove one in the TA when I was 19. Bloke hit me on a roundabout with an Avenger.
His Avenger Exploded in a mass of cheap metal. Fire Brigade got him out the remains unhurt.
'I did not see you' he said. NCO on the scene said to the cops and an officer who turned up'The Army will have to get bigger vehicles'the civvies can't see the ones we got.'
The Ferret had scratched paintwork and a bent mudguard.
I had a sore head having smacked my nut when he rammed me.
70 now,crikey that was a long time ago.
I wish I was in Oz, I would willingly give you my time to help with the ferrets
@@crap_car everyone used to stand on the side box lids to get in the vehicle, they were quite robust, but were usually caved in a bit, we used to hang our webbing on the pick axe and shovel on the front, although you had room to wear it in the ferret you couldn’t get in and out of it, and as you can see the fuel tank is in a great place for a bit of pre-ignition combustion heating! While they were quite stable without the turret they were not great with one, we never practiced taking the side bins off for escaping as it was hard work getting them back on again, the wheel or contents of the side bin used to be too heavy to get the side off anyway if I remember rightly?
@@crap_car Just check the hubs, jack each corner up and try to move the wheel from top to bottom, if they move they will need work or they may fall off on a corner!
(You really don't want that to happen).
Loads of fun - shame you didn't get the 'cold start' lever working first rather than pumping the pedal, but well done for getting it running. Now you need a Jolley Engineering electronic ignition kit in it!
We needed a choke cable, but I believe that's fixed now. Thanks for the tip. We'll look into that!
I find your lack of Borders Biscuits disturb ... oh wait they made it in the last 20 seconds. Great video Gents, fascinating piece of machinery, I love the unnecessarily awkward driving style including the inverted steering wheel (which is just bizarre) and the complex gearing. Great work on getting it to run. Any plans for it?
Thanks for the kind words Graham. We were planning on selling it, but we keep changing our minds. It's not very practical. Or fast. Or economical.
@@crap_car My Champ was not very economical fifty years ago,and we were getting two and a half gallons to the pound then. Gawd knows, what it cost's nowadays to fill that thing up.
Champ took twenty gallons,hate to think what a Ferret needs,fifty gallons ?
@@philiprufus4427 Only 21 gallons, and it needs E5 petrol or the rubbers bits rot. 9MPG on the road, 4 off-road. A full tank gives you 190 mile range on the road.
@@CliffAndLouise What's E5 patrol, is that pure petrol? No corn fuel?
That engine sounds pretty good!
Awesome machine good video too.
At the museum i volunteer at we have a very rusty ferret that has not run in a while without a turret
Well done! But I cannot believe that when trying to re-start a vehicle that hadn't run for 10 years, and had fuel problems, that you didn't bother to clean the carb. except as a last resort.
Talking with the Ryan last night, and he said it was a job he wasn't looking forward to, so left it as a last resort.
@@crap_carI would just rebuild it then you probably will never have to worry about that again.
What thread on sparkplusg left or right
still had a few ferrits in berlin in 89
Keep your thumbs out of the steering wheel!
Some guys have all the fun, a little bit of tinkering and flush the fuel systemout you'll have a real goer there.
Just like driving a pre war Riley or Daimler!
Perfect, for avoiding being car jacked in Londonistan.
A very rare occurrence.
@@stephencrowther524happens more than you think,it's happening in the cotswolds now
The easiest way to remove the batteries was to tie a rope to the battery have one guy lift up from the turret and a 2nd guy drag it through the side hatch
Nice tip. Thanks!
Great fun to drive
WHAT SIZE GUN IS THAT ON THE FERRET ABOUT A 2 INCH?
You know mates, I have a bloody model in 1 / 72 scale of this Military Ferret … lol
Way To Go On Bringing Her Back To Life !
Keep those videos coming…
You got a yank watching from Texas, United States 🇺🇸 !
Later,
G-MAN
Peace ✌️!
Airfix are/have done a model in 1/35th scale
@@joncawte6150 - Many Thanks..
I really like military vehicles models and been collecting them for a few years now. I will definitely pick up one of those AirFix 1/35 models of the British Ferret Scout vehicle.
@@joncawte6150I just spotted that on the Daimler Ferret FB group. I think we'll all be getting one for Christmas!
Love the Bugsy Malone song. 😂
I thought Daimler cars were supposed to be comfortable, roomy & luxurious. ;-)
More comfortable than getting shot.
Did you give the motor a spin while you were mucking about in the yard with it ,The guy feeding Brake cleaner knows Not easy way to hydro-lock the engine and you don't want to do that
😛😛😛😛❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍👍
Bit of advice get a mechanic that understands how a petrol engine works
When are you coming to get it running then?
We WD40d it, 4years ago😂
I drove one of these in the 80s I would so like to renovate one, it was like driving a video game because of the angle of the steering wheel. It was horrendous in the cold, but still great fun, if you went through rough ground too quick the mud came in the front- ‘window’ is a bit grand, the mud came in the front hole you looked through to drive/point, that bit wasn’t like a video game!
@@mawilliams777 We went to visit a local owner and he took us for a spin in his. It was winter. And yes, the wind rushing through the open front hatches almost gave me frost bite.
@@crap_car some units got plastic and fibre glass windows made for them that fitted with the hatches open!
Some even made hot air ducts from the rear of the engine made to blast warm air in to the front, never a great idea in my experience.
On the range roads in Germany you had to share the the ‘bumps and dips’ made by the tracked armour because you weren’t allowed on the tarmac as the ferret was too heavy but they used to be deeper than the the ferret, which was fine until the dips filled up with water from the rain!
If You could get a good rhythm going it wasn’t a problem, if you didn’t you were up to the waist in water!
I hate videos that are filmed in the dark.
I'm sorry. It was winter and we have no control over the sun. We'll try harder next time.
Well you can watch it in the daylight lol😂
Send it to Ukraine, it'll do good service even now.