55HG98. Para Recce Rebuild.

[AR4412]

After a couple of days away from the project due to other stuff needing my attention and the fact that the orbital sander hasn't arrived yet, I managed to grab a bit of time for it this morning.

I decided to see what damage, if any, was lurking behind the steel repair pieces on the tub and the sill.

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On the sill panel you can see what I'm guessing to be a dent caused by the jerrycan holder.

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Regards,

[AR4412]

After fighting the rusty bolt at the rear of the panel undone I gave up on the idea of ever being able to persuade the domehead screws that hold the seat box to the sill to come undone and simply drilled through them along with the pop rivets.

And what did the removal of the steel panels reveal?.....

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No major damage to the tub or sill, just the usual dents around the edges of the tub at the door opening and the wheel arch.

This is purely a guess on my part but I'm thinking the steel coverplates were attached to strengthen the area where the jerrycan holder would sit. They were only fitted to the drivers side as this is side that would get climbed over and stood on more often so I guess they decided to beef the area up. The side panel of the seatbox has also been replaced with one made from steel. The strengthening panels are quite well made and a good close fit to the original panelwork, I just wish the guy who made them had done the repairs to the bonnet.

Unfortunately time and the electrolitic corrosion caused by the steel and aluminium contact hasn't been kind to the aluminium panels and the lower lip of the seatbox has also rusted away so some repairs will be needed to these. The steel panels themselves have rusted badly with the sill cover rusting through.

Thought time. Once the tub and seatbox are repaired and a new sill fitted on the rebuild, do I replicate the steel strengthening panels and fit them? I have a mind to do so as it was obviously an 'in service' modification and part of the vehicles history.

What do you guys think?

Regards,

[Gordon Bennett]

Thought time. Once the tub and seatbox are repaired and a new sill fitted on the rebuild, do I replicate the steel strengthening panels and fit them? I have a mind to do so as it was obviously an 'in service' modification and part of the vehicles history.

What do you guys think?

Regards,

I would replicate the steel pieces for authenticity Neil.

[AR4412]

Well the orbital sander, along with everything to allow me to weld aluminium with the MIG, arrived last night. So wanting to take it for a road test I grabbed an hour on the project with it this morning before the tingling in my arms and the drizzle told me it was time to stop.

I managed to flatten off most of the right wing in that time. I will remove the lights soon so I can flatten the front of the light box, once the wing is removed I will do the engine bay side and the bit I couldn't get to below the master cylinder. I managed to work around the FFR flap and it too will be flattened down once it is removed.

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The matt black paint is hard as nails to remove even with the orbital sander but I'm getting there and I'm sooo looking forwards to getting the heat gun and scrapper out to remove the underseal from the wings. What is evident as I work through the paint layers is that at some point in the vehicles life it was painted desert yellow. I wonder where it went or what it did as the Para's never deployed operationally anywhere sandy during it's time with them. Not that I'm aware of anyway. Mmmmm....

Regards,

[AR4412]

I had another quick play with the sander this evening and now the passenger wing matches the drivers side.

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Due to the cracks in the layers of paint and the areas that had previously chipped off and been painted over I had to take the paint back a bit further this side.

Looking at a piece of paint I chipped off there are two thin layers of green/black over the base colour, thin enough to be applied by spraying. Then a thin layer of desert yellow that looks sprayed with a brush applied layer of desert yellow on top of that, then six layers of brush applied green/black over that. No wonder my its taking a while rubbing it down!

The nut and bolt repair to the front wing you can see in the photo is just visible in the picture of the vehicle in MJC's book so I think it will stay on the rebuild. There is a big dent in the top of the wing, about a 1/2" deep, where the rear of the antenna box has been pushed back into it, as I can't make out if this dent was there when the picture in the book was taken I will knock it out in due course.

Since the pics were taken both wings have recieved a protective coat of etch primer over the bare aluminium.

Regards,

[Tinweasel]

The sand coloured paint is very interesting, sorry if you have already posted it but what is the exact history of the lightweight? If I understand things correctly the para's would have dropped the reccys in and used them in a path finder role, looking for possible landing zones, routes through for other troops ect, could it have been used by an opposing force in an exercise, as sometimes happened in training areas, or did the Para's get used to train friendly forces in the middle east? Just a thought, did the steel plate get the same paint treatment?

By the way a desert coloured Para reccy... That would really stand out from the crowd

[AR4412]

By the way a desert coloured Para reccy... That would really stand out from the crowd

I've thought about that, but I only managed to acquire a 5 litres of green and black from work so it will be in standard colours as pictured in MJC's book.

The steel plates just have green and black paint on them. The desert paint can be seen under the layers of paint that are falling off in chunks behind where they sat.

It's possible that the vehicle went to sandier regions as part of a training team, the Paras must have done something between the Falklands and the vehicle leaving their service in 1995 surely? I think for a normal exercise deployment it would have stayed green and black, we didn't repaint ours to go to Norway or Turkey etc.... It appears to have had a brush coat of desert paint applied over a sprayed layer so was touched up at some point while wearing that colour. It is a mystery, and one I would love to solve.

Regards,

[simmerit]

Hello matey - you've started then!! Great to see it and looking forward to watching how you go with it as I think its going to be a belter.

What's happening with the grit blaster? Its a megga bit of kit and it will save you s*#t loads of time if the lads get you one on the whip round for your leaving pressy?????

Done sod all on mine - just back from a break in the States. Intending to have a little go at the weekend once the body clock has sorted itself out. $3.47 for a gallon or regular......... $1.75 dollars to the squid at the minute. work it out... I got very depressed when I thought about it. Don't you just love the UK............................................... I could run a 101 out there

[AR4412]

Hi Si,

Glad you've made it safely back to Blighty, I hope you enjoyed your time over the pond.

Knowing you were away I decided to make a start on it so I could get a headstart on you.

The gritblaster is tucked away in the shed at the moment. I'll break it out when I start on the chassis and axles. Need to buy a compressor yet, the one I want still isn't in stock in Machine Mart.

Regards,

[Tinweasel]

I think for a normal exercise deployment it would have stayed green and black, we didn't repaint ours to go to Norway or Turkey etc.... It appears to have had a brush coat of desert paint applied over a sprayed layer so was touched up at some point while wearing that colour.

I was thinking somwhere like BATHUS in Canada or somewhere that used sand or sand and green for opposition forces, I have put a couple of feelers out but I doubt I manage to find anything