DBP Pest Control - FV1611 Humber Pig restoration.

And now for something completely different !
Just to prove that I do things other than pest control, I thought I'd put together a video to capture for posterity, the work I undertook whilst recently restoring my 1956 FV1611 Humber Pig.
(You might also like to have a look at my other videos on the DBP Pest Control channel).
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[@colin7575]

Great to see such history valued and loved

[@cogboy302]

I was born in Northern Ireland in 1972 and remember these on the streets when I was a child. They'd mostly disappeared by the mid - 80s. I had no idea then that they were actually from the 1950s. Great job in bringing it up to snuff. Seeing one again takes me back.

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hello, yes indeed, they were originally built much earlier than the NI troubles, but as a different vehicle. The basis for the Pig was the Humber 1 Ton utility truck (1 Ton payload that is, not all up weight). In fact, the original Humber 1 Ton truck was built by the Rootes group which produced Humber, Hillman, Singer, Sunbeam, Talbot, Karrier and Commer vehicles. The badge they decided to allocate to the 1 Ton Truck was Humber. The Pig came about as a result of a requirement for an enclosed APC to fill a general shortage of APC's identified during the Malayan emergency following the end of WW2. The Alvis Saracen was to be developed to fill that gap and the Pig was used to supplement Saracen numbers until production of the Saracen could catch up. The Pig offered a more timely stop-gap as it was based on modifying an existing vehicle, requiring less development time. Around 1700 Pigs were built in total, these were produced at the ROF factories in Woolwich and Nottingham. Most had been sold off by the time the situation in NI had kicked off and the MOD had to buy back a fair number. Initially, around 500 Pigs were deployed in NI. During their NI service they were substantially modified with additional armour and other modifications. When they were eventually retired, they were possibly the longest serving vehicles in the British Army.

[@lambhdeargh]

I remember them too, also remember a newspaper article from the Andersonstown News many moons ago, when one tried to turn at the bottom of the Hannastown Hill and ended up on it's side, The then headline was "Pigs can't fly".

[@TheStevemcqueen68]

Great job, I hope you have a lot of fun driving it,

[@kevincollins1060]

Excellent video, seems you’ve got the perfect vehicle to pop to IKEA or B&Q in 👍🏻😊

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi Kevin, well funny you should say that because about 20 years ago, a local paper in Epsom did a piece on it and had us drive it to our local Tesco for a photo shoot 🤣

[@billmmckelvie5188]

Thank you for painting the vehicle in it's correct British Army dark bronze green gloss. It reminds me of the Dinky Toys painted in an almost identical colour, I had often wondered how close they were to the original! Youv'e done an excellent job in your restoration, I bet you will be glad to complete the interior!

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi Bill, it wasn't until I read the excellent "Warpaint" books by Dick Taylor, that I realised the correct colour for a Pig sold off in 1967 could only have been DBG (unless it served in Cyprus or Aden). The additional coats of matt Nato green i found, were applied for film work in the 80's when it was owned by Richard Beddall. Interestingly, newly applied DBG always appears lighter when compared with an older vehicle. It's one of the few paints that actually darkens with age.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

@@dbppestcontrol5670 Thank you that is a very interesting fact that I have learnt today about DBG naturally darkening with age! We often think of a paint shade as been 'set' when it is painted in accordance with the relevant BS code. It would be intersting to see if a lead-based paint, went darker, quicker. As I think about it in more depth, I recall something I had forgotten until now, my Grandad & Grandma's house's white paint gloss would go a rich cream shade with age, which back then would be a lead-based paint! I'd love to pull up (keeping my distance of course) behind boy racers who use certain motorway tunnels to enhance the noise of their tinny exhausts, to hear the sound of a real throaty engine. Have you done anymore work on it since this video?

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi Bill, I have been told that this was a trait of the older versions of DBG, maybe the darkening effect was more to do with the multiple coats applied over the years. Whether it is the case for the later versions of DBG, only time will tell. I have to say that the paint I applied to my Pig does seem to have gone darker in the relatively short time since I applied it, I'll have to do a series of timed comparisons with the photo's just after I painted it...might be interesting. Not started the inside paintwork yet but I'll get around to it at some point :-)

[@billmmckelvie5188]

@@dbppestcontrol5670 I appreciate that as you're running a business you may not have a lot of time to do the restoration. I suugest you consider asking people if they would like to volunteer to assist you, even if it is just being a dab hand with a brush!

[@desmcharris]

Brings me back too! How many bottles and bricks I threw at these Pigs as a kid in West Belfast! What’s missing are the paint bomb splash’s, and the Bull Bar on the front. You might be asking why I as a kid would do such a thing? Sanding out side our front door on a Sunday evening with a kid from next door, we watched a Pig slowly come down our street. It was nice and clean, not a mark on it. And as it pasted us, and we were on the foot path, just standing, watching. It’s side hatch flew open and a projectile was fired at us. Passing just between us and missing my ear, it hit the house behind us. I was 10 years old.

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Wow Des, that's the kind of memory that sticks with you, thanks for sharing. Mine served in BAOR until it was struck off service in 1967, hence it never went to NI.

[@davediggins8350]

A labour of love ! Definitely inspirational for all us military vehicle fixers and lovers! Very well done !

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi Dave, thank you for your kind comments. There were times when I thought I would never finish but it all came good in the end.

[@rhettcorcoran2879]

Incredible restoration, it brings back many memories for me, I used these in Belfast in the late seventies, although as they were up armoured, with no brake upgrade, they were limied to 20 mph!

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Thank you Rhett, it certainly took a while and more than just a couple of layers of skin off my knuckles :-) I have never driven an up-armoured Pig but I can only imagine how poor the brakes were. That would probably account for the reason I have seen some with double sized servo's presumably fitted to try to give more power to the brake system.

[@ichabodon]

I used these as a radio vehicle in the early sixties. No heating, one just kept your hands round your balls to keep warm!

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

:-) Hah ! Great story, I assume you were with the Signals Regiment ? May I ask where you served, I have a couple of photo's of Royal Signals Pigs in the snow taken in BAOR.

[@Desertfox170]

Sounds sweet

[@ptonpc]

Good to see the old girl given a new lease of life.

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Thank you, it makes me smile every time I open the shed doors 😏

[@gusgone4527]

Military vehicles from that era were so simple and basic to maintain. Unlike some of the modern "computer designed" piles of Ajax. A comprehensive set of adjustable spanners to take the broken bit off and bolt on the new. Complimented by a good old lump hammer for the fine adjustments. Those were the days, eh. Thing is, that vehicle fitted with modern radio equipment and gizmos, would function perfectly in todays army. Filling the same support role for which it was originally designed. Whatever happened to KISS.

[@Dez456]

Awesome restoration. Couple of questions: do you have to remove the windscreen glass to drop the bulletproof screens? Also, I know that you mention the rear canvas cover was to make out that it was a soft skin vehicle, but what was the purpose? To prevent air attacks?

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi, yes...to be fair, I don't think the glass screens are "bullet proof" as such, hence the provision to be able to close the front driver's hatches. The canvas cover provided a sun screen to the armour and provided an air gap which in theory helped to keep it cooler in hot climates. It also made it appear as a soft skinned vehicle and therefore possibly less of a target than an armoured vehicle.

[@richardprowse1088]

Your 101 was probably on 66 Sqn RAF Regiment, one of the RAF squadrons tasked with air defence of the US bases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath in the 80's and early 90's

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi Richard, yes indeed it was. As you probably know, 66 Sqn was part of 6 Wing, mine was based at West Raynham and was fitted out as a TRT (Tracking Radar Tractor). There were only 70 of these built, 35 FUT's (Firing Unit Tractors) and 35 TRT's. Thankfully quite a few survived, I know of 3 or 4 others around and about. They were all taken out of storage as chassis cabs and converted by Marshall's of Cambridge (who made the rear bodies) and further by the REME workshops at Bovington. The Marshall's rear bodies differ from the Land Rover ones in that they are of rivetted construction rather than spot welded.

[@richardprowse1088]

@@dbppestcontrol5670 I was on 66 when it formed in '85 in Engineering Flt, so I'd probably been in that one at some point.

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

@@richardprowse1088 Wow, fascinating, you probably did at that, I might need to pick your brains at some point then ! Mine was 01AM17 😏

[@philiphawley2915]

@@dbppestcontrol5670 Wing Commander Gayton. I was at school with his son Mark . Saw round the Bloodhound installation.Good fun for a 13 year old kid!

[@rogerfrancis65]

They put the same engine in Morris Oxford car's and used them as staff cars

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

I know the 1960's Austin Princess Vanden Plas was offered for a short while with the RR FB60 engine, which was based on the military B60 but not to the same military spec with regard to waterproofing, screened ignition etc. I think the FB60 was also an aluminium block as opposed to the cast iron of the B60 and had a different stroke as well as other differences.

[@dukwdriver2909]

Have you investigated if it was bought back by MOD after auction disposal? Many were when the Army found they needed them In Northern Ireland. Tracked APCs were considered "bad news" for news consumption as they looked like tanks to most people and smacked of Russian style suppression.

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi, mine remained in private hands after 1967 and so was never subject to the operation bracelet up-armouring process. I believe the reason the Saladin was withdrawn was for much the same reason as you stated...too heavy duty looking, plus you could hear them coming a mile off !

[@ichabodon]

Lippstadt 61-63 with an Artillery regiment

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Ah, I remember the winter of '63 (just), I can only imagine how cold it must have been operating any armoured vehicle in those conditions. My Pig served with 7th Signals Regiment BAOR until it was sold off at Ruddington in 1967.

[@THEVLAKUS]

Where did you go to find new tires?

[@dbppestcontrol5670]

Hi, I didn't, these are sadly not new but good used ones from another vehicle. There was talk some years ago by one of the military vehicle groups, about getting a batch made but I don't think it came to anything.