Evening Robert , its the first time ive looked at this thread and i`ve found it fascinating , how would you compare these ERFs to the first B Series with the raised roof . I always thought they looked the part not too sure about the blue interior version though , did they offer the big ■■■■■■■ in them ?
ramone:
Evening Robert , its the first time ive looked at this thread and i`ve found it fascinating , how would you compare these ERFs to the first B Series with the raised roof . I always thought they looked the part not too sure about the blue interior version though , did they offer the big ■■■■■■■ in them ?
I’ve devoted a chunk of Book 2 to comparing the two. The Europeanised LHD full-height B-series cab came out as the NGC was being phased out in '77. It had an E290 ■■■■■■■ and 9 or 13-speed Fuller. It was more frugal than the NGC but the E290 was already being tested in more than one NGC. Drivers generally reported that the NGC was more comfortable to drive and performed better. Some also claimed it to be more reliable. Personally, I reckon the NGC was more comfortable. The big 350s tended to go in the Middle-East export B-series LHD models. Robert
Macadam-woman:
All in all good and nice news for you but how many pages has volume 2?
The review states 138 and 70 pages. Well 70 pages is rather small I guess?
Well stop guessing and read the book 
. When did you last meet anyone who would choose a book by the number of pages it had 
? It is the same thickness as book one 
. ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating.’ Robert
PS ^^^. Just had a communication from the publisher to say that Book 2 was in the top 5 books which sold the most last month, so as I say, the proof of the pudding etc…
Eric Vick’s KFH 249P at the animal feed factory site in Baghdad, early in the deliveries. Picture (not from the book) taken by its driver, Chris Till. Robert
With regards to the ‘false friends’ - ie those double-drive units with older MW cabs that were later replaced with 7MW cabs; it seems that both MDCs and MCCs came in for this treatment. The Pountains unit was an MDC with a 6MW cab. However, the Hye unit in Belgium originally had a 3MW cab it seems, before acquiring its 7MW cab, which would make it an MCC.
Recently, on the LV big cab thread, this was posted from abroad by ‘Macadam-woman’, implicating yet another Belgian 6x4 MCC as follows:
I recall the Van Driessche ERF (6x4) was used at
the steelworks SIDMAR in Zelzate, nowadays a part of Arcelormittal at
a time when we were involved on the asphalt for their yard. It had the
old cab but later a cab similar to the NGC, so that again as with the HYE
for Cauvas that is also the case for the Van Driesche.
A picture of this vehicle with its original cab appears below:
Even though it is not an NGC (and therefore a ‘false friend’) it would nonetheless be interesting to find a picture of it with its new 7MW cab!
Robert
Just a thought- the elusive 8MW might be the replacement cab with which these “false friends” were fitted. Adaptations to the 7MW, to make it a direct swap for the 3/4/5/6MW, might be the reason for the change in its designation. Apologies if this guesswork has been debunked previously.
[zb]
anorak:
Just a thought- the elusive 8MW might be the replacement cab with which these “false friends” were fitted. Adaptations to the 7MW, to make it a direct swap for the 3/4/5/6MW, might be the reason for the change in its designation. Apologies if this guesswork has been debunked previously.
Definitely a worthy line of enquiry, Anorak. I rather think that between us all, we may at last have nailed the elusive 8MW cab! This would be entirely in keeping with ERF’s (the archival blogger, that is) comments on the 8MW which were as follows:
‘The 8MW cab was definitely derived from the 7MW, but there is no record of one ever being fitted to a new vehicle.
Just the two loose 8MW cabs at the moment, sent to Belgium.’
.
These must surely be those two Belgian MCCs that were re-cabbed. I would imagine that in the case of the Pountains vehicle, the cab would simply have been a 7MW that was converted to RHD and modified to fit the MGC chassis of UGE 852R. We are, of course, making assumptions here, but quite well-informed ones. This would mean, too, that in Cauvas we have an image of the 8MW cab. Robert 
The only outward difference is the permanently missing middle wiper, it seems ^^^! Robert
robert1952:
The only outward difference is the permanently missing middle wiper, it seems ^^^! Robert
The fixed MW cabs had 2. If the replacement cabs had fixings/holes for only 2, then that would be evidence that they were built specifically for that purpose, reinforcing the case for those cabs being 8MWs.
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
The only outward difference is the permanently missing middle wiper, it seems ^^^! RobertThe fixed MW cabs had 2. If the replacement cabs had fixings/holes for only 2, then that would be evidence that they were built specifically for that purpose, reinforcing the case for those cabs being 8MWs.
I have 8 distinctly different shots of the Cauvas cab, taken at different stages of its life and all show two wipers but with the middle mounting visible. I think it is quite possible that ERF simply plugged the middle hole when it made the adapted cab. It is probable, IMHO, that the 8MW was just an adaptation for use on MCC chassis in which case they would have expected very low numbers indeed and wouldn’t have attempted anything very sophisticated beyond basic modifications. Having said that, the RHD Pountains adaptation has only two wiper mountings! Robert
Do the cabs on the re-cabbed MCC chassis tilt? Maybe the 8MW was non-tilting?
[zb]
anorak:
Do the cabs on the re-cabbed MCC chassis tilt? Maybe the 8MW was non-tilting?
Good point. I very much doubt if they tilted, or we’d have seen tilt-cab 5MW ‘Europeans’. I would imagine that an 8MW would be non-tilting; have plumbing for the steering, brakes and electrics etc on the older type chassis (ie MCC not NGC); and be less well-appointed for long-haul creature comforts because instead of a centre console there’d be a great big engine hump for easy access (if it didn’t tilt). That being the (possible) case, it makes one wonder why they didn’t send LHD 5MWs - unless, of course, ERF had none left and wished to use up its stock of 7MW cabs in the knowledge that the LHD B-series was about to be king (not that they had much room to store spare 7MW cabs, as I’m sure John3300 will be quick to point out!). It’s still something of a mystery really, this 8MW, but I agree that the tilting business is potentially an important factor. Robert
Another thing that clouds the issue is that the 8MW should surely have had an odd number and been called a 9MW to fit a chassis with the set back front axle (as is the case with these two Belgian transplants). We had some discussion about this last year on the RHD 5MW commencing Mar 10 @ 11@41am (half way down the page). It went on for a page or two but then transferred to the 4MW thread and ended inconclusively. Here’s the 5MW thead link:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=113777&start=300
We assumed that an 8MW cab would be set back, to follow ERF’s cab numbering system. However, we now know that it is possible that the 8MW was a set forward (of the front axle) cab, despite ‘8’ being an even number. I wonder if ERF thought, ‘we’re only making 2 of the bloody things, so lets just call them 8MWs’! Why call them anything for that matter, if they were merely replacements? Robert
I’ve posted this before, but this page from the NGC parts book shows 7MW & 8MW heading the list halfway down the page. Robert
I’ve now checked the parts catalogue in detail and I notice that every page bears the heading 7 & 8MW BUT not the final page, which deals only and specifically with the cab tilting mechanism. This appears to be significant. Robert
Robert,
Compliments for your tough way to get the final bits and bytes over here!
Apologies we have no pictures to input as we had a severe fire twice, both
the company and private and luckily without persons involved. The two ERF’s
we know of (6x4) most surely didn’t had tilt cabs…not really important then
as there was enough time between the jobs to repair and prepare.
We did our job (in the heat of asphalt) and were glad the job was done at the
end of the day but now we regret we didn’t make pictures of our surroundings.
I assume that both chassis got a shell as cab to replace out of the accidents.
Van Driessche and Hye were that keen/economic to save on whatever costs.
I guess Denonville-Brussels ordered the shells out of stock and Sandbach was
indeed happy to clean their warehouses.
Good luck with your book, we will receive our copy via the MAN (ex-ERF)dealer
soon as we ordered the 50th MAN last week. When it comes on age it is the last
chassis performing under my management and boy, they are long lasting.
You should focus on the old tar-sprayers, we did a bid for those but they were
preserved in the Namur-region. Perhaps one still exists?
Luc & Marianne
Macadam-woman:
Robert,Compliments for your tough way to get the final bits and bytes over here!
Apologies we have no pictures to input as we had a severe fire twice, both
the company and private and luckily without persons involved. The two ERF’s
we know of (6x4) most surely didn’t had tilt cabs…not really important then
as there was enough time between the jobs to repair and prepare.We did our job (in the heat of asphalt) and were glad the job was done at the
end of the day but now we regret we didn’t make pictures of our surroundings.I assume that both chassis got a shell as cab to replace out of the accidents.
Van Driessche and Hye were that keen/economic to save on whatever costs.
I guess Denonville-Brussels ordered the shells out of stock and Sandbach was
indeed happy to clean their warehouses.Good luck with your book, we will receive our copy via the MAN (ex-ERF)dealer
soon as we ordered the 50th MAN last week. When it comes on age it is the last
chassis performing under my management and boy, they are long lasting.You should focus on the old tar-sprayers, we did a bid for those but they were
preserved in the Namur-region. Perhaps one still exists?Luc & Marianne
Thank you for that! And thank you for linking the Hye and Van Driessche cab replacements. Your new MAN will be very different from the first MANs I drove: F8-cabbed 280s 281s with 13-speed Fuller gearboxes!
Cheers, Robert
robert1952:
I’ve now checked the parts catalogue in detail and I notice that every page bears the heading 7 & 8MW BUT not the final page, which deals only and specifically with the cab tilting mechanism. This appears to be significant. Robert
Mystery solved- almost. The 8MW was a service replacement cab for fixed MW’s, but how was engine maintenance carried out on these vehicles? Does the manual mention an opening bonnet on either 7 or 8MW?