Iltis in Barrhaven (Ottawa)
 

I was at the movie in Barrhaven with my daughter the other night and greeting us in the parking lot was this Iltis.

Attachment 101168

BSA Folding Bike
 

I am only mechanically competent to handle the maintenance on my BSA Folding Bike which is roadworthy thanks to all the work done by Gord Pringle. As for driving it in public, well that is another story.

Public Displays
 

Stuart;

For sure the quality of Gord's work speaks for itself and if he had not pressed me to do something with the bike an have it restored, it would still be a jumble of parts in the basement. Local public displays are not my thing, I am by nature a perfectionist and feel that bolt heads, paint colour and the correct stickers do matter - although I do make an exception and display a few things from my collection annually at the Army Run.

When not travelling in Europe

Attachment 101245

I am researching and writing

Attachment 101246

Attachment 101247

and I spend my volunteer time as the content editor for the Friends of the Canadian War Museum's quarterly newsletter The Torch.

https://www.friends-amis.org/index.php/en/

ED

Stuart, how can a unibody Iltis have a frame-off restoration?

Good to see two people I know having a civil argument on the Forum. And I would concur that Ed is a more reliable researcher than most of us. He also gets published, which is a damn sight better than the 45 Likes I got on my last pithy FB posting.

I did a body replacement on an Iltis back when I was in the military. I think it took 32 hours, but the manual actually allowed 90 hours if I recall correctly.

I also recall that there was a bulletin to ensure the body mounts were properly torqued. As the Iltis broke in, the body mounts wore/loosened, and the frame would then be able to flex. This resulted in wrinkles forming on the body just forward of the front doors.

Re Ed's bike: Shame you don't put on a set of BD, strap on a sten or a deac no4 rifle and webbing, and do some parades Ed. I used to bring an old army bicycle out to various parades, and the veterans said that the bicycles were what they remembered traveling on.

Stuart, those are amazing pics. If anyone knows a Iltis inside and out, top to bottom, front to back, it is you. You should put a little display together for Volksfest in Aug.

I was wrong. For some reason, I always thought the Iltis was unibody.

Perfection on a MV is dumb .
It’s not how they looked in service
And unrealistic to keep in that state for ever.
Cleaned up and respectable is the most any MV
Would ask for


Stu
ur Iltis looks realy good and tight
But the best part is u use it

Thanks Stu
Those guys and I work hard at making it as eazy
As phoning up pizza delivery for MV parts

Every one has there personal preference on
Restos but a perfect one is very sterol and
Almost makes it look fake

90% of X service men don’t remember what type
Of jeep they drove back in there day if they did at all
It was just a jeep and all the same color
Lol
Gpw/M38/m38a1/A2/m151a2/iltis

Ed and I have had a battle or two in our day...mostly over our choice in movies oddly enough, but I am the first to admit with out his incredible photo collection, never ending research and amazing attention to detail, we would all be lesser around here without his efforts

John

Well done Stuart!

A former coworker has a Westfalia and it happens to have a particular style of ladder on the back door. He jokes of being offered hundreds of dollars, new born children, sexual favours, and all manner of inducements in exchange. To me it's just an oxidized aluminum ladder; other people see things I don't. Which is part of our Rusty Old Truck syndrome too.

Hey Stuart

Wow great pictures, I brought my camera, even had new batteries for it and it never left the bag so many thanks for taking some pics, and posting. Your very fine Iltis and the work you have invested in it seemed to have a steady stream of folks (volks?) enjoying seeing one. As you noted on Sunday it is always cool talking to retired CF members who get a bit of a trip down memory lane when seeing a Iltis. The two classiest cars there in my humble opinion where yours and mine................maybe I should have driven over to the row of shiny (and boring) Porsches and parked there for awhile. I like telling people at car shows, While all the cars in attendance have history, mine (and yours) MADE history.

Details of my car

VW Schwimmwagen 7-011602
Built : 29 March 1944
left factory (Wolfsburg) on : 31 March 1944
Issued at Heereszeugamt Kassel, Germany

Transported to Italy, issued to 278th Infantry Division

AND a Gothic Line veteran