Although the voltage regulator works at the moment, they are rather old (at least 50 years old!) so it may one day stop working. The original regulator on my green goddess didn't work when I got it, so was replaced by a modern, solid state regulator which were procured by the EFS at Marchington but seemingly never fitted. It has worked very well, so I thought I'd get another for 519 - if the original ever stops, off it will come!
Also, I dropped in today to see the owner of one of the last 'bikini' units still in existence and in anything like its original condition. This Commer-based vehicle carried inflatable rafts for use in fighting fires from the water, the rafts being steered by water jets created by the 'featherweight' pumps. A very pleasant afternoon chatting and poring over photos and the bikini unit itself, as Owen used to work for the EFS at Marchington managing the workshops, so is very knowledgeable on many aspects of the EFS and goddess fleet in the later years. Anyway, amongst the bits picked up was a Commer maintenance book, so that's now the set of manuals complete.
Now to use them to get 519 going again......!
You can see the current, original CAV regulator mounted on the dash panel to the left - the black box with wires coming out!
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