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Scorpion/Scimitar Restoration in New Zealand


philm1

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I can sence competition, are you going head to head with the Tank factory for finish? High class work.

 

Thanks. The Tank Factory is a class above us but we still hope to do a quality job within our abilities and budget.

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2nd top coat to Hull interior completed so we can now start to think of where to begin on the puzzle of putting everything back together after a clean, refurbish, replace as the case maybe. I'm looking foward to bolting the horn back in 1st as it has been sitting patiently now for awhile.

 

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From what I remember they come apart fairly easily but it was a long time ago ! you just undo the allen head bolts and it separates , I think there were several pieces to each ring so if the don't have pin punch marks or numbers stamped on them do it yourself as they like going back the same way. we used dry lube on the ball bearings as the Waiouru dust would quickly clog up grease.

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Phil,

If the CVRT turret rings are similar to most other vehicles, eg. Matilda, Staghound, Grant/Lee etc, they are very

straight forward. They disassemble into 2 main sections and with a thin keeper ring that serves to lock the balls in. There is no continuous cage as such that you would know from a regular ball bearing. There are usually bronze spacer plates that serve 6 or 8 balls - effectively the cage but not continuous.

I would expect that the grease may have dried out. If this is the case, pull it apart,

BUT look for any shims, if you find them number them and make sure to match their location with corresponding numbers on the race. You should then just need to clean everything, re-lube and put it all together again. Do your homework on lubes as I would be worried in your climate that a dry lube would not be sufficient protection from moisture. Perhaps Morey's Big Red (I may not have that name spot on) could be worth investigating. It is a chassis lube and intended to act as a dust and water barrier.

 

Have a look here on my website for a section drawing of a turret ring:

 

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~dgrev/dhmg/stagints.html

 

Worst case scenario is that the turret has been left off at some time. If this is the case, rain will have got in and wrecked the balls. If so, you would be in need of over 100 1 1/8th or 1 1/4 steel balls. Not cheap! Hopefully not what has happened.

 

Being such a light vehicle there is the possibility that the ring is alloy not steel. This being the case, don't be surprised if you find ceramic balls. If so, you need to do your homework about correct lubricant. The T50 turret on the M113s had ceramic balls and they had issues. I think they were later superceded with Acetal (an engineering plastic) balls which have good load bearing properties. This may be what Secondshooter is referring to and the use of dry lubricants.

 

Regards

Doug

Broken Hill

Australia

Edited by dgrev
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From what I remember they come apart fairly easily but it was a long time ago ! you just undo the allen head bolts and it separates , I think there were several pieces to each ring so if the don't have pin punch marks or numbers stamped on them do it yourself as they like going back the same way. we used dry lube on the ball bearings as the Waiouru dust would quickly clog up grease.

 

Thanks for the info. Did you work on Scorpions here in NZ? If so where do you live now as most welcome to come see the project if nearby Upper Hutt at any stage.

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Phil,

If the CVRT turret rings are similar to most other vehicles, eg. Matilda, Staghound, Grant/Lee etc, they are very

straight forward. They disassemble into 2 main sections and with a thin keeper ring that serves to lock the balls in. There is no continuous cage as such that you would know from a regular ball bearing. There are usually bronze spacer plates that serve 6 or 8 balls - effectively the cage but not continuous.

I would expect that the grease may have dried out. If this is the case, pull it apart,

BUT look for any shims, if you find them number them and make sure to match their location with corresponding numbers on the race. You should then just need to clean everything, re-lube and put it all together again. Do your homework on lubes as I would be worried in your climate that a dry lube would not be sufficient protection from moisture. Perhaps Morey's Big Red (I may not have that name spot on) could be worth investigating. It is a chassis lube and intended to act as a dust and water barrier.

 

Have a look here on my website for a section drawing of a turret ring:

 

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~dgrev/dhmg/stagints.html

 

Worst case scenario is that the turret has been left off at some time. If this is the case, rain will have got in and wrecked the balls. If so, you would be in need of over 100 1 1/8th or 1 1/4 steel balls. Not cheap! Hopefully not what has happened.

 

Being such a light vehicle there is the possibility that the ring is alloy not steel. This being the case, don't be surprised if you find ceramic balls. If so, you need to do your homework about correct lubricant. The T50 turret on the M113s had ceramic balls and they had issues. I think they were later superceded with Acetal (an engineering plastic) balls which have good load bearing properties. This may be what Secondshooter is referring to and the use of dry lubricants.

 

Regards

Doug

Broken Hill

Australia

 

Thanks Doug. We'll start looking at the turret ring soon. Working on getting it back on its tracks is short term goal.

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Having pulled the front torsion bars and repaired the chanel we decided to carry on and remove the rest. At least we know then that all the torsion bars are serviceable. The channels are full of lovely gunk so we will steam clean those before reassembly.

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Andy

 

I have these on several vehicles and can assure you that when they work, they really do. One use for this version of horn was

as the fire alarm in Centurion tanks. More than loud......

 

Other than if they have been under water, they seem to be a very well engineered design.

 

Regards

Doug

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Does the horn actually work? Many of that type I've encountered have been somewhat mute!

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy. It didn't work initially so I pulled it all apart remembering where everything went (until it came time to put it back together Ummmmmm). The Ferret one is the same so I has a looksy inside that one. Once all back together and after a little bit of fiddling it does actually work (LOUD).

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Hi Andy. It didn't work initially so I pulled it all apart remembering where everything went (until it came time to put it back together Ummmmmm). The Ferret one is the same so I has a looksy inside that one. Once all back together and after a little bit of fiddling it does actually work (LOUD).

 

:-D

 

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Things have been a bit slow as late as both Brett and I have been flat out with our day jobs.

 

When it came to remove the far side torsion bars we found we were short about 3 inches as the wall was in the way. What to do - Option 1. try and move the hull across but it's sitting on axle stands. Option 2. remove the wall.

We went for option 2 which actually worked out quite well as as it's an internal with steel sheeting. By removing the bottom bolts holding the sheets on we were able to get just enough flex in the sheets to get the torsion bars out.

I have now cleaned out all the channels by using de greaser and pushing several old rags through with a pole. Similar I guess to cleaning a large barrel.

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I spent well over an hour washing out my torsion tunnels with a hot-water pressure washer and still was getting unpleasant goo out.

Hard to get into the corners.

It's a pity that the caustic chemical stripper-baths are so bad for Al, it would be so nice to just dip the whole hull into a boiling vat of MEK or something and have all the paint and gunk just melt off.

 

Things have been a bit slow as late as both Brett and I have been flat out with our day jobs.

 

When it came to remove the far side torsion bars we found we were short about 3 inches as the wall was in the way. What to do - Option 1. try and move the hull across but it's sitting on axle stands. Option 2. remove the wall.

We went for option 2 which actually worked out quite well as as it's an internal with steel sheeting. By removing the bottom bolts holding the sheets on we were able to get just enough flex in the sheets to get the torsion bars out.

I have now cleaned out all the channels by using de greaser and pushing several old rags through with a pole. Similar I guess to cleaning a large barrel.

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Somewhat ahead ofourselves but looking at the turret I wonder what is actually holding the gun barrel in place?

 

Would I be correct in thinking that a twist and a pull and itshould come out?

 

 

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