philm1

Motor taken out of NZ Scorpion back in 1995. Conrod sticking out of sump. I have stripped it down to keep what bits may be good as spares and will scrap the rest.

Hi Richard, Reasonably straight forward to get the turret basket in and out. Always helps to have a 2nd pair of hands and the smaller person in the turret. The hollow pins I re made using a bit of hollow steel tube then a friend turned it down on his lathe to a press fit. Couldn't find the exact size off the shelf. Now looking for fittings that attach the turret to the basket and the bracket from top of commanders seat to turret if you know of any sources. Regards Phil

Hi Terry, the center Scorp is ex NZ Army. The other was imported into NZ perhaps up to 10-15 years ago and rebuilt. I'll ask the owner if he knows any history on it. We thought we'd be different and keep with the Belgium identity. NZ Scorpions were originally a similar green before they went to the Merdec Cammo scheme. We did think of going UN white as well. Phil

Crew heater was stripped down, rebuilt and installed.

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In October we attended 'Tank Weekend' run by a local military vehicle club. What made it special was 3 Scorpions in attendance before one of them went off to a new home in the South Island of NZ. The first time we really got to stretch her legs over a good shingle track with lots of corners and ups and downs. Performed well but I think it did suffer from fuel vapor lock later in the day when both the weather and vehicle were very hot.

Over the past 9 months we have been to a few shows as well as continued to add more bits and pieces as they have become available. The turret rollers and basket were rebuilt and installed.

I hope everyone out there is okay and this COVID thing isn't affecting you too much. It has been winter here so a chance just to potter along with small bits and pieces. A spotlight was found which I stripped down and rebuilt. Now installed and working. A clansman intercom system has been installed and working. Makes communication between the driver and turret so much easier. Some replica smoke dischargers have been added. the latest project will be the renovation and installation of a turret basket. I didn't think we would ever get one but Australia used them in the M113's that had Scorpion turrets fitted. Missing some bits including the commanders seat so if you have anything for it please let me know. This one was offered to me so I grabbed it. The turret rollers were completely seized so I had to drill out the pins so as not to damage the alloy housing. New bearings ordered today. next project is to try and make up some dummy rounds either out of resin casting or alloy casting. Happy days.

Thanks guys. I did try google plus some local electronic experts but no one could really help. In the end with some perseverance I have managed to get things to work. What I had was American crewman helmets that I wanted to re wire to clansman to use in our CVRT. there is an elaborate box on the helmet side where the press to talk is and the cable splits to 2 plug outlets All I really had to go on was this diagram and a replacement clansman cable. By checking continuity between pins in the connector and the colour wire at the other end I could establish what colours were what pins. I then sat down with the helmet to establish what did what. First I used a small battery across each ear piece and the mic and if they crackled I knew they probably worked. Then in the PTT box I traced where wires went and what they did. Sounds easy but it did take some time as the PTT works by pushing it both up and down. Next step was to buy some wire of each colour to wire into the PTT box which I could then connect the clansman replacement cable. I did this as the only way to test functionality was to plug it into the live intercom system and it was easier to change wires around externally then to keep fiddling in the PTT box. I left the clansman PTT cable switched to open mic and eventually got the helmet including it's PTT to work. I no way say this is the correct way but it did work. Here's the replacement wiring set up. The only modifications were to shape the screw in plug to fit the PTT and put a wire across the black and green. Don't know why but it made it work. There were several helmets to do so more cables were ordered. The cables I got were not all the same so I recommend you only get the ones with the small rounded metal ends as they are easier to work with. I opened out the ends, drilled a hole, filed down to fit. The cables with the plastic ends I learnt not to cut as the wire is very fine and hard to solder. You can pull the pins out of the connector which I then soldered to other wires to connect to the PTT. Best of luck. i now have 5 helmets good to go.

Are there any wiring experts out there who know how the wiring from the connecting cord goes to clansman headsets and mic? What colors do what? I have some American helmets that I am hoping I can replace the cable on to a clansman cable. There seems to be a similar number of wires of similar colors. The American helmets are probably set up for PRC. Photo below is the box that goes on the side of the American helmet.

Yes a good question and with the benefit of hindsight. I guess the key to anything like this is your budget, availability of parts and, resources to be able to undertake a restoration like this. If you want to drive a vehicle straight away then you need to budget for an up and running vehicle. If you want the enjoyment of a restoration then you want to get as much as you can in the way of spares from the outset. It would also be preferable to view what you are getting. Luckily we had reliable contacts in the UK to view the vehicle and the previous owner was also great to deal with. We were also lucky to get a good amount of spares as in another set of track, road wheels and 2 engines. Locally we sourced a reconditioned gearbox. Also locally a full set of parts and reference manuals plus a local person’s experience of restoring armoured vehicles including cvrts. During the restoration further spares have been sourced and we will store these hopefully never to be used. Whilst the vehicle is not internally 100% complete we were happy from the outset that externally it would look the part. Perhaps in time we will get a turret basket and other kit to fit it out. When I embarked on this project I had no previous experience so was learning all the way. Proves anything can be done when you set your mind to it. You do need good support from your beloved, don’t try and work to a strict budget (but do what needs to be done), and don’t rush things. I’m not sure in hindsight that there are any major regrets and I think we where we wanted to be. No worries getting it dirty as we want to have fun. It has now done to static displays at show over 2 weeks.

We were booked in for our first public outing on the 23rd Feb but another opportunity came along for an event the week before so it has been a busy time trying to get ready. Although not 100% it was enough to take to a Defence Force family open day at the local military base. Still needs some more dressing up but we are happy with where we have come from to where it is at now. In need of smoke discharger bases and tubes and turret basket if anything out there.

3 very busy days painting. A spell of extended hot weather was predicated so away we went. Today we had 2 guns going and lesson learned 'bigger is better'. We treated ourselves to a gun with a big bucket which meant less mixing and quicker application. Every thing back in the shed ready to be bolted back on.

More pics of the installations. Even have indicators, tail and brake lights working. And the horn I spent so much time on. A couple of shake down items to sort. 2 small water leaks which replacement hose clamps have sorted. Ignition light is not going out so charging syestem not coming online. I will check the earths and wiring from the distrbution box to generator box. The generator was rebuilt so I wonder if there is a way of testing that next to see if it is actually doing what it should? Now plan is to get everything taped up so we can get a few good days in of painting everything.