sirhc

Yes I have heard of them. See your private messages. Chris

Neil, It looks pretty much like my Sabre does, but I drilled some holes to let the water out and power washed it. Oh and I put an engine in it too! To be honest CVRTs are easy vehicles to restore, the Sabre is probably the worst one as you need to strip or remove the turret to get rid of all the mud and crap underneath it. There is nothing missing from that Sabre which won't turn up sooner or later. My Ferret was 10 times worse when I got it! Chris

Thanks Lee, those photos just annoy me though! ABRO decided to strip that vehicle of the fan and sights yet leave a nice turret fuse box. I have the sights and the fan but no fuse box. I really wish they'd allocate vehicles to strip and take bits from them rather than just taking bits off the nearest vehicle to hand at the time! Chris

Salisbury sounds good, its still a long way but it would be worth it to drive a Ferret about on the plain! Chris

I would come, but I wouldn't really want to drive down to Dorset, do some off roading and then drive all the way back! You should pick somewhere easy enough for all of us to get to! Chris

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lsm/dhmg/little-01.html Chris

I am going Saturday. I think that is the 'Tracked Test Vehicle' next to the Sabre. The Sabre by the way isn't too bad but it is missing the sights, night sight box, rear bin and fan... along with the engine, guns, dampers, periscopes etc etc etc! Chris

I just watched the Comet one, is it me or was there more footage of random places, roads and the sky than of actual tank restoration? Also why did they go to Germany to look at some modern tanks? We have the best tanks in the world much closer to home! Overall impression, nice subject matter, shame it was overly Americanised. Chris

Have a read of this: http://www.tanks-alot.co.uk/salvagesquad.htm Chris

Withams can't give them away at the moment, they have a yard full. Look how many are in this months Tender sale. They also have the yellow ones in stock. Chris

Neil, The drivers hatch on all of the CVRT series is the same size. When getting in one you need to slide your legs in first between the tillers and then lower yourself in. Getting out involves pushing yourself up and dragging your legs out behind you. You would need to try a few first, but the Sabre/Scorpion chassis is the most difficult one to get in. A 432 on the other hand has a large square drivers hatch and you'd probably get in there fine. Chris

That depends what vehicle you're driving. Some have a manual clutch, some have a centrifugal clutch, some are fully automatic. For example, in a CVRT you have an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal and a gear change pedal. The gear change pedal is depressed with your heel to change up a gear and your toe to change down. The CVRT has a centrifugal clutch. The tillers connect to master cylinders which operate 2 disc brakes on the output shafts of the gearbox. To turn left you pull the left tiller which operates the right brake. The brake pedal is connect to a seperate set of disc brakes! To drive the vehicle once the engine is running you select 2nd gear with your heel, (1st gear is called 'E' or Emergency) release the handbrake, increase the revs. At about 800 rpm the clutch kicks in and the vehicle begins to move. You then go up and down the gears as in a normal car using your left foot. A bit like a motorbike. The turning circle is different in each gear so you need to make sure you are in the correct gear for the corner you want to go round! I have heard stories of Scorpions falling off the side of mountains. A 432 is much easier, and thats why these are almost always used for tank driving at places like Tanks A Lot. The steering in these vehicles works by operating brake bands in the steering box, these are also the main brakes. To drive one you just select the gear range, release both tillers from the locked position and accelerate. To turn left you pull the left stick and to stop you pull them both together. A Chieftain is driven in exactly the same way as a CVRT, a Centurion has a manual clutch which is very heavy. The setup is quite different in most American AFVs, I have only driven one and that was a long time ago! Hope this helps, Chris

Perhaps for a tracked dozer, but not for any of the AFVs I've driven! ;-)

I know why they make such a big thing about this (even though almost all other tracked vehicles can do it!) as I have tried to turn a 432 Mk 2 about in a crampt space and it is no fun! The original 430 vehicles could not perform a neutral turn, so to turn it around in a confined space involved a 3,5,10 point turn! I posted a link with the info on the Mk 3 somewhere else on the forum. Chris

Sand/Green is used in Iraq, BATUS and for OPFOR vehicles on Salisbury Plain Chris

I found a live unfired 7.62 round....! Chris

Neil, I think come June/July time you'll be lucky to find either for sale. I only know of 3 Samaritans in private hands. There are a few more Sultans, but not that many. Any which Withams had and did not sell have been cut up now. Chris

The Aussie built Jap tanks were based on FV434s. Such a waste, they are the most useful and sought after of the 430 series. Chris

1943 Stuart tank. Ex. British Army. Good honest vehicle, no messers or dreamers please. £25000 ono. 01254 396660 icethaw@btconnect.com Michael Hanson

I use one on my Spartan when I take it out on the roads, I only drive on A & B roads and I think it is only fair to warn other road users that I am there! I always enjoy the look on some drivers faces when they come flying round a corner taking the racing line and see the Spartan is coming the other way! Chris

Peter, The dampers which are always missing are the later Messier type - those in the sale were Armstrongs, which are basically taken from a bus! The MoD have been slowly upgrading the vehicles to the Messiers, and they have taken Messiers off vehicles they've sold off to go back on others. I did see those night sights, and I do need one, but I have no idea who got them. I've been waiting for them to come up for sale! Chris

Marcus Glenn has a nice one in his collection, I don't know if it is for sale or not though! Chris

Yep thats the Sabre I've just put the engine in. It will have a complete rebuild at some point, but for now I just wanted to get it going and check everything works. Being stored outside it makes it very difficult to do much to it during the winter, especially cleaning up the insides which is most of the work it needs. Every time I go over to see it there's more water in it to drain out! :cry: The suspension dampers are missing, when I get those it'll be roadworthy and I can move it around if I need to. Now its running I have discovered that the alternator bearings are knackered so I'll need to get that fixed, not an easy job on these vehicles! Chris

:cheesy:

Oh and whisky, to blame for buying a lump of scrap metal :roll: