eddy8men

sounds like an excellent event

bob I was hoping it would be an A10 as it's easier to fabricate the front without the turrets but I have only found the 12mm armour plate. I might be wrong and until I see the front armour I can't tell, there's a fair amount of it hidden in the pool of water, if I get the go ahead I will hire a 5.5 ton digger and pull it out and dredge the pool. once it's back in the yard I will try and find someone or preferably a group of people to take it on, maybe the desert re enactors or such like. there's bound to be someone daft enough

believe it or not i'd love to do it as it's actually common practice on cut down bren carrier resto's to fit new upper armour and it's only 2mm less than the A9, I just don't have the time if i'm to do the Churchill !

I reckon you're right there bob, however it has 2 things going for it, first off it uses valentine suspension and final drives which are readily available and secondly it's made from 12mm flat plate on an angle iron frame. all you need is a riveter and a pair of rose tinted glasses

I've been busy over xmas looking for the elusive "other" tank up on stainburn moor but with no joy although I did bump into a woman walking her dog who has come across it 30 years ago but can't remember where :-X however it's not all bad news as I found an A9 cruiser wreck on a disused range and although it is smashed I will recover it if possible and see if I can't put it back together or find somebody else enthusiastic enough to take it on !

look forward to seeing it there mate

tim just had a thought about the "v" engine for your Sherman, I have noticed a few M109 Detroit power packs coming up for sale on milweb. they're 450 bhp, compact and used to power the m109 which weighs in at 27t so ideal for you. how much you could pick one up for is another matter but I doubt it would be less than £2k. rick

I wonder how long the constant loss wheel bearings would last at 30mph.

a wise man once told me there's "restorations" and then there's restorations, to fully restore a vehicle means to return it to it's original condition so no cheating on the engine, if you save £25k on the cost of the engine you will lose twice that on the final value due to it's non originality. having said that I personally don't have a problem with re engining a vehicle, it's horses for courses, do you want a show winner or something you can show ! i'm toying with the idea of fitting a mk4b meteor to the Churchill, it would be great to see the old girl overtaking a hellcat around the arena rick

hope it goes well for you, I swear I don't know anyone that doesn't suffer with a bad back.

went to the yard yesterday and had a better look and the "A" frame is definitely for towing the jcb and not a conger carrier :blush: thanks to recymech66 for the correct id. oh well if the museum has a jcb 410 then I will still donate the frame but that's not likely, I will still come to the museum though as I have a few Churchill and Cromwell bits i'd like to donate and before anyone asks no they are definitely not off a jcb. have a good new year rick

cheers must be my memory packing, up the thing is I seem to remember them as zinc coated but it's been 20 years since I was last at a unit with them (29 regt RLC south cerney) so it's just a vague recollection. rick

don't count your chickens just yet, I also worked on jcb 410's and it doesn't look familiar to me. it definitely looks wartime but I might be wrong !

an excellent restoration ron, well done rick

danny did you get to see the carriers while you were there.

hi alex I read the thread on mlu about the conger and was very impressed. I had the intention of putting together a conger(ish) display using my carrier and the Churchill but the reality is it may never come to fruition so the best place for the A frame is on the only surviving conger in the world, which is why I want to donate it. the more I think about it the more I would like to come to the museum and deliver it personally and take a look around but time and money always get in the way and I am becoming more aware of making promises I can't keep but whether I go or not I will get the A frame to you. i'll send you a pm with my mob number and you can call me sometime to discuss it. all the best rick

cheers john. I've always fancied a trip to Poland so I might combine the two as it's on the way.

I was toying with the idea of taking it in person but I never seem to have enough time, maybe I will just have to make the time for it !

I've found a surviving conger carrier in the overloon museum and I will donate my A frame to them as they have a replica at the moment, I can't think of a better place for it

I bought the A frame from john and as far as I know it is for towing the conger mine clearance device. i'd like to mock up my carrier and tow it behind the avre but I doubt I will ever get to do it

made me smile thinking about the moment when as the driver you have to take the "leap of faith". that's the point when all you can see is sky and you still keep going forward and hopefully land on the load bed

wasn't that first panzer that got swiped and went to Germany a personal gift from Adolph to the queen of bulgaria or something like that. they got away with it too but got lifted when they went back for another :embarrassed:

the tanks were due to be auctioned off back in 2007 when they were recovered, I remember you had to have 100k euro to be a bidder but then it all went quiet and nobody has heard much since, I think somebody has been selling them off on the quiet and getting very rich in the process

good news

under the turret basket of the Cromwell I found a live round, 7.62mm ex finish army with wooden bullet, I assume it was a blank to be fired with a shredder fitted to the muzzle. that or they ran out of copper and hoped no one would notice the wooden bullets :-D