eddy8men

it's a real beast that's for sure, when will the work commence. rick

looking at andy's sabre has got me thinking about getting one and that is a dangerous thought so i'll probably just stick to wartime kit and drive his at the weekends when he's not around rick ps. good choice of vehicle andy, i reckon you'll be happy as a pig in sh1t driving that sabre around

i don't recognise it and it doesn't look to be wartime but that's just an opinion based on my experience of british kit.

great story and don't give up on the old girl just yet, somebody might pull her off for restoration one day :cool2:

the whole thing reminds me of a 430 series steering box but only a third of the size, fortunately it doesn't smell like one. you never forget your first smell of cooked OEP 220 ! rick

axle is now back where it belongs

i did chris, it's your pioneer plate in the pic :-D

thanks ben, i'll have a crack at those wheels. The steering on a t16 is the same as a universal carrier in so much as it uses brakes/skid steering for harsh turns but where as the universal uses track warping to enable large radius turns the t16 has cletrac steering which is a method of controling the diff by retarding one side which thru diff action increases the speed on the other side, it makes for a very good setup infact everyone i've spoken to that has driven both prefers the t16 setup, the downside is the heat generated by the friction of the brake bands on the drum could degrade the brakes efficiency, to overcome this there is an oil cooler in front of the drivers side of the radiator and a pump driven from a common shaft on the speedo drive to circulate the oil. it all makes for a nice simple setup.

the loaders hatches are quite straight forward to fabricate, unfortunately when the turret roof was damaged it also bent the brass rainwater channel that fits beneath the hatches and a new channel has had to be fabricated. as for the commanders cuploa that is cast so would prove costly to have made but i was lucky enough to find one

i love looking at old armour on the ranges, thanks for posting up the link. rick

you're right alastair, the crankshaft drives the dynamo on the left, with the starter on top and the turret traverse hydraulic pump on the right but the pump is redundant as we will use the hand traverse to move the turret round. speaking of turrets we are now focusing on getting it together, the roof had taken a hit at some point in it's life which required cutting out and replacing, the hatches were also missing. i had managed to obtain the commanders cupola but the loaders hatches had to be fabricated. i'm also on the hunt for interior fittings like 19 set equip, besa ammo boxes, water cans and anything else i can nail to the inside ! rick

no worries mike i'll pick it up for you if you win. rick

electrics are pretty much done now and once the oil pressure gauge is fitted we can start the engine

i bought a nos axle from groenwould trading in holland, i met the guys in the car park at malvern and when i collected the axle it looked decidedly secondhand but i wasn't bothered as long as it was serviceable, i stripped it today and found that it was actually new and was in amazing condition but had been stored outside which is why it looked a little scruffy, unfortunately because it had never been fitted the diff had never had any oil and there was light surface rust from condensation on the steering brake drums so it needed to be stripped completely which i have now done. tomorrow i'll put it all back together, the good news was the brakes were spotless and looked like they'd been rebuilt only yesterday and not 70 years ago.

starting to get the parts coming together now

i often wonder what the british veterans think when they go to shows and see so many guys dressed as americans and few if any in british kit.

you could drive them there ! (not as daft as it sounds) if you get the ferry from portsmouth to bilboa then drive 250 miles to barcelona and get the ferry to civitavecchia then another 250 mile or so to salerno. if you wanted to do it cheaply then hire a 16ft trailer for the 2 jeeps and tow it behind the humber that way you only pay for 1 vehicle and you'll only need 1 driver. whatever you decide it sounds like you'll have a great time in italy once you're there. all the best rick

good luck to you, it takes a lot of balls to swim a stolly in the sea. i look forward to seeing the youtube vid. all the best rick

getting there !

make sure the engine stop has returned, sounds obvious but i've come across it before. rick

cheers chris now if you could just put up a pic of each item, that would be great rick

i've been doing a bit of shopping around for the comms kit and this is what i've managed to get together so far. i know i'm missing the power unit and variometer and leads but is there anything else and does anyone have any of the bits i need. cheers rick

good question that is alastair ! what i want to do is give someone the chance pick up a good carrier at a decent price and be able to drop an engine in (a good engine comes with it) and be pretty much on the road this year, i'd also like them to have a bit of profit still in the thing when it's finished. so my problem is if i get it running and driving even though it still requires finishing touches then i'll have to see £25k for it but as it is i'd be happy for around just over half that. i also would like to help them get it finished and maybe take it for a spin at w&p if they are willing :cool2: rick

there was a gate guardian mtlbu outside kiwi barracks in bulford that me and the reccy mech pulled out from under the pylon line north of kuwait city, i knew it was the same one because it still had 26 fd ra sprayed on the side. i'll have a look and see if there's any more pics of iraqi kit in my old phot album. rick

for 3 weeks after the war i went around picking up iraqi armour just north of kuwait city, best 3 weeks in the army :-D