eddy8men

no such thing as a gradual turn in a churchill then, you learn something new every day. rick

things have been moving along with the carrier especially as it's due to go to salisbury plain at the end of the month for some filming so that's given me the incentive to get it done. the engine and box went in 2 weeks ago and the steering and brake linkages should be done this week along with the new rad and oil cooler so it might be moving under it's own steam next week but don't anyone go holding their breath as these things seem to take about 10 times longer than i think it will but come hell or high water it needs to be done for the 21st may or my names gonna be mud. i'm going to work on the carrier this thursday so i'll put up some more pics then as these were taken a while ago. the last pic is the upgraded engine ready to go in :cool2: eddy

picked up a gearbox last week and i've been tinkering with it today, thankfully although it has some minor damage it looks to be in good condition overall and is quite oily round the gear selectors which is a good sign, so i'd bet a pound to a pinch of salt it's full of oil. the first job is to strip the steering brakes down and free em up and replace the seals in the slave cylinders, the layout is standard although funnily enough it has 2 leading shoes so steering won't be as good/positive in reverse but i won't loose any sleep over it. it came apart easy enough although i sheared a jacking bolt while getting the drum off (it was my fault for trying to graunch the wrong thread into it !) now i know what to expect the other side should come off without much fuss tomorrow. after i'd finished tidying up it suddenly struck me that this was the start of the mamouth task of restoring the churchill to running condition and that they'll be many more late nights after work like this one and to be honest i enjoyed it. eddy

sorry but i'm not one for taking pics, maybe it's time i started. as for scotland well it looks unlikely to happen until the next school holidays but the feelers are out and i reckon another family short break is on the cards, just got to find somewhere dog freindly to stay as i've trained him to sniff out old tank wrecks eddy

alastair have you seen the loyd at the cobbaton combat collection, might be worth a trip down sometime

hi john here's a pic of the tortoise on kirkcudbright, i wasn't aware of any others only bovy and this one can anyone confirm that more survived and their location.

clever, simple solution. just the way we like 'em and if it should weep a little remember the old reme motto "top up and motor on" eddy

thanks for the reply eduard i was hoping that one or two would still be in the military camps hidden out of sight and forgotten about, i've always thought that the russians had the best tanks in ww2, simple strong and powerful. eddy

looking forward to seeing you there fella's all the best eddy

hi richard welcome to the forum. i've also been weighing up my options for a 4x4 truck but i was looking for something over 7.5t and with a crane fitted so my wish list wouldn't be same as yours but if i was you i'd go for an rb44, they're a good size but not too big for a driveway and if you made your own biodeisel the fuel wouldn't be a problem either, you can legally make 2500 litres for personal use :cool2: eddy

mate don't chuck any of you're old parts out no matter how ragged you think they are as i might be able to use them on my loyd resto :-D cheers eddy

great post, the other youtube video links also make for interesting viewing. eddy

i thought they came into production in 43, you learn something new everyday. cheers eddy

looks very nice, even the rusty side is in good condition if it all goes as well as that you will be in for a nice enjoyable restoration. good luck eddy

nice clip, i'm glad the cromwell did well but then again it was built after the sherman so it's not surprising really, just goes to show the advantage of the christie suspension setup. eddy

i'm going with my carrier

i've got a working dynamo for the maybach hl230 engine do you need one eddy

we like stories of hidden tanks, put them up on the buried and abandoned tanks thread

hi simon the tanks are coming along just fine. the carrier is ready for the engine to go back in next week, the cromwell mk6 is stripped ready for the engine bay to be emptied and the centaur is, well just sitting there ready to provide the parts to complete the cromwell and the churchill is still where it was when i bought it 9 months ago but the plan for it to come up north is getting closer. there's also a wot6 which is a lovely looking truck but it will have to go as there's a problem with it.( it is'nt a tank) all the best eddy

thanks for the input adrian, it's probably time to start the cromwell resto thread as it's well under way but there's just so much going on at the moment i've not got round to it yet but i will sit down tonight and put up a few pics. all the best eddy

be careful benji ! barrell's syndrome is highly contagious and can lead to periods of heightened euthoria generally followed by excessive tank buying eddy

i hear what you're saying adrian and to be honest i too feel it's not right to go swapping stuff around to suite your own personal tastes as these are pieces of history but some times you've just got to work with what you've got and at the moment that's a mk6 hull, a 6pdr centaur turret and hopefully a 75mm gun but it will be technically correct when complete and the data plates won't be interferred with so it will be clear for all to see what i've done and how i did it but yes i would prefer it to be original. eddy ps. thanks steve

i think it's very important for the turret to go with the correct hull as anything else would just be a lash up and to that end i'm willing to swap my immaculate mk4 avre hull for one of the museums mk4 gun tanks, preferably running but i'll settle for part restored

i'll forgive you as long as you help me weld it all back together eddy

very interesting, i wonder if they could be bribed into parting with some of the collection :cool2: