eddy8men

unfortunately i've only got one side of the centaur track but i'm sure i would be able to find the other one, possibly on the iow :cool2: adrian also gave me an idea about how to give the later style track more surface area. what if i filled the centre groove with weld and then ground it flat that would get me well within the limits. there's always more than one way to skin a cat but rest assured i'll be there with the cromwell and carrier. alastair if you lend me a crayon and some paper i'll draw you a sketch:D seriously though it looks as if the cromwell to charioteer conversion was a bit of an economy job and where ever possible the original cromwell parts were re used which is the case with the turret basket and traversing gear which suits me down to the ground as it will hopefully make life a bit easier for me to get it back to cromwell spec. i've not studied it closely but it looks as though the top hull plates were cut out maybe 200mm larger than the new ring and a thicker plate welded in possibly for more support. on the sides the ring actually overhangs the hull by maybe 100mm and triangular strengthening gussets have been welded on to support it here, which begs the question why the bloody hell didn't some bright spark think of doing that in the war !!! anyway i have 2 options i can unbolt all the modified deck area's and do a straight swap for the centaur deck or i can chop out the new bits and weld more plate in i haven't decided yet but the pics will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks when i've got something interesting to show. eddy ps. as for the charge of crimes against historic armour i pleed guilty your honour on the grounds of diminished responsibility

thanks adrian i really appreciate you taking the time to get the info for me and with that snippet i think we can pretty much settle the track dilema which will keep alastair happy, although i might put 432 track on just to p#ss him off iou another beer, again eddy

that's my kind of thread!! keep em coming guys cheers eddy

hi adrian you've mentioned ground pressure before, can you give me the figures, as the ground pressure for the cromwell is listed in the manual you sent me(thanks) and even if it's outside this i might be able to lighten the weight of the tank as 28 tons is the all up combat weight with crew and equipment. i'd still be a bit wary of driving on a hot tarmac road in june but it might be ok if i was at the front then everyone behind could flatten the tarmac back down on the corners :-D. however if i can't do the road run then i won't bring the cromwell as the expense would be too much to justify me playing around in the dirt and dorset's a long way from manchester, i don't know the cost of transport but i doubt i'd get any change from £1500 there and back plus fuel for the tank but it's not all bad as i'll be taking the carrier regardless so i'll be there to fly the flag. eddy

alastair don't worry i'm in no great rush to fit another set of tracks, as the ones already on the charioteer are great. it would only be to satisfiy the regs for road use as i remember the guy with the stuart at a&e did a bit of damage with his worn out track and i wouldn't want to rock the apple cart with the people on the council who are currently endorsing the event and i'm still not sure if it's legal to cruise around in 28 tons of armour on steel tracks doing 40+ mph. i know where you're coming from with regard to my idea of restoration (top up and motor on) but the cromwell will be done properly and will be a rivet counters dream as for the rest of my kit well that's another story eddy ps. i took my h license in 1990 with bombadier simpson at 49 fd ra lippstadt, he'll pass anyone in fact i crushed a 45 gallon drum when reversing on the test and once we'd unwrapped it from the track he said "don't worry lad you'll get the hang of it with practice" and he was right i was great at crushing drums after that :-D

hi adrian i was thinking the same thing with regard to the forces being exerted on the track but i would have thought it ok to use 432 track on the cromwell if driven with a bit of care on the road, the loads on a 434 towing another dead vehicle are probably similar to what the cromwell would exert on it's own, however this is only my guesstimation and i don't normally let common sense get in the way of one of my good idea's. so does anyone else have any input on this as it could make the difference between me taking the cromwell to dorset or staying home. eddy

back to plan A, 432 tracks. not that i'm worried the tracks are cheap enough and might (and i do mean might) go on without needing the drive sprockets to be modified but even if they did i could get a set cut at a profiler's for a couple of hundred quid and it would be worth it to get it roadworthy and on show for A&E . eddy

ok more pics and yes well spotted niels v that is the fordson wot6 also being put back together by bob and just the other side of the trailer out of sight is the carrier being restored by colin waterworth basically all my crap is up at bob's yard

hi fella's just thought i'd give you a quick update on the restoration now the charioteer has arrived at bob grundy's yard ready for it's transformation back to cromwell spec and will be joined shortly by the centaur, in the meantime the turret and ring will be removed and the real work can begin although i must say the interior is in great condition and looks pretty much useable as is but i won't count my chickens just yet ! once the turret is off the engine decks will be next, thankfully the cromwell design allows the whole engine deck to come off as one complete unit leaving the back entirely open which will greatly improve access to the oily bits which are all coming out for refurbishment, then the engine compartment can be cleaned and painted ready for the assemblies to go back in. while all this is happening the turret from the centaur will be removed along with the ring and will get the full "treatment" and hopefully we'll be able to get a gun sorted whether it be a 75mm or a 6pdr i'll settle for either and if the gods are with us the whole lot will be ready to go back together by june and i can get it on display for next years season. the charioteer arriving at bob's yard after the epic 4 hours loading it in the dark at ian galliers farm (iou a beer ian) eddy

nice pics pzkpfw-e, got anymore to share with us tank lovers, i was just thinking that panther would make a nice addition to the old collection :cool2: cheers eddy

432's have got to be the most affordable, practical and easy to drive bit of tracked armour around. enjoy eddy

try www.allegro.pl it's the polish ebay but without the rules, you can pretty much buy anything from a panzerfaust to a t-55 but many of the sellers won't post overseas so a contact in poland is handy. eddy

thanks alastair i'll get some pics of the chassis posted up when i next go to bob grundy's yard which might be this week as the centaur is due to go up to join the charioteer although the dates aren't certain yet but if not this week then next week for sure, as for the scottish chassis pics i'll have to wait and see if colin's found them and if he's ok with me putting them on the forum. all the best eddy

hi alastair picked my 7v chassis up last thursday and had a good look at it in daylight on sunday at bob's yard and the news wasn't good, total pile of rust even by my standards (which are low) it was goosed but the mechanicals seemed to have faired a little better and are still useable although the rad the seller described as excellent turned out to be full of holes and needs recoring but hey it's only money, however the project is still on and i know the whereabouts of another chassis in scotland :cool2:. it's good to see yours is coming along nicely, keep up the good work and keep posting the pics for those of us that like to look at the pictures first and read the text second. all the best eddy ps don't chuck anymore bits away, i might need them

sounds like a good plan to me but don't go rushing on my account as i don't have permission yet to get on the range but i'm working on it

like you johann i know the position of all the parts i need to complete all my restorations. they are on the military areas that are restricted to civilians just waitnig to be found but finding them is easy, getting permission from the army to remove them is the hard part. eddy

from my house to dortmund is only 13 hours traveling, so andy what you doing over the xmas break, fancy a road trip

great, i was thinking of turning the centaur into an arv as the turret and ring will go on the charioteer to get it back to it's original cromwell spec so i'd be left with something that looked like an arv anyway and being REME it's only fitting that i should honour my corps wartime history/antics plus i'll probably put a meteor in as the liberty is in a pile at the bottom of the engine compartment which combined with the lack of turret and gun weight will give me the fastest tank in town :cool2: eddy

don't worry john i have a cunning plan involving a military range, an old churchill and a tracked recovery vehicle preferably with a winch and a crane, do you know of any that might be available :cool2: eddy

excellent johann, maybe soon the old sherman will be able to move around under it's own power. how is the rest of the sherman coming along ? all the best eddy

great pics john, thanks for taking the time to post them, i spent a year at bordon and never knew they had a collection of old mv's but back then i would have had little interest in them, to me they would have been just another army wagon to work on but now i'd love to have a tour. do you know if they have a centaur arv in the collection. eddy

hey steve, things are always desperate where i'm involved

thanks for posting the pics, the churchill will always be my favourite tank and when mines up and running i'll put spare track on it in the same fashion as they were in combat it will also have the added bonus of hiding my rough arse repairs eddy

hi steve good to see the old petrol mk 1's getting bombed, best place for them, if anyone wonders why they have an engine access panel on the left side it's there to let you get at the plugs and points which you'll be doing a lot if you ever buy a mk 1. i can't tell you how many hours i spent at batus getting them on the move again eddy

just remember that squaddies don't want baby wipes and bottles of shampoo, it's got to be booze and porn closely followed by sweets for those that don't want to bend the rules, vodka in a cleaned out shampoo bottle or porn with another ordinary mag cover stuck on will lift moral no end eddy