eddy8men

nice chassis you've got there, i hear all the best restorers have one of those eddy

i think steve was refering to the fact that the army stopped using them in an amphibious role, although the stolly still had it's swim gear, the propshaft that drove it was removed so it had no drive to the propellers. eddy

i'll do that mate. cheers eddy

i don't hate shermans just the people that drive them just kidding, the sherman was a great tank, much better than every other tank when it entered service. good gun, armour, mobility and reliability the crews loved them. what gets me is the guys at the top that kept churning them out til the end of the war when it was past it's best, i often think if they had to go into battle with them there may have been an improvement or two in hull design/armour and muzzle velocity but i suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing. the sherman was a good tank, infact i'm planning on getting one. like i said don't blame the tank blame the guys at the top eddy can i have the cromwell manuals now

great thread, thanks for the info. i've always thought of batteries as a dark art, it seems like everyone has a different way of testing and charging them, i might get rid of my £8 ebay chinese effort and get one of those fancy chargers. cheers eddy

of course you can, i'll swap you for a matilda 2 and a valentine :cool2: eddy

i imported a carrier earlier this year from minnesota and paid £2700 for shipping , that includes the cost of the 20 ft container the agents fee and duty, to be honest although it was a bit worrying at times as i didn't know what was going on it all went very well. all i had to do was go down to southampton pick it up from the yard at the dockside and show a pass to the security gate to get out of the dock that was it, no customs or paperwork to sort out as the agent had done it all and only charged me £200. the only dropped bollock was the guy i bought the carrier from shipped the container before i could get anything else in it so it was half empty:cry: . if i was you i'd send jack a nice pm and ask him who he uses as i think this is something he's done once or twice. i used a firm in southampton called penguin that i'd also recommend. basically it's simple the only real pitfall is from the sellers side but that's a chance you take for a bargain. all the best eddy

i couldn't agree more, there's very little in manchester even though a fair proportion of ww2 armour was built here and that's something i'd like to address, even the imperial war museum north only has 2 tanks a t 34 and t 55. i don't know yet how i'm going to get more armour on display but i promise i will or my names not eddy i say go for it eddy

thanks steve that has answered my question in your usual thorough style. it's one thing to be told early hulls had cones welded over the bolts but it's hard to really understand it until you can see it infront of you. cheers mate i'll buy you a coffee on sunday eddy

hi nige i don't think taking on the churchill as my first restoration is brave, as i don't really know what's involved, taking on another one after that would be brave, once bitten twice shy they say but i've never been one to let common sense get in the way of one of my idea's. all the best eddy

loving the thread mate, keep 'em coming eddy

good for you alastair, i reckon your perseverence has won through again, it's great to see the mother of all restorations is coming along. it must be your strength of character combined with your chiselled features and magnetic personality that has carried you through, sorry forgot to mention generous nature aswell. by the way what are you doing with the other flathead rad all the best eddy

can't remember any diamond t's but it sounds very likely as there was a tank transporter unit stationed there when i was posted there in 92-95 eddy

hi jack i can see no reason why the cromwell wouldn't be ready for the middle of next year as it seemed in remarkably good condition. so much so that i wouldn't be surprised if you could bump start it with a bit of fresh fuel in the carb. as for the upper armour, turret and ring to bring it to cromwell spec that will be taken from the centaur so shouldn't pose too many problems to bring up to speed externally, internally i doubt it'll be ready but who cares as long as it drives. i'd like to take it to beltring next year along with the carrier so if you see me there you'll know a&e won't be a problem. all the best eddy

great stories, thanks for taking the time to relay them to us. eddy

it will be interesting to see what comes out of the hull as it looks like no one has tidied it since it came out of the forrest in finland, there were cartridge cases scattered about the turret basket floor, you never know there might even be live rounds aswell, a sten gun would be nice :cool2: eddy

hi jack i like the ideea of authenticity, if you're gonna do it you might aswell look the part. is there any room for a cromwell and bren gun carrier in that convoy, i will give you first choice on drivers or commanders position in either one, this is a genuine offer and i'm not sucking up(no really)i'm just showing my appreciation for your efforts. all the best eddy

hi fella's the latest plan for the cromwell is to remove the engine and box and get them looked at, i'd hoped to chuck a bit of fuel down the carb and bump it. (you can take the man out of the REME but you can't take the REME out of the man) but it seems this is too risky and could damage the engine so i'll have to be boring and do it by the book although i have to concede this is the best course of action and in the long run will make for a more pleasureable experience of owning the beast it just seems so long winded and potentially expensive but hey it's only money all the best eddy

nice one fella's, that's the kind of info i need. cheers eddy

i was thinking 90mm strip nails from the paslode( i do love my paslode) eddy

hi nige welcome to hmvf and it's nice to see you on the forum, by the way, thanks for posting the link to adrian's sherman restoration on warrelics. as it was you that led me to hmvf and the subsequent aquisition of so much armour, so it's actually all your fault i'm skint all the best eddy

hi fella's thanks for taking the time to reply, the cromwell will be original but probably not done as a mk 6, i would prefer a gun tank so if i can get hold of a 75mm or 6 pdr gun that would be my prefered option and yes the engine will be a meteor not something from a datsun and as a token of good will from the purists i'd appreciate a whip round for the petrol money:D my plan is to use the turret and ring from the centaur and nail it onto the charioteer then chuck a bit of green paint at it and it's job done, well that's the theory anyway, my real concern is the width of the thing and all that c & u bumph, i tried to get my head round the regs but gave up after the third paragraph and owing to the fact that it's 10 ft wide i don't think it would get past the dvla so is there a way to get it on the road for a & e. cheers eddy

hi john it's not enthusiasm it's blind optimism but whatever you call it it's got me this far, as for the 432 track and sprockets i'm interested but don't go dragging them out the garage just yet as there's a few minor details to sort out first eddy

you hit the nail on the head there, they look more more like pork pies than berrets eddy

hi fella's i was wondering whether it would be possible to get my cromwell on the road for A&E 2012, i could get round the steel track problem by fitting 432 tracks onto it, i might have to change the sprokets though as the original tracks are 11 1/2" wide at the point where the track and sprocket meet and the 432 tracks are 11" but it looks pretty straight forward. so assuming it could be done that leaves the legallities to sort out ie. i doubt i could get the cromwell registered for road use but could i get a one off right to use it, maybe something from the council, local police force or a letter from my mum ? what do you think. it's got to be worth a try to get a bit more british armour out there on show. eddy