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Adrian Barrell

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Everything posted by Adrian Barrell

  1. Adrian Barrell
    Harry, you originally said that all Cnts had the tracks fitted backwards to avoid damaging the roads and posted a picture to illustrate your point. I commented that the picture showed the way that all the manuals state is the correct way. I also have a lot of other manuals and those for Crusader, Cromwell and Comet all show the same way i.e. spud trailing. These manuals are definately wartime so I still cannot see any validity in the argument that Cents are fitted backwards for road use. I did find a correction pasted in a Covenanter book that had originally been printed showing them fitted the other way. Whether this change related to a change in policy or just a mistake in the book is not mentioned. However since about 1941, the British Army has intended it's steel tracks to be fitted one way and apart from odd exceptions like the ARV you mentioned, it seems they always were. I wonder if there has always been a difference of opinion amongst tankies and this has resulted in the 'wrong way round' thought being passed on. Looking at it from a technical viewpoint, I would say that spud trailing would damage the road a lot less than spud leading for the following reason. With a trailing spud, the passage of the road wheel along the face of the link rotates the link towards the road with the link pivoting in the previous link. The spud only contacts the road surface at the last second and contacts it squarely with little or no relative movement. With a leading spud, the sharp edge of the spud is the first part of the link to contact the road and as the wheel travels across the link, it rotates it about its pivot, causing the spud edge to cut into the road surface as it does so. So, I would say thay spud trailing, as the manuals show and as the picture you posted shows is the correct way to avoid damage to the road but is also the intended way.
  2. Adrian Barrell
    Yes. The clutches are in effect operated seperately with an equalising mechanisim connecting them to the clutch pedal. On the inside of the glacis plate there are two hand throttles and just above these, two knobs operating the clutch lockouts. If you depress the pedal and then pull the appropriate knob, it keeps the clutch disengaged. In the same way, each engine has it's own starter motor and they can either be started individually by the starter buttons or you can start one and then release the clutch to start the other. Either way, you must have your foot on the clutch when starting the engines!
  3. Adrian Barrell
    That will all follow. Currently, the work is going into wiring and other less obviously fruitful endeavours, that and I've run out of pictures! I'll post more as I receive it but briefly, the two engines, though built up as left and right handed engines, do rotate the same way. They each have a clutch and drive into a transfer case fixed to the blocks. This couples the drive and slightly increases output speed to the propshaft. This view shows it rather well.
  4. Adrian Barrell
    Funny you should say that........ look what I found whilst digging my garden. The rest of it is here under my hedge, honest.
  5. Adrian Barrell
    The springs are NOS, they are relatively easy to find. I would hate to think what they would cost to make!
  6. Adrian Barrell
    With the majority of the interior fitted, the transmission could go back in and the wings could then be fitted.
  7. Adrian Barrell
    Internally, the floors, fuel tanks and drivers controls all went in after having been rebuilt.
  8. Adrian Barrell
    Externally, work continued with the fitting of the turret ring, the idlers, the exhaust muffler asembly and the rebuilding and fitting of the grouser racks.
  9. Adrian Barrell
    In an M10, a lot of the internal bracketry is welded in. To enable proper blasting and priming, it is better to leave this out and then fit before finish painting. Items such as the fire extinguisher brackets, battery box and stowage racks were all primed and then welded into place before the white was sprayed.
  10. Adrian Barrell
    Work continued on blasting and painting various componants such as hatches, sprockets and belly plates.
  11. Adrian Barrell
    With the outside finish painted, the suspension componants could go back in and the build up begin. This picture shows the major parts of a bogie unit. The two volute springs, the spring seat with the spreader arm trunnions, the spreaders and the four bogie arms. Also visible are the new arm gudgeon pins with their spacers, all newly made by us! Finally, the two small gudgeon caps which hold it all together.
  12. Adrian Barrell
    The hull was the blast cleaned and primed. There is evidence of some of the corrosion in the vehicle but much of this is hidden when complete.
  13. Adrian Barrell
    The transmission looked in a bit of a state and as the gearbox had been removed prior to the tank going into the playground, it had had some water in! A new gearbox was aquired and was in excellent condition. The rest of the assembly was checked and apart from the brakes, it was all ok. The brake bands were relined with NOS linings, reinstalled together with the gearbox and the whole lot blasted and painted ready for refitting.
  14. Adrian Barrell
    The turret ring was rebuilt using new balls and spacers. The balls were bought new commercially, I made the spacers to an original. All of the suspension componants were blasted and painted with some new springs being required. The old tyres were also removed and brand new ones pressed on.
  15. Adrian Barrell
    I thought it was about time I continued this thread....... As I said earlier, the M10 went to Carl Brown for completion, we mainly do repairs and parts manufacture and Carl mainly does the rest! I have worked with Carl on a number of projects over the years and this arrangement works very well. The first thing Carl did was to remove the turret, tracks, transmission assembly and suspension componants.
  16. Adrian Barrell
    I believe it went to Kent.
  17. Adrian Barrell
    You're always very welcome here too, though you do have to watch out for low bridges......!
  18. Adrian Barrell
    I have that as a batch of 300 Centurion II and III, T351400 to T351699 built by Vickers making yours the last of that batch.
  19. Adrian Barrell
    I've got the 75mm and 95 mm armament pamphlets for Cromwell and Churchill though I missed a Comet one on ebay a year or so ago.
  20. Adrian Barrell
    Steve, I have the service instuction book, workshop manual and the vehicle pamphlet though sadly not the armament pamphlet! The instruction book does show the recoil indicator which is marker '12- cease firing-11'. I assume from this the recoil should be 11" with a do not exceed figure of 11 1/2".
  21. Adrian Barrell
    Those are M10A1s, built by Ford. They used the same Ford GAA V8 as the M4A3 as seen in the backround of the second picture. Always nice to see production pics, thanks Nick!
  22. Adrian Barrell
    A Sexton makes a lot of sense. A lot cheaper than a gun tank and a much more user friendly vehicle.
  23. Adrian Barrell
    Nigel, which size do you need?
  24. Adrian Barrell
    Alastair, the issue is really what it will cost to find the missing parts.... R975 radial £3000+ Bogies £1000 ea Track (CDP) £4000 Track (US) £5000 Sprockets £1000 25 pdr £2000 These of course are guidelines and are assuming you can find the parts available for sale! Expect to pay £20-30k for the vehicle as is.
  25. Adrian Barrell
    The first one of these I ever got is a Canadian one, it still has the maple leaf decal. I was given it by a friend of my fathers. He had a boat he used it on but removed it when he could no longer start it. He had removed and cleaned the carb, made a new flange gasket and refitted it all to no avail. When I restored it, I found he had made a nice job of the gasket, all apart from forgetting to cut a hole in the middle! We had a laugh about that one, he was a nucleur physicist........
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