Adrian Barrell

Maurice asked me to post these picture of his progress as he cannot seem to attach them to him posts. No doubt he will be along to explain them. I can say that it looks fantastic!

Thanks Matt, I suspect you'll be seeing a pair soon......

Not a very exciting post I know but just an insight into what I get up to.......:-D

It's then a simple matter of drilling the holes to the correct centres and countersinking them to suit the screw. The final job is to sandblast them and dip them in primer. This fills any irregularities and bulks out the shape. I have still to do this and will post a pic when finished.

I do all the sizing and shaping with a flap dics in the angle grinder. Any finish work can be attended to with a file but is usually not necessary.

The next step is to join them. For this I weld between the two using the MIG. The weld does not stick to copper so the face of the jig acts as a mould. You have to put enough weld on to enable the correct profile after shaping. A quick dunk in some water and it is ready for shaping.

The main part of the loop is made from a 1" long piece of 6mm dia bright and two pieces of 13x3 black flat. These are clamped in the jig in their relative positions. The length of the flat is not important as they will be trimmed later.

I had previously made a jig from copper, the reason for which will become clear, and amazingly knew exactly where it was. Anybody who knows my sheds will know why this is a surprise....

Possibly one of the more common but least noticed part of a vehicle are the footman loops, those things to fasten a strap to. For some reason there are a large range of types and sizes. Obviously for a given strap size, the width needs to suit but there is a large variation even for a given size. I first found this out when I restored my M5 HST back in the late 90s. It has 18 loops with a 2" screw pitch. All the available loops were different. Everything from 1 7/8" to 2 1/8" and beyond but nothing that would fit. The particular loops were a distinctive design too so I decided to make them. Having recently been making some hood hoops for a different vehicle, the same loop, an Eberhard EB-6409B was needed again. In this case, as the hoops were new build, any loop could have been fitted but it was decided to get it right and make some more. Here follows a photo essay of the process.

I'll bring the Sherman if help with transport is available. I'm only about 35 miles away.

Any fastener supplier who believes in customer service can get BSF. Some sizes and head styles are getting hard and much of it is getting surprisingly expensive but still available.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me too Steve! The 'wheel cover' line had been in print for so long, it was assumed to be the case. I'll take some pics and post them up.

The 'covered' wheels are aluminium and are a one piece wheel and hub. I have the remains of one here! Cavalier used Cromwell wheels, i.e. 5" wide whereas Covenanter and Crusader used 4" wide. Cavalier did use Crusader suspension parts and axles though.

I think it more likely it was a Covenanter, The wheels are the same as Crusader but the hubs are plain with no holes. Covenanters are or at least were much more common on ranges than Crusaders.

Now this thread has turned into a pissing contest, it's got really boring.......:rolleyes:

Hi Rust, that is interesting! It's the first time I've heard of military D2 use, I wonder if it was a local procurement sort of thing. As you say, D2 is a bit small for many jobs!

I've just spent half an hour (should be working....) searching the site for the thread but have failed to find it. It was along the lines of ''Proof of US combat use of IHC halftracks'' and did indeed show such use. The locations were not in doubt but it was felt that perhaps it was an exception to the norm.

It is an armoured Caterpillar D7.

Contrary to popular opinion, at least one US unit used IHC halftracks in action in Europe. There was a thread on G503 with pictures, I've had a quick search but can't find it. Nobody knows it all......

That would require a single brake and rear light, no number plates etc etc. Is that what you do?

It's all in the wrist John! I got quite good at cutting nickel welds with the gas, Mr V showed me how!

Does anybody know where I might get some claning staves with these ends? They are listed as Abbott CES and may well be for later pieces too. My need is for a 75mm tank gun but the ends are the same and are actually all I need.

I think the sights go up to 90M..... However, the effective range of 30M is only relevant when used from the ground. Fired from an aircraft, the projectile would travel some distance, though still with a small likelyhood of hitting the target.

You should have seen it when it first came off the range, it was half full of that concoction!

A friend of mine is currently looking to go in to small scale production of just those very things. He has made prototype examples for his Jeep. I'll ask him to get in touch.