Jim Clark

Just to bring this restoration up to date. The Mack was finished ( apart for a few finishing touches) by the end of May this year. On its maiden run we travelled 120miles following Jason Jefferies Diamond T and Rogers trailer loaded with my M4A4 Sherman . It was a good trip with no problems apart from a puncture. Since May we have attended about 5 military events and covered nearly 1000miles without trouble. As the year progressed the markings and its name were sprayed on . I called my Mack "Allentown Annie" as it was made in Allentown PA. Jim

More pics Jim

Just got back from Mons, went again this year as a tourist. Only light or rubber tracked tanks allowed to use certain sections of the route due to new regs. Some nice vehicles there though and also met some HMVF members. Jim

As Jack said it was a cracking night. Just to clarify the event was called "The Red Ball Motor pool 40s Bash" (Red Ball Restoration Ltd being Allied Forces sister company) It was staged in our front yard and the grain store served as the dance area. As it was my first attempt at putting on a dance it was by invite only, with about sixty guests attending. I wanted to give the impresion of a motor pool and it seems to have worked well with lots of good feed back from people that attended. I will definately be putting it on again next year and on a bigger scale. Here are a few more photos of the evening Jim.

Jack, the rear stack is for the exhaust and the cooling air outlet and the front stack is for engine cooling air inlet only. The air the engine uses to run is drawn through pipes and the air filters from the crew compartment The engine cooling air is drawn in by a large fan mounted to the flywheel of the engine via the stack and also from the crew compartment, in doing so it draws clean air into the crew compartment from the outside thus keeping the air fresh for the crew. As it is drawn from the crew compartment it flows through two oil coolers, one for the engine oil the other for the transmission oil. These coolers are mounted in the bulkhead between the crew area and the engine. There are slight variations to the system on the different models of Sherman . I hope this answers your question? Jim.

Jack, the rear stack is for the exhaust and the cooling air outlet and the front stack is for engine cooling air inlet only. The air the engine uses to run is drawn through pipes and the air filters from the crew compartment The engine cooling air is drawn in by a large fan mounted to the flywheel of the engine via the stack and also from the crew compartment, in doing so it draws clean air into the crew compartment from the outside thus keeping the air fresh for the crew. As it is drawn from the crew compartment it flows through two oil coolers, one for the engine oil the other for the transmission oil. These coolers are mounted in the bulkhead between the crew area and the engine. There are slight variations to the system on the different models of Sherman . I hope this answers your question? Jim.

Here are a couple of photos of the original wading stacks We did not have any dimensions from Bovington just photos of the way they were fitted. Paul made the stacks by eye, here are more pics of the basic frame work. As far as I know no one has done this before with a Sherman, Pip Biddlecome made some for his Stuart some years ago. ajmac, there was a video on Youtube of the restoration but it has been pulled by the author it is now on his web site , i will try to get a link to it. When I have time I will also post a thread about the restoration. Jim.

For ages I have wanted to put wading stacks on my Sherman for the Weymouth weekend. So a few weeks ago I contacted the Bovington Tank museum and got copys of the instruction manuals with drawings etc of the Sherman wading stacks. Paul my nephew then constructed the stacks in our workshop. The actual intake stack design for my M4A4 Sherman is totaly different to the stack we made but we opted for the shape and style which most people will recognise. Here is a couple of photos of the finished items. I would like to thank Bovington for all their help, but most of all, Paul for the superb job he did in making them. Jim

Yet again a cracking weekend at Weymouth, good to catch up with Jack and a few other HMVF members. As usual Jason took his DT981 and Rogers trailer with my Sherman and I drove my Mack NO2. here are some photos of the Sherman with wading stacks and some troops on Weymouth beach

You have done nothing wrong. A new canvas does NOT need any extra water proofing if its good quality, it should be water and rot proofed at the time of dyeing. If your canvas leaks and you are unhappy contact the supplier. Jim.

Its the "2nd Armoured " groups trip, Cherbourg to St Lo, Pattons route. Sept 3rd to 11th Jim.

Hey Jack, you dont even have to ask if it appeals to me, you know I am well up for driving the distance on both days. As for the fuel cost, what price do you put on such a chance to drive again on British public roads with armour? Jim.

Thanks Jack for the photos. To give you all some idea of the logistics of taking the Sherman with the Diamond T and Rogers trailer, the distance from our workshops to Churston is 138 miles. We cannot use the motorways so we had to use A roads 9.30 pm Thursday 26th May we left the workshops and arrived at Churston 7.30am Friday the DT and the Mack both ran well , as it was the first run for the Mack I was constantly listening for any noises etc. Our return journey was a bit more interesting as the DT started to slip its clutch on some of the steeper hills, we left Churston at 6.30pm and got home by 5am this morning . After a quick nap it was back to work. We are going to Weymouth in two weks time with the whole outfit another all nighter both ways I expect.Its a round trip of 180miles Someone asked me at Churston why we didnt use a modern lowloader to make it all easier , my reply was , whats the point of having all this stuff if you dont use it for what it was intended for. Jim.

We have continued with the cargo body restoration. All the side pockets have been replaced and I had a new tailgate pressed up as the old one had been cut about at some time probably when there was a crane fitted to the truck After painting the body was lowered onto the chassis and bolted down. Thanks again for all your kind comments, Hi Sharky , glad the grill was some use to you. Jim.

Hi Mike, the bell housing is SAE 1 not 2 and we did try to source a modern clutch assembly. We contacted a well known clutch firm who said they knew exactly what we needed and could sort everything for us, they were a complete waste of space and were no help, so thats why I used the Mack pressure plate and upgraded centre plate. Also if the clutch cant take the strain it just means rethinking the whole idea which is better than haveing a strong clutch and breaking the transmission instead. We wont know until I try towing the Sherman on the Rogers trailer. Jim.

Thanks to you all for the kind comments, I will post more pics after Stoneleigh as we have shed loads of canvas work to do so my own projects have got to take a break. I have now driven it with the Cummins engine in and it pulls like a train , just need to finish the cargo body and a few other odds and ends then I can give it a prioper road test. Hopfully we can get some video footage of it on Youtube. Jim

In between all of this being done I removed the petrol engine and acquired an L10 Cummins diesel engine which is the same physical size, so no modifications need to be done to the truck. The bell housing as an SAE fitting so bolts up with no problems. The only difficulty we had was the Cummins engine has a twin plate pull type clutch and the Mack is a single plate push type clutch. So we modified the Cummins flywheel to accept the Mack pressure plate. I then had the Mack centreplate lined with modern friction material capable to taking the extra power of the engine. Jim

After painting the cab I glued sound deadening onto the inside of the bulkhead then made up a millboard cover as per original. The restored dashboard was then refitted along with the wiring for the cab. The dash had many extra holes which were welded up. The first aid box bracket was missing so I bought one from Jaap and fitted it to the passenger side of the dash. The old spot weld marks could still be seen making positioning easy Once all of the work on the cab was completed we lifted it back on to the chassis, it had to be lifted high enough to go over the steering column which was just about the limit of the forklifts reach. Jim

After grit blasting the remains of the cab reconstruction began. The bulkhead sides and front were replaced first and gave a starting point to work from to make the rest of the cab. The curved sections were gone so I rolled new ones and fabricated the strengtheners. The top of the back of the original cab was still there and had “Carnegie steel” embossed in the face. This was used again and welded to the new curved section along with the new “B”posts I had made. The door frames had already been made by the previous owner, they just needed skinning and the hinges and latches fitted. The windscreen frame and its mounting are made from ash and I had a new frame made by our landlord’s brother who is a cabinet maker. The frame is braced in the corners and is hinged so it can f old down, all of these fitting and fixture had to be made. The inner screen frames were partially made by the previous owner and just needed finishing. On top of the windscreen frame is a metal rail which the canvas top attaches to, this was missing so I had to make up formers to fabricate the rail and the corners. All the canvas hood fittings and hold down hooks were missing so I made new ones. Before painting with olive drab I made the new canvas hood and door tops copied from originals borrowed from Jaap Rietvelt. The door tops have metal frames which slide into tubes located in the doors. Jim

Here is an account of the restoration and dieselisation of the 1944 Mack No2 I bought a couple of years ago. When I purchased the Mack it had a horrible modified cab fitted to it. As can be seen by the picture it had lost its original doors and had a metal roof made from two Sherpa van roofs. It had modern spring brakes fitted which was a good idea as it made the vehicle safer to drive. It still had its original petrol engine which sucked fuel at the rate of 3 MPG and on a trip to “Route to Victory” in Ramsbury consumed £300 of petrol, so it had to go. More of that later. After removal of the wings, etc the cab was lifted off. As can be seen working on vehicles has its dangers and they can bite back, this gash on my head was from using a scaffold tube on a breaker bar, which snapped. After the cab was removed I worked out what was original and what was not. I had already taken a trip over to Belgium to make drawings and take photos of an original Mack NO owned by Jaap Rietvelt. Basically all that was original was the bulkhead, floor and some reinforcing bars in the rear of the cab. So after a few minutes with a disc cutter I had what I wanted to start from. While I was in the cutting mood I also removed the rusty sides of the bulkhead. more to follow Jim.

If they are prepared to travel to Bristol they can have a ride etc in Jasons DT 981 as pictured. Give me a call if interested 01454 261100 or 07831 378904. Jim

Just finished making the canvas hood and doors on this Dodge Command Car. Collected today by a very happy HMVF member. Jim.

Why dont you ring me, if you let me know what size you need I am sure I can sort something. 01454 261100 anytime Jim.

I second Jacks firm line on vehicle and personnel apearances, there is nothing worse than seeing a well restored MV that has poppys, D-Day 44/99 , flags etc spoiling its looks. Things like number plates can be made removable or hidden with kit ie musset bags etc, and before the PC correct wingers shout at me for instigating others to break the law , I am not, I am just saying you can bend it a bit to suit the situation and make for more authentic photos. I have never run my Sherman with number plates on, but I have magnetic ones inside to put on if asked (Sorry officer I forgot to put them back on after a photo shoot.....) Regarding personal kit/clothing, I worked out out It would cost about £190-00 to get kitted out head to toe in US clothing ( probably British would be similar prices). Thats about £2-50 a week between now and A+ E 2012, or 1 pint of beer a week. Not forgetting Christmas and birthday presents. We all go to great efforts to turn our vehicles out as authentic as possible so why dont we do the same for our own appearance. Jim.

When Jack drove my Range Rover part way back fron Ciney I gave him strict instructions NOT to touch the turbo boost control, the rev limiter and the traction control. Did he listen did he hell and this is what happens. Crankshaft fractured on number 6 bigend journal. Actually It wasnt Jacks fault, it was caused by me trying to squeeze more BHP/ torque out of the engine. Mind you it went like a scolded cat when it was running well, as Jack will confirm. Oh well better build it stronger next time. Jim.