guykay

What type of grease gun do you use to tension the Cvrt tracks. I have a normal side arm type gun & it takes every ounce of strength I posses to squirt the stuff into the tensioning ram & tension the tracks. Should I be using some extra large grease gun or am I a pathetic wimp?

What type of grease gun do you use for track tensioning. I use the normal side lever type & it takes all the strength i possess to get the grease into the tensioning ram & tighten the tracks

I know I said that was my last question, but I've checked my manual & the Samson has a similar valve to the spartan, with a drain valve situated over an access panel in the hull. But I have had a look at the valve adjacent to the fuel filter & cannot see how to operate it. There is a spring loaded cover over the valve, but no obvious lever to switch fuel from the filter to the drain line

Last question I have seen mention on other threads about the horrors of removing fuel tanks from Spartans, is it the same with the Samson? Is there a way of draining the tank in situ? And if it has to be removed, is there then any way of cleaning out the tank? I vaguely recall someone mentioning a removable end plate?

Removed & drained the filter bowl. At least 3/4 full water & other assorted crud. Reassembled & flushed through until clean petrol ran from the pipe. Drained the carb float bowl, how easy is that!! Fired her up & took her for a run. All seems well now. The fuel filter was actually rusting do the water must have been in there some time. I will order a new one Picky of fuel drained from bowl with water at bottom Privacy of me attempting to drain carb float bowl

Thanks chaps, I'll check the fuel filter this weekend. If it is the electronics, how easy/difficult is it to change the electronic ignition pack. Is it on the distributor?I assume changing the coil is pretty straightforward as it is on top of the engine & will only require minor acrobatics Guy

Took Samson out last week to a local show. Part way it started losing power eventually giving up altogether half way up a hill. Persuaded the good lady to bring out the van with some tools & a set of spare plugs. Grovelled about a bit in the engine compartment changing all six plugs( on the off chance this could be the problem) fired it up, no difference, seemed to be running on 3 or 4 pots very roughly. After further debate I decided to try for home before calling in some recovery. Crawled & spluttered back down the hill & then it chimed in on all 6 pots & taxed home like a dream. Discretion being the better part of foolishness, I did not turn around & try to get to the show( it was by now raining & I was a little cheesed off) Bottom line, any clues as to what it could be, there's plenty of fuel on the tank (I'm not quite that daft - although the fact that I own a tracked vehicle may give lie to that!!)

Checked the drain plug & it's tight. Removed drivers seat back, commanders seat & radio tray. Can I just remove the commanders seat rails & assorted fasteners to remove the silver painted cowling around the gearbox to get access to the gearbox end plates you are referring to?

Checked the oil levels In ferret last week. Level in transfer box was very low so topped up to correct level on dipstick. Next outing I was surrounded by an oily flood in the fighting compartment. Obvious question, why was that, what has happened.

Just got ferret back from painting Ferret ready for sunny show season ahead (will post Picts when light) Brake light is sticking on. Any ideas why? Where is the brake lig htn switch? I guess it's a pressure switch somewhere. In the system, but where is it situated & can it be freed off or is it likely to be a replacement job?

Anybody got any idea how you re-wire the original push fit electrical connectors. I have acquired a few tinned copper connectors & the bulbous rubber bit that pushes over the end after soldering on the wire. But there is no way on this earth that I can do this by hand. I guess there is a special pair of pliers or similar, but where to get one from?

How low can you go!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Hi Thought I'd put my two pennoth in. My ferret started to lose power after a couple of miles & would eventually come to a grinding halt. When left to cool down it would then re start & drive fine for another couple of miles, eventually loosing power again etc. I replaced the condenser with one from Bannisters & the problem was instantaneously cured. You wouldn't believe that such a small component could cause such a problem. On the up side it must be one of the few operations you can do on the engine of the ferret without having to remove half of the ferret to get at it! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I've had a problem with the commanders seat on my ferret springing up to full height & refusing to stay down. This makes it difficult to get out through the turret from the drivers seat. Stripped it down a couple of days ago & found that the ratchet that holds the seat at the desired height was worn. The male part of the ratchet appears to be an M10 threaded rod, so I cut off the worn bit & attached a new bit of rod using a spare M10 nut to lock the new bit of rod onto the flattened end that is fixed to the base of the seat Rebuilt the seat & it works fine now It's a cheaper option than a new seat(if you can get one) and if it wears again can easily be replaced

In order to see the gun you have to enter the barbados military training units shooting range. The military seem pretty cool about this, but you do have to ask them & we were escorted down to the guns by a friendly squaddie who had quite a bit of local knowledge of the gear. Apparently when the gun was fired half the island could feel the vibration. When buildings started cracking the project lost its popularity with the locals

HARP gun pictures 16 inch gun Spare barrel Writing on spare barrel reads 16# NAVAL GUN Various other naval guns on the site

In barbados on business & had the chance to visit the HARP gun there. It was a 16. Inch naval gum modified by the late Gerald Bull to launch projectiles into low earth orbit. Project was cancelled by NASA in 1967, but gun & what looks like spare barrel was left in place near the airport.

I assume you mean lip seals. If so you need a drift of almost the same size as the od of the seal, use this with a mallet to drift the seal into position. If the shaft is in place you can use a tube of the correct size. There is a bit of kit available from Machine Mart with several popular seal sized drifts that screw onto a common handle. This works quite well

I think that there is a mod to convert the old style tillers to more modern ones with the indicator buttons on top. They have curly wires from each tiller disappearing into the gibbons somewhere. A bit Heath Robinson really. Why am I not surprised? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I'll give that a go, it's probably easier than reaching over your shoulder to twiddle the on off switch with your right hand whilst wrestling with the forward/reverse lever with your left. Why are these things so bloody in unergonomic Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Chris Gearbox is absolutely fine. I am going to drop out the oil again this year & replace the filter assembly with one of the later units with a warning light when the bypass operates. Forward/reverse linkage seems a bit stiff, but the trick mentioned in the forum about briefly switching the ignition on & off works every time. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I was working on the CVRT Samson at the weekend. I managed to get some main brake pads from Bannisters & found a few hours to fit them. I would love to have a chat with the person ,that placed the main brake calipers where they are, accessing the pad retaining plate bolts against the hull side, particularly on the side by the gearbox oil filter was nearly impossible. Good job the plate is slotted on that side. Nevertheless, all proceeded worryingly smoothly, all clear sign that disaster lies ahead. Buoyed up by the success of brake pad fitting, I decided to slightly adjust the height of the rear of the gearbox, as after I had replaced the box some weeks ago the fan drive belt had been running close to the end of the fan pulley & nearly riding against the retaining plate. So loosened off the 4 clamp bolts, undid the rear bolt & removed a smidgen of packing. Retightened everything. Simple. Fired up the Samson to drive it back into the shed & heard a slight whistling noise that wasn't there before. Lifted the decks for a quick check that all was well. Oh dear, adjusted the gearbox packing the wrong way, belt position was worse than before. Fire up Samson again to drive it out of the shed & there was a Big Bang followed by a whooshing noise. On investigation, the belt had forced off the retaining plate on the front of the fan pulley & this had managed to sever one of the radiator pipes resulting in water p--ssing everywhere. 10 minute job now became a 3 hour job as I had to drill out & retap the 6 screws that normally hold the plate onto the pulley & source a bit of 1 3/4 hose to replace the bust, bit. Refill cooling system, & adjust gearbox by INCREASING the packing under the back mounting point. & hey presto were back to where we started. Character building I think they call it. I love this hobby.

so why the modifications? Are they an improvement over the original tracks? I guess I am also wondering if in the future any of this type of track became available would you be able to retro fit it onto older spec CVRTs? Would you have to also fit the matching drive sprockets as well? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I was at Whithams yesterday looking at some of the cvrts there. The track pads are of a different (chevron) pattern to the angled block pattern on my Samson & other cvrts I have seen. Why is this? Are they interchangeable?

All is now clear, thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD