Rick007

Nice video There was one at the Littlefield auction in Calif. I bid on it but decided I would like a CVRt more. It looks like a mad scientists room inside with all the lights and gauges. I understand they were made at FMC in Santa Clara Calif. and are powered by a Detroit diesel engine. based on a M113 Chassis.The one at Littlefield went to Idaho Motor Pool in Idaho. I think its one of the coolest tracked vehicles out there. Your very own SAM system. life just doesn't get much better than that.

Update. Today we lowered the idle to 750. Wow what a difference. The F/R selector goes in and out with no grinding or noise whatsoever. The brake pedal takes a bit of getting used to after driving the Abbot. Nearly took out the wife's car. Thank you all for your replies. You guys are spot on:-D. Now its only normal noises.not including the voices I hear :wow:

Thanks for sharing Paul. Ill have you know you have cost me a lot of my wife's retirement. First it was the Abbot you restored and that's what I first saw when looking for one.So I had to get one knowing what it could look like. Then you restored a Striker which was real nice. I looked at the one at the Littlefield auction but passed on it. However I met some folks who had a Scorpion so I picked it up and its in real good shape. Thanks for all the postings on You Tube. It keeps the interest alive Cheers Rick

Thanks for the input. I will lower idle to 750. I have started it in F or R each time because of grinding. What I didn't know is that you have to smartly move shifter. I was shifting from F to R too slowly. I will try it again today Thanks Rick

Welcome. I live in California as well. very far north inland from Eureka on hwy 299. The wheeled versions of armor are the easiest to move around. I have a Scorpion CVRt and a Abbot. I move them with Equipment trailers. needs Class A licenses. if you get a ferret or halftrack. you can pull them around on a car trailer with a big enough pickup. Good Luck

Thought I might share whats on the headboard of our tow trucks. It applies to anyone who is a veteran of the free world.

The Scorpion I purchased arrived in Redding California on Thursday last week. I drove over with our equipment trailer to pickup.After getting it home we unloaded it the next day. It runs great. The only thing I have a concern about is putting it in forward and reverse. It wants to grind. It idles at 800 rpm. I am uncomfortable with grinding noises so I turn it off and restart after selecting F or R. This will eventually prematurely wear out the starter. Any suggestions. I'm going to try and post a photo.[ATTACH=CONFIG]95327[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]95328[/ATTACH] Well the photos posted. I will take that as a small victory It is very complete and not any rust. All the optics are present and work except the day vision site. It must have a electronically operated shutter. Ive ordered all the books I can on the Scorpion. The books will hopefully tell me what all the CES items I have and hoe to operate the systems. Its first appearance is at a veterans fundraiser this coming Thursday.

The Scorpion I purchased arrived in Redding California on Thursday last week. I drove over with our equipment trailer to pickup.After getting it home we unloaded it the next day. It runs great. The only thing I have a concern about is putting it in forward and reverse. It wants to grind. It idles at 800 rpm. I am uncomfortable with grinding noises so I turn it off and restart after selecting F or R. This will eventually prematurely wear out the starter. Any suggestions. I'm going to try and post a photo. Well the photos posted. I will take that as a small victory It is very complete and not any rust. All the optics are present and work except the day vision site. It must have a electronically operated shutter. Ive ordered all the books I can on the Scorpion. The books will hopefully tell me what all the CES items I have and hoe to operate the systems. Its first appearance is at a veterans fundraiser this coming Thursday.

I just wanted to thank everyone for your valued opinions. The money has been spent. (The wife knows LOL.) Should the Tank gods be kind it will arrive here with no damage in 2 weeks. I look forward to posting some picks when it arrives.

Hi Robin. yes its me. Very good to talk to you the other day. I pulled the trigger and bought a Scorpion. It will keep my Abbot company. The fellow selling it was concerned about the noise before I bought it and sent me the video.That was nice or I would have felt that I bought a pile of bolts rattling in a can. The members of this site are very helpful and you sure don't feel alone. I hope to have it within 2 weeks. I will post pictures.

Here is the dreaded noise video. Can everybody see. I mean hear the noise ? LOL

I hope to get that video with the noise today. He also just told me.It only does it after you run it through a few gears and return to neutral. It still drives fine. Hes going to clean the tranny filter. Just a little more info before I can get the video.Thanks Rick

I'm looking at a Scorpion over here in the states. The fellow I am going to purchase it from called me last night after checking it out and told me that when it is idling in neutral there is a howl/vibration coming from the gearbox area.He says it drives fine but sounds kinda bad. Any thoughts? I saw gearboxes maybe a little hard to get and haven't seen a cost of them at all. Thanks for any info.Rick

A well running one sold in Auburn California last week for $46000 US. It was nice but no accessories.

You are right.We can be 102" wide without a permit.The M747 is 137" wide. What was I thinking. Without the permits and a lot of hassle I probably couldn't use it .California is the land of fruits and nuts. I'm glad I found this forum. It helps to keep me on track. I Get excited and lose my brains trying to make the complete package. So I have a extra 5th wheel plate. I will put one on between the rear 2 axles of the HET. This way I can pull the Abbot with the trailer I currently use. Thanks for pointing that out!!. I'm in the Towing and Recovery business in a very rural area. We travel to Oregon occasionally and have to get permits to enter. I think Interstate trucking is more like going to 50 different countries than States.With the "Show me your papers" at every port of entry. Thanks Again Cheers Rick.

Andy is that new upholstery fabric? It looks terrific. I will have to look around the parts that were inside when it was brought over. That panel might be around.They cut the breech with a gas axe. we are going to fab stuff up to make it look right. the loader arms were cut off as well. We can put that back together as well. The interior of the turret is in bad shape. But as my good friend in Doncaster said when he looked at it for me."Its A wonderful piece of kit" Cheers Rick

Thanks for the reply. Andy has been a great help. I should have a pump in no time to get this thing back on the road. The pump seems to be so simple in concept but its above me to take it apart. Ive owned every model of the P6 Rover and I know what over engineering is LOL. Cheers Rick

Thanks for the info on the M747 trailers. I'm going to call over there tomorrow to see the condition and price. Believe it or not it was easier to get the Abbot in the states than it is to fill out the ECU for being a citizen to get the HET off the base. I'm sure we will meet up and I'm looking forward to it. I live in Willow Creek Ca. 95573. I will stay in touch. I also have a Hagglunds BV206,M923A2 cargo truck, a couple M932A2 truck tractors, and a H1 military Hummer. I don't know maybe I fell off a truck and hit my head but I cant get enough of these type of vehicles .It seems you have quite a few as well. Thanks and Cheers Rick

John I plan to be there. My travel distance is quite closer only 5 driving hours. I have an Abbot SPG I imported last year from the UK. look forward to seeing whats there and what condition its in. I just purchased a M1070 HET to pull the Abbot around with. I'm now looking for a M747 trailer to put it on. The Abbot at the auction looks better than the one I have. I wouldn't mind picking it up to use in parades and veterans events. It is great to take to schools and let the kids get inside. Actually at most auctions there's crazy people or auction fever that drives up the price. Oh wait a minute, I said Crazy people. We might fit into That group. :-D. Cheers Rick. Frankly Id Like to come home with all the British stuff but I haven't won the Lottery yet!!!!

Andy, Update on fuel pump. Pulled the fuel tank yesterday. It was quicker the second time around! I hope I don't have to do it again. I pulled the nose off the pump to find it is a simple vane type pump. The vanes look good and there isn't any scoring in the elliptical outer ring. Just a note the outer ring had the word Delphi on it. In the states Delphi is a GM company. Does it mean anything to you? So I removed the 3 allenhead screws that hold on electrical cover. To my dismay It was quite gunky dirty inside and even some water came out.I put the cover back on without going further. I dont understand why the pump sound like an old Lucas petrol pump the way it rattles. Its hard to describe except it sounds like a petrol pump on my Morris when I turn the key on before it comes to pressure. The Abbot fuel pump I believe should be quiet because its a electric motor turning a vane pump. Does an Abbott pump usually make noise? I emailed Carwood no response. I looked High and Low for a Lucas /CAV rep in the states No Luck. Would you or someone you know have a core I could buy. Marcus Green Has a pump For 295.00 UK. Dont know if thats the going rate. However They want my pump first before they send out a pump. I will be also looking for replacement track pads in the future. Thanks Again for your help I will send pictures of the beast next go around. Cheers Rick

Andy ,Great idea. I will contact them today. I will let you know of the results. I am missing the whole plate. Lots of info on those plates. Thanks Rick

Hi Andy. I looked for the number The only plate above the gearshift is how fast it will travel. The panel above that is missing. I can see into engine pack.I was going to just make a plate to cover that. Today the only thing we did was pump out the fuel from the tank. I will then take the pump off after pulling the fuel tank. I am looking for info on the Lucas/Cav pump for a rebuild kit. I would imagine if I had a civilian type part number it would be easier. It reminds me of a 68 Bentley I had some years back. the smog pump wasn't hooked up and the pump was seized. I called British Motors in San Fran. Pump was 1500.00 and anti back fire valves were 90 bucks each. It dawned on me that California was the only sate requiring the rubbish. traced valves back to a Ford mustang at 10 dollars each and the smog pump was 250 dollars. If anyone knows the magic rebuild kit part number please come forth with it. Thanks and Cheers

Yes we changed out the remote filter cartridge. We measured the one that was in there and found a suitable US replacement. Tell me where to find the army registration number and I will give it to you. Then I may learn a little more about it. Thanks. Do you have a supplier in mind I can get a reconditioned unit from? Just a note. I imported this Abbot last year. I purchased it from Duncan Nelson at tanks for sale in the UK. I have a good friend that owns Paragon Towing in Doncaster. he went over and checked it out. The experience was a good one and after doing it once I feel like a veteran importer.:-). Just before I purchased it Duncan had hired it out to Top Gear for a show.All he could send me was a phone pic of Richard Hammond standing next to it. As I recall it was sitting on top of a police car. I never could find the episode. It probably hit the cutting room floor. Thanks for the response Rick

I have an Abbot over here in the states.Last year we used it in a lot of parades and veterans events. I had no problems at all. This year we are driving it on a large piece of property where I can get full throttle and speed.(You know at speed it feels like 50 MPH). We made a great track with ups and downs Oh! what fun. However the unit started starving for fuel. The pump got very loud. We emptied the fuel tank Yuck !!!. We found a muddy mess that you could stir with a stick. We pulled the fuel tank and cleaned. We took the pump out and the mesh filter was so clogged that it would hardly sink in a 5 gallon bucket of gas. We cleaned with a toothbrush. We didn't take the pump apart because we tested it remotely and it pumped rather well. WE put everything back together and it roared back to life. We were all High fives and smiles our arms reached our backs to pat them. We ran it and it ran good. We did the ups and downs and it started to starve agian (pump gets loud and runs out of fuel). we thought not enough fuel so we filled it up. Still didnt solve the problem. Do I have a bad pump? Is there a rebuild kit? is there a new pump or do you use a aftermarket pump? Help Parade season is fast approaching. Thanks Rick

I also have a 5 ton M925A2 cargo truck and a couple of 5 ton truck tractors.I also have a Hagglunds BV206. I dont think that this sickness is curable. Im trying to get a M1070 HET to tow the Abbot! Wont that be a site to see. Everyone will wonder where the war is. lol.