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Andrew Rowe

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Posts posted by Andrew Rowe

  1. Funny reading your thread "Grease Monkey" , about Dodge brakes, as we have just finished sorting the brakes with pretty similar circumstances. One thing you talk about with the master cylinder is that you should only have the piston and it comes to rest on the washer and circlip, no rubber "buffer" as you were eluding to. It has to return fully and what is said about brake fluid expanding is correct, that is why you need that free play, and the piston returning fully. I would have thought mine is set at about 2" , 3 to 4 inches sounds a bit excessive. The reason for this is that our pedal setup, we have moved closer to the floor to make it more easier to transition from the accelerator pedal to the brake. The brake pedal stops 4" from the floor, and feels a nice action. And yes we have taken about 4 test runs to readjust the brakes, mainly only the rear ones, the front seem way more true and perfect than our back ones and every drum was machined with new linnings. One thing we did note is that we seemed to get a different reading regarding the clearance of the shoe to the drum after you had put the wheel back on and tightened the wheel nuts. If I had my time over again with machining drums, I would make sure you use the hub that it attaches to on the vehicle for setting up in the Lathe and also bolt at least a 10mm plate on the outside where the wheel rim normally goes and do up the wheel nuts on this plate. The drums seem to have" flex" in them and you are dealing with Thous of inches when machining. You may notice on the drum face where the rim bolts on the is about a 5mm or so doubling plate , look across this face where the studs stick out, check for any distortion on this surface as well. Another little problem we had was a wheel was not releasing properly when the brake was applied. The problem was one of the piston was a little rough in the bore and was not going in and out in a smooth action. All my cylinders were stainless sleeved. Just another Dodge owners perspective on brakes, Cheers Andrew.

  2. Best way to get final drive off in the field is put a small bottle jack or porta-power ram on top of the final drive under the side skirt and push down gently and "crack" the final drive off the hull so it falls on your foot!

    Handy hint , check the snugness of the roll pins that hold the brake discs on , I think from memory there are about 6. These can often be cracked and have worked the holes loose, quite often you cannot see this unless you strip the final drive unit off and it is sitting on the floor for inspection, Cheers Andrew.

  3. I am looking for a couple of hundred 1/2" BSF nuts in the "old spec". These measure about 53/64th across the flat x 29/64th thick, they are flat on one side and a slight chamfer on the edge of the other side. I know there are plenty of Chinese copies out there , but I want this style for a special purpose. If you anyone can advise me, send me a PM, Thanks Andrew.

  4. I have a Dodge WC 56 Command Car and want to put the right US registration number on it.

    It has chassis no. 81570279 , so I think it was made around Sept. 1942? and it looks like there was something like 14 thousand made, so does somebody have a " best Guess" number that would be in the ball park, Thanks Andrew.

  5. I have a 6pdr Mk2 gun with L43 barrel available. Fairly complete just missing a couple of parts like the emergency sight. Gun and action are uncut, so appropriate licence would be required. Has firing mech. with it. Contact me for further discussions if you would like to make an offer on this piece, Cheers Andrew.

  6. Adding a few more of the last little trinkets to the stowage.... first we have period dated pick head , shovel and crowbar. Next is the 2" smoke bomb rack that's mount to the R/H side of the interior of the Turret. Last up we have the extra 2pdr stowage rack that is situated under the Commanders seat, this rack just clips to the internal sheet metal ring work. Cheers from The Tank Factory.

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  7. I have a 155-2B CAV regulator , 42amps at 12 volt. Does anyone know what sort of vehicle this belongs to? I believe it is WW2 era , it has a tag on it that says it replaces 37S-5X and 37S-4XT. Dingo ? Truck ? Was there ever a book put out by CAV that listed model numbers and their applications? Any help would be useful , Cheers Andrew.

  8. I concur with Adrian, there were 300 built in that contract by English Electric, as being I , III , IV marks which included 28 bridge layers out of that 300. The BL's were based on a MKI or Mk IV chassis , built without turrets for this purpose rather than converted gun tanks. Total production figures are something like 1771, being 500 MkI (20 B/L ), 680 MkIII , 585 MkIV ( 60 B/L ) Cheers Andrew.

  9. The Tank has entered the "Turret Receiving Bay" at the Tank Factory. First pic shows the "Hole" where the Tank will receive its' new rebuilt / refurbished basket and Turret. Then arriving overhead we have the whole ensemble , a good 3 tonnes.

    Slowly she enters the "hole" for her final resting place....touchdown! The tolerances are all so typical everywhere on the Val, being there is only 1/2'' clearance against any fittings that are already there. It pays to have the whole setup sitting pretty level off the crane . I will let the pictures do the talking.;) Cheers from The Tank Factory.

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  10. The basket is now mated to the Turret, will show some better pics in a few days. These pics show the electrical hand controller that has been taken from our test bed and bolted to it's 2 x angle brackets in the basket, and wired in . It will be very interesting to see how fast it will turn the Turret electrically . The basket has also received it's new wiring. The 19 set will be running on 12 volts. There are versions of the 19 that can run on either 12 volt or 24 volt, there is a switch inside the power supply unit that has to be physically set to the right voltage. The last pic shows the loaders seat, which bolts to the floor of the basket on the R/H side. Cheers from The Tank Factory.

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  11. Yes, it sticks on when you push the button, engine starts , but does not release. On inspection you can see where the points have "arced"

    I take on board about the cleaning of the points. I actually swapped the points from the NBC one next to it, as everything appears the same, and were in better condition . Is there suppose to be a correct gap setting between the points?. Have not retested yet at the moment, Cheers Andrew.

  12. How common is the problem of the starter relay sticking on when you start? I see the manual says, if it happens, give the distribution box a bang with your hand , to unstick it. Is this relay a common part to other vehicles of the era and readily available? Also I am trying to find some of these spring leaves for the Breech block off the Scorp, has anyone seen these as a spare part ?, Thanks Andrew.

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  13. The assembly commences. After all the components have been found / made / reformed / test fitted and blasted and painted 4 times, we are at the exciting stage of fitting together for the final time. It felt like we have used up about 300 x 5/16" machine screws and bolts in various lengths to complete this integral unit. The hub with the conduit , was important to set that up first, and then the floor plates , and then this unit bolted to the lower shell rack ring , with the 6 angle gussets, then the 2 x halves of the inner sheet metal ring , the 4 vertical droppers and the other internal fittings. Some fittings use the same bolt hole for several applications so the order of doing up bolts is fairly crucial .This week should see the whole complete Basket and Turret come together and lowered into the "Hole". The main Tank is on standby to receive it, as everything is wired up and waiting patently...... a process that can not be rushed, as once the basket is in , there is little room to move for bolting any fittings. Cheers from The Tank Factory.;)

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  14. But wait there's more! , here we have the upper 2pdr shell rack holders , the conduit assemblies for the basket, lower angle supports , BESA empty case catch basket , inner sheet metal ring for the floor , the "wagon wheel" support frame underneath the floor, and last the main lower shell rack holder that the 4 vertical droppers will attach to. Cheers from The Tank Factory.

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  15. The "Mother of all Baskets" , this latest series of pictures shows the story with regards to the Turret basket.... room for 3 guys!. First we have the inner hub , then comes the floor plates, and the four droppers from the main Turret ring that attaches to the bottom of the basket. The one with the checkouts goes by the traversing unit. The diameter is about 1270mm. Cheers from the Tank Factory.

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