teletech

Well, today I decided to experiment with strippers. Methods of hull prep that is. I decided to see what worked best for me so prepped one square foot of hull with each method, I have more to do but here are the initial results: Needle scaler: it's a cheap one I just bought to see if it really was worth the money of a good one. For me, nope. It was loud, threw big chips but took many passes to get all the surface and the surface is a little rougher than I would like. I saw a suggestion that pointed needles were better so I sharpened mine, when I turned down the air pressure somewhat it produced a nicer surface and was less punishing. The needle gun takes off pretty big pieces so they don't stay in the air long but throws them a long way. This is a tool that using it feels like work. It does the best job on the welds (yep, the right tool for the job) and nooks and crannies. I don't really like the way it pounds steel and other contaminants into my Al hull but I think it would be a good choice for steel hulls with lots of layers and some rust. You will NEED eye and ear protection, respiratory and vibratory protection should be worn 1'x1' = 12:47 Crud thug: This is a tool I bought from my Snap-on dealer many years ago to remove bondo and undercoat from a frogeye I was rebuilding. It did those jobs well but I really didn't do anything with it afterwards. In some ways it's like a needle scaler but without many of the bad parts. It is pretty quiet, uses less air than the needle gun, and has almost no vibration. This tool wants a little more finesse. You can somewhat selectively strip layers. If you start bearing down it's time to sharpen your belt lest you bend your needles so just a very light pressure is needed. Sharpening the belt takes about 10 seconds on a grinder with a wide, fine stone. I sharpened it twice for the first pass and again for the second pass and did include that time. I feel like it would get boring but I could use this tool all day with no ill effects. Paint removal goes a little more quickly if you do two passes at right angles. The paint chips are smaller and lower velocity so they go almost everywhere and settle pretty quickly. Surface finish is fine, it does welds almost as well as a needle gun but can't get into corners as well. The frequent sharpening might be a liability for working on steel hulls with rust. Note that the belt I had on this tool is a well-used leftover from years ago and a new belt might be quicker. You NEED respiratory protection, you should wear eye protection, hearing protection would be smart but I doubt you will do much damage doing one hull. 1'x1' = 8:35 first pass, 12:15 two passes. I did the second pass to compare more evenly with the needle scaler, I think I would have primed it after the first pass. Pneumatic orbital sander: This is an old Dynabrade from my furniture-making days and a well-used example at that. I used a few 80-grit discs, the adhesive was so old they tended to fly off. I suspect the time I spent changing discs was offset by having sharp paper. It had more vibration than the Crud Thug but not too bad, I wouldn't want to run it more than 2-3 hours at a stretch. Useless in corners and not great in tight spaces but it makes flat parts flatter. It provides a nice paintable surface in most cases though 60-grit would have been faster and a better choice. The dust is in fine particles so stays in the air longer but it doesn't go everywhere, an air filter would keep your shop pretty clean. Here again, going down to the metal on a steel hull will wear out you paper very quickly. It has a running cost, quality paper would cost me about $220 for a hull so that could be a consideration. You NEED respiratory protection, you should wear eye protection and hearing protection would be smart but I doubt you will do much damage doing one hull. 1'x1' = 6:27 Like the crud thug, I would need a second pass to get it as clean as the needle scaler. Of course I should mention that a good hot-water pressure wash and then some time going over the loose stuff with a chisel will speed the process greatly for some processes and make no difference at all for others. Remember, this paint has all sorts of nasty stuff in it so clean up your work area and yourself well. No point having fun toys if your health packs up.

The ones I found beat any ebay price since I'm in the US. Luckily I bought a few sets of the brake pads (which are cheap) and have a good set of spare brake bands.

The specialist houses seem to want £44 to over £100, add the shipping cost since I'm in the US and it's an item. Since the calipers are the same as an E-type I looked around and found a part number for E-type pads. I found some pads but I guess since they are Jag parts, shops still wanted some money for them. Taking that girling part number and doing a direct search for it turned up a Volvo application. I found some at classicgarage.com for $13US/set (item GI-GP83) that fit nicely and look identical to the ones that came out (well, apart from the rust and cruud). I suppose it is vaguely possible the compound on the CVR(T) pads is some special compound but I doubt it very much. Any reason I shouldn't use them? thanks,

Actually, for me one of the best moments of the show was AFTER the deluge. Al had a discussion with the show staff and decided to put on a little show for the hardcore fans who were still around, so the three turreted CVR(T) went for a quick romp around the field and made a noisy attack. I gather he got some heat for kicking up some turf on the field but it looked GREAT to see these machines with some throttle!

I'm not sure how many vehicles were owned by the public and how many came from the museum. I counted about 30 sitting out but the museum has many, many more. I'm ashamed to say I didn't have time to get through the museum's collection but looking over the fence it looked like acres of olive drab. I think there were eight CVR(T), a ferret or two, and many M113 variants, as well as some little stuff (rovers, HMMVW,schwimmwagen) and big stuff with a few MBTs moving around. http://www.ontrmuseum.ca/OMVAevent.htm

Interesting, on further inspection it turns out there actually IS a drain coming off just above the fuel cap and exiting on the rear hull, so if it weren't plugged up it would have drained properly. Something to check on next time one is doing PM would be to blow that passage out!

Here is my entry into the nastiest J-60 competition: and remember, this motor was IN the vehicle, not in a field someplace! I finally got my turret basket out, of course all the bearings were solid lumps. One good pressure-washer later (HOT water helps, I had the thermostat dialed above boiling) I did find what I assume to be the driver's name. Not sure if it''s Belle or B.Elle though.

My pleasure, thanks for welcoming Californian into your midst. We are lucky with no snow but in another few years I'm afraid I'm going to have to ship water to my house!

Well, most of what you need for a restoration is willpower which is luckily not subject to shipping. Much of what I'm likely to need is small parts at this point and some bits I'll just have to fabricate if I can't get it any other way. The fellows who are working on things from WW1 or the more obscure vehicles from WWII and such have my admiration, at least I'm not spending days or weeks repairing range damage. Of course, in those cases you can really see the progress. I'm past the removing big chunks and feeling like I'm really making progress phase and down in to the part where it's just about endurance. I spent a solid day stripping the old engine down to just a long block. I started dressing the new motor and had to set it aside for a while, I suspect when the hull is cleaned and things start going back in I'll be more excited but it somehow seems premature to fuss over a distributor while my turret is dangling in the air. There are a huge number of hours between a mostly stripped interior and a completely stripped one. Water, time, and a little battery acid for seasoning makes every nut and bolt a fairly thankless challenge down in the turret basket area. I will say I'm looking forward to less of the "old tank smell" around the shop. A lot like the bilge of an old wooden boat: take the dirt from a few continents, spill a bunch of old gas onto it, add some lubricating oil and a dash of sweat, next get plenty of rainwater in so things can rot or rust as their nature dictates. Close up the hatches and wait. I'm looking forward to more of a new tank smell, that would make a fun air freshener come to think of it. Something to hang from the rearview... A sweet story though, just as they arrived one of the artists caught a whiff and told me I had instantly transported her back to her childhood. Apparently her father had rented tanks to Hollywood cake when she was a little girl and that particular smell triggered those memories quite strongly! I was amused to find just how much lighter this has gotten, a friend was helping me link the track back up after the new final drives went on so I could move it outside for washing and we accidentally moved the vehicle!

I'm just getting started on paint removal myself. I bought a needle scaler and wasn't impressed, it was great in the corners and on the welds but for flat areas it was slow and didn't remove material very reliably. Perhaps a bigger gun and using it on steel will be better. I'm going to buy a few gallons of aircraft remover and see if that works better for me.

Ah, the BAE document wan't much help really but looking up Plasan armor was very interesting. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7811567.stm In case I want to replicate the look, just how big are those holes and how thick is the plate?

Yep, cute but I would have gone farther in reverse. :-) I did find myself worrying about trigger control on those toy guns but I expect that's a function of starting to take my older boy to the range. cheers.

Thanks Chris, my mistake. I'm sure the reg # is correct but I must have gotten the photo of the hull tag mixed up with another vehicle since he had six total I was documenting and they are in very rough shape. It was more a question pondering if if would be better to restore it to it's original configuration or leave it a Sabre.

Of course we are all awaiting pictures.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/young-drivers-car-crushed-british-tank-augustdorf-germany-n368211 Glad it wasn't worse, luckily her car was a crumple zone!

I fellow I know has a Sabre (02 FD 92, hull tag SPA673 I think) he thinks was a Scorpion in the Falklands. Am I correct in assuming if this is verified it would be more valuable restored to a Scorpion? We are in the states so getting to Bovington is a challenge.

I was planning on putting a 4.2 back in but it really gave pause thinking about all the potential failure points. It actually seemed like decreasing the displacement might have been a better way to do the de-tune as some thicker cylinder walls would have helped things but I suppose Jag would have had to make some investment for that to happen. If one wanted to spend a lot of time and some money one *could* build one that had a reasonable expectation of a long life but it would take some doing: mid-80s crank with polished gallery bores and chamfered holes , late block (carefully magnifluxed), new pistons, flow the head, balance everything, add the groove in the crank journal bearing, carefully selected thermostat (what a thing to have to worry about)... what have I missed? I guess it's a reminder to change oil frequently and verify your rust inhibitant in your coolant. I have used water-wetter in the past in some road-going vehicles and it seems to help. And of course to have a recovery plan!

I found the following article very interesting in considering the 4.2 engine. It would seem that the latest block and crank should be used and rebuilt carefully if one must run a petrol motor. Careful consideration of bearings might help with the oil starvation that seems to cause so many thrashed blocks. http://www.jagweb.com/aj6eng/xk-engine/index.php

I actually did buy some manuals that just didn't make it into the container so they are on the way but it might be a while. For the finals a floor jack and shaped block of wood worked great but it would be cool to have the "right" tool. Thanks for the tip, good to know how folks have solved some of these issues though balky hydraulics seem to be something I meet often, the clutch cylinder on an MG Midget or Saab 99 are both notorious. When a pneumatic suction bleeder won't work I resort to a pressure pot I've made.

It doesn't surprise me at all but I don't think I've ever seen one in restoration photos. I'd be grateful for a picture of said tool, perhaps it's something worth fabricating.

Clutch teardown. I hope yours looks better than what I got, rusty and nasty throughout. It took quite a while to disassemble because everything was well seized with rust. I got it apart but not without some sacrifice and the substance that is supposed to be oil is very muddy and watery indeed. This is a good place to mention that before I started I painted my shop floor where I would be working on the Scorpion and it has been extremely nice to be able to clean up spills of mucky oil with just a shop vacuum and a rag with a touch of cleaner. So much better than unsealed concrete which just looks a mess as things soak into it. I should have done the whole shop but ran out of time. Interesting to note the shoe screws, some odd little bolts. I used a 5/16" socket but it required a bit of pounding on for a very snug fit. I tried 8 and 9MM to no avail and even broke out a 3/16BS. Also worth noting is that the pistons are tapered so pound-out more easily going outside to the centre. I need to find some parts so if you know of some that aren't too dear I'd be very interested in hearing about it. I really need another complete clutch but that's another story. Half of the pads, almost all of the little lock-tabs for the bolts holding the friction material, along with a few of the screws, and one circlip broke. I'll need a pair of garter springs and couple replacement seals as well. I think all the bearings will clean up the rest of the way but I'm worried about the rust inside of the drum, I'll boil it out and see what's left. Some further cleaning to do but I think that will have to wait a day or two while I lift my turret a bit higher so the elevation gearbox will clear.

A couple pictures regarding the steering caliper removal. Save your bolt extractors, just drill much of the cap screw out and get under the other side with a prybar then lift. snapped off what was left nicely. The bit left in the gearbox just came right out with pliers, the bit in the caliper was pressed out easily enough.

It will be interesting to see how these hold up, I have three where the rubber is obviously falling off the wheel where the adhesive failed but the rest seem solid so far in just moving it around. I actually think the adhesive failure was due to moisture getting in and attacking the aluminum. Assuming the month/year are the numbers sunk in the little round embosses then the bulk of mine are from 91 with a few from 77. I have a set of take-offs from 10 so fingers crossed that I'm good for a while. I pulled the exhaust manifold on 6BT I got in the parts donor Sturgeon and as I feared the rust was quite noticeable so I pulled the head. It's not nearly as bad as the Jag motor but it's still fairly nasty in there, new rings and pistons after a re-bore and it should be just fine. Sad state for an engine with five hundred hours and change. If I were going to store a CVR(T) for any duration in less than ideal conditions I'd make very sure the hull drain was open and clear and disconnect my exhaust system and cap it off.

I'd roll it straight and in gentle turns all day long but I was worried about peeling the rubber off the roadwheels on the ends when I do what amounts to a zero point turn. I could take about four links in my carry-on after Aquino but after that getting it home would be expensive. :-) Thanks, I've got a spare set of what I'd call fair track on hand.

One problem I noticed on disassembly is that the rear outside motor mount rotted away from the hull. Most of my floor pan seems to be in good shape so I'm not sure why just this one spot has such bad corrosion. I wiped the water away only to have a puddle reappear a short while later so there is some trapped water either in the flaking oxide or the torsion tunnel that I'm going to have to deal with. I suppose I'll have to grind it out and break out the TIG, but part of me wonders if it wouldn't be stronger to just run a bolt through the hull and be done. In any case, back at it tomorrow! I have to fit up the new final drives and re-link the track so I can drag it outside (there is a turn involved) to pressure-wash the vehicle at which point I should destroy fewer clothes while working on what's left.