Chris Hall Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Well, I've been toying for a while with the idea of buying a Half Track to restore so I've a number of questions to ask before I even think of buying one. Where is a good place to keep an eye open for one? I've been watching milweb. What sort of price would a restoration project be? original armour present wouldn't concern me to much. What's the spares situation? There appear to be plenty of repro armour suppliers around but what about the engine/transmission components. I believe these were off the shelf parts back in the day but what about now? I'm not in a rush so any advice is welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpacaandy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 First where are you? Ebay usa usually has a few project to running halftracks ( i assume your talking US not german) Resto is always expensive, and the bigger the part the more to ship. Im almost done mine, 3 years later and probably a new corvette could be sitting in my driveway instead of the halftrack, but hey what will a vette do for me when the zombie Apocalypse comes also goto halftrackinfo.com its is a site specific for halftracks. I recommend buy as complete as possible as alot of stuff is still avail in nos and reproduction, but it will nickle and dime you to death (been there) Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Spare tracks used to be expensive, don't think they are cheaper now. Also wonder how easy/difficult it is to find new tracks these days. Zombie apocalypse? No no no, the real danger is the Fluffy Ducklings attack....they don't fool me with their "cute" appearence..:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 When I looked at them in 2007 before buying the OT I was told the price was £1,500 for a set of tracks - which lasted 1,500 miles....... I suspect the cost is much higher now...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpacaandy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Yes tracks in north america have dried up. They use to be 1250 usd each about 3 years ago but supply is gone. I have seen them at 5g each now. Europe may be different. There is an Israeli who has the molds to make them. He wants around 3500 each i believe and needs a min order. The mold is forsale too he says, 100g usd. There are a few individuals looking into having them made from scratch, long and slow process. Tracks are the hardest to find at this point, who knows into the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoranWC51 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 A number of people apparently bought several sets and put some aside for the future while prices were low. There must be new tracks available out there, but my guess is that the owners of these tracks hold on to them waiting for prices to go up even more. I know of a company in Argentina that manufactures tracks for the half tracks. There's still some in use by the Argentinian army, and some other South American countries. Venezuela used a good number of WW2 US Half tracks up until former president Chavez decided to replace all US made equipment with Soviet/Russia block equipment, tanks, APC's, helicopters, etc. etc. Someone in the US has tried contacting the Argentinian manufacturer to set up a purchase deal, but failed, for reasons unknown. A Chinese company manufactures new M48 Chevron tracks for Shermans, these are sold in Europe by Staman Trading in Holland. Price for a pair is 26.000€ (check for price quote, price might be out of date): http://www.staman.nl/index.php?item=armoured-vehicle-parts&action=page&group_id=14&lang=EN I think there's a growing interest for replacement tracks not only for half tracks but also for a good number of Studebaker M29 Weasel's. There's an all rubber replacement track for the M29 for sale but is, in my humble opinion, ugly as s**t. Then there's the considerable number of M3 Stuarts that have come out of Brazil in the last few years, thanks to Mike Stalwood, that eventually will need new tracks. Three more M3's ex Brazil appeared in Europe not too long ago. So that's 20+ M3's. Goran N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick007 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 A well running one sold in Auburn California last week for $46000 US. It was nice but no accessories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happydayz123 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Hi, i bought an M16 HT 4 years ago to restore (now fully restored) lets just say, I could have bought a fully restored one, for less money. Tracks are £3,500 if u can find them !! A lot of the original internal/external parts are getting very hard to find now. Both the dash clocks, are now hard to find in good original condition. The speedo alone now fetches £450-500 Bottom line depends on how original you want it to be !!!! regards stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfire Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Hi, i bought an M16 HT 4 years ago to restore (now fully restored) lets just say, I could have bought a fully restored one, for less money. Tracks are £3,500 if u can find them !! A lot of the original internal/external parts are getting very hard to find now. Both the dash clocks, are now hard to find in good original condition. The speedo alone now fetches £450-500 Bottom line depends on how original you want it to be !!!! regards stuart Do you have any manuals for the gun equipment? We have one in our museum that needs a little TLC. Cheers, Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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