International M5 "Berlin Blitzer"

[mash]

Well this has been a while since I was last here, funny how life takes over eh, all toys still accounted for and I've added a few since I last posted on here. 

So a little over a year ago now, I purchased a "good" runner with no major issues, this was unfortunately done blind due to work commitments and locations. Collection of the vehicle seemed nice and easy as it was dropped off at the port and all I had to do was drive it on the ferry then a short run home, or not as the case maybe. 

Refusal to board the ship was given due to the rough running engine (over-fuelling due to a non regulated electric pump) and 3 bent push rods caused by sticking valves, some good old initiative/bodgery took place over the next 24 hours before finally being allowed on the boat. 

Once back home it was apparent how much work was needed and I soon ended up with the front end stripped down, head off and a huge parts list growing by the day, moving on to the rear end I was a little short of a gas axe to free it up and get it down to its component parts ready for overhaul. 

I will try and add pictures and descriptions in a chronological order (as best I can) to talk you through the process of getting her back up and running, I'm by no means finished and still have away to go until the next event she's booked on. 

 

Initial pictures showed her in a good light and information given all seemed above board, a deal was struck and I became the owner of an M5 😁

The vehicle was dropped off at Poole docks on the 11th of June and what was meant to be a simple drive on to the boat was far from that, as I've said the rough running and occasional backfire (think ports staff assuming a bomb scare as it backfired in the search shed🤣) so REME expedient repair skills came into play as my old boss and myself set about doing all we could to get this running enough to make it onto the boat (much to the annoyance of our better half's who got to spend the day on Poole docks), we were having great fun. At this time we were assuming the rough running was down to the electric fuel pump over powering the carbs floats (one of which was leaking), a simple override switch was produced allowing manual cut off to the pump whilst retaining the ignition system. This successfully got us on the boat, however a severe lack of power was noticed when driving so a recovery vehicle was used to get from the docks to its new resting place. 

A hunt for parts ensued and were dually ordered, a carb rebuild kit, new floats and a regulator for the fuel pump were all on route so I moved onto the cosmetics ready for the "little" jobs I believed I had (those rose tinted glasses really are strong). 

Obviously being both British and ex REME and having a vehicle the REME used both during and after the war, there was only one way this vehicle was going to end up. With a lovely coat of BS298 being applied I awaited the arrival of my spares. the rebuild of the carb and fitting of a regulator I optimistically hoped would solve the issues, (there's those rose tinted glasses again), she ran a lot better but it was evident there was a lack of power when test driving it across the field, speaking with a few people far more knowledgeable than myself on these vehicles it is a known fault that valves are prone to seizing up if they are left unused for a period of time. 

Time for a full strip down of the head and assess what is required, (for those of you that don't know, the head is rather on the heavy side)

Once the head was off I could see the issues I had, the pistons and liners were in great shape, this engine was overhauled along with the rest of the vehicle by the Israelis I believe in 1983. 

Spot what's wrong. 

 

whilst being this committed it seemed stupid not to investigate the original fuel pumps issues and replace all the core plugs.

As you can see there was no saving this fuel pump, however I was able to source a new old stock pump that was dually fitted and is performing excellently.  

Engine cleaned, painted and back together.

With the front end back together as much as I could, it was on to the rear end, all of the bogie assemblies were seized solid, even my largest hammer from an impressive collection I might add was not able to separate these parts un-aided. The use of oxy-acetylene was required for the majority of this process. To enable me to remove the tracks I had to remove three horns off each track to allow it to pass the bogie wheels.

With everything stripped off it gave me good access to the chassis, out with the needle gun and red-oxide primer. Due to the nature of the vehicle I had custom wheel hub nut sockets fabricated, excellent quality I might add.  

 

 

During this time the wheel cylinders and master cylinder were sent away for overhaul and stainless liners fitted.

Every component was cleaned, inspected and painted prior to re-fitment.

Whilst the paint was curing I moved onto the electrics, the very sketchy and hacked about loom ranged from its initial build in 43 to whatever the Israelis had done and onto the previous owner, needless to say this was a fire hazard waiting to happen along with no functioning lights. A reproduction loom as per original spec was sourced and fitted, this now allows me to drive her with fully functional lights and no risk of an electrical fire.

The last major job was replacing the front tyres, the rims were rusted together and took considerable force to separate them, they were then sandblasted and painted. 

 

 

 

With less than a week before its big first outing I was scurrying around ensuring that the windscreens could be fitted, the bonnet was remounted and a smallish list of need to do bits was ticked off. 

Final track tension was done on the Wednesday, the air filter assembly, final paint, and finishing off the mounting of the new custom made fuel tank was done on the Thursday morning,  a minor issue developed when a fuel union started to seep but this was quickly sorted. The vehicle was then loaded up ready for its maiden voyage, now having only ever driven this vehicle no more than 500m or so this was going to be a test for both it and myself, there were two halftracks traveling in convoy from Guernsey to Broadmayne to participate in Armour and Embarkation (a truly amazing event, what a fantastic team they are). The drive to the docks revealed a lack of power on my wagon limiting me to around 15 mph, having only added the air filter since doing my previous record of 3 laps of the field I proceeded to go down the route of elimination this gave seemed to give an illusion of better power but it was still far from perfect, with time running out on the check in, I opted to check in and continue the tinkering inside the compound, as expected there was a delay in our scheduled ferry time, so I had a little fettle with the fuel filter/regulator and hoped for the best. 

Magnetic reflective strips and amber light proved to be very effective on the drive in.

Our ferry docked into Poole around 2130hrs and so having never driven the vehicle for a substantial distance let a lone in the dark our adventure began, the distance was a little over 30mi to do, the tweaks I had done in the compound seemed to of paid off as I had plenty of power on the drive there, hills were effortless and she ran perfectly, we arrived into the camp site just before 2300hrs and set to making camp. The weekend was a fantastic event, a great shakedown of the wagon and an opportunity to make/meet some fantastic friends.

Plenty more adventures and work to be done, watch this space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:15 PM by mash
Picture alignment

[Enigma]

Well done.

Must have been rewarding driving it at A&E.