mash Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 (edited) 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 June 27 by mash Picture alignment 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 Well done. Must have been rewarding driving it at A&E. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash Posted October 29 Author Share Posted October 29 (edited) Right lets get back to this, A&E was very rewarding for myself as it showed all the time, effort and bloodshed was very much worth it. During the event I noticed that the crank damper had parted ways from the vehicle and so the hunt for a new one commenced, one was tracked down in Europe and kindly collected by a friend passing through. When assessing the repair it looked like the easiest option was to unbolt the damper from the crank pulley (only 6 bolts) and then I could keep the front crank seal undisturbed and not have to remove the radiator cowling, which I knew wasn't going to come off without grinding off multiple screws. Of course nothing on armour ever goes to plan and so three bolts decided to snap so my only option was to replace the entire assembly, I was able to undo some screws that joined the two half's of the cowling together underneath and then had to cut the cowling on one side, modifying the cut out section now means it is screwed in place on both sides and doesn't look out of place and makes access easier if needed in the future. Next up was some form of living accommodation, after over a year of trying to have a canvas made and the seller cutting all communications I decided to do something different, during this restoration I have been trawling archive footage and pictures to see any HTs in British use, modifications to in service vehicles has always fascinated me and having done many in service myself I thought that its the way I should go with this. Anyone on FB who follows the International Harvester HT page will see a lot of photographs I have uploaded showing these vehicles and their modifications during the war. A few were converted to hard-top vehicles, this allowed more working room inside, increased weather protection etc so with the help of my mate who is a chippy by traded we manufactured a suitable wooded superstructure on top. A local Show came about whilst awaiting some additional materials (Joys of being on an island), so a quick addition of the canvas sheet hid the missing slats, our local MVT required the "stores" trailer towing up so naturally it went on the back, I defiantly got some looks on that run. Now onto the living accommodation part, having spent many years under a 9x9 or similar and knowing my better half was with me on this trip I decided to treat us to some proper comfort, Having two feet of roof above the armour allowed me to fit folding beds in, supported off the roof they latch up to the wall and allow the rear seating to be used, refuelling etc, I have also put a split charge system in allowing us to run lights and charging facilities without running the main battery down. Thorough out the horrendous weather we had up to and for the first few days of XXX corps we only had one night where a small seep of water entered the back. Since doing the trip I am now working on improved rear storage for personal kit etc making use of the void spaces to allow me to free up the radio racking. Edited October 29 by mash 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash Posted October 29 Author Share Posted October 29 (edited) XXX Corps Tour Guernsey deployed a small packet to the XXX corps commemorations, these were: Dingo x4 IH M5 HT Whites M3A1 HT Whites Scout car Fordson WOT2H Chevy CMP C15a Austin Tilly All loaded on the first ferry and ready to go. We arrived in Portsmouth and met our low-loaders for onward travel to Dover, due to ferry timings we arrived the day before so after unloading at the docks it was a stead drive up the hill on the A2 to our campsite for the night before setting off nice and early to meet the others travelling on the same sailing. Once on the other side it was a not so simple process but we were eventually all loaded up and on our way to Leopoldsburg where we would set up camp for the next few days. Taking full advantage of the space and time we established a comfortable camp and proceeded to carry out repairs and maintenance to the fleet. The first road move in our assigned squadron did not go fully to plan with the Bedford developing starting and running issue (later confirmed to be a coil breaking down), the need for self recovery meant the straight bar was used to tow the Bedford for the first half of the day until we had time for repairs. The second proper breakdown came after we left Helmond, this is no joke but one of our outriders motorcycles whilst parked up was hit and knocked over by a elderly member of the public on a mobility scooter, who promptly rode off after the bike hit the floor. unfortunately for the rider the magneto was damaged and the timing chain was knock out of it correct position so again recovery was needed to take it back to camp for repairs, now with a lot of tooling and personal kit from ourselves and some of the dingo owners the bike was never going to fit in the back, so where else can you put a motorcycle? Obviously the bumper eh! Now this didn't do much for my view and even less for making my steering light but we got it back to camp and fixed up. The third and final recovery from E sqn was the Whites M3, due to a blowing exhaust manifold gasket it was vapour locking if switched off when hot, so a short tow was needed to get it into position for display to the public. My little tally list: The trip was a fantastic time and it was never ending for Dave and myself who took on the majority of the mechanics, but its what we enjoy and thrive on so we are not complaining, catching up with old friends and making many more it is something I'm very happy to of taken apart in. It seemed as if in no time at all we were back on the low-loaders and headed for home, and I think each vehicle had its small list of problems that require fettling. E SQN During the trip the Inter HT boys organised a photo, I was delayed in Arnhem due to a few 15cwts breaking down, the joys of this community a friend who I had only met face to face at the beginning of this trip called me up and offered to move my HT for the picture. final ferry home for the Guernsey lot Edited October 30 by mash Hopefully the pictures are now working 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9triton Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Something is not allowing the pics to load Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash Posted October 30 Author Share Posted October 30 1 hour ago, 9triton said: Something is not allowing the pics to load Cheers, hopefully now sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 When all of you crossed Nijmagen bridge we were on the North side of the river just standing at attention on our re-enactor camp. I was facing the bridge and could hear and see the convoy from a distance. That was so impressive. Maybe we'll meet at next A&E. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mash Posted October 30 Author Share Posted October 30 3 minutes ago, Enigma said: When all of you crossed Nijmagen bridge we were on the North side of the river just standing at attention on our re-enactor camp. I was facing the bridge and could hear and see the convoy from a distance. That was so impressive. Maybe we'll meet at next A&E. It was awesome to be apart of that convoy, if all goes according to plan we will be back for A&E next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9triton Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) 10 hours ago, mash said: Cheers, hopefully now sorted. All good . - and great pics. Edited October 30 by 9triton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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