Adrian Barrell Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Whats the word ? GOBBSMACKED !! how many people did you have working with you and what was the rough amount of time days weeks? JUST to reinstall the tracks and suspension once you had all the components rebuild and ready to go ? Well apart from people helping when I fitted the larger items and with a couple of exceptions, I did it all myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 The tracks were nos but were a motley selection of bits and pieces. One side was in ten link sections so I just had to fit them together into 83 links. The other side was all seperate parts so was a bit more work. the worst part was cleaning up the wedge bolts and nuts, 166 of each. I did them in sets of 20 just to keep my sanity. Fitting tracks is not too hard if you have some mechanical help. I laid the tracks out and pulled the tank onto them. Then, using my forklift, brought the other end over the top rollers and hooked it onto the sprocket. End connectors on, wedge bolts in and adjust the track. Nothing left to do but give it a try! This was October 2003 and it all went well. I just had to adjust the clutch and lower the idle speed afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 It looks so easy in picture form !!!!!!!!! What is the two stroke engine for Adrian and well done by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) Now my focus was on the rest of the interior. I wanted to have her finished before I went to Normandy in June 2004 so needed to get a wriggle on. The largest single fabrication was the new turret basket. The one that came out of the tank looked like this. I had a better one but that was not much good either. It did enable me to draw it all out however so I could make a new one. I started by using the inner turret ring as a jig to ensure concentricity with the base. The only original parts are the front of the top band, the ready round clips and most of the fittings. After about ten days work, it looked like this. With a bit more work, like this With the floor ammo rack rebuilt and the turret ring overhauled, It was time to mate the two and fit it in the hull. James is helping to guide it in. The silver thing in the centre is the rotary base junction. A series of slip rings carries power into the turret and allows full rotation. The arrow is to show the turret crew the direction of the front of the tank. The black vertical cylinder is the motor generator for the power traverse. I took some interior shots before the fitting as it's not possible to get these views after. Edited December 22, 2008 by Adrian Barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Interesting that some of the carb to manifold pipes are short, others much longer. What effect(if any) does the diferent length have on rate of throttle response, and is this noticeable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 It looks so easy in picture form !!!!!!!!! What is the two stroke engine for Adrian and well done by the way. It's the auxiliary generator. The main use is to charge the batteries and provide extra electrical power when the main engine is not running. The wireless uses a lot of power and some tanks, mine being one, use an electrical turret traverse. It all adds up to a large drain on the batteries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Also, is slowing down the idle speed as "easy" as adjusting the main throttle linkage stop? Getting all 5 carbs tuned must have been a it fiddley to say the least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Interesting that some of the carb to manifold pipes are short, others much longer. What effect(if any) does the diferent length have on rate of throttle response, and is this noticeable? That is a feature on the later engines. Originally the carbs are mounted directly on the manifolds but the linkages for throttle and choke are quite complicated and the lower carbs were below the fuel level. In the event of the fuel tap, ignition controlled cut off solenoid or the float valves leaking, the lower engines can flood. There is no provision for hand cranking the engine a la radial so you had to rely on the clutch in the starter motor to avoid damage in the event of hydraulic lock. The only thing you could do would be to remove spark plugs but access is not brilliant....! The carbs are better placed on top from a servicing point of view but it doesn't seem good practice to me. The no.3 pipe is about 2 feet long! The likelyhood of the fuel coming out of suspension must be quite high as it must heat up as it passes down the tube. As all the engines are geared together, there is no noticeable effect on throttle response. In fact, it drives better than either the radial or the twin diesels. I have never driven anything with the GAA in so I cannot compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Marvellous job. Fascinating to read this blog. Well done. Also now I just about understand the fun of a multibank engine. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 (edited) Hi Adrian, some time ago I asked you if you had any restoration pictures, and you sent me a link to your friends site with some of the Sherman restoration pictures on it. It's nice to see it and read about it here in more detail. I first saw the Sherman at Debach 2004 which must have been one of its first trips out ( pics attached )? If you hadn't been involved in engineering, would you have taken on the project? Steve Edited September 5, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Briefly off topic, (I don't want to interprete the flow) - Adrian did you mention that you are working on a RAM?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fayjo56 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 What a fine job Mr Barrell. It is easy to take for granted seeing such tanks at shows, without taking into account the work involved. I saw yours at Ramsbury and had no idea. I hope our paths will cross in 2009, so I can buy you a drink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 If you hadn't been involved in engineering, would you have taken on the project? Steve That's a good question Steve..... I'm not sure to be honest. I could never have afforded to pay someone to do the work, so I might have just done the minimum to get it going but I suspect I would have thought it to be a project too far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 Briefly off topic, (I don't want to interprete the flow) - Adrian did you mention that you are working on a RAM?? Yes, commercially, we are putting a new floor, bulkhead and sponsons in a Ram as well as making parts for same. We are also doing a lot of work on an M10 (my old one) and various turrets with more projects to come in the new year hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 What a fine job Mr Barrell. It is easy to take for granted seeing such tanks at shows, without taking into account the work involved. I saw yours at Ramsbury and had no idea. I hope our paths will cross in 2009, so I can buy you a drink! :tup:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Yes, commercially, we are putting a new floor, bulkhead and sponsons in a Ram as well as making parts for same. We are also doing a lot of work on an M10 (my old one) and various turrets with more projects to come in the new year hopefully. On one of the pictures there is another sherman visible in the background, also yours? Also, why is the interior of the tanks white? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny666 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Also, why is the interior of the tanks white? mkae it easier to see things when the tank is buttoned up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 Well spotted Joris! No, it is not mine, it was a job for a collector. We had to restore an M50 hull back to M4A4 standard. We built a manipulator to enable rotation of the hull for all the welding. As to why are they white inside, it's purely for visibility inside. British tanks were generally silver but American tanks have always been white. Some people paint them off white or even cream having matched the paint to some nos part but 60 year old paint, even in boxes, tends to yellow over time. They were white when new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spood Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 What an epic adventure, all power to your elbow Adrian you have done a fantastic job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvdepot Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Adrian WOW what a fantastic job you have done there!!!,it shows me a what a big job we have in front of us to restore our M4E9!!!,i will have to speak to you one day as we have many parts to find and probably get made to pattern and that will be hard as we dont have much to go on as you have seen!,i hope to get the turret off and the final drive before spring and then get it shotblasted,cheers and happy xmas Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 Adam, please do get in touch, I've been playing with Shermans in particular for many years now and I'm sure I can help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 Next thing to do is the turret. As with most restorations, the first thing to do is dismantle it. As previously mentioned, the breech ring was missing so it was a simple matter to pull the tube out from the bottom. Both the mantlet and the shield are held in with slot head countersunk screws, the mantlet using four 5/8" NF and the shield lots of 3/4" NF. These can be tricky to unscrew! I made a large bit from an impact extension to fit in my 1" drive air spanner. Luckily every screw came out though I did have to re-make the tool a couple of times. The turret did not require a great deal of work as there was almost no damage. I replaced the bracket for the smoke bomb throwers and rear box mounts but the rest of the work was limited to the insides. Some of the stowage fittings needed work but the main thing was the Thomson SMG magazine clips. These had all but rotted away so I removed the holder, made all new clips (after making tooling) and rivetted them back before refitting the holder. With the turret ready for blasting, I cleaned off as much of the excess paint as possible and some writing became visible. With a bit of work the name Gainsborough became clear. I'm still not sure but I believe this indicates post war service with 79th Armd. Div as they were using DD tanks with names such as Grimsby and Gosport painted in the same type in the same location. With the DD tanks named after ports, it seems reasonable to assume the non DD tanks might be named after inland towns......? I blast cleaned the turret in two goes, inside first this was simply to make it more manageable. Finish painted. With the turret ready, I fitted it to the ring. The two are held together with 40 1/2" bolts and located on two short dowels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 The other main parts of the turret are the cupola and of course, the gun assembly. The cupola doors had been cut out many years ago and allthough I managed to find the original doors, the ring itself needed the hinge bosses built up. I also fitted new bushes using plastic, the originals being similar to Metalastik bushes. This also applied to the pistol port in the side of the turret. I stripped the cradle and shield down into the various parts, blast cleaned and painted, all very straightforward other than the weight of the pieces. I reassembled the pieces ready to refit, including the tube and ring. I also fitted the recoil shield which needed a lot of work . The shield was to prevent a crew member being behind the gun on recoil. A call to the crane again for refitting the gun assembly. Once in, there is not much room in the turret for fitting out, so I tried to do as much as possible inside beforehand. That completed the main parts, all that was left was finishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david052 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 "That completed the main parts, all that was left was finishing." Understatement of the year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I only seen this blog today. Amazing work been done on the Old Girl. Hopefully I'll see it live one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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