Contact the Kevin Wheatcroft Collection in UK. He has an unbelievable array of historic vehicles in a range of reconstruction.

Evening Terry,

As they say, been there done that but no real help. I think it's probably because it's a recreation and not an original. Thanks anyway.

Regards,

Jonathan

Jonathan.

Do you have any photos you could post showing the outer and inner faces of the original track links?

David

Evening David,
Pictures attached as requested.

jon

Apart from the pitch, it looks to have an evolutionary connection to Bren carrier track.

You are nearly correct, well according the book "tracks for fighting vehicles" published by the school of tank technology in 1944. It states that the Panzer ll track link was developed and copied from the skeleton link of the "Light Dragon mk1.

Jon

consider new tracks
 

have you considered using the new production universal carrier tracks that are currently available? May be easier to modify gears drive and road wheels than make tracks?

Morning, Jon.

I am not sure how comprehensive the start to finish process was for the casting work you have looked into so far, but would the cost come down significantly enough if you were able to get a correctly spec’d 3D resin link fabricated that a foundry could use to fabricate their moulds from and once the links were made, you could do the required finish machining on them?

Granted you would likely be having to deal with 300+ individual links, and still deal with the needed pins to assemble the finished tracks you need.

Feel free to reach out and smack me on the back of the head, if this idea is out to lunch.

David

Evening David,
I have looked at it from every angle and at present the costs of having them cast are way above what I wish to spend and out of pure interest I want to see how a set of fabricated links last.

Evening All,
Another busy week but seeing what I have achieved you wouldn't think so. The final drive covers and running gear are all on and other than that it's been a case of spraying.
My plan to spray only the parts that I needed for the next job but one, went out the window and I have ended up spraying all the components that need doing in the colour that was in the spray gun at the time, hence I have painted parts hanging everywhere. However there is light at the end of the tunnel, if I can find time, in what will be a very busy week and get the small areas of the hull interior sprayed in cream, then next weekend I can start installing the interior parts and wiring.



That's all for now.

Jon

Tracks
 

Lovely work that I am following with interest...

In regards tracks, the ones you showed appear to be identical to Pz I tracks... A few years ago I found this advert:

"Here are new production Tracks for the Panzer 1 and Opel/Ford Maultier German Halftracks, exact copy, with pins, very nice, and nowhere else for sale! Call or Email Erik on: 0031617946119 info@greenparts.nl"

I suggest you check and see if they have any available still.

Have fun

Tony

Pz I track
 

Here is a picture of some of my Panzer I track.. These pieces are not as worn as yours.. But are the same otherwise. As you might guess I am slowly building up my bits to build a Pz I.. Hence why I like your posts so much

Attachment 132283

I suspect that Pz1 track is not interchangeable with Pz2 track in the same way that British Universal Carrier track is different to Windsor and Aust LP track. I am thinking of the width of the wheel path and possibly also the overall width too, though that wouldn't matter so much if only a cm. or so.

I see that the Pz1 links in Tony's post have ice cleats on them. If you run these on a hard road surface they make rather a mess, even in a straight line !

I still think that there must be lots of Pz2 track waiting to be dug up in Poland and Russia, though buying tank track from Russia might be difficult just now.

David

Track difference
 

I guess its a visit to Bovington and having a look at a Panzer 1 & 2 to examine the track links.

Tony's and Jon's pictures look mighty similar.... but I wouldn't be betting the price of casting on them!!!

Moot point, I suppose. Jon has the correct one.

Evening All,

The Panzer is coming along slowly, I will post some pictures at the weekend.

The track links on a PZ2 are wider than on a PZ1 and yes I have the right link, i just need 229 more.

Thanks for the continued interest.

Jon

Evening all, it's only little old me coming out of hibernation. I thought that I would give you a quick update. I have been making quite a lot of changes as the assembly progresses, some out of necessity, others because I wasn't happy. I have changed most of the crimp connectors in the wiring for automotive connectors that won't pull apart easily. I have cut out any wiring in the old Jaguar system that aren't absolutely necessary and rerouted a lot of others. The light switch failed before it was ever used properly so had to be replaced. I couldn't find an all metal one apart from in the USA but in the end I settled for one out of a Jeep, not exactly what I was looking for, because of the push down button but after some modification it looks perfect. I had to make a new back plate for the switch that was a bit more in keeping.

I designed what I thought an original one might look like, printed on to water slide transfer paper and applied it to a aluminium plate that i cut out of a piece of old Land Rover body work. I applied the transfer and when dry, gave it a coat of vehicle paint lacquer.

One part that I hadn't made, were the cones that go on the idler wheel centers. A very enjoyable bit of fabrication.

I have removed all the copper coolant pipes and replaced them with steel and rubber bends and joints, as I was worried that the soldered joints, in the copper pipe work, would fail through vibration. The plastic pipe clips that held the coolant pipes in place, have been replaced with stainless ones.

The exhaust has been wrapped and I have added a remote oil filter for easy access, along with a drain pipe from the engine sump, so that both are easily accessible. The pies from the engine and gearbox to their oil coolers now have quick fit couplings in the pipes.

I was always wondering where to put the fuel filter as I didn't want to put it in the engine bay and eventually decided to put it under the floor panel in the crew compartment.

I wanted to put a stop tap either side of the filter so that when the filter was changed I didn't end up with a big puddle, so I ordered two taps online at the beginning of January. They turned up on Thursday this week, all the way from Manchester. I wen't to fit them yesterday afternoon and instead of being 8mm, as I had ordered, they were 6mm, bugger. Wales is a lovely place to live but getting anything locally is neigh impossible.

Now you can say what you like about Amazon but I ordered two replacement taps yesterday and they were delivered before lunch today, now that's good going.

Other than that, I have spent many cold evenings painting labels on many different internal boxes, brackets etc. and attaching leather retaining straps where required.



That's all for now.



Jon

some extra pictures.

Hibernation....? You have been very busy....
 

Fantastic work...... love that you are not just building it but going back to make sure that maintenance will be less of a nightmare........

We always criticize the older machinery....and we should not...... Took me over an hour today to remove a readily accessible screw on oil filter on a 2020 Ford truck........ the filter manufacturer had a bright idea of dipping the bottom of their oil filter cans into an abrasive paint of some sort...... looks jazzy ....but makes the fitting of a filter socket very tight.... and when you have scrapped off the abrasive paint the can is now under size and the Chinese socket slips...... Chink socket was crushed in the vise never to see light again.

In desperation, I dug deeper in the tool bin and found my old heavy steel socket that I hammered on the fiolter and used a 18 in. breaker bar......... this time I oiled the filter gasket on the new filter and fully hand tightened ONLY!!!!!

Glad I installed remote screw on oil filters and remote bracket on the C15a.

Cheers

There really are no words to express how impressed I am with your workmanship and oerserverence Jonathan.

I true inspiration !

When completed it will be an absolute gem

Cheers

Phill

Bob,

I am trying to incorporate as many modifications as I can to make life easier in the future without making to obvious alterations. The trouble is, that I keep changing my mind and hence changes but so far I feel that what I have changed will make servicing a much simpler task.

Phil what can I say but thanks for the encouragement.


Evening All,

It doesn't feel like I have achieved much over the last month but I have been laid up for the last 3 weeks with a Bladder infection which entailed a nice nurse having to insert a catheter, a most unpleasant experience, the catheter I mean.



The cooling assembly is finished awaiting installation but I am not convinced that the radiator will have sufficient cooling capacity, time will tell and I have made it so that it will easily accept a deeper radiator.

I have made some instruction plates for the false gearbox casing, as I can never remember the lever positions and I keep forgetting that It needs to be in neutral to start the engine.

I fitted all the floor plates only to find that I had forgotten to modify the one just behind the drivers seat so that the false gearbox cover can be bolted in place. That had to come back up to be modified and repainted which I had planned to do today but in the end I didn't have the energy.

Keeping the batteries in my vehicles charged is always a concern to me as they are not used that much, so they all have trickle chargers on but getting to the battery on this is a right pain. I decided to incorporate an access plug under the lift up part of the floor just behind the drivers seat so that I could plug in a trickle charger or even, if needs be, jump start leads. Maybe a bit over the top but while I am doing it I may as well do it as I see properly.

That's all for now.



Jon

You make it sound so easy... when one of the turbos failed on my 2010 Landrover Discovery 4, I found to my horror that the only way to change it is to remove the entire body!!! Absolute madness.

I have since replaced the landrover with a Dodge WC52. Whilst not so great MPG, it will be cheaper to run in the long term as parts and maintenance costs are way less.

It seems that the job of today's design engineers is to make everything as complicated as possible and from experience few of them have any common sense.

Evening All,

I have had a really productive weekend for once, I have done masses of spraying Panzer grey and then lots of assembling.

The engine came with a set of electrics that were supposed to be ok to use but by and by most have been replaced which left the fuse / relay panel.
It was in a state to start with being 30 years old and I used it to cobble something up to get things started but there were always connectivity problems so I decided to bin it, also I wanted a separate mains feeds from the battery to the starter and one to the rest of the electrics, meaning that all the internal electrical connections would be in one convenient place if something went wrong.

I bought a new fuse / relay module and made a new panel to affix it all to. This will be bolted by the side of the ECU's on the wall of the upper hull.

The radiator is in place and piped in.
The fly screen or what ever it's called and the baffle have been fitted.

The exhaust and rear light have been sprayed and fitted.
The prop shafts on, the false gearbox cover is bolted in place and a lot of the internal fittings, boxes have been bolted in.
I have still got a couple of retaining straps to fit and a wooded toolbox to make but it's getting there.

Lastly, I decided that where I had fixed the charging socket was a silly idea, as every time the cover was opened the wires were pulled taught, so I made a bracket and fixed the socket to one of the floor supports.
Tank wise, that was my weekend but I still have a load more bits to assemble next week.



Jon

Oh.. wow!
 

And to think I had done a lot replacing a water pump bearing in the F60L.

Simply superb Jon... admire your tenacity & thoroughness.

Really enjoy the updates.. keep 'em coming.

Evening All,
I have been doing a little wood work. I think that it was the last internal item that I was missing, a Werkzeugkasten 1.

I managed to find a couple of different ones on the web and decided to use this one as a pattern.

I have used a different design of catch, although the same pattern as I have used, were used on the other version of the box. The box above is obviously painted in sand colour and would be late war, I have assumed that mine would have been black but who knows.

Before painting.