[cantankrs]

Yep, I agree. The pair of engine floor inspection plates seem to be present too. All very nice. That weight is interesting to know. Course the cone shaped dome on the back of the gearbox is the handbrake. The tailshaft with the sprockets welded to it has the right looking unijoint for Grant too - I think its Mack, like the gearbox, whereas the diff/final drive assy probably has a Chrysler plate on it? Any track joints that are 'kinked the wrong way' are known as 'dead' - I think it just means the track pin with the rubber donuts has managed to twist in the tube that forms the track frame (don't know if the donuts shear or if they slip in the tube, or both). I don't think you can go very fast with dead shoes - I presume there's a big risk of a track breaking and high risk to anyone nearby along with colateral damage. I have a Stuart manual that shows the track pins with donuts being pressed into the track frame under high pressure after being dunked in castor oil (caster oil being non-harmful to rubber - I think it's what brake part grease is made from). The pins have the flats machined in them for the connector wedges and thus the pins are held by a jig in a certain orientation so when they're pressed into the track frame they are slightly angled and when the track is assembled it has a tendency to curl inwards thus creating 'live track'. That type of steel 'pad' consists of two halves, outer and inner. Outer has the 'tread' and both may be plug welded together. Also that steel track probably has 1/16 or 1/8" (I can't remember) thicker diameter pins than the rubber track on your first M3 Medium. The sprockets are the same so the connectors are bored out I think.

Regards

Alex