New Member from the UK

[RichardT10829]

Yeah, it is so frustrating that people cut the armour off, i know why they do it, i just wish they wouldnt, or at bare minimum keep the section of plate with the ID number on. I am not looking forward to having to try and remake the armour, i have seen people that have welded it up and i would prefer it to be riveted but that will be some task methinks.

[Justin Pollard]

Welcome to MLU Richard,
There are some very helpfull people here.
Good luck with the carrier.

Justin.

[RichardT10829]

Thanks Justin. I have clearly joined the right forum, I was reading Horsa's thread on his T16 and i only hope i can do the same level of resto to this one what a fantastic job he has done !!!!.

My carrier service book has arrived today so I have been reading up big time. famous last words but the mechanics of the carrier seem pretty straight forward for what i am used to dealling with, and in comparison to modern items such as the FV432.

I think the nightmare will be locating drive train, sprockets, linkages, steering mechs and tracks etc. That said I live 5 minutes from Vickers Amrstrongs who designed the first proto type of the carrier (VAD 50) when they took over carden lloyd... wonder if they still have any patterns etc etc. may have to drop them an email !

[RichardT10829]

having looked at other pictures on here of carriers the tracks on the one i have been looking ar look bar tight, there is no sag at all along the top section ? is this normal or is this a sign that the sprockets / tracks are finished ?

[Keith Webb]

Hi Richard, great to have you join us as part of a very enthusiastic knowledgeable body of people.

Keith

[RichardT10829]

thanks Keith, does anyone else have any knowledge of this carrier ? and is the track tension going to be an issue ?

[Rob Beale]

The carrier bug knows no national boundaries, and is not curable!

The tight track on your carrier will be due to rust in each link and pin. Note there are about 168 of them each side, so it doesn't take much in each link.

If you tow it around, carefully, much rust will wear away from them and the track will loosen off relatively fast. You may find some seized links which will not bend or fail to straighten out, but with care and a lot of effort they can be freed. Read thru the forum for the various methods used.

I had to fit two extra links just to join the ends on mine but it took about a kilometre to free up so that the track was slapping on the underneath of the guards. (Kiwi and OZ carriers have about 4 inches extra clearance under the guards!)

Best wishes on your new addiction.
Rob