PIcs of T16-E2 Universal Carriers in Argentina

[dongaston70]

Hello everyone!!! I´m not new to the MV world but new to the carrier one! Intresting forum the one you have here. I have also seen some old posts of fellow T16 owners here in Argentina.

After WW2, together with lots of MVs and equipment, Argentina bought 280 T16-E2 Universal Carriers. That´s the reason we have so "many" down here.

I have always liked Universal Carriers of all types and recently bought a 1945 T16-E2 Ford Universal Carrier. Quite complete and for restoring.

Recently, on a trip to a "secret" location where several other T16-E2 still exist, I was able to snap some pics. And bring me a donor one, just in case.....

Cheers from Argentina
Gaston

MVPA member# 17535

[Ryan]

That's some great 'scrap' you have found. Well worth saving.
Welcome to MLU.
ryan

[RichardT10829]

SAVE THEM ALL !!! at least grab all the track you can..... but in any event SAVE THEM ALL !!!

[horsa]

Nice to see there is still another large stash of T-16 parts and project vehicles in the world. SECo here in the USA got tired of sitting on all of their spare parts and track and scrapped it all a long time ago.

[dongaston70]

I´m glad you liked the pictures, Ryan, Richard and David!!! That´s great. You are the experts!!!

This scrapyard (located in the argentine province of Mendoza, next to the Andes mountains) used to have twenty T16-E2 UCs. Many of them don´t have the engine or transmission, however, they were absolutely complete and most were running when bought at auction in 1981, all in one lot.

Over the years, many of the Ford V8 flathead engines were sold to power old trucks still in use. A pity.

There are still seven there. As I said before, I brought one home as a donor (complete with engine and tranny), with tracks apart and not installed. I have another T16-E2 mostly complete, ex-Argentine Army for restoring.

Here are some other pics. More will follow. Hope you enjoy.

[Robin Craig]

I know a mate of mine who would give his first born for those two handle in pic 5 of post 5.

He had his in a garbage bag and his eldest threw the bag out with the weekly garbage . . . . . .

Doh!

Buy the lot, no question. You would not be a bona fide MV person not to make some excuse and save them, they are no more coming from any factories I know of.



R

[dongaston70]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

I know a mate of mine who would give his first born for those two handle in pic 5 of post 5.

He had his in a garbage bag and his eldest threw the bag out with the weekly garbage . . . . . .

Doh!

Buy the lot, no question. You would not be a bona fide MV person not to make some excuse and save them, they are no more coming from any factories I know of.



R

That´s really unfortunate Robin!!! How could he? I imagine your mate´s expression when he found out!

By the way, it would be interesting to buy the whole lot, but I´m full of MVs..... For now, they´ll be still sitting there. No signs of soon scrapping fortunately according to the owner.

Some more pics:

[Robin Craig]

Dear Gaston,

yes, it was a fateful day for him and a learning lesson that we have embraced as well. I can always get him peaking if I mention it, he spins like a top when I do

We no longer do that unless we use masking tape around the neck and write on it what it is.

You have your priorities in the wrong order, you need to buy the whole lot, some very complete looking vehicles if you ask me.

R

[Hans Mulder]

At least get your mitts on the precious bits and tracks, just in case...!

[dongaston70]

I know, Robin and Hans about the difficult to find parts and the like. But I would prefer they end up in other MV collector hands. I´m fine with my two T16s, the restorable and the donor. In the future I´ll post pictures of both.

Some other pictures of the carriers (on a side note, all pictures were taken last august, barely two months ago):

[andrew honychurch]

Great photos. Why cant we find Carriers like this is the UK. Even if we could they would be so rotted out by now they would be barely restorable. Great find

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks for posting these pics Gaston and congrats on the find. Excellent!

I wonder what else is there on the scrapyard...one of your first pics seems to show a 3Ton CMP GS body...

[dongaston70]

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

Great photos. Why cant we find Carriers like this is the UK. Even if we could they would be so rotted out by now they would be barely restorable. Great find

The thing is Andrew that the climate where these carriers are is mostly dry. Not a lot of rain there over the year. That´s why, after being 31 years out in the "elements" they are corrosion free, just slight superficial rust. The hulls are really in great shape and original, not a single bit of them has been cut.

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Thanks for posting these pics Gaston and congrats on the find. Excellent!

I wonder what else is there on the scrapyard...one of your first pics seems to show a 3Ton CMP GS body...

Yes Alex, there are several CMP trucks there too. However, they are not very complete.

I send you some other pictures of the T16-E2 UCs out there:

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Gaston - do not make the fatal error of becomming complacent that they are going to be there for a long time. I have seen happen this so often, here today, gone tomorrow. Grab them all NOW and I am sure you will not have them for very long. Trust me.

Salesman Bob

[dongaston70]

It´s correct what you point out Bob, but the thing is that at least here in Argentina, there´s almost no market for these carriers. Maybe that´s also the reason why they´ve been sitting in the same spot for 31 years, and only some were sold over the years.

[Hans Mulder]

What are they worth? It might be worthwhile to look into importing a few...

[Jon Bradshaw]

Good thought, if you get a good price on importing maybe I could get one in the same Sea can? We aren't that far apart. It would be nice to have a complete one rather than the cut down beasts I now have.

[horsa]

Couldn't make out all the details on the data plate photos you posted. Looks like it has the stampings for "16-" at the top so curious if it says E2 afterwards or some other combination. Also what was the date of production on the tags? It would be interesting to learn more about the E2 series since I'd originally thought only a few were produced for testing. Obviously a lot more were made, or modified from standard models since you have them there in piles.

[dongaston70]

Hello David! Please find below a picture of one of the carriers dataplates with higher resolution:

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/839/dscf0281resized1.jpg

By the way, the three T16-E2 I could inspect there had a date of delivery of 3-45, of the last ones built. Access to the other carriers there was certainly difficult.

Regards from Argentina

[horsa]

That high res image helped a lot. Also the serial number being up in the 13000 range which would indicate more T-16s were produced than I'd thought.

[dongaston70]

Yes David. If we consider that all the last T16 were of the E2 series, then a few hundred must have been built. Up to the last T16 recorded, 13893.

It would be interesting to find out at which ser. no. they switched over to the E2 designation.

Regards from Argentina

[florprien]

Hola amigo:
Soy de rosario, tengo un T16-E2 completamente restaurado, totalmente original
Tengo también los manuales originales.
Si puedo ayudarte, con gusto puedes contar conmigo

Hello friend: I am of rosary, have a completely restored, totally original T16-E2 Have also the original manuals. If I can help you, with taste you can possess me

estoy en facebook como juanprien. ahí verás fotos del carrier
puedes comunicarte conmigo por esta vía, o darme tu nombre para yo aceptar tu solicitud de amistad.
Este foro es excelente, yo tengo restaurado my T16 como canadiense, de los "cameron higlanders of ottawa" y me brindaron muchísima info de insignias,repuestos,etc.
Saludos

This forum is excellent, I have restored my T16 as Canadian, of " cameron higlanders of ottawa " and they offered to me many info of emblems,spares, etc. Regards

[IanK]

Could we carrierless mortals club together and get them shipped to the UK or somewhere convenient?

I'm guessing you could get two or three in a shipping container and their condition looks fantastic!

[dongaston70]

Originally Posted by florprien

Hola amigo:
Soy de rosario, tengo un T16-E2 completamente restaurado, totalmente original
Tengo también los manuales originales.
Si puedo ayudarte, con gusto puedes contar conmigo

Hello friend: I am of rosary, have a completely restored, totally original T16-E2 Have also the original manuals. If I can help you, with taste you can possess me

estoy en facebook como juanprien. ahí verás fotos del carrier
puedes comunicarte conmigo por esta vía, o darme tu nombre para yo aceptar tu solicitud de amistad.
Este foro es excelente, yo tengo restaurado my T16 como canadiense, de los "cameron higlanders of ottawa" y me brindaron muchísima info de insignias,repuestos,etc.
Saludos

This forum is excellent, I have restored my T16 as Canadian, of " cameron higlanders of ottawa " and they offered to me many info of emblems,spares, etc. Regards

Hola! Te mandé un mensaje privado. Fijate. Un abrazo!

Originally Posted by IanK

Could we carrierless mortals club together and get them shipped to the UK or somewhere convenient?

I'm guessing you could get two or three in a shipping container and their condition looks fantastic!

I think that three of them would fit ok in a 40´ container.

Regards
Gaston

[IanK]

Hi Gaston, any ideas how much they could be bought for?

Anyone else interested in a bulk carrier purchase? Ian

[eddy8men]

i'd be interested in one or two if it looks feasible.

rick

[dongaston70]

I talked to the owner the other day, and he is now asking for almost 3X as much as to what I paid for my basically complete donor just three months ago........ A pity. If I only could understand the weird minds of scrapyard owners.....

Regards

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - I have dealt with many of these guys and I think they all came out of the same genetic pool. They would rather scrap an item as opposed to selling it to you as they believe you are trying to con them. I have stopped trying to deal with these idiots as it is too frustrating.

Bob

[IanK]

I suspect that if you turned up on his doorstep with a wad of cash he would do a deal, though you would need to collect them at the same time....

Of course he might be reading this as well...

[Jack Innes]

Originally Posted by IanK

Of course he might be reading this as well...

Yes he may have done some research & discovered the supply does not exceed the demand. That is often the basis of pricing on most items. Perhaps some of us would still feel 3+ times what was paid a while ago is still doable. If we knew what he is asking this would be a more meaningful discussion.