Penguin Mkll

[Bob Carriere]

In the mid 70s there were 3 or 4 of them. OD colored, in a scrap yard in ST Hyacinte....... I believe that scrap yard was the precursor to Sails store now... Only the top hatch was opened but we did crawl inside...... they also had 6 or 7 1941/42 dark blue Packard CLipper staff cars with USA marking.... apparently originating from a US based closing in Labrador ..

I remember looking at the Penguin engine with very squarish flat heads not rounded like a Ford...... had always assumed that Cadillac had ONLY overhead valves
V8 engines...... all been turned into Honda bumpers by now.

Strange to see they were using CMP seats....?

The yard was huge and you had to be escorted to the various areas of interest. The old gentlemen who would escort us was crippled with polio and rode a blue motorcycle with a side car..... and we would have to run behind him....and the yard was big.... we would go by piles of engines...piles of axles...piles of radiators...... I think he rather enjoyed seeing us out of breadth..... only thing I ever bought from him was the rear suspension of a WC 61 .... he had tons of them and they were fabricating trailers with the rear suspension for construction companies.


Bob C.



Bob C.

[David Dunlop]

Rob.

Would that motor be the same block as used in the Stuarts?


David

[Ed Storey]

Rob:

Here is an image of your vehicle taken 63 years ago on Exercise Sun Dog I.

ED

[Ed Storey]

Your vehicle was the only Ambulance Penguin on Exercise Sundog I. It is recorded as having broke down on 9 March 1950 which forced the MO to temporarily use another vehicle to extricate some casualties.

The Penguin was repaired but broke down again the next day on a move to Cape Churchill.

Your vehicle was also used in a film which was shot on 13 March showing the plasma arrangements inside the vehicle.

[David Dunlop]

Is that a racoon's face just above the track, below the back of the red cross?

[rob love]

Possibly it is the same motor, or very similar. I think the tank engines had a generator running out the back end of the motor, where this one, I believe, had the generator up top at the engine front.

Here is a link to one, new out of the crate, for sale on the UK craigslist. Wrong side of the pond, or I would be on that tomorrow: http://edinburgh.craigslist.co.uk/ptd/3895747649.html

[rob love]

Wow Ed, you have certainly hit the jackpot for me. I'll be outside tomorrow painting the red crosses back in their spots. I could see them under the yellow paint, but did not know if they were there on the olive drab, or if they were over the later yellow.

What was the name of the film?

[David Herbert]

Rob,

What a great vehicle, I had always wondered what happened to the Armoured Snowmobiles. Do you have the tracks for it or will you be making them?

The primary WW2 use of Cadillac V8s was Stuart tanks (series 42) and Chaffee and LVT3 (series 44). I believe that the core engine is identical but the 44s have a drive shaft with universal joints threaded through under the inlet manifold. This is to drive the fans on a chaffee. The LVT3 inherrited this arrangement and I would expect that the Armoured Snowmobile / Penguin did too. The Hydramatic gearbox used in Stuart had a reverse gear but the ones used in Chaffee and I believe LVT3 did not have a reverse gear, this was done in the 2f + 2r transfer box. This engine was also used in infantry landing craft but presumably marineised to some degree. One of the nice things with these engines is that the exhaust manifold was black vitreous enameled and bolted on with stainless bolts - Cadillac had their standards to uphold !

I love the "spot the racoon" side to this thread, what happened to the photo of them looking out of the road drain? From a British perspective they are just cute!

Really looking forward to the you being able to get into the restoration of this machine and posting more photos - thanks for going public.

David

[rob love]

The tracks are coming in the next day or two.

Thanks for the explanation of the Cadillac powerplants. I find that on a new project like this, it is best to let it sit a year or two while parts are found and knowledge is gained. It saves having to un-do well-intentioned but misguided restoration efforts.

One of the few pieces of actual armour that remains is the front glacis plate. It bears the same chisel marks as the Bren carrier armour.

Tell you what, check out and secure that engine and I will give you 10....no, make that twenty racoons. You can release them and they will quickly populate all of the UK with cuteness. Your cat food companies will love you for this....they have insatiable appetites.

No idea why Micheal's raccoon posting is gone. But just for you David, here is the source: http://thechive.com/2008/12/06/world...ons-40-photos/

[chris vickery]

The engine you have posted here Rob as being on the wrong side of the pond may be obtainale if you are patient and look for the right guys.
I know there are others here on the Forum that send a container every once in a while over to Canada from the UK.
Getting your hands on what you need, even if it has to sit in storage at someones place in the UK is not so bad, especialy if you have time to wait.
My e-halftrack fenders came over that way from Holland. I think they saw more miles over a couple years, hitching rides from place to place until they ended up over here finally.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

The primary WW2 use of Cadillac V8s was Stuart tanks (series 42) and Chaffee and LVT3 (series 44). I believe that the core engine is identical but the 44s have a drive shaft with universal joints threaded through under the inlet manifold. This is to drive the fans on a chaffee. The LVT3 inherrited this arrangement and I would expect that the Armoured Snowmobile / Penguin did too. The Hydramatic gearbox used in Stuart had a reverse gear but the ones used in Chaffee and I believe LVT3 did not have a reverse gear, this was done in the 2f + 2r transfer box. This engine was also used in infantry landing craft but presumably marineised to some degree. One of the nice things with these engines is that the exhaust manifold was black vitreous enameled and bolted on with stainless bolts - Cadillac had their standards to uphold !

Some great info on the hydrmatic gearbox over on this Detroit Transmission (Hydra-Matic) Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two / WWII webpage

[David Dunlop]

Just trying to wrap my head around Penguin production.

Various sources indicate Canada only ever retained 11 original Armoured Snowmobiles. Of these, the majority seem to have been converted to Penguins by Operation Muskox. Films show at least one surviving original vehicle in that original exercise.

Of the known surviving Penguins in Canada, I cannot recall one that does not show original lower front armour. Logic would state there should only be 11 such survivors. If there are more than that, where did the hulls come from that were used for conversion to Penguins?

If Penguins were built from scratch, did they simply adapt original plans, incorporating new built, modified lower hulls?

Would any of the known surviving Penguins show signs of armour plate having been cut down/modified? If so, in theory, these should be part of the original 11 inventory, should they not?

One other thought. If Penguins were built on new designed lower hulls, would they have bothered utilizing armour plate?

David