panzerjager bren project

[leo tomaiolo]

starting my next project. going to build a pazerjager bren as used by the 3rd panzergrenadier division in Italy 1944. starting off with what i believe is a 1942 uc. it appears to have most of the drive line components, track and road wheels. no armor or creature comforts. this is what i hope to make it look like.

[leo tomaiolo]

here's what i'm starting with.

[leo tomaiolo]

the engine has a rebuild tag on it, the date 1962. it will be interesting to see what is inside it.

[Michael R.]

It does look like you have portions of a lower hull Canadian production UC MK-I*. I wager the date in the engine rebuild tag may read 1952 instead of 1962? If I can be so bold to suggest a good start may be to remove and dispose of those upper front plates with something new and more correct appearing?

Best wishes with your project Leo. Have fun!

If you still have the truck, it may be able to transport the panzerjager bren project?

[leo tomaiolo]

i'll have to check out the tag again. as for the armor it will need a lot of clean up. (thats why i'm here on MLU.) funny you should mention transport i recently saw a trailer made specifically for towing UC's. it was being towed by a FL60(?) sized truck and though i could do that. unfortunately we got more snow coming so it's going to be a few weeks before i move the UC out of storage and up to the work pad.

[leo tomaiolo]

took a pict of the rebuild tag. not sure what the date is at all.

[leo tomaiolo]

the space i need to do the UC is cleared. got it uncovered and ready to move it into position on the concrete pad. probably going to start with getting everything out and on the ground to see what i have. i'm sure what i don't have will be a bigger list. really looking forward to doing this. i'll get some more picts up as i start to disassemble it.

[Michael R.]

Originally Posted by leo tomaiolo

took a pict of the rebuild tag. not sure what the date is at all.

Could that be:

211 Base Work Shop
6 6 51

[leo tomaiolo]

so i finally moved the carrier to where it needs to be to get worked on. went thru some of the parts that came with it and half of what i need is there. at least for the drive line it's pretty complete. used my 41 to move out of it's hole and into the garage. spent most of the winter going thru the engine and trany. bad news on the engine there are 2 large cracks in the block. 1 is thru the exhaust port so i scored a good block and will be sending it out to the machine shop in a month or two. next up is working on the steering/brake assembly.

[leo tomaiolo]

here's some of the parts i got. body is pretty clean. there's some scabbed on plates that will need to be removed from the front armor.

[leo tomaiolo]

so it's been slow going with this project. much to my dismay the original block has 2 large cracks in it. 1 in particular runs thru the exhaust port and i don't believe it's reparable. i'm going to bring to a shop that specialises in block repair and see what they say. other wise the block looks to have been completely rebuilt and ready to go. in the mean time i pulled a block out of storage and could use that if it's not repairable. of course that block needs a rebuild.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Look up Metal Stitching. There is a company that will sell you drills, taps, jigs and fixtures to repair castings and/or machinings. The machinist drills a hole along the crack, sets in the pin of the fixture, and alternatively drills and taps holes. He screws plugs into holes with threadlocker and proceeds. Eventually the crack is filled with plugs.

Don't know how well they'll work in your application, but if you are looking at large $$ for a replacement block, this might be an option.

[Lynn Eades]

Personally I wouldn't try to fix one that has a crack from the cyl. bore to a valve seat. It would basically be a time bomb. You would never know when the stitching would let go, and next thing water is no longer where it's supposed to be.
I am sure guys will now tune in and say they fixed theirs way back in 1763 B.C. and it's still running like a clock, but that's me. I'd want mine to be reliable, so I'd start with a better block and not waste dough on the cracked one. Just an opinion from this ole mechanic.
I wish you better luck with the second one Leo.

[leo tomaiolo]

still making progress. working on linkages and pivots. took the front armor off to get at the floor. the screws for the pivots were rusted good. so i had to tac weld the heads to remove the nuts.

[leo tomaiolo]

trying to remove the bearing clamp from the tub. the bolt is blocked from removal till i take the exhaust guards off. they needed to come off anyway, they will need some repair too. now with the tub empty it's off to the blasters. hope to be looking at primer and paint in the next couple of weeks. started to put together a list of what i need for replacement armor. coming up quick.

[Michael R.]

easy-peasy. . . enjoy the journey Leo !

[leo tomaiolo]

so after looking at the center divider i decided to make a new one as i think it will be easier than repairing what i have. the rivets came out surprisingly easy, not complaining. there was some damage to the strip that covers the seam on the floor. decided to cut out a section of strip and replace that too. there's a little rust on the hull floor but it's not worth pursuing. getting close to blasting time.

[Dave Newcomb]

From Fordbarn.com and the Early Ford V8 Club Please do not mount [hang] your Flathead V8 from the bellhousings '32-48. there are numerous examples of those castings failing and dropping the engines. The safest method uses an exhaust mount plate of 3/8th " steel. Purchase or fabricate yourself, and still fits your engine stand rotator socket. newc

[leo tomaiolo]

Originally Posted by Dave Newcomb

From Fordbarn.com and the Early Ford V8 Club Please do not mount [hang] your Flathead V8 from the bellhousings '32-48. there are numerous examples of those castings failing and dropping the engines. The safest method uses an exhaust mount plate of 3/8th " steel. Purchase or fabricate yourself, and still fits your engine stand rotator socket. newc

Since that picture was taken I made a side mount. And you can't see it but I do have a jack under the front of the block. But you are correct, hanging them by the Bell housing is sketchy.

[leo tomaiolo]

got my block back from being stitched. he did an incredible job. it needed a few spots done. ended up have to stitch in 2 of the cylinders. so he sleeved them after he was done stitching. he tested the block to 60 psi for 2 hours. judging from the amount of high hp block repairs he has done mine should be no problem. so next stop off to the machine shop.

[leo tomaiolo]

here's some better views of the repairs. you can see where the cracks went in to the cylinder wall. all of the stitching is done dry. when they put sleeved the cylinder they used a chemical bonding agent to install it. using the bonding agent removes the stress of pressing a sleeve in. i was quite impressed and a happy camper.

[leo tomaiolo]

heading up to the American History Museum this weekend to get some measurements off of the U.C. on display there.

[leo tomaiolo]

so the bren project has been on the back burner for a while. but i did manage to score some items i needed for it. 2 ok road wheels, drivers seat frame, shifter linkage guard, uncut front drivers armor plate, 2 armored radiator covers and the air duct for it. the dash was kind of in relic condition. but it gives me a template to make a new one and has most of the wiring and gauge lay out. so it sits quietly waiting for it's turn.