Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[Jordan Baker]

Next up, the transmission case top and gear shifters. All was in great shape with next to no wear. However there was some metal flaking and grit inside. So for the sake of getting everything nice and clean, it was taken apart. This also allowed me to sandblast the top and wash it all out.

[Jordan Baker]

The transmission rebuild is on hold waiting for the two bearings to arrive via EBay’s International Shipping. They got rid of the Global Shipping program and it’s been replaced with this new one. Supposed to be better but it is slower then slow. My last purchase was a few days short of a month.

Anyway progress doesn’t stop and some more parts got the rebuild treatment.

First up is the Boys ATR mount. Interestingly there were two versions. The first was small cradle assembly with a pin and chain. This is the second version it’s been nice to dissect the layers of paint and grime to find it’s original colours.

[Jordan Baker]

Next up are some small hull hatch parts. These were a level that had a sprung plate behind to latch the hatches closed. The hex parts are the spring attachment point for the hatches. I’m very fortunate that the Otter still had all these parts. A simple cleanup and repaint is all that was needed.

[Jordan Baker]

Last update for now…

The finished gunners hatch. The needle scaler proved its value again for getting most of the paint off and made it very simple to sandblast.

Lastly the drivers hatch is up next. I’m currently taking it all apart for cleanup. I’ve been trying my best to keep all the fasteners and components together with each other as they come off.

[Jordan Baker]

Work slowly continues on the various bits and pieces.

The drivers hatch was completed and rebuilt. It’s been fun spraying something else other than flat khaki green. When the parts have come off and apart I have been trying my best to determine what the original factory colours were. This is regarding what interior bits were white or painted in green. However with limited wartime interior pictures sometimes it is a challenging.

Lastly the crew commanders visor hatch. It got the usual disassemble process followed by sandblasting. I also spend some decent time on getting the hinges all nice and free. For getting them loosened up I’ll mount one end in the vice and then just start rotating the other end back and forth. I’ll use a combination of ATF, WD40, Brake Cleaner and Blaster. I find the Brake Cleaner does a great job of flushing the rust out. It’s just a matter of repetitive action until no more rust is flushed out.

Once everything is cleaned up the, parts were washed and prepped with metal prep spray. Next up will be painting.

[Jordan Baker]

I’m also happy to report that the transmission is now all back together. The bearings arrived last week. It now has a pair of Japanese KOYO bearings in it, replacing a Swedish Timken bearing.

The front input shaft bearing was an oddball New Departure number that I was unable to find for a reasonable price. However after learning about all the different types of bearings and the letter designations, I was able to cross reference it a KOYO bearing. All was going well as it fit the shaft and the hole in the transmission case. The issue arose when I went to install the snap ring on the input shaft, it simply would not fit. I needed about 2mm more of grove space. It was then that I realized the original bearing’s inner race was actually about 2mm shorter than the other race. The bearing was handed over to a machinist friend of mine who got it back to me later that night. After that everything fit perfectly and the snap ring went one without issue.

I’ve included a few pictures of the new KOYO bearing on the shaft and the snap ring not fitting.

[Jordan Baker]

Last of the front hatches finished up. The only thing that needed replacement were a few badly corroded nuts.

Next was the removal of the door vision hatches. In some of my pictures you may have noticed some text. I am really enjoying the text feature my iPhone and iPad have. It is super simple to add some captions right after taking a picture. Such as noting which shim went where or the location of specific bolts. Yes I’m doing my best to put the same bolt back in the same spot.