T-16 S/N 5399 T.D. 97377 Restoration

[Roland Koster]

Hi there,

do you need any parts for the T-16.

I think I have a complete intrument/dashboard.

Interested?

greetings,

Roland

[horsa]

Hey Roland,

I have everything for a proper WWII USA pattern instrument panel with the exception of a Waltham speedometer and a speedometer cable. I'm currently following up on a few leads for the speedometer which will probably be the tougher of the two items to find as they were only used in the later pattern Ford jeeps and the T-16s. I know any jeep speedometer will work but would prefer the correct one if I can find one.

As for parts I'm looking for in case you have other items there...I need several of the hull drain plugs. There are seven on the floor and one in the very front where the engine hand cranking rod goes when needed. The diameter of the threaded sections is 2 5/8" with the overall disk just slightly smaller than a 3" diameter.

I'm also looking for one of the metal fittings which hold the head of a pick. Its the same size as the metal part that is on a pick handle but it is capped off and has a bolt welded onto it for another metal part to fit on which keeps the pick head from falling off the vehicle. The overall part bolts to the rear curved armor that protects the differential.

[horsa]

Made a little more progress and now have completed the fabrication of steering and braking controls along with bending oil lines in copper and bolting them up to the two oil coolers. Shots below are the before and after of the driver area which still isn't finished along with pictures of the lines and oil coolers.













Also got the radiator and engine installed this past weekend. This allowed me to finally test my work from rebuilding the transmission, linkage and differential which so far all seem to be functioning properly. Although the real test will be after I put the tracks on and test everything under a load.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

David,

Over time, I have been reading your restoriation thread with great interest. I think you are doing excellent and important work restoring your T16 to its wartime configuration.

Hats off to you for a job well done, sir!

Regards,
Hanno

[horsa]

Hey Hanno,

Researching the modifications for the T-16 in British service has sure been interesting. I've still had no real luck with identification of wartime records for the units that used the vehicle though. I do know that more saw use with the Canadian forces but since I had the original British wartime registration numbers, I opted to stayed with them and have adopted a British Regiment for now.

Two shots below show the front and rear fender markings as I was messing with wiring this weekend and bolted up the front set to make sure the marker lights and headlamp lined up properly and that I had built the wires long enough to reach the instrument panel.





The markings represent 8th Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment which was detatched from the rest of their normal formation and assigned to the 43rd Wessex Division as part of the Independant Machine Gun Battalion. Company A, B, and C used carriers with machine guns and Company D used carriers with 4.2" Mortars. D-Coy is what I'll be configuring the vehicle for and it existed from February 28, 1944 until August 31, 1945. They landed at Ouistreham (Sword Beach, Normandy) on D+14 with a strength of four platoons and attached with the division to XXX Corps for the duration.

Also have a few short movie clips below from the engine and transmission testing I did last week. It dosen't seem to get much traction without the tracks, even in 2nd gear. Go figure....

Installed Engine Running 1

Differential Spinning

Rear Sproket Spins

[colin jones]

What a great restoration job. I'm very impressed and looking forward to seeing it with tracks.
regards
Colin.

[ron]

Hi David,
Once again very impressive job of restoration, you have done an excellent job, the colour looks great what did you use? also did you use stainless steel welding rods? nice to see them being restored instead of just being left to rot, well done,
Regards, Ron

[khern2365]

Originally Posted by globalkoster

Hi there,

do you need any parts for the T-16.

I think I have a complete intrument/dashboard.

Interested?

greetings,

Roland

Hey Roland I am Knox Herndon living near Atlanta Georgia USA and am interested in your instrument panel for the T-16. I will be dealing with a resoration process soon hopefully.

Cell 678-665-3623
Home 770-719-2365

[horsa]

Three shots of an aerial carrying case number 1 which I recently got from Lance via MLU sales. It fits the mountings on my T-16 and extends right up to the edge of my 4.2-inch mortar ammunition bins like it was made for it.

Now I just need to clean it up a bit. It's really nice when things come together like they were planned from the start. A rare thing for me anyway.

[andrew honychurch]

very envious david, mind you there would not be much point in me having bought it as I mine is now in so many pieces it coudl be years before I have something to hang it on!

Just one thing, do you know what the stirrup bracket is bang in the middle of the vehicle in extending down into the driver/gunner compartment? It has always confused me as it looks like it is canted towards the gun port?

[horsa]

Hey Andrew,

That would be for the PIAT when in the "ready" position. The rear mount just in front of the radiator and the front mount is in the front armour near the gunner ports. It swivels out of the way when not needed. They didn't fire from this position but it held the weapon in a convenient place for quick access. Similar to the forward Bren mounts under the sloping front armour.

Has your restoration bogged down? Thought you were making great progress on it.

[andrew honychurch]

Thanks for the informaion on the Piat David. No not really bogged down but the weather has been appalling over here and since most of the work I do is outside in an open barn I have slightly slipped. I also, was trying to time the hull to be welded and then blasted and painted when the weather is a little better. There is so much moisture in the atmosphere at the moment it will be better in the Spring. I am also struggling with the engine shop who are taking out the valves for me and steaming the whole block, honing the bores and putting the valves back. The reason i am not doing them is my Valve grinding machine is 200 miles away at my fathers workshop and that will make doing the tappets rather time consuming. To be honest, with the holidays and weather I have let it slow a bit, but am right back on it today, see my other post!!

[lssah2025]

Glad it all worked out for you Dave.... I have some other news for you, will send you a email offline of a upcoming purchase!!!!!!