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

[horsa]

Finally have started work on the front and side fender skirts for the carrier. The originals were pretty mauled and rusted like most of the other panels I started out with. Slowly getting them hammered out so I can see if they will look right and then will repair cracks by welding and eventually strip and paint the parts.

First photo shows one of the side skirts with most of the dents beaten out and a front skirt that hangs below the curved fender with a lot more work needed.



Test fitting with longer bolts in reversed positions for easier and quicker panel mounting. Sure gets old having to bolt them up for fit, remove them for pounding and then repeat over and over since I don't have a better pattern to work from. Not a lot of fun but I guess it is still better than mowing the grass

[horsa]

Had the good fortune of picking up some floor drain plugs from another T-16 owner that had them made. Good news, bad news...

I'd been using pipe flanges since they exactly fit the recessed holes. And electrical conduit 1" caps would fit nicely into the flange to allow for it to serve as a functional drain in each location. I'd epoxy sealed them into the floor so they wouldn't bounce out prior to installing bins and fuel tanks since I never thought I'd find anything that would fit per the original design.

Shot below shows how they looked from above on my pitted floor which isn't normally visible.



The problem I encountered is my own plugs were not intended for removal being installed from the inside. So now that I want to replace them, I had to remove the floor locker with battery and battery brackets, seat, seat bracket, locker that is mounted over the fuel tank, fuel tank itself after disconnecting the fuel lines, fuel tank holding box with brackets and the Bren gun spare barrel locker. All stacked up on my jeep and on the carrier.



So that I could spend 30 seconds screwing the proper plug into the floor from underneath as the designers intended. Last shot shows it in primer for reference prior to being painted and the joy of reinstalling all the removed parts.



At least its done properly now....

[horsa]

Decided to have copies of my fender skirts fabricated at our local sheet metal shop. I had managed to beat most of the dents and creases out of the driver side parts but the ones for the opposite side were significantly more pitted and abused. Figured if I needed to have one side rebuilt, might as well throw down and pay for the other side to match.



Shots showing test fitting with temporary bolts done backwards again to facilitate easier installation and removal.



Parts hanging in my Texas paint booth since the kids are at Grandma's house. Its been averaging 102-109F here for the past three weeks with no rain in sight. Only good thing to say for the dry heat is its good for painting. Little bugs that stick to the paint add texture and keeps with the consistency of my other outdoor painting.

[horsa]

Got the painted fender skirts and mug guards installed and will take the carrier for a test run later today. That way I can see if it performs more aerodynamically

Since I was painting parts last week, I managed to fix my mangled gunner-side fender as well. Took a good bit of work even when straight to make it align with the mud guard and side skirt. Needed to use my floor jack with 4x4 pieces of lumber to coax it into playing nice but it seems to look OK now. Will probably require the floor jack to disassemble it should the need arise in the future.





Also built a part I've been missing from the start. Its the small mounting bracket for the pick head which bolts to the rear armor on the carriers. Forgot to take photos of building it so all I can post is a shot of it installed.

[Philliphastings]

David, I for one am going to be dissappointed when you have completed the carrier project and have nothing more to post up...

Thoroughly enjoyable !

Cheers

Phill

[horsa]

Hey Phill,

As you know, they are never done since you can always find something to change out or upgrade. In my case, I'm now having to get the oil cooler that handles the engine oil repaired. I've had a small previously untraceable (to me) oil leak for about four months and knew it only occurred while driving. Idling in the garage never caused issues so I was thinking it was an oil pan gasket or hole in the pan near the block. Turns out it was a leak in the oil cooler on the back side and it was dribbling down the matrix and then running beneath a panel where it dripped under the radiator. Part of why it took so long to find as I only knew there was an oil leak somewhere underneath everything where I couldn't get a light.

Already pulled and shipped off to a repair place here in the USA so hopefully it won't be costly. Certainly easier to fix than what I was dreading which was pulling the engine to look for a bigger issue.

Shot shows the oil cooler with a small line I put on it to cap it off. That allowed me to place it in a bucket of water and put air inside to see if it bubbled for confirmation it was the culprit and not a line.



These are a few pictures I shot while ratting around and tearing up the land on the other side of my house that day in 107F heat.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

David,

I agree with Phil, but please keep this thread going for a little while longer as it´s so addictive! Why not make up an entire 4.2" mortar platoon, that should keep us going for the next few years

Thanks,
Hanno