Tracks

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

the casting is the easy part, its the machining that makes it so damned expensive, pitty knowone here in england is connected to a precision engineers.......... if we all chipped in for the cutting bits for a machine, it would drastically reduce the costs of making new track.......

on a tangent here :-
I am a member of www.turbominis.co.uk which is a performance based forum for old Minis, the lads there are pioneering new methods of getting 200+bhp out of mini's which is not a cheap hobby, what happens is they all club together pooling skills and money to prototype, produce and distribute performance equipment (ie you end up with top notch kit for rock bottom prices)


so far in the classic MV community i have never seen this pheonomenon, and i dont want to sound insulant or cheeky or even cause any offence....but it seems most are out to make a lot of bucks its very much "business is business"...... information is striclty need to know, very cloak and dagger. I put this down to there not being enough bits for everyone so it is an expensive fight to get the bits, and when you find them they are sometimes so over the top with price.....


I open heartidly encourage and endorse what Martyn is trying to do here and i know from past experience the "Group Buy" method is a good way to go.
I deffinately know somewhere that would make the pins very very cheap..... Martyn knows a good foundry, all we need is a mates rates firm to machine the links then getting new track could be very affordable.......

Martyn will no doubt get back with a quote per set soon enough and we could go from there.



edit: just a warning if anyone does click on the blue link be aware that Turbo minis is also global forum....but is very outspoken, lots of sarcasm...it even has a sisters pictures section ! so if your easily offended dont click on that link !

Richard..
I believe what you are describing is economics 101..supply and demand..and free enterprise as opposed to the communist system..
Now not to be sarcastic or rude ,but I have been around the track a time or two and have allways found those that would bend over backwards to help each other and others that would steal the pennies off a dead mans eyes and, dog in the manger that they were, would rather see his pile of treasures rust into the ground than sell..give ..donate a lock washer ,and the bastards usually die still clutching that last rusty bolt that their old lady fires in the garbage...
but good luck with your enterprise and may your rose coloured glasses allways be polished..
It takes all kinds..

[RichardT10829]

believe me, I do not wear rose tinted glasses.... But i do believe in change and there is absolutely no reason why the situation cannot change for the better, the componentry that goes into a carrier is so damned basic i mean come on it was made during the war and in a rush hahahaha. i do promote a family ethic in that those in the same situation club together to make matters easier.....to coin a great British forces motto "Improvise Adapt and Overcome"

[malcolm erik bogaert]

Hear hear..I was brought up on the old Legion Etrange ethos of MARCH OR DIE....listen to the Dylan song Change is a comming! regards to all from a hot and suny north-northumberland.Malcolm

[martyn]

I have had a quote for a master patten track link ,iam working out now how much it would cost to drill the links and make the pins. I believe that i can and will try my best to get a set of tracks (both sides) some where around £5 - 7k i would like it to be more near the 5 figure as i said before tho it would be a limited run.

[Perry Kitson]

Just a quick question,
I have a couple of NOS track links kicking around and the pin holes don't bear any machining marks. I have read that the track links were cast with cores in where the pins holes are and not machined. Hence the policy of removing one or two links after a short initial run-in of new track once the fine pebbled surface in the holes was worn off. If this is true, it would eliminate the need and expense for drilling the pin holes. I believe there was a fair bit of clearance between the pin and hole to allow the track to warp during the initial steering phase. I am not entirely certain, a foundry would tell you for sure, but I think those tolerances should be able to be held with the casting process itself.

Perry

[gjamo]

This photograph may help.
Graeme

http://cas.awm.gov.au/PROD/cas_searc..._simple_search


Caption reads: 1942-03-26. NEWPORT. TRAWLER TRACKS FOR THE BREN GUN CARRIER. CASTINGS FOR THE TRACK LINKS HAVE THEIR CORED HOLES REAMED TO SIZE ON A VERTICAL ARCHDALE DRILL

[ozm29c]

Fellows,
I know it is a bit off topic but anything to do with tracks is unavoidably expensive. In my case, brand new aftermarket weasel tracks are now available at $9500USD a pair , plus freight/shipping, plus taxes, plus plus plus. Much that I would like to purchase a set I just don't have that amount of spare cash lying around . Now my point is when faced with the expensive reality of getting mobile, it then gives you more incentive to look outside the square at more economical track repair solutions. In the case of Bren Carriers, I can't offer any advice but in my weasel realm I do have a less costly solution to my track fix.
Whatever avenue you choose to go down, good luck.
Cheers
John Wilson