Armour Dreams

[Jonathan Moore]

I have been putting off adding some of the strengthening for the radius arm mountings, no particular reason, there just always seemed something more important to do but I have at last added these today.

[Jonathan Moore]

And finally for now, I have made and fixed in place, some covers over the maintenance holes in the base of the chassis. These holes line up with the engine oil drain plug and such like.

Jon

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening,

I have been working on the engine and radiator bay surrounding walls, if that's what they are called.
I have had to make a modification to the area of the fire wall where the gearbox protrudes into the crew compartment, originally the gearbox was a separate unit situated next to the driver. In order to be able to remove the engine and gearbox, I have had to put a removable section in this area of the wall. I don't think that it will be noticeable once the interior details are added.

[Jonathan Moore]

More pictures of the same area.

[Jonathan Moore]

These pictures show a little hinged door, behind which sits the radiator. The door can be folded to change the air flow in to the radiator. Also, in the engine deck above this area, is a hatch for the radio operator that has adjustable baffles incorporated into it so that the amount of cool air can be regulated.

[Jonathan Moore]

Sorry for the amount of pictures but hopefully they will help explain, what I have no doubt failed to.

Jon

[Ganmain Tony]

Great to see the project going well Jonathan.

Just a thought - are you going to put some sort of insulation on the inside of the engine covers?.

There is a type of fabric that is used to line steam locomotive fire boxes.

If it didn't do the job I don't know what would.

Really enjoying this build. Easy when I can watch from afar.

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening,

A few more pictures from todays playtime, all self explanatory but if you have any questions then fire away.
Once the warm air is blown out of the rear of the cooling unit, it is blown up this channel and out through a vent in the hull roof.
There's still a lot of missing pieces to add to the jigsaw in this area but I have it all planned.

Jon

[Mike Cecil]

Jonathon,

As I said, just a thought in the light of AFVs such as Centurion, M113A1, etc. I think I'd rather scrape crap out a screw slot than have to try and extract a bent/deformed bolt, but interesting that the German (and Australian?) designers didn't consider it an issue. Wonder how many German and Australian mechanics cursed that decision!

Great job, outstanding skills displayed, enjoying this thread very much.

Mike

[karlos59]

Looking good Jonathan keep up the great work.

[Jonathan Moore]

Morning All,

Somewhere in this thread, I said that I didn't want to have too many engine electrics in this project, just hold that thought.

I have been plodding along manufacturing the cooling unit, although I had made the bearing housing the other components needed to be manufactured.

The fan shaft.

[Jonathan Moore]

A few more.

[Jonathan Moore]

The original cooling unit appears to have had a fly screen, for want of a more descriptive word, in front of the radiator. Not wanting to restrict the air flow, the one that I have made has a bigger mesh size and in reality is there more to stop the radiator from getting damaged by the movable cover in front of it.

The other items that I have been trying to finish are the air ducts in the main cooling unit, so far I have only finished the rear one.

[Jonathan Moore]

I have been dealing with a company called Alders Classics in Norfolk for the engine and transmission, I think they were a bit surprised to find out what I wanted the components for but they have been really helpful. And the electrics...….. Anyone good at jigsaw puzzles.

Jon

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening All,

The cooling unit is complete, although quality control, the wife, has questioned my decision of not welding every join. It all fits ok as does the drive belt. I will now have to make the tensioner.

[Jonathan Moore]

Next on the list was the exhaust which entailed replacing the stripped manifold studs. Out of the three that needed replacing, one came out ok, the others had to be drilled out and re-tapped.
I centre popped the broken stud, drilled it with a 5mm drill before opening it out to 8.5mm and re-tapping the hole to 3/8" UNF.

[Jonathan Moore]

I haven't got any of the original components for the exhaust, so I am making it from scratch, although I will be using flexi pipe to join the manifold to the silencer. First, I needed to make two flanges to suit the manifolds. I marked around the manifold flange and then cut the flanges out with an angle grinder and ground them to shape. Then Marked and drilled the bolt holes and using a Sandvik hole saw cut the main hole.

[Jonathan Moore]

Then on to the exhaust pipe. I am using sections from a cut up Land Rover exhaust as these are the cheapest source of ready bent material that I can find.

That's all for now folks.

Jon

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening All,

The two into one manifold is all welded up and ready to be assembled onto the exhaust manifold. The cooling unit now looks more like an air conditioning unit and I have completed the airflow tract around the rear of the engine bay.

[Jonathan Moore]

To complete the exhaust I need a silencer, here goes, although silent probably won't be the word.

[Jonathan Moore]

two more pictures.

[Jonathan Moore]

On the original tank, where the exhaust exits the hull, there is an armoured cover.
This is my copy.

[Jonathan Moore]

And more pictures.

[Jonathan Moore]

Over the silencer there should be a heat shield, I have looked at loads of pictures and the variation of the hole configurations seems to be quite varied, so I have settled on this one. Loads of holes to drill, bugger.

Jon

[James P]

I have nothing but the utmost of respect for you dedication, abilities and workmanship.

[jdmcm]

Jonathan

I would like to place my order for your upcoming heavy tank line...one Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E please, with all the bells and whistles!!! Heavy on the zimmerit!

Seriously, absolutely amazing work...it is one thing to have a part to restore and make it look that good, but starting with a piece of bare steel and actually creating...not just a part, but a whole tank...awesome!

John

[Jonathan Moore]

Morning,

The petrol tanks in place but not leak tested or finished, as I have been waiting for various components to arrive.
It should hold about 70 litres of fuel, so a lot less than the 170 litres in the original tank but I want to put the electrics between the engine fire wall and the petrol tank. This area then gets covered so that you won't see any of it.

One of the other items that I have been making, is the air filter housing. I want to use a standard early Jag filter, so although the outer housing looks as it should, hopefully, the modern filter fits inside. These are the best two pictures that I could find of the original item.

[Jonathan Moore]

The top cover for the outer housing although in reality, on my version, it's just for show.

[Jonathan Moore]

looking a bit like a vacuum cleaner and the complete housing with the outer housing and brackets in place.
I can't bolt it in place yet as I need to have the gearbox in place to make sure everything fits.

[Jonathan Moore]

There's not alot to show you really, as i have been altering my previous work to accommodate the new, later engine. I took a trip up north to meet Rick, Eddy8men and what a really nice chap he is. The reason for my journey, was to pick up the muff couplings for the steering box drive shafts but oh, how I would love to restore some of his toys. Thanks again Rick, for the bits and the chat.
Whilst I was talking to Rick he introduced me to a new word " Imagineering" so I have been doing a bit myself. One of the frustrating parts of this project, so far, has been trying to decide what to do for the final drives. On the way home, being bored at the wheel, I was thinking about all the options thus far and it looked like I would have to sell a kidney to finance the relevant components, then seeing a vehicle on the road and cursing a lot, I had an idea. A quick search on fleabay and low and behold, someone was scrapping such a vehicle 3 miles from where I live. I haven't done any accurate measurements yet but from a tape survey, they seem to match up, almost too exactly and the ratio looks to be 5.5 : 1. Sunday morning, my son and I, took a Land Rover stuffed with every tool needed for a right bugger of a job but ended up only using a couple of spanners, a ratchet, highlift jack and a big bar. Two hours later they were in the workshop waiting to be washed.