Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[Jordan Baker]

Working away on the transmission rebuild. The case was fully dissembled, degreased and then sandblasted. It was then given a very good cleaning and scrubbing to get all the blasting grit out. Everything was acid etched and then painted with POR15 then over sprayed with the olive drab paint.

[Jordan Baker]

I also made up all new gaskets for the various covers. The center punch set works great for getting the holes lined right up. I was able to then use a handheld die punch to cut perfect holes. It worked great on the gasket with 8 small holes.

[Jordan Baker]

I’m glad I fully took apart the transmission as two bearings needed replacement. On closer inspection both had a bit of a “hang up” when rotating. I was able to find a bit of rust on the bearing inner race surface of one of the bearings. Two bearings have been ordered from a supplier. Hopefully I’ll have them in a few weeks.

Lastly a new output shaft seal was added. This should give many years of good service.

[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.