Richie's Little Tank

[Richie]

Busy afternoon was had today in the garage, jnr and I built up the last air box minus it's graft, culminating in the last major rivets to be set into the Cartier.... The radio battery box still needs doing, but this today being the last of the mandatory rivets. He managed to set 27 rivets in three and a half hours, this included cutting them to length on the lathe, and setup time too....... Not bad for a 14 year old ! I very much doubt he will have lessons of this nature at school, what with the health and safety crackers society we live in !





A mix of 5/16 snap, Liverpool and 3/8 Liverpool in that there bit !

Also we riveted the last of the rifle rests onto the drivers side armour, then set about plugging holes with the required bolts !



The rifle rest to the right in this pic is the work of Mr Barron.... The only other bluebird'er to set 3/8 hot rivets (I believe )

I then mounted the front rifle rest and plugged more holes in the front armour and fitted a pair of 12v mini lamps I had in the loft to replace the 6v sealed beam units.



All in all she is coming together ! The front flappy armour plate that Bill and I made is away getting the hole milled to mount it.

[Renegadenemo]

The little tank is looking tremendous, Rich.
Can't wait to see it trundle into the yard and park next to the cars on a Saturday morning, but fancy exposing Jnr. to hot things. Social services might be watching!

[jonwrightk7]

really coming on there ritchie, excellent!!

[Richie]

Well as time draws nearer towards July... The urgency and pace has risen dramatically !
Today's list is more of the same... "Stuff back in" the drivers bin has gone back in, the front half of the clutch linkage has gone back in, the rear half was cut into two pieces so will need to weld that back together. The choke cable has gone back in but I need to order some scroll pins for the clevis.. The long brake linkages have gone back in.. And some conduit has gone back in... The conduit was pretty badly rotted so has taken some time to clean it up, but I am getting there !




I have also re fitted the oil cooler and re coated / re fitted the solid copper oil feed lines and flexi's

[ted.walsh]

hey!
I don't think they looked that good when they were new!
cue Bill and the 'over sanitisation' speech

[Renegadenemo]

Actually, Rich has done anything but sanitize his little tank. It's rust-pitted from end to end and covered in scars of all kinds. You can see through the light covering of paint that it's had a hard life but at the same time it's a meticulous job. The engine restoration, and that's what it is and is not to be confused with a mere rebuild, is especially good. It's perfect in my opinion.

[Richie]

It's always nice to hear compliments but means a lot to hear that from Bill, being hard to please when working on the boat and all that

[Richie]

Well it's been a while since I posted up any progress.

The engine has finally been hooked up to a radiator (a very leaky radiator) and run through until hot and I am glad to say that no oil mixed with the water, and vice versa.

At this moment in time I have four or five different things on the go at once, time is certainly running down and there is a fear in the back of my mind that the carrier won't make it to war and peace..... There is not much left to do to get her mobile, but there is no time or financial contingent left now that we are counting down to H hour. So as long as things go without hitch we might just make it yet !

Checkie has supplied me with the required wiring to start running it through the carrier, so between other jobs, I have been running a cable in here and there.



I have had to re manufacture the fuel tank straps, which was pretty straight forward, there was enough bits to cobble up an original strap but for something safety critical like this I retired the original bits and made new.


As for the fuel tank I have coated the inside with POR15 so it's now ready for fuel !


The linkages have been on hold until the clevis pins arrive, however the new throttle pedal has been installed


And also the air duct scoop has had its new metal grafts onto the remains of the original.


I have also bolted on the fixed original bits to the axle cover plate.



Now that most of the dirty work has been done, I can start the detail work, which I decided would start with the disruptive pattern..... As used in 43 during Operation Husky.


And finally for now.... Just to remind myself how far the thing has come

[quicksilver-wsr]

An outstanding job you're doing there, Richie. Those photos really bring home the progress you've made.

It's starting to look like it belongs on the battlefield again!

Nigel

[Renegadenemo]

Looks amazing, Rich... almost there.

I'm really proud of the few small parts I've had a hand in building for the little tank. But for Rich's efforts it's may have ended up scrapped. No one would dare now. I'll take that...