Two T16s to restore
 

We are two slightly beyond middle aged guys in western Missouri that have two T16s that we are finally restoring. Like most of the restoration projects I have been watching, there are parts missing like bins, appropriate gas tanks and a few sections of armor. Our linkage is rusted and much of it needs replacement, and of course plumbing looks dreadful. At least one of the vehicles is the Swiss import, but the other was stripped down to bare bones, primed and waiting to be brought back to life. It might have been one of the ones that was in Canada. Unfortunately we had to spend several years just getting things ready to start the actual process of restoring them. We had to build a large enough work shed, complete with concrete floor that was poured by both of us alternating one wheel barrow load at a time. Our shed won't be seen in Better Homes and Sheds magazines any time soon, but it finally does allow us to do what we been anticipating for several years. We've been watching David Gordon's unbelievable restoration project since he started back in 2007. His work has been a wealth of reference for us, and we'll continue to refer to his efforts to help us with ours. We've also kept an eye on the fast work that Andrew Honeychurch has accomplished with his T16. Andrew some of your later pictures and information on remounting the rear end are going to come in very handy this weekend, because we're attempting this ourselves. Fortunately there are two of us, so we'll either find it a little easier than you did, or there will be two guys with damaged fingers. Our plan is to offer our own pictures and narrative like David and Andrew have done. We'll be asking for help finding parts, how to get problems solved and look for any other recommendations you are all willing to offer. Wish us luck! Eric & Glen

welcome
 

Ah, the sickness spreads! Run NOW! Before you lose yourself!

It’s all good therapy and will help keep you young :thup:

Rod Shaver in Arizona made a run of fuel tanks and he bought a bunch of the lockers that go above them when we did that production run. Might be worth seeing if he still has any since it would save you having to reinvent the wheel on at least one part of the project.

Look forward to seeing pics and following your progress.

as a fellow t16 restorer i look forward to watching your project take shape. good luck with it

rick

Our two T16s
 

These are the original photos of our two T16s. The one without tracks is the one we are currently restoring.

Yep, both hulls show evidence of having done Swiss service. That will account for the lack of internal lockers and fuel tanks since they ripped everything out when they converted the vehicles into APCs.

You'll have to jump through most of the same hoops I did while putting my carrier back into British configuration if that's the ultimate goal.

hi there Eric and welcome to the wonderful world of T16 restorations. I have nearly finished with mine, which is about 2 years working pretty hard, most of the time has gone in getting the details right, and fabricating all of the rotted out of missing items. I have been greatly helped by David who has chronicled every aspect of his restoration and has been able to guide me in many ways. I will be happy to help you guys with any items you need advice on and if I can help with parts, I have found sources for some items here in the UK. Like carburettors, overhaul kits, fan belts, fuel pumps and kits, new sender units. I wish you good fortune with the restorations and knowing what a fun vehicle they are at the end it will be well worth your efforts.

As well as Rod Shaver, check out Brian Asbury in Canada. He has some specialist T16 parts as well.

Now, you reminded me. I need to update my post!!

The rear end was mounted on the 4th of July, but doing it removed any desire to celebrate the day. We did not use the method we saw in your pictures Andrew. We used the PTO on a tractor to lift the rear end onto a pallet, and then lined it up with the access hole at the rear of the T16. Everything looked good, but we deluded ourselves into thinking this would be a half hour job. It turned into several hours of sweating, swearing and sweltering in 100 degree heat. We finally gave up when we were starting to see mermaids, and thought we would let it sit until Saturday. I got a call from Glen a couple of hours later and he told me that he found advice from an expert (only Glen could find a German who fought in France during the war, and used T16s for a taxi behind his lines) that knew exactly how to mount a rearend. Glen has to tell me the full story on Saturday, but it had to do with a come along and a martial spirit. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised that he got it finished by himself, but at least I was sitting in my airconditioned house while we took on the final work by himself. I will be posting some pictures later this weekend, and hope to have even more completed by the end of the weekend. I am waiting for parts lists from Rod and Brian, and I'll be trying to remember to bring the parts technical manual home with me after we finish work on Saturday. I'm not exactly certain how many track links we have, but I think it's some where around 700. We have two full sets with lots of sag that were removed from one track, and another set with approximately 160 linked together. There is also a stack of unlinked tracks that numbers around 160. Pins might be a problem, because I'm pretty certain we don't have enough for the unlinked tracks. We'll worry about that when we get to it though. We are getting more excited every week, and once the engine is back we'll make getting it mounted our next priority. More to come this weekend.

Just to inform everyone that has been viewing this thread and hasn't seen any activity, we're going through a drought right now, and the temperatures have been over 100 degrees (F) for several weeks. It's just too damn hot to be working with metal right now. We hope to be getting back to work soon.

One foot in the stirrup
 

We're starting to get back into swing with the first restoration. We're slower than we want to be, but we still have our day jobs to consider. Since the last post, we've blasted and painted the hull exterior, wheel assemblies, controls and other assorted objects. We now have one working flat head, and another one almost ready to be picked up. The rear end is mounted, and brakes are being worked on. We've found a local car restorer that will make our bins for us, but since our tracks are both Swiss retreads, there are no original bins, fuel tanks, or other light metal parts. Does anyone have the dimensions for the different storage bins or fuel tanks? We do have several Swiss tanks we are considering cutting down to fit in the original locations. We're also going to be looking for the view port armor, so any references to these would help too. We feel we have enough other parts to restore one complete T16, and we may be putting some of our other parts up for sale to help complete the first one. More on that later. Any illustrations and dimensions would be greatly appreciated.

I guess David is going to have to take responsibility for another T16 being saved beside mine and a few more.He is the bible publisher in this case.I will add a picture of mine so you will see yours in some future time.

I just visited your website and started drooling. We seem to match up in other ways. Not in parts production. The best we can hope for in that regards is beating something into shape with a sledge. We do have a Clark Airborne bulldozer however, and it still earns it's keep doing a bulldozer's job. Did you make all of your bins and missing armor parts?

Hey Eric,yes I did all the sheet metal work.And a lot of other things.I had at one time eleven Clark CA1.But as of last June I sold everything.Change of interest.

Clark,

I'm sure we'd be interested in gleaning what ever information we can from you regarding your T16 rebuild. Especially the sheet metal work you did. I am not the owner of the bulldozer, but if you have any parts left that were not sold, I'm sure the owner would be interested in talking with you.

Eric

Sorry, still no pictures, but more progress is being made. A second engine has been delivered for a checkup. We should know if it's as viable as we hope it is by next week. We've delivered two of the massive generators and two starters to a local shop for refurbishing, and more electrical parts are in the queue. Both Holley carbs have been broken down and glass beaded. The parts look almost new, and after we get the rebuild part kits, we'll have two brand spanking new units. Hopefully, we'll be sand blasting and cleaning two complete transmissions this weekend.

keep it up fella's it sounds like you are getting stuck into the resto. that's the only way to do it in my opinion. hope it goes well for you.

rick

hi Eric, glad things are progressing. I did find a source of Holley Carb rebuild kits here in the UK. If you are in need of one, let me know and I will see whether the chap will sell any more. I was rather fortunate to buy a brand new carb from Texas a while back. Come to think about it , maybe Rod Shaver has carb kits?