canadian mk1 restoration
 

hi fella's

let me introduce myself my names eddy and i'm from manchester i used to be a mechanic in the reme and having had a mid life crisis last year when i reached forty i thought it would be a good idea to relive my glory days so i found this carrier for sale on this site and bought it from a guy called john bizal at midwest military a while back, well it arrived in southampton last week and i picked it up with a trailer and towed it home to manchester on friday to start the restoration. i was surprised at how good the carrier was considering it's been outdoors for so long although most of the brake linkages are shot and the track warping looks seized up but i was going to leave the track warping disconnected anyway. however there are a couple of things that also need sorting like the lack of an engine, g/box,rad and various armour but i'm sure it will all come together given time.
as i said earlier i'm new to this game so if i make mistakes don't be afraid to pull me up as it's the best way to learn. the carrier is a canadian mk1 built in 41 by ford, i tried to find the wd no. and had a little success after carefully sanding the top coat of paint off but the numbers were too hard to read but i did uncover the original name WELLAND written in yellow on the sides so i googled welland and it's a canadian town and regiment, there's also a regimental museum which i'll email the pics to for info.
any help or advice would be gratefully received as i've a feeling i'll be needing plenty.

all the best

eddy

Eddie
 

Looks like a nice carrier to start the project with.
I think its a big mistake to not have the whole steering system functioning as it should. It's much easier to deal to it, while there is no power unit in there.
A read through Jordan Bakers rebuild thread will fill in a few gaps for you.

Thats a nice carrier; I was sure it would not be on John's site for very long.

I'll second Lynn's recommendation about the warp steering system; restore it. Without the warp system the brakes tend to overheat and fade, making steering very poor. It is amazing how much steering is accomplished by the warping of the tracks.

Warp steering
 

I recommend that you fix the warp steering it makes driving the carrier much more pleasant.at top speed it is very smooth.
jeff

Eddy i can help you on the armour front just let me know, i am in Newcastle so feel free to pop up any time you like.

I am after details of the battery box you have and any tins / boxes you might have left inside.

welcome to the family mate

Richie

Glad you got it home o.k., when you get time post up some more pics of the rear compartment inside and drivers position. :thup:

kevin.

Also buddy beware that the exhaust covers on the rear deck contain asbestos as do the heat shields behind the mufflers, so be carefull. I have schematics for the center plate looking at what is left it will be a sinch to replace the missing bits.

may be able to assist with gauges etc too.

Could it be the Linclon and welland regt? The Facing Colour of that regt would be yellow as thier sister Regt was the 10th Foot, then the Linclonshire Regt, then and now the Royal anglian regt. I may be wrong, Nice carrier tho :smoker:
Regards Aidan

The Linclon and Welland Refiment is now a militia(reserve) unit. Here's a link to their website
http://www.iaw.on.ca/~awoolley/lincweld.html

Restoring the track warping system to working condition is a must in my opinion. The Loyd carrier, which doesn't have this system, experiences brake inefficency problems after prolonged use as it uses only it's brakes to steer. This overheating of the brakes makes it INCREDIBLY hard to steer. In a Universal carrier, the track warping system allows nice small corrections of the path of the vehicle to be made without using the brakes. I have driven both of these vehicles in the same day, and there is a very distinct difference in the steering. The Universal being easier to correct and drive around curved pieces of road.

Your carrier looks to be in great condition. I wish you all the best with the restorastion. You have defintiely come to the right place for getting help with any queries. :cheers:

hi fella's

thanks for the replies, ok then i'll restore the track warping while there's nothing in the way, my only concern was the wear it might place on the tracks as replacements seem to be a big issue but i could always leave it disconnected if i found that to be ok afterwards, does anyone have a diagram of the warping system and any tips on how to strip it. cheers.

richie i'll send you a pm as i could do with some drawings of the armour .

all the best

eddy

The carrier my father restored, and is now owned by a member of this forum, has been running for 30 years on the tracks it came with. They were defintely not new tracks when he restored it either. The track warping doesn't place any undue stress on the track. The track was designed to run like this. :thup2:

Hi Eddy
 

How about some pictures of the inside?
Does the cam plate turn?Is there a steering box connected, and functioning?
Firstly disconnect the long rods that go through the rear plate to the bellcranks.(this will allow everything else to move hopefully) If not drop the plate off the bottom of the hull that the cam plate is mounted on. With the hull blocked up, and the double bogies removed, can you move the cross tube in it mounting blocks?
These pictures are for an Australian carrier, but they are much the same.

What is the bell crank associated with? Is it for the track warping?

Alistair......which one there are a few bell cranks...... there are the two which connect the spreader pushrods in the brakes to the rear part of the hull and the extension rods which go from the rear back to the front where they then each connect to another bell crank mounted to the floor before returning to the base of the steering column.... there are another pair of bell cranks which connect two short rods onto the brake pedal again located near the base of the steering column........ lots of gubbins in these tubs :)

Eddy
 

Sorry. The key to what I said is in the "Long rods". The reason is to disconnect the brakes, so that locked or siezed brakes do not interfere with the steering operation. I would disconnect the bell cranks found behind the rear plate. these have needle rollers top and bottom. It would be wise to dis connect both ends to check them, working backwards to the steering box until you locate any siezed items. Dropping the cam plate out as well from the bottom allows you to move everything, if its not siezed somewhere.
Check the bearing in the camplate. check the rollers that run against the cam plate, and make sure that you free up the spindles they mount on, as these need to be adjusted when the camplate assy is reinstalled. While this is out, is time to make sure the crosstube is moving freely. In service, it only moves about 1 1/8" from side to side. (5/8" each way) The rollers may need to be removed to grease them at the pins.The flats need a bit of lube applied manually(pulling the thing right out would be best)then when its back in , with new leather boots, it will be good for a long time

As a side note one summer when my regiment The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment were at Petawaw for summer concentration we were paired up with the Linclon and Welland Regiment for the exercise. They re-named us the 2nd Battalion of the Tecumseh Fuseliers. Just think the Hasty Perverts mixed with the Links and Dinks.... LOL

keep the advice coming guys, i've set myself a target of 50 days to get it on the road or at least moving under it's own power, does anyone know of a flathead v8 specialist in england, i'm looking to drop it off with someone who can get it running like clockwork as a reliable motor is no.1 on my list of priorities.

cheers

eddy

Martyn Tasker is building three for myself and Nigel Watson, his own carrier runs spot on so he is worth a call... plus Lincoln is not far from you. he rebuilds them and they get returned in a frame and can be "Bench run" so litterally a running power pack to drop straight back into your carrier.

thanks richie

martyn's supplying me with a steering box so when i collect it i could drop the motor off if he's up for it.

cheers

eddy

hi fella's

just a quick update on the carrier, i've dropped off the flathead v8 with martyn tasker last week and when i told him i wanted the carrier on the road by end of august he laughed (i get that a lot) martyn's also supplying the steering bevel box and a road wheel (thanks martyn). the gearbox is sorted, awaiting collection, the cut armour is going back on this weekend and the hull is getting blasted and primed tomorrow and the track is freed off and ready to go back on but i do need a rad and an oil cooler. a pal of mine's a mechanic and said a local firm can fabricate the rad so does anyone have the dimensions and does anybody else need one making while i'm there. when i get it back home from the yard it's in now the real work for me will begin,there's the axle and brake linkages to sort out and the track warping assembly looks pretty well rusted up but once all that's sorted and together it should be able to move under it's own power. happy days :thup2:

all the best

eddy

forgot to mention i'm still trying to trace the wd number or at least narrow down the search to find it's history. i found this number on the angle iron directly behind the gunners seat on the bulkhead, does anyone know of it's significance.

cheers eddy

not sure about that position but i am going to check mine now, as mine is a canadian Mk1 also. do you have any numbers in front of the driver on the front armour ?

this would be a good question for Nigel to answer.

hi richard

thanks for the reply, as you can see from the pic some of the armour has been cut away and i'd bet a pound to a pinch of salt that it's the piece that had the number on it, however if you could prove me wrong i'd be a very happy man.


cheers

eddy

nope the number would possibly be along the top edge of the armour as you look down onto it. mind with the heat of the cutting torch it may have gone.......and if its an earlier 41 carrier it may have never had the number there at all. worth a look though.

cheers

Richie

PS contact Nigel about it...... and from your pics i know he is looking for the bracket you have on the inside armour there to copy, its the bracket on the gunners left armour, i think its for the Boys AT rifle. As for me i would love to get me mits on the tin work to copy it.

hi richie
thanks for the reply, i'll check the top of the armour this weekend and let you know what's happening. who's this nigel bloke you mentioned ? whoever he is he's more than welcome to take anything he wants from the carrier to make a copy and that goes for yourself, i'm definately on the side of "one for all and all for one" and let's be honest if i'm gonna get her going i need some people in the know to give me advice and help, so far everyone i've met has been great, really helpful and upfront.

all the best

eddy

Sorry buddy.... Nigel is actually Mr Nigel Watson, the author of the Carrier books Vols.1,2 and soon to be 3 you can find him at www.universalcarrierbook.co.uk he is a top bloke very nice guy and knows a plethera of details about a large magnitude of various carriers and ATV's

well i am off to the dentist now.....wish me luck ! hahaha

Hello Eddy,

Welcome to the Carrier owners heaven( Forum)! You could try to get in touch with Brian Laker. His Canadian Mk1 was dedicated at W&P by Dame Vera Lynn. This Carrier is in good and very complete condition. Good luck with your restauration.

Cheers,

Marc van Aalderen

hi marc thanks for the advice, i'll try to contact brian to see if he can help identify it. as for the restoration that seems to have slowed a little as the weather has stopped the carrier from being blasted so the armour can't go back on so there's nothing much in the way of progress to report although i did go back and check the frontal armour for a wd number but there were no markings there so i would assume that makes it an early 41 carrier as richie pointed out but i feel that the number marked on the angle iron behind the gunner is important can anyone shed some light on this.

all the best

eddy

That is the carrier body number. It is a fairly early carrier, so well may not have had the serial number on the front armour, but rather had the info on a data plate located on the right front fender. That number should be fairly close to the serial number of the carrier. Early production did not seem to have the wide variance like the later carriers, which could vary numbers by 500 or so between the body, serial, and hull numbers. You should have another number on the left rear angle iron behind the rear armour.

Somewhere in this mess of papers I have the numbers off a carrier in the 500 serial range, and all the numbers were within a dozen of each other.