Robert,
good to hear from you and thanks for the inspirational comments. I actually don't think that my “gift of talent” as you refer to it, is a gift, more of a curse. It seems that in this day and age of the throw away, people who can do, are not required or valued. I would love to make a living doing this sort of work but there's not a market for it around here. My Grandfather always told me that engineers would be worth their weight in gold one day but it seems not in my life time.
RIGHT, THE DRIVE TRAIN.
Firstly thanks for the discussion.
Now that I have a clearer picture of where I am going with the project, I have made some working decisions.
I don't have a T16 axle and if I did I couldn't bring myself to cut it up for this application.
I estimate that the completed tank will weigh between 5 to 6 tons.
Its not going to be used to invade Poland but it has to work and be reliable. It is, after all, just an engineering exercise.
Therefore I intend to use components that are available in the UK, relatively cheap and plentiful and that I know.
Working on a power to weight ratio of 15bhp per ton, I am going to use a Land Rover 2.5 diesel 300 TDI, which in theory produces 110 bap. Connected to a standard 5 speed gear box but run through a reduction box to reduce the gearing.
The steering will be a simple braked differential, again using a modified Land Rover axle casing and differential. As per an original PZII.
The steering brakes, and this will be interesting, are going to be discs, with a set of drum brakes either side to act as parking brakes.
All this will be camouflaged to look like the original drive train. The length of the Land Rover engine and gear box will just fit in to the engine bay, which elevates the problem of trying to recreate the original configuration of a remote clutch and gearbox. Running the gearbox through a reduction box will negate the need to turn the differential upside down, but in all honesty I don't think that this would matter in this case.
All your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated, as are any suggestions on where, in the UK, to get track links cast.
Jon
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1950 Land Rover series 1
1967 Land Rover series 2A LWB
1986 Land Rover series 3 SWB
1938 DKW SB200
1944 DKW NZ350-1
1967 Ural K750 sidecar outfit
1944 VW Kubelwagen KDF82
1942 Steyr 1500A
1944 Morris C8A
1943 Chevrolet CMP8A HUP?
194? Bedford QL
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