[Big D]

Hi all,

Here is another update on the M8.

The sandblaster is a bit snowed under with work, and things haven’t progressed yet on the blasting and painting, so while I’ve been waiting I’ve been working on a few other things.

I’ve been doing the final repairs on all the sheet metal. In keeping with this M8’s very ‘used’ look, I have not repaired every bit of damage on the exterior sheet metal. I still want it to show signs of field use. I’ve straightened the large rear guards and cut out the corroded bits of metal and spliced in new sections. There are a few bullet holes in the guards and there are some signs of field repairs such as welded splits in the steel, which I have just tidied up a bit rather than removing the old repair.

I have cut out and patched most of the corrosion holes in the fuel cell enclosure. There was a lot more corrosion in there than I thought and I’ll probably see a bit more coming through once the enclosure has been blasted. I probably should have got it blasted first, but...... The enclosure is just there to hold the new stainless steel tank I will build anyway, so I am focussed mainly on having it structurally sound while looking original and being relatively tidy.

The panels on the transfer case protective shield are now straight and ready for painting. I’ve also tidied up the front inner and outer guards and replaced any obvious rotten material in them. They are pretty tidy, albeit fairly well-used.

I’ve also been doing some work in tidying up the rear junction box and conduit. These are starting to look a little better now. I am still after one of the male threaded sections that fit to the junction box to complete mine, if anyone has any spares.

I’ve got the generator apart now and it looks reasonably good inside. I broke the pulley wheel in the process which brassed me off, but I took some consolation in the fact that it had already been repaired in one place and it had damage in another place, which was where it broke. I will find a specialist welder and see if it can be repaired.

Now that I have the generator apart, the field coils and armature look to be in good shape. I have stripped it all out now and have already cleaned up the case and internal pieces. I will tidy up what I can and go as far as I can go with my limited expertise, before bundling everything together and taking it and the voltage regulator to the auto electrician to see if it is going to work.