[Big D]

Hi all,

I’ve been a bit distracted with other projects over the last few weeks but there has been some more progress on the M8.

I’ve been working on the wiring from the instrument panel and this is just about done now. The NOS loom I got was in good condition but I think made for a later panel, and I had to ‘make’ it fit. My instrument panel is an earlier one, but it doesn’t have the starter button below the ignition switch. It does have the switch hole on the other side, which presumably was the Fire Detector Test button.

Where should the starter button be? The manuals are a little unclear on this and the various photos I’ve seen haven’t helped. At this stage I am using the starter button in the Fire Detector Test button position and wiring it in there.

I have two oil pressure gauges. One is a Stewart Warner make. The one which is fitted is marked as 7412564, and ‘AC”. Is there an easy way to check what gauge will work with the sensor I have? Does anyone have any experience with this? I might as well fit the correct oil pressure gauge from the start if I can.

The brake slave cylinders with new stainless sleeves and new rubber boots are all assembled and ready to fit. I have some spare boots if anyone needs any.

I managed to source some canvas dome fittings for the turret from a company in the US. These have a 10-32 stud fitted into them so were ideal. I just had to drill out the old brass screws and run a tap into the holes and these are all in place now. The only thing left on the turret now is just some tweaking of the mounts for the gun ring. We straightened these before the ring arrived, but now that the ring is here, it looks like they should have been a little twisted anyway to make the gun ring mounting holes line up.

I am getting toward the end of the welding on the hull now. I was very fortunate to be able to get my hands on the front engine cross member I was after. Many thanks to John and Dave for that. The front cross member and rear engine cross member that we fabricated are now welded/fitted in place.

I now see that the reproduction rear engine mounts that I got are not quite right so I will need to modify them before they will work.

I fabricated some new exhaust pipe brackets and fitted these along with the shovel bracket.

One of the headlight guards is now welded in place. The other one will be here soon, as will the First Aid Kit bracket (thanks To Willy and Christophe), so I’ll fit these as soon as they arrive.

That should just about do on the hull before I get it sandblasted and painted.

I haven’t managed to source the rear plate that the engine covers hinge on, so it looks like I will need to fabricate this and the hinge mounts.
Can anyone confirm the dimensions of this plate and assist with any photos please? I have some photos of the top side of this piece but I don't have any photos from the underside showing how this is constructed.